I'll be 26 July 3rd and July 28th will mark my 1 year anniversary with my 40th anniversary.

What I wrote was more of a joke and i dont know where you are from, but $35,000 at the age of 25 IS hard to obtain to drop on a car, unless you live with mommy and daddy still and were lucky enough to have someone pay for your education... But then again im sure its all about the variables of where you live. For me, cost of living is very expensive, gas is expensive, you cant have (or is extremely hard) to have only a 370z for a daily driver, especially in the winter. Let alone housing, expenses and trying to not be a hermit. If my option was to pretty much do nothing with myself or have a 370z, id pass on the Z and live my life...

you just must hate young people in nice cars. I saved and paid for my Nismo in 4 months, with no help from mommy or daddy. And I still have a life and other hobbies. So I think you should stop being mad at younger people that have gotten out there and work and go out there and get yourself a better job.

If you mean buying outright, I can agree. However, I would bet most people at age 25 are financing rather than paying cash.

Income usually reflects cost of living.

Where I live, I don't make all that much, but my appartment is only $405/mo and it's in a nice part of town near everything with low crime rates,etc.

ill be 18 when i get mine in a month or so, gift for college from parents

I am 25. I got my 370z Just a few months after turning 25 after buying a house almost right when I turned 25.

I have some college but no degree. I was a big computer geek when I was a kid and it paid off in the end. I made 75k last year which I would say is pretty good being 25 with no college degree. Not only that but just before the new year I got a review and a 10% raise so I will be pulling in more this year.

I did get help by living with my dad while working full time for a few years (When I first started working at this company I was only making 35k/year) but I saved up my money to buy a house and only after that the car that I have been wanting for many years. I prioritized getting the house over the car myself.

Congrats!

I did things backwards from that, because I started off with limited credit. I got taken on the car (7.34% for 72mo, but plan on paying it off earlier) in preparation of getting a better rate on a house (much larger principal/longer time financed).

In the long run, it will cost me around $14K to finance the car for the full 72mo, but I bet I save that much or more on the house after paying off the car boosts my desireability to the bank.

I'll be 25 in March. I didn't have a ton of money to put down on the car as I work a full-time job that pays OK, and I go to school full-time as well. I pay all of my bills myself, including my schooling. I do live at home with my parents for now. However, I do pay them rent each month as well. I make enough to make ends meet and still have enough to go out and have fun occasionally, but I cannot afford any mods to my car without extra income such as my tax return, or my annual bonus at work. If I stopped having fun on the weekends and stopped taking my gf out to dinner and movies each weekend then I would be able to have some stuff done to my car. But hey, I think I'm doing pretty good for 24years old.

Before my current job I was a construction manager for a new home builder and made $73k/yr when I got laid off a couple years ago when the market crashed. When I worked there I was able to buy everything I needed at that time, like a $4k Apple Computer fully built up, a $4500 LCD TV(Tvs are much cheaper these days), and all other kinds of things. I paid cash for everything so I don't have many bills that kids my age have.

Sorry for the length here but I'm tired of the older people assuming that we don't work for our toys when of course they had to work on a farm, milk chickens, and walk to school in the snow barefoot as a child. Times have changed.

One thing I learned the hard way is just because people have nice things doesn't mean they have always had them. I personally had some family problems and we ended up losing everything, but my dad worked his A$$ off the past 6 years, started his own company, and is now making half a million a year. Of course running a business means needing to have overhead, so not all that money goes to us, but lets just say the company needs a bunch of vehicles to work ;)

I busted my A$$ off helping him get where he was. I have been with him every step of the way, so progressively every year I have gotten a newer nicer vehicle. at 16 I got a 2006 Silverado 2500HD diesel, at 17 I got a 2006 Toyota Tundra X-SP, and last year for graduation at 18 I got my 370z. He feels like I deserve nice things for helping him get where he is today, but I don't try to take advantage of that, so for christmas, I asked for nothing.

So just because people have nice things, I cannot/will not cast judgement because I don't know what they have been through....

