Time for a change?

[Smoking Gun]

Hi all

 

I need some advice/guidance/reassurance from you good people if you don't mind. I've been looking at eventually getting a 370GT as a long term project but haven't been in a position to buy due to renovating a house and getting married (both of which apparently eat your cash). I was hoping to be in a position to buy one without the need for finance in a years time but fate/chance has dropped me right in the 💩 by a 2009 GT coming up for sale locally. I live in the Channel Islands so they're few and far between over here.

 

The car is a 2009GT manual coupe in, I think, twilight grey. It's covered just under 24k miles and has recently been put up for sale for £14,995 although the guy will drop to £13,995 for a quick sale. I hear he got a bit ripped off by a garage last year and paid around £18k for it so he has some finance he wants to clear as his circumstances have now changed (I'm always sceptical of this lol).

Anyway, having followed a few of these on autotrader it seems like £14k is a good price for a low miler. It's not mint, the alloys have been slightly kerbed and there are a couple of minor scratches on the corners but nothing major. It's a non sat nav model which I now think I prefer having looked at 370Ad's and Stu_2424's posts on fitting double din units with reverse cameras, as I would likely do the same.

When I took the car for a drive it handled well, and was pretty smooth on the power so I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. I suspect that some part of the exhaust isn't standard though as it was pretty loud especially under load and had a bit of a crackle when lifting off. Back section looks standard so I'm thinking maybe HFC's, would that account for it? Unfortunately I have no way of comparing easily with a system I know is standard.

The guy who's selling doesn't know much about the history but the local Nissan dealer told me it was originally a UK car and they've only seen it in 2012 when they did a major service with no faults or concerns being picked up. Not sure when it came in to Channel Islands though. Other than that I hear there was a fault code picked up around 4 months ago which the garage the guy bought it from then cleared thorough the Nissan dealer and no lights show on the dash at the mo. Oh and the cd changer packed up within the last few months and has been replaced by another standard one (could that have thrown the fault code?).

Desperately trying to justify getting the car on finance so, at least for the short term, I don't have to decide the fate of my current car, Impreza WR1. I've always said I'd never sell her and to be fair she's more practical than a 370z but I'm now softening my view on that - mid life crisis!

I'd need to have a thorough look at the 370 to make sure everything works and there's no rusty spots - I only planned the first test drive to establish whether I loved driving it before I spent my time planning a long term project. Question is how much could be wrong on the car for such a low mileage? Is it worth risking for that price seeing as it's already on the island and bearing in mind it have to pay more to import one from the mainland if I waited a year?

Apologies for the long message it's just sometimes with cars it's a case of better the devil you know

 

Cheers

Pete

[Stutopia]

DO IT!

[Vinny73]

The price sounds good (low) for 24k miler 370. I l have looked at mostly everyone that's come up for sale in the last 3 months. I'd expect a Cat D around that price and miles, so get it HPI'd. If it was 24k miles and in top condition needing nothing, I'd expect to see a 2009 low miles for 16-18k private, bit more from a cencent dealer with warranty. Of course depends on condition, miles, year which in that order I buy on.

Personally I'd only go for one with factory sat nav and can if I wanted sat nav, modding can look great but will deter certain onward potential buyers. I like a car standard, with only exhaust and intake mods acceptable to me, but that's just me.

Its probably a good car though and if you're willing to spend the money and time on it as a project and do it right, then you won't regret it. If you're going to spend thousands putting it right however, a clean no issues car with a full unbroken history is out there. If I read it right, no history since 2012, that would put me off. I saw some bad cars in dealers when looking, some of which seemed to have been there for months. Maybe even try push harder on the price if you truly think there's a great car there once you've finished doing what you want to it and spending the money doing so... Great cars to own and drive, already love mine.

 

Edited February 24, 2016 by Vinny73

[Justthejedi]

That's a good price for a low mileage car, plus you have the added bonus of it already being on the island and they gotta be rare there so get it bought fella.

[Scooby67]

Sounds like a good car as long as the HPI comes back clean! I just sold my impreza sti prodrive for a 370z and i haven't looked back!

[Ekona]

I'd never sell a WR1 for a 370. Ever.

 

 

Doesn't seem a lot wrong with that car though, and like you say you're not exactly spoilt for choice locally. I say go for it, life's too short not to.

