2009 Z totaled, 2012 Z here
 

Hey guys. So about a month ago, I was heading home on the freeway while it was pouring rain. There was a 300ZX that caught up to me and kinda paced me for a while, after which he decided to punch it. This caused him to hydroplane into my car and me spinning out all over the freeway. The good news was that everyone was OK, but both Zs were not. The guy had a very nice 300ZX - right hand drive which he imported from Japan.

I didn't get to take pics at the time of the accident, but I took a few when I got to go back the next day and take my stuff out of the car. At first I thought the damage wasn't so bad because the engine still ran fine, but after I saw the camber of the wheel on the passenger side I knew the axle was bent. The Z ended up being totaled. Here are a couple pics..

I contemplated getting something different to replace the Z with, but couldn't think of another car that appealed to me. I didn't want a Mustang or Camaro because they were everywhere. The 335i was boring, and I didn't like the C6 all that much. The STI/EVO wasn't really for me either and while I like the Genesis Coupe, I felt like it was a step down from the Z. So I ended up getting a new Z again. 2012 base with a sport package, just like my old 2009. I got a new set of intakes on it already and yesterday got done putting overlays on the roof and bumpers, as well as tinting my windows and painting the tails. The windows are 6% on the sides and rear and 50% on the windshield. There is also an Evo-R lip installed. Here are the results..

mmmmm sexy. thank god everyone was safe! RIP to a great car...fly high...

you know, generally people that Drove a Z or had a Z fora while, then had to get another car, usually end up getting another Z, because its what we are accustomed to and love so much .. WHOOP WHOOP

Rep'd for sticking with the Z the second time around!

:iagree::tiphat:

Thanks guys! I'm not done with her yet. Plans are to paint the headlights/install LEDs, paint door handles and badges, wrap the mirrors and black out the wheels. FI exhaust/HFCs are ordered so now it's a waiting game until they get here - should be sometime in mid January.

Looks great! Welcome back to the Z!

Way to get back on the horse! Sad to hear it was another Z owner acting a fool in the rain. I too had an experience like yours (link). Ended up getting an Evo to replace my first Z... and just replaced the Evo two weeks ago with another Z!

This quote is SO true!

Good luck with your new Z, it's beautiful!

Update - got my mirrors wrapped and door handles painted today

That's some dark looking tint! I'm not familiar with AZ tint laws, but is that legal? The tint looks good with the black roof.

That's 6% on the sides and the back, 50% on the windshield. Definitely not legal :D

I'm 5% all around. >=)

How much was the buy back on the crashed one? Could have made a good race car :)

I don't think the axle was bent, just the camber and toe arms which are designed to give way in case of an accident.

Congrats on the new car!

I didn't check the buy back on it. However the car had 69k miles at the time of the accident, and was my only vehicle so I didn't really consider buying it back. You may be right on the race car deal though - the engine on the totaled Z still ran fine and it had only 36k miles on it (was replaced at 33k)

Glad your okay after that accident, enjoy that 2012, waiting for mine.

Glad you are ok and congrats on the sweet new ride! At least you don't need to buy an oil cooler now :tup:

Got the wheels finished yesterday. Z is almost done..

Why does he not need an oil cooler?

Looking good man

damn those 300zx's, damn them and their no traction control!

are you going to drop it?

They come standard on the 2012 cars.

looking nice, I really like the black roof overlays on PW, looks really nice

I wasn't planning on it at first, but I'm giving it some serious thought now. I just want a very mild drop though because I don't want to be scraping on every speed bump at work. Anyone have a suggestion for a mild .5 inch drop or so? I hear good things about Swift springs.. (not gonna shell out the money for coilovers) If anyone has them, please let me know your impressions with speed bumps and scraping in general.

I doubt that on the windshield, that would be screaming "Pull me over"!

I don't have firsthand experience with them, but from what i've read swift springs give more like ~1in drop all around.

Painted my lights the other day and installed LEDs. The strip I've done before so it wasn't too bad, but the halo was a PITA. 50 LEDs total between the two headlights.

Oh, also replaced the front and rear Nissan badges

Man.. I'm having flashbacks of my first Z. I had a 280zx turbo back in the day and same thing happened to me. It was totaled. An RX7 hydroplaned and I went flying into a median. It has been almost 20 years since I had a Z. Too long. Between kids, work and everything else it seemed that I would never get another one. I can't tell everyone enough how many times I've logged on to this site and dreamt of one day calling myself a Z owner again. You are blessed dude that you were able to replace it right away. I'm glad no one was hurt. As for me.......I finally got my dream car, again. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. Peace and blessings!!

[IMG]http://www.the370z.com/members/roadz...e-zzzzweet.jpg[/IMG]

Welcome back to the Z family! Yours is looking very nice. Until something better than a Z becomes affordable, I don't see myself owning anything else.

ditto man. Tks!

i would like to know how did you installed the LEDs and from where did you buy them please

I bought these LEDs: CREE|C503C-WAS-CBADA151|LED, 5MM, COOL WHITE, 24000MCD | Newark.com

For the strip I used this DIY: http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...-blackout.html

For the halo I had my dad help me wire it up. Don't ask me how we did it - I couldn't do it myself if I tried.

And they're always trying to race 370's! Bastards! :icon17:

Got the car washed and took a couple pics

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...f/IMG_5808.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...f/IMG_5810.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...f/IMG_5817.jpg

Damn that sucks man, sucha nice car. What'd you do with all the aftermarket parts?

I took the Stillen Gen 3 intakes off and sold them. The FI exhaust, Berk HFCs and JWT clutch/fw are still on the car.. I would have gladly taken the rest of the stuff off but they insurance company isn't allowing me to.

Got my Fast Intentions exhaust and HFCs as well as 4.08 gears installed over the weekend. The sound is amazing, I really missed having a FI exhaust. The FI HFCs sound even deeper than my Berks did on the '09 Z. As far as power - holy crap! I can't believe how much the exhaust and gears open up the car. I have a permanent grin on my face every time I drive this car now.

Anyway, here are a few pics of the install

Stock cat vs FI HFC

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...l/IMG_5953.jpg

Stock vs FI pipe diameter differences

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...l/IMG_5937.jpg

Unbolting the rear diff

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...l/IMG_5942.jpg

Rear diff it out (not very difficult at all)

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...l/IMG_5944.jpg

4.08 gears installed

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...l/IMG_5945.jpg

Bolting it all back up

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...l/IMG_5954.jpg

All done!

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...l/IMG_5958.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...l/IMG_5960.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...l/IMG_5959.jpg

Got my dynotune done today. Went from 315 whp to 334.

Here is the dyno chart:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...f/IMG_5968.jpg

These are awesome numbers!

Thanks bro!