7.34%? Ouch! That is one reason I am glad that I got a credit card at a decently young age (around 18-19) and I was responsible with it. It allowed me to slowly build up my credit as I made all my purchases on it. I also leased a much cheaper car ($200/month) for 4 years before getting the 370z as it made a lot more sense financially considering what insurance on a 350Z would have cost me back then.

I am also glad I did not wait too long after getting the house to get the 370z. In the process of getting the houses I had a crapton of credit checks and stuff ran on me (just to make offers on some houses I had to be approved for their own credit although I didn't have to use them). When I got the 370z my credit score was just over 800 so luckily I was able to get around 3.25% APR. After my credit scores 'caught up' I went down by a good 60-70 points which might have prevented me from getting such a good rate. At over 7% I would definitely try to get that thing paid off ASAP.

Staying in good shape on the loan should help you with your credit score. I am pretty sure mine went up quite from when I first got the lease to the end of the lease.

18 here. i purchase my Z last year and it's my first Z, my first car was a 1993 Mitsubishi Evo 3

lol, where did you get that i was mad? im not lol and could care less. I own a house, the 370z is my second car. dont you worry, im well set up. Also, i had nice cars when i was younger as well because i was lucky enough to have help from my parents. What i wrote wasnt to make fun, so dont go jumping to the conclusion that what i wrote means that I am mad at young people with nice cars. If anything you should have realized that my point is true. Its easier to save the money when you live at home with mommy and daddy cuz you dont have any other expenses. but in my opinion, moving out of the house and going to school and living on your own, getting to travel a little and enjoying your youth is a high priority and by doing that, it makes it much much harder to be able to afford a sports car... I was pointing out facts, not complaining about things. but I do know that saving and paying for a Nismo in 4 months is highly unlikely...How would you be able to make $38,000 + in 4 months?

Good point. When I talk about owning the car, i mean bought out and payed off, not just making payments.

You make a good point. When I grauated college in Aug 09, my fiancée (at the time) and I moved back home with my parents. We did it to save money so we could buy a house and plan our wedding. Well, we got as far as planning the entire wedding. We had all our vendors booked. Then she broke it off in October.

I got my job in Dec 09, bought my house in April '10, and bought the Z in July '10. Without living at my parents house for those 4 months while I was finally making money and had very limited bills, I would have not been able to buy the Z so quickly.

Z eliminator is going to be 57 this year.

In that case, I don't know many people of any age who do that. Most everyone makes payments, the well-off/more established people just get a 0% rate during a sale/promo and make payments for the sake of boosting the hell out of their credit rating and because it's free money that eliminates the factor that is inflation and gives them more purchasing power. In effect, reducing the price of the car by roughly 10% over 5 years (assuming it would have taken 5 years to come up with the money, 5% if only 2.5 years) because of the toll inflation takes on money sitting in a bank at 1-3%.

Financing stuff at low/0% is smart. Credit cards are smart. Let OTHER people's money work for you as well as yours.

If you can afford to go pay cash for a car (without trading one in, as that is not saving up for it) like a 370Z in less than 1 year's time. Well, I find it odd that you are buying a 370Z instead of something with a prancing horse on the side of it or a shield on the front. But hey, to each their own, and you might have those in the garage, too!

I have had an LOC for about 2.5 years now. I really wish I had gotten into building my credit younger as well. The 7.34% is on a 72mo loan, could have gotten 6.34% on a 5 year. Anyway, I was only a mid/upper 600's beacon, so I was in B-tier category. I plan on re-financing in a couple of years. You are 100% right, though, getting credit rolling when you are young is the way to go! You really need to help finance your highschool car/college car, so you have car credit. That is prime.

I bought a Z06, and not a 370Z, so I can't make tripple-payments or somehting like I could with the 370Z. I am shooting to re-finance in 2 years, and pay it off in 60mo.