[Bodyboarder81]

Sounds cheap if it checks out ! Buy it

[370Ad]

Sounds very cheap mate, jump on it!. Ignore Dan (Ekona) he only likes the ugly cars

[Ekona]

I told him to buy it!

[370Ad]

I told him to buy it!

 

Not sure if this is a compliment or your calling the 70 ugly too....

[Ekona]

I actually really like the look of the standard 370 now, which considering my taste in cars clearly does mean it's ugly

[Smoking Gun]

Wow thanks for the responses guys. Good to hear your opinions and advice. I've been so bloody stressed thinking about it these past few days but I think I've finally come to a decision. Gonna pass on this one (reluctantly😢) mainly because I could only really get it on finance and I don't want 5 years worth of debt looming over me which would also impact on saving for mods. After all I plan to do quite a bit mechanically and visually to the one I finally get - it will be a keeper not for selling on. Plus I think I'd end up paying more out on the finance than I would by getting one shipped to Guernsey.

By delaying a purchase I can also keep my WR1 which would have been gutting to sell on to be honest. I'll still be able to pop across the water this summer to clear the cobwebs 😃

It's not all bad news though, I got to drive a 370z and have fallen in love with them. I can happily spend the rest of the year tracking the availability and prices and planning my eventual build. One question though, if I'm looking for a non sat nav model am I limited to a 2009 or are there newer GT models without this included. Not sure if they became part of the standard GT kit from 2010

Thanks again everyone

[Wayne370Z]

There are newer ones without Sat Nav.

Sat Nav was only fitted as standard on the GT from about late 2013 or from 2014. When I got mine in March 2013 it was an extra cost option which brought it up to about the same price as the GT Edition which had it fitted as standard so one reason I got the GT Edition.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Wayne370Z

[Smoking Gun]

Ah I see! That's handy to know so I don't have to limit my search to just 2009 models 😃 just got to play the waiting game now which will be a bit painstaking!

[bigfoot]

I think you made the right choice giving that 370z a miss,

Personally its servicing history would have put me off,

if the current owner can't tell you much about its history and Nissan last saw it in 2012 does that mean it may not have had an oil and filter change for nearly 4 years,

It does my head in when people will spend 20-30k on a car then scrimp on paying out a few hundred quit to give the poor thing a service once a year.

I'm in the same boat as you smoking gun having to play the waiting game before i can get a 370z,

Unfortunately i work away alot so I've got to wait for some time off.

[Smoking Gun]

What a difference a day makes. On Wednesday night I had made up my mind that I was going to give this one a miss and wait like a sensible person. I spent most of Thursday about as miserable as I could be (like a scolded child lol) and that evening I was back to looking at Pistonheads and Autotrader.

Then I did a complete turnaround and decided, what the hell, life is too short to be sensible and play it safe! I realized that there wasn't actually much around for the same spec and year and certainly nothing going as cheap. I looked at my accounts and realized I could raise enough for a decent deposit which could reduce the amount of finance needed.

So yesterday I called the garage (who are selling it on behalf of the customer) and said I was still very keen but wanted a proper look at both the car and any ownership documents and service details the customer had. Apparently the customer thinks the car has got a full service history but not necessarily through the the Nissan dealer. That kinda puts my mind at ease a bit. I phoned the finance company and set everything up and have forewarned the insurance too. I had hoped to see the car today but the garage told me the guy had already picked up the car as he was going to the mainland for a week to see relatives. Something he had booked before putting his car up for sale. Now I have to wait until next Saturday for when he returns however I have asked for first refusal and that the garage call me as soon as they have the car back. I have basically told them I'll buy it subject to me having a proper inspection of the car and the service history and they seem cool with that. The customer had HP on the car so that will be cleared first by the garage when I buy it from them. Finance company are happy with the arrangements and have dealt with that garage a lot too.

Now I just have to anxiously wait for the car to return! Fingers crossed it doesn't get damaged, crashed, sold or that the guy changes his mind about selling it! You never know, I could be the new owner next weekend!

Oh and don't worry Ekona, I'm keeping the WR1 too

[Ekona]

Yay!

[JurassicZ]

Hope it works out well for you. The 370Z is a superb car.

[370Ad]

Congrats!

[Smoking Gun]

Thanks guys! Apparently he is stuck on the boat as the ramp is broken. fingers crossed it stays broken until Friday night and the boat can then return to Guernsey!

