Will shortly be waving goodbye to my ZT-T

[BigAde]

After nearly 9 years of ownership and lots of fun drives, the time has come to say goodbye to my ZT-T. Nothing actually wrong with it (at least mechanically), it's still great to drive and an enjoyable place to be, but for a while now I've been getting the feeling that for long motorway runs I need something a little more modern and dependable. I may yet come to regret it, but I've just put a deposit down on a 2014 X-Trail and take delivery next week. Used prices are crazy right now, so financially it has been an eye-watering moment.

The ZT-T will unfortunately be heading for the scrapyard and there is chronic laqueur peel all over the front and at 177k miles it just isn't worth respraying and saving... will leave that to the lower mileage cars!

The help I've received from the other members of this club has been beyond compare and I'd just like to thank everyone for all of the help I've received over the years which has definitely helped keep her on the road all this time. In turn I've tried to pass on a little acquired knowledge myself.

Keep up the good work and so long chaps!

[AndyN01]

Enjoy your new car .

And pop back from time to time

Maybe someone on here might like to take her off your hands rather than letting her go for scrap .

[Rickshaw]

Give it a while before moving to a scrapyard to give someone a chance to take it on I suggest. I’d have a go myself but just no more room on my driveway or road ! but some club member might have a go I hope. I’ve had brilliant resprays to various parts of my cars by an extremely reasonable chap in Portsmouth. For me , it was way less than buying another car so I still had a wonderfully comfortable vehicle that , after the spray , looked superb. Hopefully someone in the club – or try EBay – could realise the potential rather than a breaker! Hope others agree.
All the best.

[BigAde]

Originally Posted by AndyN01

Enjoy your new car .

And pop back from time to time

Maybe someone on here might like to take her off your hands rather than letting her go for scrap .

Thanks Andy. I'll be sure to pop in for the chat and to drool over the nice monogram ZT-T that I always wanted :-)

Yeah, I guess I'll put a classified ad on here in a few days, would obviously prefer her to go to someone who will keep her going, but in all honesty the cost of the respray she needs is going to be a showstopper I think. I've been offered £300+ for the scrap value and there are one or two bits like the Android stereo that I can sell on no bother.

[Rickshaw]

Do let us know if it goes on to someone who will keep it on the road - we all like positive news.

All the best.

[BigAde]

Originally Posted by Rickshaw

Do let us know if it goes on to someone who will keep it on the road - we all like positive news.

All the best.

Will do, thanks Roger.

[macafee2]

How has the ZT-T let you down?

macafee2

[BigAde]

Originally Posted by macafee2

How has the ZT-T let you down?

macafee2

It hasn't really, so I do feel something of a traitor. It's such a nice car to drive still, but this is really just taking a long term view that at 18 years old how much longer can it realistically carry on being my daily drive? I don't have space to keep her as a weekend car, so something has to give. It's a decision I've been mulling over for some time now.

The lacquer peel is dreadful on the bonnet, front bumper, wings. That will definitely put most people off buying it, even though mechanically it's fine and it's had lots done to it including new Luk clutch, DMF, master and slave about 10k miles ago (iirc), new front springs and tyre protectors, two sets of wheels (winter and summer), 160 remap, new genuine backplates and shoes, handbrake mod and all the usual mods and fixes you learn from being in this club!

Come the weekend I'll clean her up, take some photos and put a classified ad on here to gauge interest. I'll be delighted if someone wants to buy her to respray and keep on the road. Failing that I will do some light breaking before sending her off to the scrap man.

[Rickshaw]

Just an idea for either you or someone who might be interested in the car - used parts ! I am about to replace a bonnet on one of my diesels with a bonnet I lifted from a breakers for £40 - it looks perfect and I have another in perfect as spare for one of my other cars. I see these are around £40 on EBay - FAR less than a respray quote I had of > £200. Same thing for Wings which run at about £25 each . Front Bumpers on EBay about £90 - I had a quote today for one of mine at £200 - but will take it off and use , at most , 2 spray cans @ £15 each. A black Dog shot across dark road all of a sudden last night and damaged bumper ! Last year I had terrible black , peeling lacquer on top half of my Tourers driver door. Careful sanding , undercoat and spray cans (2 off) and it looks like new - total cost about £30. Wings and bonnet are easy to remove / replace and total cost is WAY less than a respray. Might be worth considering or making a potential buyer aware of ?
All the best.

[BigAde]

Thanks - and fair points. I did attempt to get a new bonnet and front bumper in solar red from people scrapping their cars, but none without some fairly serious paint defects in their own right. It does seem that solar red is more susceptible to lacquer peel than other colours.
I had entertained the idea of putting in the work to sand down and respray myself, but was none too sure what the results would look like.