I always wanted a Z06 or a Viper, so I got one. The difference in my notes at 7.34% vs. 4.25% (about the best you will find at 72mo regardless of who you are) is less than $100 a month the way I structured it (payment every 2 weeks), and quite frankly, that $90 or so a month isn't very important to me vs. the several years it would have taken to end up in the 720+ region, considering I wouldn't waste my money on another car, and didn't want a house, that climb would be infinitely SLOW.

For example, I paid my debt down from 100% to 50% debt/credit ratio, got a new credit card and used the hell out of it and paid it off several times a month, and took out and paid off a little $1000 loan. During the 6 months I did all this, my credit score went up...by 8 points. I need a car or a house on there to actually make any changes to it, and I don't want a house, and I already have a DD that's paid for. The fun-car was the only thing lacking in my life, and like I told my banker, anything other than the car I want, is just a waste of my money because I won't be happy with it.

I know many people who save to buy a car. It makes much more sense to do than paying interest rates. I understand the credit point you are trying to make but there are other ways to improve your credit, that will not cost you extra money such as interest charges, but as you mentioned, it will make your credit jump if you need it. In my area, there was no options to purchase these cars for 0% what so ever. I also looked at Porsche's, but the only ones i like are the higher models which would mean i would be making payments forever, and I just don't see the point in that myself. Id rather pay it off as quickly as possible and begin saving for the next big purchase down the road... it really all comes down to each individual and what they are capable of doing..

AGE Car

32 - 370z Base 2011 PW (keeping her till the wheels fall off)
31 - 370z Base 2010 BS (sold)
31 - 08 GSXR1000 Rizla (sold)
31 - 04 G35 2dr Coupe Brembo (sold)
31 - IS250 (sold)
30 - 04Dodge Dakota (sold and got it for free!!)
30 - 01 GSXR 600 (sold)
29 - 89 GMC Jimmy (sold)
24 -28 01Mistu Eclipse (sold)
23 - 01Integra LS (sold)
19 -22 94Camaro Z28 (sold)
16-17 94 Civic Hatch (sold)
15 - 84 Camaro Z28 (sold)
14 - 79 Toyota Corolla 4SPD (sold - my first car)

Started driving when I was 10, then had to drive a lot when I was 13 because my mother was sick at times...interesting looking back at this list here, I just realized I owned a lot of 2DR cars, the corolla, dakota and the jimmy were all 2dr, the only 4dr was the is250:driving:

I tried boosting my credit via cutting my credit/debt ratio, credit-card use/paying off, etc etc.

I gained a whopping 8 points in over half a year.

That just seemed slow to me, so I financed a car.

I understand your point. I just like to have the cash over the credit, but my credit isnt a problem so maybe my view would be different otherwise...

If I had $70K laying around, believe me, I would have paid cash instead. Sadly, at age 25, that wasn't something I had to spend much time pondering, lol!

lol understandable. I was saving for years and years for another sports car. Havent had one since my 97 GST Eclipse that i got rid of in 03. So Ive been saving and saving not really knowing when or what I wanted to buy. Then i stumbled across the 370z's and new i had to have one hahaha.

In the long run of things, its either car payments or house payments or some sort of payments your going to incur. lol

I understand, but you paid an average of roughly 3% "interest" on the money you were saving, while someone else paid 3.25% interest on a car they actually had. Inflation's a bitch. Finance! :tup:
Annual Inflation Chart

Haha well it all depends on your job. Me I'm a Welder/Production Tech for Unitied Launch Alliance. And have been doing it for almost 3 years, so saving that was not that big a deal. I even built a home in the same year. So thats my point is just cause people are young does not mean they cant afford or need their parents help buying a car while having to live at home. Because I did not need them to.

Bought the 370Z when I was 36 and got my first Z, 300ZX when I was 16.

Well, as for me, I'm 54 could have retired 2 years ago but decided to save my butt off so that I could get my '11 Z Touring/Sports for myself as a retirement gift. It will be arriving this April and I'm retiring in May. I so can't wait to get it and baby it! Life is good!

Life is good! Congrats on your upcoming early retirement!

