New potential owner 350z advice

[Guest]

Hi all,

 

I’m planning to make an offer for a 350z, 53 Reg, around 148,000 miles.

 

This will be my first sports car if you would like. I haven’t inspected it at all and I plan to do so with a mate who works as a mechanic so has more insights.
 

1. What do I look out for during my inspection?

2. How can I tell if this car was look after? 
3. If we identify issues or works to be done, What would be a reasonable offer without offending the owner? 
4. Are they worth and do they hold its value?

Thanks,

 

S

[Andy_Muxlow]

Hi and welcome along. You need to see it and just check it out if your mate is a mechanic he will know what he is looking at. good luck in your search.

[Guest]

Andy - thank you. 

[veeg33]

1. What do I look out for during my inspection? - Rust around wheel arches, oil leaks & rad fan are the main ones that I can think of

2. How can I tell if this car was look after? Good service history and MOT history.
3. If we identify issues or works to be done, What would be a reasonable offer without offending the owner? Depends on what needs doing really, biggest issue will be rust, can cost £1000++ to sort out properly
4. Are they worth and do they hold its value? Zed has gone up in value recently due to boom in 2nd hand car market and I suspect it will go down once the issue is sorted (electronics components shortage leading to long lead time for brand new car). For this, i think zed's value are based on market rather than being a rare car/soon to be classic.

 

Good luck in your hunt.

[polaris]

18 hours ago, SNEW350 said:

Hi all,

 

I’m planning to make an offer for a 350z, 53 Reg, around 148,000 miles.

 

This will be my first sports car if you would like. I haven’t inspected it at all and I plan to do so with a mate who works as a mechanic so has more insights.
 

1. What do I look out for during my inspection?

2. How can I tell if this car was look after? 
3. If we identify issues or works to be done, What would be a reasonable offer without offending the owner? 
4. Are they worth and do they hold its value?

Thanks,

 

S

 

I made quite an extensive inspection checklist when I was looking for 350Z's. Interested? It's an Excel sheet.

 

EDIT: Maybe share a link or some photos of the car? PM me directly if you don't want to share publicly.

Edited October 5, 2022 by polaris

[Guest]

[polaris]

34 minutes ago, SNEW350 said:

 

 

That's pretty bad - I'd be concerned about how the car looks underneath. Depending on your budget I'd look elsewhere; there are nicer examples to be had. Regardless, 2003, 150k miles and doesn't start: £1-2k?

Edited October 5, 2022 by polaris

[Guest]

Thank you for your response. 
 

It didn’t started because the battery was flat. No other reason at this stage.

 

Yes I do agree - there maybe further rust underneath. It was dark and I don’t like viewing cars in the evening but it was the only time my expert mate was around. 
 

My budget was around 2.5k max. Reasonable?

[ShortPaul]

Hi and welcome from Bristol, i personally think that you have your work cut out with finding a good zed within your budget. 

Sorry for being blunt, i think 6k plus for anything descent. 

Good luck with your search 

[Guest]

Thanks mate. 
 

I meant I don’t mind paying 2.5k max for this one and I can then perhaps use the rest to sort out rust etc. 

 

But I do agree - 6k as the right budget to find a good one and I’ll focus on that. 

[Mikey_S]

In terms of your budget, have you budgeted ongoing maintenance? These cars aren't cheap to run and maintain whatever state they are in.

 

 

[polaris]

2 hours ago, SNEW350 said:

Thanks mate. 
 

I meant I don’t mind paying 2.5k max for this one and I can then perhaps use the rest to sort out rust etc. 

 

But I do agree - 6k as the right budget to find a good one and I’ll focus on that. 

 

I'd walk away if your budget was 2.5k. The cheapest 350Z coupe on AutoTrader right now is 4k and it looks in much better nick, albeit a few rust spots. Like Paul said, if you can spend the money and get a nice example then that's the best route. Save yourself the hassle. You'll probably spend 2k repairing it anyway...

Edited October 6, 2022 by polaris

[Guest]

Yes I think that’s the sensible thing to do here. Thank you so much for your advice. I’ll revisit the hunt in the near future. 

[Guest]

11 hours ago, Mikey_S said:

In terms of your budget, have you budgeted ongoing maintenance? These cars aren't cheap to run and maintain whatever state they are in.

 

Hi mate - yes I have and my best is a master technician so labour wouldn’t be an issue. 
 

what would you say are the major ongoing maintenance costs to lookout for?

 

Thank you. 
 

[Mikey_S]

That's a lil bonus for you then . I would say fuel obviously, these things work best on the premium unleaded.

Regular oil changes, servicing and tyres I would say are the main ones then anything that goes wrong like the clutch which then makes sense to change the flywheel and slave while it's out 🤣. The list goes on but hopefully you get one you like

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Mikey_S said:

In terms of your budget, have you budgeted ongoing maintenance? These cars aren't cheap to run and maintain whatever state they are in.

 

Hi mate - yes I have and my best is a master technician so labour wouldn’t be an issue. 
 

what would you say are the major ongoing maintenance costs to lookout for?

 

Thank you for your response. It is appreciated 😀
 

[GranTurismoEra]

2.5k but 5k of problems. Best to revisit in future. Zeds have reduced recently. I would say 4.5k and above maybe sub 100k miles with good history and reasonable fixable arch rust