[bigfoot]

Nice one smoking gun,

Sounds like a far better buy now with some previous servicing history 👊
[Smoking Gun]

Quick (not so quick) update. Car arrived back in Guernsey late on Saturday night with an assortment of dead insects, so the garage has cleaned it (of a fashion) before I went for a look. The owner had taken it all the way to John O'Groats (1500 mile round trip) but it's now got an extra 2k miles since I last saw it. Current mileage is 25,800ish.

There's 3 tiny dents on the passenger side, a few scuffs on the bumpers and a 5inch scratch in the middle of the drivers door, plus the usual stone chips. The good news is there is no rust to be seen even around the boot hinges and under the bonnet so I'm happy about that. Had a quick poke around underneath and discovered a Milltek back box and Eibach rear ARB which is a nice surprise and explains the volume! Also saves me a job and some cash!

The warranty certificate shows it was sold from Middlehurst Garage in St Helens in December '09, had a P1 service in December 2010 at 8965 miles, then a service in April 2012 in Guernsey at 16022 miles and again in June 2013 at 22403 miles. The service after that is ambiguous as it was apparently done in July 2014 but the mileage was 22368 (must have been driven in reverse!). In any case it's only covered 5,500miles since then which is nothing!

So I've agreed to buy the Zed for £13,995 and the seller is paying for oil and filters to be changed. I think that's a bloody good price and even if I factor in the cost of re spraying a couple of the panels it should still be competitive price wise. It's even had the steering lock issue fixed.

Feeling very happy at the moment and looking forward to bonding with her over a good deep clean 😊

 

[Smoking Gun]

Well it's been almost a year since I bought the Z and its been a pleasure, makes me smile whenever I see her. Fitted some Goodyear Eagle F1's in the summer and they've been performing pretty well so far. It's given me the chance to start working on the WR1 (recently) with the aim of eliminating the corrosion and protecting the frame and bodywork before I get cracking on the suspension then engine. Lots of plans being brewed but the aim is to get the WR1 back on the roads so I can use the Z as a dry weather toy. Plus the wife has a bun in the oven and she'll struggle to get in and out of the Z soon!😂

Lately I've had the handbrake light and traction control light issues but having looked on here I think these have been resolved by topping up the brake fluid. More alarmingly the car was sitting for a week and when I started her last Sunday the CEL lit up and it was in limp mode! I've had the error codes checked and apparently there's an issue with the VVT. Can't remember the code but it's going in to be checked over on Tuesday. Hopefully it won't be an expensive thing to resolve. Anyone else had a similar issue before? I've not seen anything on here as yet.

[colesl4w]

Well it's been almost a year since I bought the Z and its been a pleasure, makes me smile whenever I see her. Fitted some Goodyear Eagle F1's in the summer and they've been performing pretty well so far. It's given me the chance to start working on the WR1 (recently) with the aim of eliminating the corrosion and protecting the frame and bodywork before I get cracking on the suspension then engine. Lots of plans being brewed but the aim is to get the WR1 back on the roads so I can use the Z as a dry weather toy. Plus the wife has a bun in the oven and she'll struggle to get in and out of the Z soon!😂

Lately I've had the handbrake light and traction control light issues but having looked on here I think these have been resolved by topping up the brake fluid. More alarmingly the car was sitting for a week and when I started her last Sunday the CEL lit up and it was in limp mode! I've had the error codes checked and apparently there's an issue with the VVT. Can't remember the code but it's going in to be checked over on Tuesday. Hopefully it won't be an expensive thing to resolve. Anyone else had a similar issue before? I've not seen anything on here as yet.

 

Great to see an update after this time. I was reading through the posts today and didn't notice how long ago they were - so a year later update was great.

 

First thing that came to mind is if your battery is ok? You mentioned it had been sitting for a while and then you got the error. I have heard that a low battery can cause some odd errors to occur.

[Smoking Gun]

Well it was only sitting around for a week but I guess the charge could have dropped given the cold weather we've had. In fact when I had the codes read one was related to low power in the battery. Not sure how old the battery is but maybe I can get away with sticking the charger on it for a while. In any case the car's going back to the garage on Tuesday.

I've also just noticed I never posted a pic of the beast but don't have the photos on the iPad. Will get some shots up when I'm next on the computer 😎