Nissan 350Z Buying /Trim Spec / Pricing Advice Required

[Darren156]

Hey guys,

After a long few months of deciding, and viewing and saving some extra cash etc I have finally decided to buy a 350Z within the next few months. I wanted to get an E46 M3 but in all honesty trying to find one that was A) Within budget and B) Hadn't been absolutely hammered to within an inch of its life turned out to be impossible.

From what I can tell, the car I want would be a 2004-2005 UK Spec GT Model. Can anybody actually list what the GT should come with, and how to tell them apart from a bog standard edition? From what I can tell full leather, Bose system, heated seats, Rays wheels and a few other bits are what defines them.

Also, a few Roadsters have popped up around my budget, is there a reason for this? Do the roofs malfunction etc? And do you lose much handling, speed with the convertible?

Other cars I have looked at are Honda S2000's (Even less room than my current Alfa GTV!), and a Focus RS Mk1 (It's still just a Focus...), so it seems the 350Z beats everything else within budget hands down. Unless there are any cars I'm missing???

General buying advice and help would be much appreciated, anything to watch out for etc. Ideally I want a car with less than 80,000 but is there anything wrong with a 100K+ miles 350Z? Am I better off buying a high mileage example that's had more work done?

Anyway, thanks in advance for any help at all!

[lilwashu]

Your GT spec list is correct. Watch out for slipping clutches and clicking noises at low RPM. Interior is a bit nasty on pre-2006 models. Lots of inflated prices at dealers at the moment.

My first one (Roadster) had to go back because of a broken roof, I wouldn't have another as the quality is dubious and they look rubbish compared to the coupe with the roof up.

[roadman]

Have a look at this recent thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Loads on there as well as http://www.350z-uk.com/index.html

Things to look out for as said above :
Clicking noise on rear axle: cv joint needs re greasing or replacing.....many reports of not being major issue
Creaky noise: rear drop links, just creaky!
Uneven Tyre wear
Bose system intermittent
Rays can corrode
Airbag warning light due to over sensitive seats

Look for service history

Jap engines seem pretty harder. Usual maintenance required

You can read a million reviews, best thing to go out and try , don't buy the first you see (obviously)

[Darren156]

Nice one, cheers guys! Just a quick question, is the bloke selling this one pulling a fast one? Advertised as a GT but has black cloth interior. And In one of the pictures it has red leather, lol. Has he sold bits on the sode???

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=1...

[roadman]

He says : "The seats are black fabric in great condition - I found the leather very uncomfortable. " he may well of changed them


To be honest im personally not a fan

id be a bit weary of this "here is also a little corrosion starting to show on the rear offside arch."

Looks like he has done a fair bit of work to the interior (i think it looks like its been run over my a halfords lorry)

But i do prefer my cars stock

Front of the car is chipped, notices more on his black splitter

what about this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-54-NISSAN-350Z-COUP...


I prefer the leather to the cloth seats - iv done a Uk 500 mile trip and found it comfortable

What price range you looking at?

[Darren156]

Roadman, I wouldn't touch that example with a ten foot barge pole. I'm after a 100% stock example without any modifications. I may be daft but I've seen one with a K&N style induction kit and one with an aftermarket stereo that replaced the BOSE unit, both of these put me right off, I want a car completely standard.

Why anybody would remove red leather and swap it for black cloth is beyond me, unless it was either to make a few bob on the side or the leather got wrecked.

That one you just posted is the type of car I'm after, my savings account has £5000, my Alfa Romeo GTV is worth £1000 on a great day, £500 on a bad day, Plus I can chuck another few hundred or so in. So I'm looking at cars priced around the £6000 marker that give me some room for negotiation. I would rather pay the extra £1000 for an example with half the miles and twice the care put in to it.

Colour wise I'm dodging the plain silver as I've had heaps of BMWs that sort of colour, the gun metal silver looks great like what you just posted. I also love the Azura blue they do. Not a massive fan of the bright orange colour they come in. My GTV is red and I fancy a change, So really that only leaves me with the Gun Metal grey or the blue cars.