Thats an interesting way to look at it, but no, i didnt lost anything. I have investments... and besides, I havent heard of anyone getting a 3% interest rate on their loan. Usually a bit higher for these cars from what I have seen... Who knows, maybe its different elsewhere...

I went with my bank (Bank of america) for the loan:

Bank of America | Please Select Your State

I think those rates are a bit better than they used to be when I bought my 370z in early july. I think the 72 month new car loan was 3.75%. I ended up getting another .5% off the APR due to the loan being over 30k so it dropped it down to 3.25% (just over 3%) so its definitely possible. Going 60 month would have been a bit closer to 3% and maybe saved me $500 or $800 or something? I forget over the life of the loan but it was worth that extra $500 to get another year to pay it off to me.

Meh. Can you really put a price on a couple of years without something you want enough to spend thousands of dollars on?

Im 30....:happydance:

Geez...
Can any of you tell me you didn't see this turning into a discussion about youth, managing finances and entitlement?

Me? I was 40 when I bought my Z and it's my mid-life crisis car. I couldn't afford an F430, so this is what I ended up with.

I like 370zHawaii's chart. I'll play along too:
41-now - 2000 Ford Ranger XLT 4X4
40-now - 2009 Nissan 370Z
39-now - 2006 Mercdes Benz C230 Sport (wife's)
39-40 - 2007 Mazda Mazdaspeed3 (sold)
31-39 - 2002 Jeep Liberty Sport (traded)
31-32 - 1992 Yamaha FZR 600 (race bike - sold)
31-40 - 2001 Yamaha R6 (converted to race bike after one year - sold)
30-41 - 1989 Nissan Pickup 4X4 (sold for salvage - 100% used up!)
27-32 - 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse (wife's - traded)
27-now - 1992 Mazda Miata (project car, SCCA class winning autocross car)
21-27 - 1986 Cadillac Sedan DeVille (bought it off my parents after eating crow)
19-22 - 1976 Yamaha XS650 (sold)
19-21 - 1980 Honda Accord (sold to a salvage yard for what I paid for it)
18 - 1987 Toyota Corolla FX-16 GT-S (got it repossessed after moving out of my parents' house while I was in college)
17 - 1978 Dodge Diplomat (bought it off my parents)

Mine is the story of bad decisions and wrecked credit through my 20's, but I still managed to find a way to pursue racing sports as my hobby.
Take that for what it's worth.

What is the average age of a 370z driver?
 

So after talking to my old HS buddy who owns a 370z, we brought up the question, what is the average age of a 370z driver? We figured it will be much older than a punk 18 yr old ricer but we truly had no idea. Were both 31 now and are tired of the little kids and are ready to get out! Anyhow, I would love to hear the responses here and see the average age. I hope this topic hasnt already been raised, if so, I am sorry!

23 first Z, also drive a 07 wrangler unlimited with goodies

Previously had an 04 Audi S4 modded and before that a 02 Merc C240 4matic

was 21 when i bought my car, a month later, turned 22.

Was 19 when I got mine, now 20 an loving the 370. My dad owns a '89 300zx.

I know! When I was 22 I was in college with a freakin bus ticket! I almost crapped myself when i was able to buy my first 280 (with mom and dad's help!) 41 now and still had to ask the wife! :shakes head: That's awesome you can afford it at 22.

Heres my timeline:

16 - Chevy sprint
17 - Chevy S10 Truck
23 - 280zx, Toyota 4x4
25 - Miata, 280zx, Toyota 4 runner
27 - 280zx, Toyota Camry, Mitsubishi Montero
30 - 280zx, Mazda Mx-3, Mitsubishi Montero
32 - Ford F150 king ranch, Ford Windstar
35 - Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas, Jaguar XKR, Ford Freestar
38 - Nissan Titan Crew, Jaguar XKR, Honda Odyssey
40-41 - Nissan Titan Crew, Mercedes GL450, Nissan 370z Roadster!

Man, talk about a trip down memory lane!

41 years old. Third Z- had 280Z turbo at 22 and then 300zx at age 25. Now the BEST of them all......2010 370 Roadster Touring black on black!