Siman350z

Apologies, I did search but clearly not that well

I'm off there tomorrow! Doing a full day (9-5) in the 350z. Can't wait! Will check back later for any comments or things I should watch out for I've done www.carlimits.com day before and it was fantastic- more about car control, progressive slides than drifting but very informative.

They are very reliable cars all in all, check you're happy with the clutch and the gearbox as they can be pricey and do go after a while. Also check out 'banana arms' on here (front suspension part). Also, use the radio/ cd and check all the speakers work (inc the sub) as these can be a few £100 to put right if you're keeping it standard. Easy to forget this on a test drive and annoying once you've bought it! Overall, as these cars are often owned by enthsiasts, wait until you find an immacculate one by someone who's looked after it well (they are out there!)

When people ask "What should I look out for when buying a Z?" I think the number one response should now be: "Check it has 4 wheels!" No, sorry, run away, fast! The chassis/ bent stuff under that lot leaves a lot to be desired. Those wheels would have hit whatever they hit VERY hard to do that.

Borrowing a 350z from www.therealgrantourismo.com for a full days drifting tomorrow at Brands Hatch! Saw a review in EVO some time ago and looked great- especially as they get you in a Z. Anyone else been before? They also do uk/ europe driving trips etc. Absolutely can't wait, will report back on how it goes.

Thanks guys....best place to get falkens 452 in the south? Have them on the rear and awful vredestein on the front- understeer city and they're worn anyway. Certainly teaches you how to drive to eliminate understeer! Going to replace with falkens all over as the rears are really very good in all weathers (bar snow). Also, my tyres were up at 38psi- I believe this was a garage that put them up that high. I've now lowered them to 35 and the increase in grip- especially with all this rain is amazing. Shocking what 3psi will do!

You say they aren't that great but they are by far the best tyre out of eagle f1s, RE040 and FK452 that i've had so far. They may not be as good as the supersport but in many cases i think they outperform the chassis of the Z. I'll have a look into the VUS though, just don't want to spend a load of cash and be dissapointed eagle f1 gsd3's are probably my favourite tyre so far.. It really depends on how you're judging the tyre. I know Ekona and myself usually think about how it handles the driving on track and very enthusiastic driving. Whereas others may think of it in terms of normal daily driving. I've had the eagle F1s in the past on my 306 rallye, and randomly on my exige as a road tyre (the yokos were leathal in anything other than bone dry). Can you still buy them though- I thought they'd been replaced by 'assymetrics'? If you can still get them, any idea where for the Z's size?

That is INSANE money for an instructor! I've had one several times and they were ~£20 an hour. The last one I had actually won several BTTC series in the car I was driving! So were no amateurs (snetterton track). There's no reason to worry, drive within your limits and gradually your confidence will increase during the day. Just do it The car limits day I did in my exige and can thoroughly reccommend (£200 each with 3 other people, all day instruction with Andy Walsh who is current racer/ ex F1 renault test driver etc. It is fair to say he is a legend in the driver training world). Tyres will take a beating though so take the car when the tyres are towards the end of their life.

I use megs clay bar and my detailing obsessed brother does the same. Certainly need a thorough wash before and I usually then dry, apply auto glym tar remover to worst affected areas (near wheel arches etc) which takes a lot of the tar spots off easily and cheaply. Then sponge/ rinse these areas and re dry. Clay the whole car one panel at a time with the spray they privide, although I find it runs out easily and any 'quick detailer' spray will do the job with the clay fine- it just needs to wet the surface. After claying the paint surface is essentially 'naked' with all dirt/ residue/ previous wax etc removed so I move straight onto waxing- often giving two coats as you're coming up from this 'bare' state. Two thumbs up for Mer's HYBRID wax after the claybar (which I do every few months). It's only about £20 a bottle and is the best wax i've used so far. It claims to last for six months although any longer than a month in winter is appreciated! This winter, despite all that the paint gets thrown at it, after a basic wash it's gone back to a gleaming shine every time

Glad they look good, I'll let you know how I get on with mine. I work with led's for my job (research) and they should last many, many years (unlike conventional tungsten) so there's hope that someone shd be selling the right bulb. Also, with a specific company, if they blow this time we should be able to get a replacement/ refund. Poor show though on the ebay guys who get good feedback 2 days after fitting when they then blow a week later but can then sell 1000's. Fingers crossed!

Type 'Tempory car cover' into google and sites like https://www.tempcover.com etc come up which are good for 1 day, although my own insurers (elephant) will do 1 weeks cover usually for around the same amount so could try your own? I tend to feel more confident in my own insurers to cover any issues should anything happen too.

Just thought i'd post this up as I know quite a few people on here change their bulbs to LED as one of the first basics mods to the car and might be having the same issues.. I recently bought these ebay cheapo items from ebay to replace my regular number plate bulbs: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NISSAN-350Z-2003-6-LED-WHITE-NUMBER-PLATE-BULBS-/230340228158?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35a158f43e They looked awesome but have blown within a month, in fact it was so quick I was ready to get the fuses out! But it turns out new bulbs are fine. After a bit of research on several car forums it seems this is really common. It turns out a lot of these cheap eBay LED units are 12V rated, when in fact the voltage of the car's battery is more like ~14v when the car is running and the alternator charging the battery (indeed this is what my volt meter on the dash says too) thus blowing the LEDs after a short time. What is required is a higher rated bulb like this (which i've just ordered): http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/501194t10-mini-light-tower-leds-xenon-white-p-2391.html They're only a couple of quid more and will update this thread if they last like they apparantly should do.