[Animal]

Can I suggest that if you're really after a BMW M3 then you save up and get one of those? I had a 350Z for about 18 months and I wish I'd bought an M3! Better build quality, far better performance and much more practical.

If you've got your heart set on a 350Z then it's got to be a GT pack (18" Rays alloys, leather, etc, etc) but check for a clicking rear axle, the Bose CD player skipping (a common problem - mine had had the unit replaced before i bought it) and as per the above.

I traded mine - a '54 plate in orange with (I think) c.60,000 miles on it - in to a Jag main dealer 2 years ago for £c.6k so i certainly wouldn't pay any more than that to get one now. Maybe try to get the 296 BHP version if you can find one in budget?

[Darren156]

Animal said:

Can I suggest that if you're really after a BMW M3 then you save up and get one of those? I had a 350Z for about 18 months and I wish I'd bought an M3! Better build quality, far better performance and much more practical.

If you've got your heart set on a 350Z then it's got to be a GT pack (18" Rays alloys, leather, etc, etc) but check for a clicking rear axle, the Bose CD player skipping (a common problem - mine had had the unit replaced before i bought it) and as per the above.

I traded mine - a '54 plate in orange with (I think) c.60,000 miles on it - in to a Jag main dealer 2 years ago for £c.6k so i certainly wouldn't pay any more than that to get one now. Maybe try to get the 296 BHP version if you can find one in budget?

Thanks for the advice mate, I've started looking at M3's again and early 2001/2002's seem to have hit an all time low at around the £6000 marker. I've had a host of BMW's and have always wanted an E46 M3. I would prefer a 350Z over an E36 M3 in all honesty, but I do love the shape and styling of the E46.

I shan't be buying for about another 4 or 5 months so they may have hit even lower by then.

[mudster]

Darren156 said:

From what I can tell, the car I want would be a 2004-2005 UK Spec GT Model. Can anybody actually list what the GT should come with, and how to tell them apart from a bog standard edition? From what I can tell full leather, Bose system, heated seats, Rays wheels and a few other bits are what defines them.

Rays weren't standard on the GT, although most were specified with them. GT also came with standard cruise control (so has buttons either side of the steering wheel).

All UK cars had the Brembo brakes whilst base model imports don't.

[J4CKO]

Animal said:

Can I suggest that if you're really after a BMW M3 then you save up and get one of those? I had a 350Z for about 18 months and I wish I'd bought an M3! Better build quality, far better performance and much more practical.

If you've got your heart set on a 350Z then it's got to be a GT pack (18" Rays alloys, leather, etc, etc) but check for a clicking rear axle, the Bose CD player skipping (a common problem - mine had had the unit replaced before i bought it) and as per the above.

I traded mine - a '54 plate in orange with (I think) c.60,000 miles on it - in to a Jag main dealer 2 years ago for £c.6k so i certainly wouldn't pay any more than that to get one now. Maybe try to get the 296 BHP version if you can find one in budget?

Better build quality ? apart from the floor splitting, awessome build quality that, the car cracking where the suspension attaches to the body, the BMW has a much nicer interior but the Nissans structure doesnt disintegrate, this was my main reason for avoiding M3's as with my luck I would have bought one with it already underway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvyfSpHpx6A

[teabagger]

J4CKO said:

Better build quality ? apart from the floor splitting, awessome build quality that, the car cracking where the suspension attaches to the body, the BMW has a much nicer interior but the Nissans structure doesnt disintegrate, this was my main reason for avoiding M3's as with my luck I would have bought one with it already underway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvyfSpHpx6A

WOW, ive heard of the m3 floor issue but never thought it would be as bad as that!

I will put up with my slightly iffy sat nav cover in the Z, happy in the knowledge that my rear floor is not being torn out!

[Smitters]

I did list a few pointers for the age of 350Z you're looking at in the Reader's Cars thread, but the 350z-uk forum can be pretty good too, aside from the relentless advertising of forum shops.

I see we're pretty close, so if you want to have a ride in mine and get a sense of what a 135k mile 350Z is like when it's well looked after, drop me a PM and we can sort something out I'm sure.

ETA something of actual use...

