MattMe Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Hello everybody. Not sure this post will please many 350 owners, especially those looking to sell but I've been looking at buying my first 350 recently and have to say I'm surprised by the price most are listed at. If you think that you can get a brand spanking new 350z from a dealer for around 20K at the moment, why do so many people think their 5 or 6 year old car is worth over 12K? It's very rare you'll find a UK car for less than 10K, even none-GT models. Most other cars have taken a big hit in price over the last 6 or so months but this doesn't seem to have affected Zeds (or maybe their owners) to the same extent. I know that everything in life is only worth what people are willing to pay for it, and loads of these cars I can see have been advertised for months on end without moving. So far I've not even been to any dealers to see what they'd accept, mainly because I'd feel like I was insulting them! I just had a quick look on Parkers price guide (not the bible, I admit) and they reckon an '04 GT with 40K on the clock is worth about 9.5k, which I think is much more realistic than PH/Autotrader prices at the moment. What's other people's thoughts on this? Do you think the release of the 370 will have further impact on prices, or will it take until they start showing on the second hand market? Maybe I'm just jealous I can't afford one at the prices they are advertised at but I wouldn't say I was being unreasonable. I will continue to save what I can and look around because they do come up every now and then for less but it seems a strange market at the moment. No offense intended to owners or people looking to sell, but I'd like to hear your thoughts... Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozz Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Prices have dropped a lot in the last few months but its still a lot of car for the money. I think they'll drop further then plataux (spelling?!) as the spec of the car will keep the price up. I have a sunset 05 JDM, I'd consider selling for 12k but wouldn't drop further as she's only got 13k on the clock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin W Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Hello everybody. Not sure this post will please many 350 owners, ...I'd like to hear your thoughts... Matt. Most of us ar egutted at the rapid fall in the previously high resale values of the Z. Interestingly, in the FT yesterday, apparently 2nd hand car values are rising !!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesyj Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Parkers seem to be a mile off. http://www.networkq.co.uk/nq/buyers/valuecar.do That's more like it but even those may not be 100% accurate. When valuing a car at a garage/dealership, we value it online via Experian. Experian show us two figures, Glass' figures and CAP figures. CAP always hit cars harder when it comes to trade prices, upto £2000 in some cases, but there is usually £500-£1000. In a 'normal' car market, we'd value our cars by Glass' but we found CAP is where you need to be looking. Cars were at one point behind CAP which isn't good. We're finding now, CAP is about right, the market seems to be ever so slightly lifting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesyj Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Just thought of an example actually. When I bought my car (05/55 GT with 30k) back in December. It Glass'd at £11,300 ish, CAP'd at £9,600 ish. I bought it for £10k, I can only assume the place I got it from (through the trade) had bought it in ages ago and were losing money hand over fist on it, hence took £10k for it, but even then, I paid over CAP for it. Via Parkers today, they say £13,600, the Network Q one is £12,600. Mmmm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shire350Z Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 But what you'v got to remember is that if you can buy a older Z for nine grand then this affects all prices off cars so then a hot hatch lets say a type R would be worth 5 grand then a 1.4 civic could be worth maybe 2/3 grand so thats makes many of the cars on the roads today worth literally nothing!! or everyone would be driving around in supercars What im trying to say is that everything has a ceiling price at some point no matter how old or every car cheaper than the car in question in this case a Z is worth nothing!!! plus remember there were limited numbers off Zed's brought in to country which keeps residual high on them!!! Anyways go get a cheap hot hatch then a Z in a few years, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesyj Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Very true. We had a chap with an EK9 Type R in, no-one believed me that we could sell it for £5000-£7000, until they looked on Autotrader. We offered him something like £1200 as to us, it's a 1998 Honda Civic. Yet I could walk out tomorrow and buy an EP3, facelift with Air Con for £6000 easy. I took pity on him when one of my salesmen told him the trade in price, I said to him "I know what you've got, you know what you've got, sell it privately". Genuinely awesome cars will always hold their value, look at Honda NSX's! Sounds like I should be on some VTEC forum...... Basically, 350z's are wicked, don't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin W Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 It'll be interesting to see what happens when the unsold 350's are all gone, and the price discounting stops coz the 370's are the only new ones you can get. What will happen then when the second hand market has no 370's, just 350's in limited suplly!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesyj Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Because you can get into a 350z for cheap monies, and you can't go on holiday because of the balls exchange rate, people with a little cash to splash will treat themselves to a weekend car. I'd buy one as a weekend car! I even bought one as a daily driver! Other people will buy a 07/57/08/58 plate used car because they're so cheap, business will boooooom. But you can't buy a 07/57/08/58 plate normal family car (Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mondeo etc) because fleet companies are keeping them longer. So you look at a sports car (350z), but people will command top money for new/nearly new 350z's as it's the last run and all that crap, so you buy an older one, demand goes up. Then we all sell for £10,000 profit, easy! But on the other hand, it may not. I love the new/used car market! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Quads Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I think one of the major differences with the Z is quite a lot of the existing owners are 'car' people and have the car to have fun. With the current crunch 'some' will have to sell up but I think quite a lot, me included are just sitting tight and keeping the car for now. A result of this is that there are less on the market and thus due to demand, those can shift for a slightly higher price. There is also price barriers - often certain cars have a price they move down to then only move slightly each year. As for Parkers - To me they are always out. Every specialist car I have looked at they have not priced right. When i got mine they were way out with the prices so it does not supprise me the are still out. Best way to value a car - see what else is on the market i.e. ebay/autotrader etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I think one of the major differences with the Z is quite a lot of the existing owners are 'car' people and have the car to have fun. With the current crunch 'some' will have to sell up but I think quite a lot, me included are just sitting tight and keeping the car for now.A result of this is that there are less on the market and thus due to demand, those can shift for a slightly higher price. There is also price barriers - often certain cars have a price they move down to then only move slightly each year. As for Parkers - To me they are always out. Every specialist car I have looked at they have not priced right. When i got mine they were way out with the prices so it does not supprise me the are still out. Best way to value a car - see what else is on the market i.e. ebay/autotrader etc I really don't think there are appreciably less on the market. Using PH as a guide there was a big drop off in the number of advertised Zeds just after Xmas but its clawed its way back pretty much to where it was before now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Hello everybody. Not sure this post will please many 350 owners, especially those looking to sell but I've been looking at buying my first 350 recently and have to say I'm surprised by the price most are listed at. If you think that you can get a brand spanking new 350z from a dealer for around 20K at the moment, why do so many people think their 5 or 6 year old car is worth over 12K? It's very rare you'll find a UK car for less than 10K, even none-GT models. Most other cars have taken a big hit in price over the last 6 or so months but this doesn't seem to have affected Zeds (or maybe their owners) to the same extent. I know that everything in life is only worth what people are willing to pay for it, and loads of these cars I can see have been advertised for months on end without moving. So far I've not even been to any dealers to see what they'd accept, mainly because I'd feel like I was insulting them! I just had a quick look on Parkers price guide (not the bible, I admit) and they reckon an '04 GT with 40K on the clock is worth about 9.5k, which I think is much more realistic than PH/Autotrader prices at the moment. What's other people's thoughts on this? Do you think the release of the 370 will have further impact on prices, or will it take until they start showing on the second hand market? Maybe I'm just jealous I can't afford one at the prices they are advertised at but I wouldn't say I was being unreasonable. I will continue to save what I can and look around because they do come up every now and then for less but it seems a strange market at the moment. No offense intended to owners or people looking to sell, but I'd like to hear your thoughts... Matt. Your missing a few important points though: - If the seller bought it new, they paid circa £30k, not £20k. So selling at £10k is a £20k hit compared to the £10k hit you mention when quoting new zeds at £20k. Thats 33% of the original value compared to the 50% of the new value you want them to sell for. If they sell for 50% of what they paid new, then you'd be forking out £15k. - Not many people actually know/knew that you can/could get zeds for £20k. There was a very limited supply and they went very quickly IIRC. - If you can't get a UK car for less than £10k, thats because the market hasn't taken them to that point yet no matter how much you try to batter down their prices. - Would you be quoting Parkers guide if they said an 04 GT was worth £12k? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 i got an 06 gt with 13,000 on the clock in november for £15,000 at the time was one of only around 6 cars with the same spec on autotrader from a trader at that price. most nissan dealers were asking at least £4000 more for same car. i would say that nissan dealers are mirroring the prices that you should be paying if not in a decline. any savings you make over them is your cash in the pocket deal that you made. also remeber if you want a low cost car, you have to look high mileage. and alot of people don't do huge mileage in the Zed, some do, but lots use it as a weekend, or local runner for fun. and like said before, its often a second car, so when times get hard peoplea re sitting on them, and aren't in a rush to sell as they have other means of transport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 The thing is, an 04 Zed with 40k was still worth 14k 6 months ago easy.... Check out the history on the residuals in the Zed. They were one of the top 5 cars for second hand values since release. They started to fall as when you pay £90+ to fill it and it does 300 miles to a tank it gets expensive..... People start to sell. Then this recession hit properly and ALL desirable cars fell. Look at an £80 - £90k Cayenne Turbo. You keep going and try to buy a 350Z for what YOU think it's worth. You might get lucky...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Have to agree with whats been said before. The main sticking point in my head is that there is an invisible force that stops owners going below £10k. I have a 53 Zed with 63k miles on it, and I know its worth squat now, but knowing that I wont sell it. Even though I want a 370z, I'm having to keep the 350z as its not worth selling it. I think we had a time where people were trying to get out before the prices crashed which is why there were loads going cheap, but now thats dried up a bit more, prices are stabalising as those that are left, dont want to sell. Its your typical supply and demand model. Dealers selling them for £20k were few and far between from what I saw and it was just to get rid of stock they couldnt shift before the 370z lands. Keep trying and you will get lucky, someone in these unfortunate times will need to sell quick and the price will reflect that. Most now however dont appear to be in a rush to let them go though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zee Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Yep all you can do is try and not rush onto buying the first car you see. Think about what type of car you want and have a budget in mind and dont exceed it. It took me 5 months to find and buy my 1st Zed which i