Hello,
i see a lot gto’s for sale that can’t seem to be sold or sellers drop the price very rapidly alot of auctions that run out without any bid.
what is the reason for this are they troublesome cars ? as i seem to be reading that they don’t seem to be as reliable and cost £100s or even £1000’s when they go wrong.
confused i like them but a little put off by what i’ve read and seem to get the indication that a 300zx is more solid.
thanks.
Told by owner of that 300zx that you rarely find one that’s not rusting to bits, over last 17 years he has rebuilt it nearly from scratch and only really drives it to shows
Any car of these ages will definitely have there problems I’m afraid. I think the gto came out in the same era as some heavy hitting cult classics and seems to have been found lacking .although that seems to be changing as now people can afford them and enjoy them but the do still have the reputation of being complicated and not as capable as some of the competition. Although where as some are track oriented the gto has always been a high tech gr8 cruiser not a track attack car
Problem is whenever you read a forum you always hear the worst side of. Car , very very rarely do people seek out forums to say "my car is great " generally they seek out the forum as they have a problem .
It can read scarily sometimes but it’s very much warts and all so you know what you are getting into .
Biggest problem with these and a lot of the jap big motors is they were very expensive when new yet a few years ago could be picked up for sensible mondo money , they do still need regular maintenance and servicing and people neglected this as they didn’t see the need on a car that price . So a lot of them have suffered , that said. A lot of the dross has gone now as we were regularly seeing people who had picked a car up for a grand then realised that a cambelt change was nearly what they had paid for the motor .
What happened then is they would not spend the money making them good so invariably broke down or went bang , then you get those cars are rubbish etc .
While the cars have come down in price the parts are still priced against the new vehicle
Craig 
Like anything if you look after it will last if you don’t then what do you expect?
When cars of this kind break down they are all expencive to fix especially if taking it to a garage,most cases the labour is more than the parts,don’t be fooled in thinking that the 300zx,skyline,supra,rx7 they are cheap to maintain.there parts might be more accessible perhaps that’s the only advantage maybe.but we have Mr evil .
Jerry
Yes these cars come with issues but let’s be honest, what car dont?
We are not talking about a ford here, we are talking about a car that was ahead of its time and to this day it’s still giving car makes nightmares 
Yes parts are expensive and yes when they do go wrong they do it in the biggest gayest flamboyant fashion parade known to man.
But do you know what? Non of us give a ■■■■ because we are all as insane as a box of frogs 
Simply put these cars are reliable if you service them regularly. Being a gt car they require servicing more often and take labour charges into account they also cost more to service.
Find a good one which has been maintained properly and continue that then you will have trouble free motoring.
As Craig says above, they were affordable to buy for a lot of people that couldn’t afford the proper maintenance and a lot have suffered as a result. Those examples could be unreliable.
It’s all about finding a good one and keeping up with the maintenance.
A 2k example probably wants that and more spent on it to get it up to scratch.
Jus
My car is great I paid sensible money and service it regularly even though I do less than 5k pa in it. As Craig and a number of people are saying they’re good solid reliable cars if they have been looked after.
James
Mine was A 2k and a bit car, realistically i spent that again within a couple of months…i suppose mechanical wise to get it right is cost me 6k the rest i spent is just cosmetic… Rice comes at a cost you know
My car cost £1600 and so far I’ve spent about £5k on it…
Kind of thinking “you sold an e type jag for this”?!
Then i should be ok with one of these as it will only be used and be coming out during summer months, winter months it will be covered up.
so i’d say 3000pa.
thanks.
Yes, from what I have found they aren’t that hard to work on once you get your head around everything
Stealth 316 Home (technical side)
This will help you decide if you want to make the plunge, we are all here to help you with any issues once you make that jump.
Becoming a full member will also help, there are 1000s of pages in this forum covering 15 years available to full members, good luck…
Dave
It is not just the GTO/3000GT, the 300zx TT, Supra TT, Soarer TT, R32-R33 Skyline GTR, RX7 - all of them can easily cost £1000’s when they go wrong.
The issue is they are more likely to go wrong due to their age, lack of care from previous owners and that they are corroding away due to our climate and annual winter salt on the roads. Original parts are being discontinued and the aftermarket we enjoyed in the early 00’s have gone bust or moved on to the current crop of cars.
Please don’t delude yourself you can pick up a 90’s Japanese sports car for few grand and expect it to be trouble and maintenance free.
Have a look at the Porsche 996-997 Turbo, a well looked after example averages £8k-£10k in upkeep - and these cars are supposedly solid and much younger than the GTO.