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Another POTENTIAL new 350 owner - preliminary research


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OK so I looked at my first 350Z on Saturday as stated earlier. The vendor may well be reading this so I'll have to be nice ;)

 

Seriously all was good AFAIK - all as expected, although I admit to not having anticipated quite how plasticky the interior is (including the dashboard dials) - I guess I'll have to recalibrate my expectations and remind myself that you don't buy a 350Z for a luxury interior! It drove fine as far as I could tell, although never having driven anything like this, I have no reference point. Car is clearly well looked after, all paperwork in order etc. This is the one with the posh wheels, it is a little beyond the top end of the budget I promised myself but there is I suppose the option of downgrading the wheels, which brings it in line with (or lower than?) some comparable ones. Thought it would take me a while to get over the "fear" of a 3.5l V6 RWD but it took me approximately 2 minutes to deal with that B)

I did find the steering surprisingly heavy compared to most cars I've owned in the last decade or so (including an MG ZTT). Is this a "sports car" thing, where there is less power assistance in order that the driving experience is "more involved"?

 

Anyway my current thinking is "look at a few more almost as a token gesture for the sake of not just buying the first one I see"), and then probably end up buying this one if still available (and if it gets sold while I procrastinate, it's not the end of the world). I almost think that this one is "too good" for me!

 

I know now that I MUST have a GT (I did briefly consider that I don't really need cruise control and that cloth upholstery is perfectly adequate, but just.....no!)

 

Hopefully I'll get a chance to view a few more over the Christmas break.

 

I have a better feel for price now, having looked at a ton of adverts.

 

I like how Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson like the 350Z, and Jeremy Clarkson slated it - seems like a triple endorsement to me :-)

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Yes ignore any Clarkson review good or bad, he doesn't review a car, he says something to create entertainment out of it whether it is true or not.

 

As I said, get yourself a reference point, must be a few local to you to view, go have a look and see what you think,

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Hey boys and girls.

Hopefully tomorrow I get to look at two more (will be a tight schedule but feasible.

 

Just throwing a general question out to the crowd - would you sacrifice colour choice for the sake of (say) 30,000 (or 50%) fewer miles at the same price point? A low mileage one has come up but given that I will probably only add 20,000 miles during my ownership (probably sub 12,000), is mileage that big a deal for me?

 

Most that I am looking at in my budget have 60k - 80k miles on, depending on other factors such as whether they have had improvements made.

 

I still feel like I am going through the motions of "tyre-kicking at dealers for the sake of not just buying the first one I saw"; based on adverts alone, the one I saw on Saturday is very likely to be the one I end up buying (although I've now looked through threads on here and seen some equivalent ones already sold, and I CAN bide my time SHOULD Saturday's one get sold before I make up my mind!)

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Mileage isn't that big a deal if the car has been looked after. I.e. decent service intervals per year or or recommenced mileage, run on super & not regular.

 

Nissan designed the VQ series engines to last up to & beyond 200,000 miles and we've recently seen examples of that up for sale.

 

As always, do your own research - ensure you're happy with the history & mileage before parting ways with your cash.

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What G said is true but in the UK the public are a fickle bunch and if you want to sell this car on in the future you will get a lot of potential buyers turn their noses up at a high miler. I have always stretched the budget a bit to get a lower mileage car, when I sold my Zed, VX220 and R33 it took no more than 2 weeks to sell each of them.

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An interesting (and odd - especially for those who didn't do so!) comment in this sober and generally super-positive RAC review. I like the RAC reviews, they are succinct and straightforward, even if their positive review of the MG ZT-T ended up costing me a bit of heartache and £££ :-)

 

http://www.rac.co.uk/buying-a-car/car-reviews/nissan/350z/207710

 

"Steer clear of blacks, reds and yellows"

 

Blacks I can understand simply on a washing basis but then that would apply to any black car, not just a black 350Z!

I must admit that I rather like the reds and yellows but maybe that's only because you don't see many.

 

In fact I am a bit in love with this car in red....

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An interesting (and odd - especially for those who didn't do so!) comment in this sober and generally super-positive RAC review. I like the RAC reviews, they are succinct and straightforward, even if their positive review of the MG ZT-T ended up costing me a bit of heartache and £££ :-)

 

http://www.rac.co.uk...san/350z/207710

 

"Steer clear of blacks, reds and yellows"

 

Blacks I can understand simply on a washing basis but then that would apply to any black car, not just a black 350Z!

I must admit that I rather like the reds and yellows but maybe that's only because you don't see many.

 

In fact I am a bit in love with this car in red....

 

Have to say the 'what to look for' section is utter bobbins in my opinion :surrender:

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I thought that Rac review was pretty rubbish really. Just a thought also, l bought the first zed I saw with 80 odd thousand miles on it because it felt like the right one. Five years later and now with 105 thousand on it it's been faultless and was definitely the right choice. :)

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No news yet, what with it being Christmas and all. Went and tyre-kicked a couple at dealerships (one low mileage at 33k, one high mileage at 76k, no obvious difference apart from a "Nismo" badge on the high mileage one). No test drive but fired up the high mileage one from cold in the showroom, seemed OK but not sure what I should have been looking for. They were the same price. Salesman for low mileage one was rubbish. Sales lady for higher mileage one was excellent. I would not buy either of those cars - I was really just there to have a close look to see if I like the colour :-)

I did get a good 15 minutes to explore all the nooks and crannies of the higher mileage one, which was nice. Viewing both cars was useful even if I didn't drive them.

 

I also need to work out how to sell a red Kia Cee'd 1.6 CRDi on an 09 plate! I have never sold a car for anything other than scrap before. Tried once with a VW Polo Saloon worth about £2.5k at the time, and it was such a PITA trying to sell, that I just gave up (ended up getting £2k for it on Government scrappage scheme when Mama Straggler wanted a brand new car and I bought it for her with her money and sold it to her for a sandwich ALL TOTALLY ABOVE BOARD THANK YOU!) .

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