picked up last weekend. I got a UK 350z Including the GT Pack for £9150 with just under 30,000 miles on the clock. Its absolutely mint! I really hassled the saleman at the garage and screwed him right down on the price. It was listed at £9995 as they didnt realise it was the GT Pack. There are some good deals to be found at the moment and an element of luck to be in the right place at the right time. The Zed I bought had only just come into the garage and within 3 days i'd put a deposit down on it. Im sure at that price it wouldn't have been long before someone else would have snapped it up! I think the 370 will have a small impact on the prices so you could wait until then and save yourself a few more pounds, it just depends how desperate to own a zed. I was prepared to wait until I found exactly what i wanted because spending 10 grand on a car is a hell of alot of cash so you have to make sure its the right car for you. You definitely won't be disappointed! The Zed's are fantastic in all departments and im very suprised with the MPG im getting driving steady to and from work each day!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2350z Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Yep all you can do is try and not rush onto buying the first car you see. Think about what type of car you want and have a budget in mind and dont exceed it. It took me 5 months to find and buy my 1st Zed which i picked up last weekend. I got a UK 350z Including the GT Pack for £9150 with just under 30,000 miles on the clock. Its absolutely mint! I really hassled the saleman at the garage and screwed him right down on the price. It was listed at £9995 as they didnt realise it was the GT Pack. There are some good deals to be found at the moment and an element of luck to be in the right place at the right time. The Zed I bought had only just come into the garage and within 3 days i'd put a deposit down on it. Im sure at that price it wouldn't have been long before someone else would have snapped it up! I think the 370 will have a small impact on the prices so you could wait until then and save yourself a few more pounds, it just depends how desperate to own a zed. I was prepared to wait until I found exactly what i wanted because spending 10 grand on a car is a hell of alot of cash so you have to make sure its the right car for you. You definitely won't be disappointed! The Zed's are fantastic in all departments and im very suprised with the MPG im getting driving steady to and from work each day!! Zee, can I ask what garage you got the car from? I'm in the same position looking to buy and have seen a few that I've 'hit the crossbar' on. Sounds like you picked up a bargain, just exactly what I'm after!!. Cheers Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zee Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I bought it from a vauxhall dealers in Lincs, They were selling the car for a friend of the guy who owns it. Other than the Zed they had in its all Astras and Corsas!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ersen.o Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 none of us r gonna sell our cars for dirt cheap so, its the buyers loss cuz we dont care about parkers prices Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDM Lover Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Also, don't forget the potential impact of the weak Pound - when i was importing Zeds the rate was around 240-250 Yen to the Pound. Now that its down to around 130, the relative cost of bringing in used JDM's has rocketed to the point that there is no point in doing it anymore (even taking into consideration the fall in auction prices). So, all in all, my guess is that there won't be a high supply of JDM Zed's available - which in turn would point to a relatively stable prices in the UK. This will of course change in 2012, when the early models will no longer require SVA test. Mind you, by then Zed's will be worth less than a tank of fuel probably Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I'm not convinced the 370 will affect s/h 350 prices - with 07/08 ZEDs not worth £20k now and the 370 being another £10k (or more realistically requiring at least a £15k wad on top of a trade-in to up-grade), the difference is too much to hurt 350 values further. But with less imports coming in, a lull in new 350 sales in the last 6 months, and when the economy does pick up, I reckon 350 residuals will stabilize and given the car's appeal do better in holding their value compared to most other cars out there..................... I hope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainSensible Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I'm not convinced the 370 will affect s/h 350 prices - with 07/08 ZEDs not worth £20k now and the 370 being another £10k (or more realistically requiring at least a £15k wad on top of a trade-in to up-grade), the difference is too much to hurt 350 values further. But with less imports coming in, a lull in new 350 sales in the last 6 months, and when the economy does pick up, I reckon 350 residuals will stabilize and given the car's appeal do better in holding their value compared to most other cars out there..................... I hope Do you not think when the 370 comes out you will see a lot of 350s traded in against them, resulting in more on the second hand market pushing down prices further? I've still not taken the plunge yet, that's what's stopping me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I'm not convinced the 370 will affect s/h 350 prices - with 07/08 ZEDs not worth £20k now and the 370 being another £10k (or more realistically requiring at least a £15k wad on top of a trade-in to up-grade), the difference is too much to hurt 350 values further. But with less imports coming in, a lull in new 350 sales in the last 6 months, and when the economy does pick up, I reckon 350 residuals will stabilize and given the car's appeal do better in holding their value compared to most other cars out there..................... I hope Do you not think when the 370 comes out you will see a lot of 350s traded in against them, resulting in more on the second hand market pushing down prices further? I've still not taken the plunge yet, that's what's stopping me. I'm not conviced they will, reading what I do here and other places. The majority want a S/H 370z to let someone else take the biggest hit on depreciation. I think this will leave a lot of people keeping the 350z, at least for the first year of 370z sales. For me for example, my 350z is worth £10k if I'm lucky and although the 370z is a massive step up from a 53 car, its not worth me forking out £20k for. If the S/H prices of 370z are anything like the 350z though, I will be more than happy to trade in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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