Advice for parents on buying a used sports coupe.

Abyss said:
Nice cars the 350Z. A great car that outperforms and outhandles its main competitor the TT. £13k is going to buy a fairly early model though which I believe had a poorly constructed interior compared to later models.

I went for the TT due to the better fuel economy, useable boot space and quality of construction (and looks imo :p)
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You would be suprised... I'm not sure what you are basing this on?

The build quality is pretty much identical (solid) throughout the facelifts, just varies on how many cubby holes and the position of hazards etc.

In an ideal world, aim for a UK GT, the JDM's are limited speedwise, more expensive on insurance and the spec isn't quite the same as the UK version. The UK GT includes many luxaries, such as heated leather electric seats, zenons, Brembo brake setup, BOSE sound system (which has a skipping CD issue), decent rays alloys among other bits.

The 350z-uk forum has some really good buys, as nobody advertises at market rate, always good buys on there that are well looked after.

£13,000 will see you with one of three options:

1.) 03-05 plate with 276bhp engine (more torque - better in cruise control, less bhp) and the GT package

2.) GT4 (176 made) - (same as my car) 276bhp engine with 20bhp tuning and revised engine components, so puts out roughly 300bhp and the rev limit is set at a higher 7000rpm for a lovely V6 howl. It also has the full GT package and some bits from the 06 plate facelight (gear change light indicator etc), cheaper tax with facelift bits!

3. ) A facelift 06 plate. 06 plate gets you the revised interior, LED rear lights, better zenons, 296bhp engine (less torque, but more bhp and more responsive/free revving)

The advantage of a pre 2006 is the tax, as it won't go above the max which is £225 (iirc), whereas the 2006 march+ will see you into £400+

Servicing is cheap and there isn't a cambelt to worry about (chain). My big service was £310.

I like to think that there is no alternative for the money, as I spent a large amount of time test driving and weighing up the options. It was very close between the Z4 3.0i and the 350Z. I haven't regretted my decision, but I think I fancy a Z4M one day....
 
point is though, is that the pre facelifts arent any worse than the facelifts.

not that he's making an claims that the build quality on his datsun is any better than you beloved bavarian ;)
 
you probably want the VQ35DEhr engine, not the standard VQ35...

note that the engine has a tendancy to burn oil which is problematic.

just google

VQ35 oil prob

you'll see soon enough. i dont know what the cost of a new engine is but i would have thought 3k+ off the top of my head!!
 
The oil consumption only affects the "rev up" 06 engines, due to the design of the parts used and is evident in the plenum chamber. Something which you will not really be able to spot until you have used it for a few weeks/months. I think this involves changing oil every 3000 miles, but as I said...only effects the rev up (which is borderline in budget).
 
hm i thought that all pre HR engines suffered from even worse problems...

if you look through google at people with VQ35DEs and oil consumption they stretch back as far as at least 2002, so well before the HR version even went into production.
 
Nickg said:
hm i thought that all pre HR engines suffered from even worse problems...

if you look through google at people with VQ35DEs and oil consumption they stretch back as far as at least 2002, so well before the HR version even went into production.
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Nope, I stand by what I said. Pretty sure you will find that they are pretty sound.

Put it this way, I have only seen/heard of one person with an oil burner (06 plate too) on my forum over the passed 6 months. :) I will stick a thread up on there tonight and see what the guys think.


EDIT:
Upon a quick search, http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=14177&p=198460&hilit=+oil+consumption#p198460

Fingers point at a small portion of the 06 plates consuming oil.
 
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Well, I woke up to hear the car being washed and vacuumed. Parents then say they're "Going for a drive". I over hear them saying Nottingham earlier in the day, which is a bit of an extreme drive, for a drive...

They say they're "Looking around" - I say I think they'll have it by the time I finish work at 4pm. We'll see.
 
They bought it, collecting it next weekend.

Looks tame compared to the original ones they looked at, but still - it's a nice car.
 
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Nice car. More becoming of older folk than that in the OP too, so your dad won't look too 'midlife crisis'!

What's with the notch on the driver's side inboard seat bolster?
 
danza said:
What's with the notch on the driver's side inboard seat bolster?
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Are you talking about the bit to the left of where the drivers left leg would go?

If so, the electric movement controls are there :)


Nice car, exhaust looks very shiny...reminds me to buy some autosol and wirewool :D
 
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