Best deal on. Minelab GPZ7000 or secondhand?

Ok folks I've done the home work, see all the views of a number sites and decided to go straight to the GPZ7000
Now the question, where is the best deal going at the moment? And will there be a Christmas special?
I have seen two second hand ones, one for $8500 and other for $8400 with a bit of extra kit.
How safe is it to get a second hand GPZ? I do have a serial number on one of them. Other says he has a receipt from dealer.
Advise and guidance is greatly appreciated.
I want to buy now to get use to it and learn the tricks before I head up outback way for a project around Sandstone for a few months,
So I will have spare time to hunt for gold then
Cheers
Tony

If someone has the dinky di receipts to prove it's not a fake, ya half way home.
In the early days, some of the machines were faulty. See if you can test it before buying.
As for price, it depends on the condition of the machine but I reckon $8,000 for used, should be top dollar. That's just my personal opinion.
But, if you want to spend big, buy a 5000 new. The 7000 hasn't proved itself against a 5000. once again, just my opinion.

Thanks Bignuggs
As a newbie I'm still very much reliant on you guys for direction. Areas I'm going to be in over the next year or so is from Sandstone up past Que and around Yalgoo and Mt Magnet. We have jobs in those areas so I have then time to procspect in the mornings.
I may just talk to the local agent for Minelab next week as well Ans see what deal he will do on a new GPX 5000 then. Also what coils would you add?
Cheers
Tony

Tony Gold, you are heading in the right direction and if you have a look at a couple of my previous posts, I have mentioned a couple of spots around Cue. I went there to do a 2 year Heap Leach for Son's Of Gwalia at Day Dawn and stayed 9 years.
Good luck mate.

Tony, the price for the GPZ 7000 is fixed by Minelab at $9499. Dealers can sweeten the deal by adding extras such as control box covers etc. Some early GPZ's gave trouble but these got sorted pretty quickly, however coil issues were harder to trouble shoot and could be a carry over.

Give us a call if your chasing advice.

Jonathan Porter
The Outback Prospector
07 4983 3856

JP

hi Tony,
there is a gpz for sale in today's west Australian 12 months old $7800, but it is in Geraldton, they also have a sdc unused but 12 months old for $3600 ono which is virtually new price. if you go the 5k give these new flat wound coils a go, either the coiltek elite or nf evolution.
all the best which ever way you go.
cheers
jase

Thanks guys for the advice.
I will be making a decision on Monday or Tuesday,
I'm leaning more and more back to a GPX 5000 now with a 14 inch round Coiltek mono Elite and a 12 inch Nugget Finder Evo. Maybe one more bigger 17 or 19 inch coil, but that's ne I'm going to need more advice on. My budget is around $8-9k mark.

That will work out about the same price range as second hand GPZ
Cheers
Tony

I guess you have probably made your decision by now but anyway, I'll put my two bobs worth in.

The GPZ has proven it will do all the 5000 will do, and a lot of what the SDC2300 will as well.  Some say the jury is still out on bigger deeper gold but what you need to take into consideration, is the occurence of bigger gold.  Most gold found is in the top 100 -150mm and larger nuggets, both shallow and deep, are a rarity.

From what I've seen of the GPZ, in the hands of competent operators, the evidence is starting to add up.  There never was going to be a huge rush of large deep nuggets found, purely because of their rarity, but it is becoming more and more apparent that if they are there, the GPZ is the best bet to find them.

I'm a 4500 owner so I have no personal issue I'm trying to push here, just  saying what I have seen.

I've not been on here for well over a year now ‘cos I’m just too busy with other stuff – ask Cliff. But I do have experience of both the 7000 and the 5000 and the 4500 over a long period and in total, I have 30 something years using all Minelab machines since 1983. I've also used my 7000 and observed others for nigh on since the 7000 first came out. See below for the full story but the final wash up is:

The 7000 beats the 5000 hands down. The 5000 with a 14 flat wound coil on is about 85% to 90% of a 7000. The 7000 will miss minute gold that an SDC will hear. The new 7000s are all fixed. The 7000 dodgy coils are all fixed or binned. There may be a few of the early 7000s still knocking around that are defective because their owners don't know any different. The 5000 on new ground is still a very capable machine.


