Jimmy P Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Hello everyone, this is my first post on the forum, I'm hoping to be a Z owner very soon so may be the first of many! I have read all the JDM stickies and FAQs (very useful and informative) and I was hoping to get a few opinions on a car I'm considering buying tomorrow... It is: a 2003 JDM 350z with a claimed 35,000 miles. Looks in immaculate condition but the only UK documentation it has is 3 UK MOT certificates, apparently due to the fact that it has only covered 10K miles in the Uk and the owner has serviced is himself. The dealer is asking £6995, should I stay well away or maybe go in with a lower offer? Any help would be much appreciated, Oliver - sorry for hijacking your thread, didn't think my question warranted a whole bew topic! Thanks, Jimmy. Quote
Jay Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Welcome to the forum mate, I have a jdm 350z for sal ejust now, click on my sig to see if you would be interested Quote
Vik54 Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Welcome to the forum Jimmy Even if the owner has serviced himself surely there are some receipts? Quote
Jimmy P Posted November 11, 2011 Author Posted November 11, 2011 Hi Jay, Vik, thanks for the welcome! You car looks gorgeous Jay but it's about a grand out of my budget unfortunately, plus I was planning to start from scratch and do a few tasteful mods of my own. Your car is pretty much the finished article as far as I can tell, I really like the carbon fibre detail to the interior I may have to nick that idea when I've got my very own Z... Vik - yeah the dealer has a few receipts the the UK owner supplied for the occasional part replacement and oil etc but no actual service history from a garage. The car was imported in 2008 with 45,000km on the clock which seems believable but they reckon the UK owner has only done 7,000 miles in 3 years which seems a bit fishy! They have an HPI certificate so is there anything you would advise me to look out for to ensure the car is genuine? Thanks again! Quote
Keyser Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Hello and Welcome If it was a second care then it may very well be low mileage Some owners on here don't do over 1000 miles in a year so it is possible Quote
marzman Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 It sounds alright to me and the price isnt too bad... i say offer them £500 less and see what they say. Welcome by the way. Quote
Jimmy P Posted November 11, 2011 Author Posted November 11, 2011 Hello Keyser, ZMANALEX That's reassuring, I'm taking a tame mechanic with me tomorrow to give it a thorough going over so hopefully he will pick up on any potential money pits lurking a few months down the line. In your experience, are there any areas I should be asking him to pay particular attention to? Assuming the mileage is genuine, I thought £6.5K would be about the money for the car... Quote
Jimmy P Posted November 11, 2011 Author Posted November 11, 2011 Hi Marzman, Doogy! BTW Doogy, your avatar scares the crap out of me! Quote
Jimmy P Posted November 11, 2011 Author Posted November 11, 2011 Hi, sorry for the delay in replying, my first 5 posts need to be submitted for moderation before they are posted! Thanks to all for the welcome, I will keep you posted about how it goes tomorrow and hopefully follow with some pics Quote
wesmin Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 I'm totally confused here how anyone could say 7K is a fair price for an 2003 jap import when you can get 2007 low milage UK spec GT version for 10K. Quote
Jimmy P Posted November 11, 2011 Author Posted November 11, 2011 Wes - valid point and if I had 10k I'd definitely be looking at UK cars! My budget is unfortunately only about 7K and for that money the only UK cars are 80,000+ miles. Also, I noticed a lot of guys mentioning Nurrish Sat Navs, is he still active on the site and producing these? It's something I'd be keen to replace if I do get the JDM Zed tomorrow... Quote
Vik54 Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Hello Keyser, ZMANALEX That's reassuring, I'm taking a tame mechanic with me tomorrow to give it a thorough going over so hopefully he will pick up on any potential money pits lurking a few months down the line. In your experience, are there any areas I should be asking him to pay particular attention to? Assuming the mileage is genuine, I thought £6.5K would be about the money for the car... Clicky axles...although not necessrily a money pit ...usual suspension components...check fans are kicking in properly - seems a more common issue on the JDMs. Gearbox notchiness is common - but if you have to hammer it home - walk away... check for clutch slipage. Exhaust - common corrosion point at rear box joint. TBH - think if its standard even for the mileage is a bit overpriced IMHO - especially without history or import docs These are your negotiation points Quote
Jimmy P Posted November 11, 2011 Author Posted November 11, 2011 Vik - my thoughts exactly regarding the price. I'll probably go in at 6k with an absolute limit of 6.5 and see how it goes. Thanks so much for all your assistance everyone, fingers crossed I can hammer them down and I'll be taking the Zed out for its inaugural drive tomorrow afternoon! Quote
martinmac Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Hi and welcome to the forum, good luck tomorrow. Quote
wesmin Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Good luck Jimmy, just go in with the maybe I will wait until the spring to buy, that will work wonders Quote
ChrisS Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Welcome There is one out there for you,you don't have to buy the first one. Quote
Ken Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Hi Jimmy, Welcome to the forum. Good luck tomorrow. Quote
dragon Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 Welcome I would have thought about 6 to 6500 would be ok given the history, depends how much you want it, if it checks out ok !! Quote
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