Advice on whether 370Z is the right car for me...
 

hi,

I'm about to buy a used 2010 370Z and suddenly thought, "hey, maybe I should ask some people who actually know something about these cars."

So here is my situation: I've recently gotten "into" the idea of owning - and being able to drive well - a sports car. I think the car I want is a Corvette Z06 (please, hear me out!) , but I'm not dogmatic; could go for a used Porsche 911 or GTR. I don't want to drop $60K+ while being fairly ignorant of sports cars or how to drive them.

So I thought I would start with the "driver mod" first. I know how to drive stick but have never owned one, so I don't know how to drive one "well" or with skill.

I want to buy a stickshift sports car to learn on, take a course at Skip Barber, go to autocross a few times, get into HPDE 1 and 2, and then by the end of this year, decide what sort of car do I really want and then know how to drive it well at that point.

I started with the idea of getting a Miata until I found out that for HPDE, I'd need a rollbar (convertible), and probably remove foam from the seat for a 6'1'' person like fit with a helmet (head must be beneath level of rollbar).

Wanting to learn on a rear-wheel drive car - and being unable to find a decent 240SX in my area - I thought I'd get a 370Z for 23-25K and then sell it after a year.

Questions:
1. Is the 370Z a good car for my purposes? Since it's newer, I was thinking it would sell better than a 350Z, i.e. I would not lose as much money.

2. Is it true that the 2009 370Z "burns oil" and should be avoided?

3. Do you think I'm going to lose a lot of money when I sell the car, e.g. I buy a 2010 370Z with 30K miles, in good condition, for $25K and then in 12 months I sell it? Would be losing a 2-3K or are we talking losing more than 4K?

Thank you!

1. S2000 is what you need. /thread Edit: Something much cheaper is what you need.
2. Any year can burn oil, steering lock failure is what you should be looking out for. Install oil cooler and upgrade brakes.
3. If you are planning on tracking the car I wouldn't expect to get much money out of it when you go to sell.
4. If you are planning on selling the car in a year I'd just buy the car you actually want.

With S2000, I think I'd still have to install a rollbar for HPDE (right?), which I don't want to do, for fear that when I sell it the value would drop.

Dude you've never even driven stick.. You would probably crash my old fwd all motor prelude

Good point. You should probably look for something wayyy cheaper.

Get a 2013 Honda Accord.

This maybe?

Accord is FWD. I want a RWD because Corvette and the other cars I'll be looking at are RWD. Other than Miata, S2K, and Nissan Z cars, only other RWD are the muscle cars and I'm looking for something that handles well, not an old mustang.

As for getting something cheaper...

for example, if I get a 240SX or Miata for $4000, will I be able to use it for a year without much maintenance and then sell it? I fear that I'd be paying a lot for maintenance (than a 2010 370Z) and then I won't be able to sell it. But true that my losses would be limited to $4000.

There are plenty of beater option you can look into. I would recommend a used FC RX-7 or MKIII supra, both can be had for a few thousand dollars and resell for a similar amount even after you track it for a bit. I wouldn't look at such a modern car if you're planning on trashing it and don't know if you want to keep it.

Never driven stick wants zo6 or porshe. Get the gtr! Haha

300zx also comes to mind.

I'm gonna vote that you just go buy the car you really want, z06 or whaterver. Learn to drive stick and be responsible with it. Go take thsoe performance drvier ed courses you mentioned and then go track your new toy. Getting a used 370 is a waste of $$ for you based on your stated goals and any really cheap pos is only going to have 6mt and rwd in common wiht the 500hp car you are going to end up with anyway.

FYI a 2010 370z is NOT a "track ready" vehicle. Get ready to lose money either way. At least with the older beater your initial investment and potential loss will be muuuuch less.

(I really appreciate the advice by the way. Sounds like consensus is that 370Z is not the right car for me. Please keep the responses coming. I've looked at some beaters online but many of them seem like they're going to fall apart.)

I think you've basically got your answers.... I don't know what else to tell you.

1. Ignore the advice and buy a 370z
2. buy an older model vehicle that you can learn on and enjoy without fear of losing too much value
3. buy the car that you originally intended to buy and just enjoy it at your own pace. You don't need to be a pro racer the moment you step into the car.