My story? JP knows the story, he knows me and as do Minelab – I very much doubt we are mates in anyway, but that’s another story. I've owned two 7000s. The first one was a dead set "lemon". It was unuseable - FULL STOP. I sold it and the buyer knew what he was getting 'cos I told him. But he still bought it – his problem, not mine. In hindsight and cut a long story short, I reckon it was the coil that was faulty but ML never asked to check it ‘cos at the time nobody suspected faulty coils to be the problem. I am actually stunned to read the post above from JP as that is the first time I have ever heard anyone admit that any coils were faulty. Thanks JP. You will restore my faith eventually.

Following all that, I worked a 5000 with 14 inch flat wound for over a year. Part of that year I had a great opportunity to observe all ten of my tour customers over a ten day period on a legendary gold patch 90 kms north of Leonora. It became blindingly obvious that the 7000s were yards ahead of the 5000s in gold take. I spent little time detecting and a lot of time watching.
After that display I bought a replacement 7000. The difference between the first 7000 and this second one is that of a defective 1995 Hyundai Excel and 2016 Ferrari. Chalk & cheese.

I am so confident in this new 7000, after a year of saying the 7000’s were crap, that my 4500, my 5000 and all 12 GP series coils are for sale. I only need one machine – a GPZ7000,,,,,and an SDC for my wife. In spite of him owning a 5000, my mate on the patch uses my 7000 every chance he gets. He even goes out at night with it after I’m asleep he loves it that much! I paid for my second 7000 in a week. The first one found about 5 grammes of gold in 2 months!! My wife outgunned me 30 times over just using a 5000 with 9 by 11 Platypus coil.

The 7000 is a handful. It's a complex beast to get the best out of it. It's heavy but the SwingPro harness and the push-stick takes most of that away. It can be a bugger to pinpoint and there is knack to it. You will get used to it

That’s my take on the 7000 – if you have the money, buy one. You won’t be sorry. I am a convert and Jesus now loves me.

Wedgie.

Yes Wedgetail, couldn't we have all benefited from hind-site back then? I gave you honest advice that at the time I believed to be true and correct. I'm glad that your now enjoying the benefits of the GPZ 7000 and no longer thinking it's a lemon.

JP

BTW When I was trouble shooting your issues I was out bush at the time and had to drive 15 KLM's to get to a hill so I could get phone reception to give you a call.

Weeeel, Blow Me Olive,.....the Bilby has turned into a Wedgetail....flash as a rat with a gold tooth with his new 7000!.....
You said you only need one detector Les...er I mean Wedgie...is that one detector with 2 coils??.....or just one coil?..
Do you still take paying customers to 'that place'....?....I may become one in future if you can stand my poisonality mate...
Glad to hear you're now satisfied with the 7000 after all you went through...a successful Prospector here in Bendigo had his Z 19" coil replaced almost immediately after he found it defective soon after release.....with no fanfare....
so the duds may not just be with the 14" as it appears was your problem..after Minelab could not fix your Z...and the culprit coil remained in W.A...how ironic is that with all your wasted detecting efforts....Hoo Roo

I have been trying to make a post here for a few hours now. They keep disappearing .

I spent a big part of the season trying to get the Z to run soother/quieter. I thought it was operator error as I had spoken to a couple of minelab reps and didn't get much help. But after reading your comments about the coil I may have to seek further advice. I will be heading up through Qld in a few months, is it possible for you to take a look Jonathan?

regards
Craig

Craig, are you clicking on the send button or the back button on your browser ?

I think I have sorted it. I don't know what windows 10 update changed a few things but it would appear that it doesn't like firefox. I will see how it goes. But it was only on this forum that I couldn't post responses.

Thanks mate, I hope you had a good day yesterday.

Craig

larry303 wrote:Weeeel, Blow Me Olive,.....the Bilby has turned into a Wedgetail....flash as a rat with a gold tooth with his new 7000!.....
You said you only need one detector Les...er I mean Wedgie...is that one detector with 2 coils??.....or just one coil?..
Do you still take paying customers to 'that place'....?....I may become one in future if you can stand my poisonality mate...
Glad to hear you're now satisfied with the 7000 after all you went through...a successful Prospector here in Bendigo had his Z 19" coil replaced almost immediately after he found it defective soon after release.....with no fanfare....
so the duds may not just be with the 14" as it appears was your problem..after Minelab could not fix your Z...and the culprit coil remained in W.A...how ironic is that with all your wasted detecting efforts....Hoo Roo