I had this once on my old 306 at a car show (santa pod of all places) and was seriously peeved. Tried getting it off there and then and it scratched the paint- make sure it's soaked before trying to get it off and don't rub it!

I'm with Elephant and they're consistently the cheapest (306 rallye/ lotus exige/ bmw 330/ 350z). Excellent customer service and great with any claims. They are the same conpany as admiral but they often come out cheaper for some mad computer-based reason! Ok-ish with mods as long as it's not more than 3 (if I remember correctly) although check as this may have changed.

Please...go and drive one Awful, AWFUL cars. I had an E46 330ci m-sport. Mine was mint looking with FBMWSH and I looked for a while before buying it. It consistently went wrong (~£3k garage bills in 2 years) depreciated like hell (£3.5k in 2 years even though it was bought private), steering is very poor with a complete lack of feel (spent a fortune trying to correct it- wheel has about 1" of play in it), throttle is an early digital form on the E46 and has a considerable delay- put your foot down, wait, wait, wait, there it is! The M3 is an excellent car and has the required oomph the 330 never feels it has, but then you have to add a 0 to all the costs of the things that go wrong. Amazingly solid feel to it and great interior, as well as a great engine but I wouldn't own another if someone paid me!

The car is streets ahead of the BMW I had (admittedly E46) and never liked the blending in appeal despite it being a great looking car. Also....lets just say it's a different sort of person who comments on liking the BMW

Glad you're enjoying the car- i've only had mine a while and absolutely loving it! I'd agree with the others about the variety of quality on offer from chips away as well as the others. I certainly wouldn't go on price alone to indicate how good they'll be. Best thing is to find someone who's had similar work done near you and check it out- if there's was good then you know a bit more about what you're getting then

Well, it's about 6 months in to my 350z ownership and what a fantastic car. After lusting after one for many years finally getting my hands on one has been one of my best car-decisions. Previous cars were track-prepped 306 rallye (after several 306's)/ lotus exige/ BMW 330ci m-sport and I can say with certainty that none of those put quite so much of a grin on my face as much as this does I'll admit the nismo bits really do put the finishing touches to a cracking peice of kit. The power, torque and all round drivability are just superb. I love the looks of the car and whenever it's parked it keeps getting people coming up to look round it! Even this morning after parking up there was a chap with a walkie talkie who looked like he was from security looking round the car for ages, I went back convinced there was an issue with where i'd parked but he just said "Sorry, you're fine there- was just admiring the car!" had a great chat and nice to see that sort of appreciation Anyone else had comments etc?

Apparantly quite a common issue on the 350z, you press the fuel filler cap open button and it needs several presses to open or worst case scenario, won't open at all. You seem to be able to grease the 'spring' (a small peice of metal you can clearly see when you open the flap) but this doesn't work most of the time and certainly won't last. Did it tonight, for £10 of parts ordered from Nissan and this: http://www.myzroadster.com/Files/tsbs/04_Tsbs/NTB04-059.htm Fixed it in 10mins. It's an extremely easy DIY, only 2 screws needed to undo and replace! Stupidly minor issue which can be such a PIA, very satisfying to sort it...Happy days

Great start! Makes me feel lazy Where did you get the different bits from? There's some there i'd be keen on- the ariel, wipers, led no.plate lights and gear knob...

Good point- I think i'll have a look at Japex too, they're not too far. The rolling down a hill start is meant to damage the cat. My car isn't parked near a plug most of the time so no idea how I could trickle charge it (unless there's a portable one?). I tried the yellow portable jump starter first off and it wasn't powerful enough (they seem to be recommended up to 2.0L anyway) so had to take the power from another car.

Did this end up on ebay or is it still available?...

Yep- this is what i'm worried about I've checked all the fuses and they're fine. Frustratingly they should blow if there's a spike (thats part of the reason they're put there in the first place!) but I guess damage could still occur. Additionally, Nissan state specifically how to jump start the guide in the manual (which I followed)- if it 'can' damage the car then it shouldn't be in there, or at least there should be a warning. Gone are they days you pushed the car down a hill in gear and lifted the clutch! Ahh....

Anyone? I'm going to double check the fuses tonight but if not, looks like it's dealer time with their £100/hr "diagnosis" charge Simon

If you think a 350z is expensive to run though, you should try the 911 porsche! My brothers boxster S was ridiculous money to maintain and god forbid anything went wrong. Buying an ancient leggy one really isn't clever For the OP, if you can afford 8k in a couple of months then wait- the cars will only get cheaper whereas if you jump at buying a dog, you're wallets only going to hurt later As far as buying from a dealer, it's your call but i've never had a good car from a dealer whereas private you've got some cash left over for any bits you do need doing. At that price a dealer will have had it p/x (sellers p/xing rarely look after their cars as well- or they can't sell/ afraid to sell private) or they've bought it at auction (where you really can feast on some horror stories). The warrenties they tend to sell are worth very little when it comes to actually claiming- they aren't like the warrenties you get with a new car/ product (been there and done it!). Take your time and find one that's immacculate for the money you want. Cars of this engine size/ spec are difficult to sell at the moment so you shouldn't find it difficult to push a few sellers on the price if you need to.