Exterior: Corroding wheels, chipping to front bumper, rubs on any corner, uneven tyre wear (check inside edges), creaking from any corner (droplinks) or a knocking from the front with steering angle on (banana arm bushes - common, not huge cash to fix and a good upgrade), check brake disc wear, obviously, but a full set of discs and pads will be over £500 easily.

Interior: Bolster wear on the drivers seat the key area that gets hammered, then the gear knob. CD player may skip. Sub can cut in and out apparently. If an iPod mod has been done, ask some questions about it - it involves hacking at the back of the Bose system. Check the windows auto-drop on door opening. Cabin is normally pretty tight squeak-wise, but there's plenty of road/tyre noise, which can be cut slightly with a tonneau cover, or filling up the boot!

GT Pack is as you've listed, leather, Bose and Rays alloys being the obvious indicators. You may also get the phone connection kit in the rearmost centre cubby, but be aware to make bluetooth work, you need a removable adaptor.

The service history can be quite confusing. As far as I can tell, there's no difference between P2 and P3, so it basically goes P1/P2/P1 in alternate years or on mileage, then you add in brake fluid every two years, coolant and transmission fluids every three and plugs every five.

As a drive, it's very "adjustable", more-so on budget rubber. The throttle is limited in first and second and the TC can seem invasive, but generally, the systems aren't too clumsy. The pedals are quite heavy, as is the gearshift. Obviously, you want to start the car from cold, but bear in mind it helps to let it idle for 30 secs to a minute - this noticeably improves the shifting in the first minute or two of driving. Note this is a factory recommendation, so don't think, like I cynically did, it was an owner trying to mask a problem!

Popular mods are an induction kit or pop charger, remap and plenum spacer, full or partial exhaust system and sport cats. Be aware that major HP gains are hard on this engine and that the airbox side tends to be for show and noise, not actual improvements.

Jez at Horsham Developments (M4, J13+10 mins) is a really knowledgeable chap and if you were looking at a car and needed a quote on some work to understand whether it was worth buying or not, you could call much worse people! That said, calling Nissan themselves for a part price could help negotiate. Needs new cats sir? That'll be £1090.10. Each. There are two. Or roughly one third the value of the vehicle. I asked if they were made of pure platinum. Nissan does not a sense of humour have.

Also, here's Evo's recent buying guide, which is a rehashed version of an older guide, with updated prices. http://www.evo.co.uk/buying/buyingguide/288346/nis...

Edited by Smitters on Tuesday 26th November 11:31

[Martin350]

Just a small point about the servicing;

The difference between P1 and P2 is mostly just an air filter change at P2 (and it's the easiest air filter ever to replace!).

P3 is more involved but I think is only done every 54,000 miles or 5 years and includes spark plugs and, I think, gearbox oil (Molyslip treatment is a popular addition here, many people say it can improve gear shift feel) and differential oil.

It's all fairly easily done yourself if you're ok using a socket set!

[Smitters]

Cool info - be interested to see the service sheet that has that, as that's definitely not what my service book says, and my local Nissan only charge about £30 more for a P3 over a P2. I never got to the point of asking what the difference was as the P2 was so massively over the specialist quote.

So in addition then, the servicing schedule above, which is from my manual, is for a 2005 350Z GT4, so the 296 bhp rev-up engine, not the original 276 engine, and not the new 300+ lump that necessitated a bulge on the bonnet.

So at least my original statement was right - the service history can be quite confusing. Perhaps call Nissan and establish the service intervals for the year of car you go to view in case the seller doesn't have the book.

[Smitters]

roadman said:

Have a look at this recent thread http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Loads on there as well as http://www.350z-uk.com/index.html

Cheers for the link by the way!

[J4CKO]

I am going to service mine myself, nothing scary there, only job I have done so far is replacing the exhaust which was a bit of a pain seeing as the middle section bolts didnt want to let go.

Will do the molyslip in the gearbox when the weather is nice.

Mines only done 34k, would be interested to see how they fare 100k miles later, I get the impression that these are damn tough cars apart form the few minor issues, I havent read of much in the way of catastrophic failure of anything on them, I did read about the engines occasionally suffering if thrashed when running normal unleaded, mine has a diet of Shell V Power, like a small, spoilt dog on that poncy Super expensive Dog food but with the appetite of a Great Dane with worms.