Larry,

Nice to hear from you again. That 1st 7000 drove me to the edge of insanity. I was doing EVERYTHING that people were telling me and I mean everything,,,,,,,,,,and all it would do was "hee haw, hee haw, hee haw, hee haw" all day and every day. I couldn't get to sleep due to that damn noise. In some respects I'll never forgive ML for what happened. I lost all confidence in my prospecting ability and my luck, I lost money, lost months, lost mates etc. It became so bad that, and you will not believe this,,,,,,,,,,,BUT,,,,,

I AM OVER GOLD!! It's damaging. I go out there to "that place", I do the paperwork for 'em, I drive the dozer, I do some cooking, I have a few beers, I weld stuff, I fix engines, I collect firewood, I go for the supplies/fuel,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and on the odd occasion, about every two days or so, I swing that 7000 for just a couple of hours. That first 7000 and the way I was ridiculed over it has p*ssed me off so much I can't be arsed being enthusiastic about detecting any more.

Now, isn't that a strange reaction to have on one of the best alluvial patches in WA? But that's the way it is.

But I still have better things to do, being in the position in which I now find myself. So you could say that "I'm still in there swinging",,,,so to speak, if you get my drift,,,,,,,,,,?? Someone's gotta do it eh!

I have only the one coil but I reckon I'll buy the bigger one so my mate, who's mustard keen, can swing it. Like I say, I'm over it. We need to check out the main creek as the gravel goes deeper and deeper to the north, right along the shear line. Google "geology boudin" and "slickenside" for a clue

If anyone wants a 4500 or a 5000 with choices of all 12 coils, mine are all for sale. I just wanna get rid of 'em.

Wedgie that's the most honest and convincing report I've seen on the GPZ7000. I use the 4500 with the 14" Mono Elite and even though I would have liked to change up to the 7000 nothing I've read could convince me that it would actually be a significant upgrade.

I've been out with my son's father-in-law swinging his 7000 in good gold ground but he never found a thing until I found one and called him over and said "Swing over this area and you're sure to pick something up". Still he never got it until I pointed out the exact spot. He's new to the game so not too much to go on but now I realise he bought the machine early and just never used it much. I think he has a dud, two pieces of gold in about three years including the bit I found.



Now comes the tough part. I need to pry enough gold out of those hands to carry out the transaction and I'm not sure that I can

Jonathan Porter wrote:Yes Wedgetail, couldn't we have all benefited from hind-site back then? I gave you honest advice that at the time I believed to be true and correct. I'm glad that your now enjoying the benefits of the GPZ 7000 and no longer thinking it's a lemon.

JP

BTW When I was trouble shooting your issues I was out bush at the time and had to drive 15 KLM's to get to a hill so I could get phone reception to give you a call.

Johnathan,

ML are still not on my Christmas Card list over this. Not just because of what happened to me but because of what happened to many others. It was bad, really bad and not a skerrick of contrition from ML. ML make the best detector in the world but they have a lot to learn about "manners".

Like you, I was out in the bush when you called - about 40 kms north of Leonora at the time. Fortunately, I did have coverage. You tried your best without actually being there with the machine in your hands. Thanks for trying.

Moneybox,

If your mate is only finding such a small amount of gold with a 7000 then he has a dud on his hands. Send it and the coil back to ML.

A good (not defective) 7000 will find gold without all the messing around with switches and settings etc that people go on about. Like any other detector in the past, it will find 90% of any gold that's detectable with a given machine with just the Factory Presets. The other 10% of settings are for those quirky situations as well as pushing the machine to the extreme limit of its ability. I rarely touch my settings and we find gold with it regularly. It's not a settings thing, it's a dud 7000 and if it was an "early" machine it's more likely to be dud. Make sure you send the coil back as well.

In saying this, I have an advantage in that having found a patch, I then push the ground and then detect it. So the disadvantage of "lack of depth" and hence a poor or confusing signal is not an issue for me. Because I scrape about 100 to 150 mnn off at a time I can hear the signals far better than I could from the original surface. So I can compare what I found at the top with what I'm finding (or not finding) as I go deeper. My conclusion? The 7000 doesn't miss much at all. Next conclusion, gold doesn't run as deep as people like to believe - in most cases. Kalgoorlie is one exception that I know of.

