Hey everyone, I'm new here and I've been looking into purchasing a 5th Generation Z34. I actually had an 6th Generation SS before, but the motor went and at the time I didn't have money to fix it, so now i'm looking to fill that void with a Gen 5 because I have a weird fascination with the less popular cars.

Now, here is why I'm asking about the 3.4... I found what appears to be the nicest Gen 5 I have personally ever come across. It's a single owner car, it's the right color, it has the little spoiler I like, and the car is rust free. Has a clean history, in fact it even has the service history which in it's 20 years has had no major issues. The only thing that terrifies me is the car is equipped with the dreaded 3.4 DOHC V6. Now, for you professionals who I'm hoping can offer input about if it's worth buying or not.. I don't plan to race this car, nor daily drive it. I plan to have it as a weekend car, drive it only in nice weather, and possibly take on a yearly trip that comes out to about 700 miles round trip. It's a second car. I'd estimate i'd probably put around 5k miles a year on it. I plan to pretty much continue babying it as it's single owner clearly did since he drove it less than 5000 miles a year since he bought it in 1996.

With my plans for the car said, is the 3.4 really something I should be worried about? It seems like most of the people having major issues online bought abused examples, or constantly speed around and further abuse their cars, and I've seen comments on different websites from people who didn't abuse them who claimed their 3.4's gave them no trouble. So what do you more experienced individuals think.. Should I pull the trigger on this beautiful example I've come across, or should I just continue searching for a 98-99 with the 3800 in it?

Thank you greatly for the input!

 

I had the chance to buy one but opted for the 99 model instead. However I know a few folks who had this Car and experience no problems.
I think the biggest thing is to make sure the Timing Belt Is changed before it breaks or stretches and will ruin the engine.
Also if you have an issue with the Alternator I think it needs to be changed from below and its a pain.
Other wise if it's had good care you should be alright. I frequent the U-pull it salvage yards and for the most part I don't see to many in there, most of what I see are abused also besides being wrecked. So good luck with it.
A lot of folks will abuse a Car and wonder why it doesn't last? They don't change the oil like they should and don't do the proper maintenance on all the functional parts. My son in law has a 2000 Monte and my daughter says it's always in the shop. But they drive in the mountain areas of CO and they don't drive it like the manual indicates and this has caused some of the issues and what ever I say means nothing.
It should license reasonable and the insurance cost should be low.

 

drivernumber3's right, that 1996-97 Z34 you're looking at should be just fine for what you want to do with it.
If it were to be your primary or only car (like mine) , then it might be some cause for concern.

I think people who "dread" the DOHC 3.4 simply don't know much about it. Granted, it is kind of an oddball, being GM's first DOHC V-6, and being built up from a regular one-cam pushrod V-6 at that. But the '96-'97 versions were the best-developed ones, at least, and the one you're looking at has been very well cared-for.

So far with my '95, I did have to have the battery and alternator replaced, after replacing most of the power steering system, along with part of the A/C before that, but I knew going in that the car would probably need a few things sooner or later.
The primary problem right now with mine is a sloppy engine tune, and since it's a '95, its on-board diagnostic potential isn't as good as a '96 or later, so there's another advantage for the newer ones.

So if I were you, I'd go for it -- stick with your "Plan A"!

 

I'll start by saying I've got zero experience with that engine.

The one thing that would scare me a bit is availability of parts. As that was the tail end of that engine (and it was already the more rare engine of the two options), junkyards probably won't have a lot of support as the cars are very old at this point. With the 3800, they were built in much greater volume and much more recently so they're all over junkyards, and parts are readily available at parts stores.

Just thinking of the junkyards I've been to locally there are literally 30+ in every junkyard, probably hundreds locally. 3.4 dohc- you could probably count them on one hand total.

Not being a DD helps though, and if it was really well taken care of, you wouldn't think it would need a ton of parts to keep it alive.