I dont like the concept of a "Service", I think things need to be done on an ongoing basis, rather than an arbitrary day once a year.

[Smitters]

Mine was an motorway ex-commuter, so did something like 22k a year, then came to me, only to do about a third of that. As a result, it looks really surprisingly fresh, unlike your typical minicab from 1998 with moon-miles. I think it's because the dash design was quite modern anyway, though it does suffer from the infection of silver that was so prevalent on fridges, TVs etc. in the mid 2000's. I couldn't agree more on the maintenance not servicing approach, though I'm happier to let Horsham Developments do it because, let's face it, a self-serviced 135ker is not always a sure proposition and being a limited edition, it still has value that's worth preserving.

Though I'm clearly biased, I wouldn't suggest the OP be put off by high miles, if the car's been maintained well. I'd have my car over a 50k car which had never seen a garage every day of the week! Same for any car really. The last car I bought was a mid-90's Audi. One owner, who'd even kept the fuel receipts. Only £900, but not an ounce of concern about it starting each day.

[liner33]

I've just bought a 57 plate HR model with full dealer history, whilst I usually service and maintain my weekend cars myself I will get HDEV to do the basic servicing leaving me to do the extra stuff like brake fluid and spark plugs

As a car gets older it becomes less important to have the history but it makes little sense to me to avoid that stamp in the book.

[Dynamic Turtle]

2005 UK GT owner for two years and I have to say you can buy one of these with confidence. They are pretty much bulletproof and you're simply not going to get any catastrophic porsche style IMS issues with them. You CAN suffer a number of little niggles instead which compound into a meaningful repair bill at the end of the year if you're fussy, but never a £6k hit in one go. The engine block is rock solid, gearbox is "agricultural" and very strong (60-80k miles), no serious chassis issues.

Most important things to check (IMHO) are:

bumper/wing stone chips - not cheap to repsray
Suspension - lots of aluminium bits in there which aren't cheap
Tyres - don't run it on anything other than Bridgestones or Michelins (maybe Vreds). £150-200 a corner
Cooling fans - carbon build up in motors usually cleanable but otherwise £800 odd quid from nissan (£400 independent)

Small things that people blow out of all proportion:

Skipping CDP, Boot struts (£100), airbag light (<£80), clicky axle (should all have been changed under TSB), Driver's side window failing (£200-300), alloy bubbling (£70 each).

Tuning is an option but more for maximising the aural experience rather than adding major BHP - think +10-15bhp if you do airbox/plenum/exhaust/HFC/uprev. Sharpens the car a tad but not night & day given the outlay. Budget £1000-1500 for the above. I would just recommend you get braided clutch & brake lines + racing fluids. Helps keep things tight in summer :-)

FYI nothing against the E46 M3 (I also have an E36 M3 track toy) but it's not as rare, unusual or sonorous as the 350z. And the difference in performance isn't as large as the number suggest. The Zed's party trick is having 274lbft torque - compare that to a 3.4l 996 (259lbft) or 3.2l E46 M3 (269lbft). It really helps in real-world driving.

Absolutely wonderful car, very versatile, very stable in the wet and surprisingly capable on track - just don't buy the manual if you sit in London traffic a lot.

Cheers,
DT

Edited by Dynamic Turtle on Wednesday 27th November 23:39

[Dynamic Turtle]

Sorry - forgot to actually answer your question!

Don't buy anything other than a UK GT Spec car - will be very hard to sell on at a later date.

JDMs don't have brembo calipers - they're great! Also higher insurance etc.

UK non-GTs have cloth seats, no cruise control, no Bose, and worst of all heavy alloys (the Rays are much lighter). Don't buy one!

Engine good for big miles, plenty of stateside owners with 200k+ miles. Oh but make absolutely sure it's been run on 97ron - careful owners should be able to show you a big bag of Vpower forecourt receipts. 95ron can cause knocking and the detonations can destroy the pistons.

DT