So if he isn't getting as much as a 5000 then I reckon the machine is defective. That comparison of your where you had him listen to a 5000 signal & he couldn't hear it was exactly what happened to me, albeit it was an SDC 2300 that did it to me. It was then I threw the towel in and sold the 7000 before I shot the bloody thing! It was like heaven when that weight was taken off my shoulders. I was glad to see the back of it.

The repair mob in ML must be real Brain Trusts Les...you sent in the 7000 more than once to ML....they put THEIR coil on it and reckon its working O.K and send it back......Duuurh......at what point would it take someone who actually cared what was happening to you, stuck in W.A. without use of your new $10,500 'Investment', to ask you to send in YOUR coil with it on the second occasion....

The initial release of the 7000 , with ML not acknowledging their were problems with all the Forum chatter suggesting otherwise..or almost all, apart from those who are vested ML interests... ...and then issuing the Ferret and white paper etc..after release...does not reflect favourably on the new ML...what was is not necessarily now....

The next release should be a real rush to be first to buy..not!.....

This Forum and Finders, will be very interested in your honest results with the Z with the Z19" coil when you get it.....
I suggest Reg Wilsons opinion and yours are now the only ones to take notice of....not talking through your wallets...
Good luck.
Hoo Roo

Jack-Tar wrote:I have been trying to make a post here for a few hours now. They keep disappearing .

I spent a big part of the season trying to get the Z to run soother/quieter. I thought it was operator error as I had spoken to a couple of minelab reps and didn't get much help. But after reading your comments about the coil I may have to seek further advice. I will be heading up through Qld in a few months, is it possible for you to take a look Jonathan?

regards
Craig

Happy to Craig. Have put link to our store location below so you can find us when you come through.

OBP shop location

larry303 wrote:The repair mob in ML must be real Brain Trusts Les...you sent in the 7000 more than once to ML....they put THEIR coil on it and reckon its working O.K and send it back......Duuurh......at what point would it take someone who actually cared what was happening to you, stuck in W.A. without use of your new $10,500 'Investment', to ask you to send in YOUR coil with it on the second occasion....

The initial release of the 7000 , with ML not acknowledging their were problems with all the Forum chatter suggesting otherwise..or almost all, apart from those who are vested ML interests... ...and then issuing the Ferret and white paper etc..after release...does not reflect favourably on the new ML...what was is not necessarily now....

The next release should be a real rush to be first to buy..not!.....

This Forum and Finders, will be very interested in your honest results with the Z with the Z19" coil when you get it.....
I suggest Reg Wilsons opinion and yours are now the only ones to take notice of....not talking through your wallets...
Good luck.
Hoo Roo

What a load of codswhallop Larry!!! But hey you got me because I have a vested interest in selling metal detectors so my opinion is mute! You on the other hand most probably will never have any interest in owning a GPZ but make more noise than all the owners combined, your a mischief maker Larry plain and simple!!!

There was no need for Minelab to acknowledge problems because the problems were not that wide spread, but you only ever hear about the lemons never about the ones that are functioning perfectly fine, and quite often in my experience a lot of the whining and complaining is operator error!!! Yes there were a few early units that had coil issues which were quickly rectified, I have no idea if Les's detector was one of those because I never saw it. I suggest Les get in contact with the person he sold it to and ask them the question instead of constantly making noises about it all over the net!! To this day we still do not know what was actually wrong with Les's detector, only all the forum gossip perpetuated by trouble makers like you Larry!!

JP

Thanks Jonathan, I will see you in a couple of months.

Craig

Johnathon, I shared Les's/Wedgies angst when he made many private messages to me whilst he went through the whole 7000 saga..
Do you believe that a prudent repair shop could have asked for his coil in addition after they said it was working and he was still experiencing problems as above.
As a dealer you can call it all cadswallop if a similar problem presents itself again, I call it customer care....
If I'm a trouble maker because I cared about a mates problems he shared with me then I'm satisfied.
I have never described/slagged you in similar terms but anyone that questions the Great JP can expect your bully boy tactics...like you did on Reg Wilson as well, who is another prospector I respect.....both Reg and Les have more detecting experience combined than you will ever have, so don't get carried away with your own self importance...

A culture of being in denial and not acknowledgeing problems will not fix a problem....
Les has now acknowledged he has a good functional 7000 as his new machine which is very fair and impartial....
You represent ML on a number of levels including as a Dealer and your heavy handed crapp is no longer acceptable in any successful business..

Unlike some I don't seek your favor and am never likely to.....I don't really care what you label/slag me, as I pay respect to those that give respect in return.....by all means retaliate with a reply however don't patronise me with more of your too clever by half "spin"..Hoo Roo

larry303 wrote:Jonathan, I shared Les's/Wedgies angst when he made many private messages to me whilst he went through the whole 7000 saga..
Do you believe that a prudent repair shop could have asked for his coil in addition after they said it was working and he was still experiencing problems as above.
As a dealer you can call it all cadswallop if a similar problem presents itself again, I call it customer care....
If I'm a trouble maker because I cared about a mates problems he shared with me then I'm satisfied.
I have never described/slagged you in similar terms but anyone that questions the Great JP can expect your bully boy tactics...like you did on Reg Wilson as well, who is another prospector I respect.....both Reg and Les have more detecting experience combined than you will ever have, so don't get carried away with your own self importance...

A culture of being in denial and not acknowledgeing problems will not fix a problem....
Les has now acknowledged he has a good functional 7000 as his new machine which is very fair and impartial....
You represent ML on a number of levels including as a Dealer and your heavy handed crapp is no longer acceptable in any successful business..

Unlike some I don't seek your favor and am never likely to.....I don't really care what you label/slag me, as I pay respect to those that give respect in return.....by all means retaliate with a reply however don't patronise me with more of your  too clever by half "spin"..Hoo Roo

Larry, to this day there is still no conclusive proof there was actually a problem with Les's coil. I was involved with the trouble shooting remember, so spoke with Minelab personnel and also his dealer at length about this detector, so all your vitriolic comments are based on an assumption. I go to great lengths to give good customer care in our Minelab dealership which BTW didn't even exist when I was trying to help Les.

Combining Les and Reg in the same sentence is just a feeble attempt to discredit me by trying to play into anti Minelab sentiment, for instance you have no involvement with either of the Minelab products these two gentlemen were using yet are prepared to repeat hearsay and gossip trying to make it fact. This is not spin this is facts.

Just for the record I'm not trying to say there was never anything wrong with Les's detector or coil, there might have been, but nothing has surfaced from the individual he sold it to, so until Les touches base with them this whole saga is a mute point other than the constant repeating of it with additions and assumptions.

JP

Here's a pic of a 26 gram "colour" I found Christmas eve with the GPZ 19 "Dog" coil.

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For Larry and JP's benefit, both of whom must have seen and read it, here's a extracted quote from an explanatory note I made on Finders Forum regarding the guy that bought my initial 7000:

"However, I did sell the 1st 7000 to a mate of a mate in Leonora Van Park last year and "struggled on" with my 5000 and an Elite coil and a heavier wallet. I did the righty and told the buyer that I reckoned the machine was a dog, it had been back to ML and they reckoned it was all good. So he knew what he was buying but it didn't deter him. He wanted that 7000 and who am I to not take his money after telling him the truth.

Late this year I bumped into that mate that bought that 1st 7000. He still had my old machine and reckoned it still hadn't paid for itself and probably never will. I wasn't surprised but he was OK about it and still happy. By then I'd bought and used the second one and it paid for itself within a few days. I told him that by email a few weeks later. He's still not bothered."

So there you have it. Now we have two operators that "couldn't use" the 7000 in question. I'll leave it up to the audience who they think is right and who they think is wrong. I'll leave it up to the audience whether they think it's operator error or defective coil/machine.

All I can say is that my second 7000 is "all good". The first one was a lemon.

However, let's not digress into whether the new 19" coil is a dog. (Subtle with pictures, nice bait but the fish aren't biting JP ). Similarly, let's not wander off into what Reg Wilson reckons of that new coil. No opinion from me on those as I haven't bought one yet. But, staying on topic for Tony, my advice is Do Not Buy a Secondhand 7000, if it's an older serial number. It COULD BE another lemon as there were more of those than you would expect. At least I told my buyer what he was getting and it was covered by a Minelab report that said that 7000 was "all good". Nobody will ever know what condition the coil is or was in unless my buyer sends it back.

If buying a 5000 just get yerself one of the NF or Coiltek, flat wound coils. They are bloody brilliant, but they'll never make a 5000 into a 7000.