I live in a small (<25K) town and we're the biggest place in a 40 mile radius. I've seen two 350s in town (one stays parked most of the time and the other is painted Home Depot Orange with an over-sized wing on the back). I may be the only 370 in town. But I don't get out much and there may be another 370 running around. I doubt if there are two more in town.

I have a slight leaning toward the Mustang. They've gone back to a more "classic" look that I like a lot. If the Ford dealer can locate something with a lot better handling than the base I drove and in my price range, that's probably the way I'll go. But I don't want to have to rent a car while waiting for them to find something, so I'm still open to something else.

Where in SARK are you? I live in Warren and drive a 2011 black 370 that I get serviced at Welch in Pine Bluff or Trotter in El Dorado. I prefer Welch though. I only have 6k in my town and am definitely the only 370 in town. There are two 350s also. Definitely love the cheap housing and land too!

S2000

Sorry hear South :shakes head:
I wish you luck & hope you poke in here & there.
Anyway, so as not to find yourself in the same scenario, I would suggest once you have it narrowed down to what your looking for, go hang out in the dealers maintenance shop a few times seeing what cars come in there (hopefully the car you like) & talk it up with the the customers in the lounge on what their experience with the service department is like before you buy. This way you can get a feel if you are going to be happy taking your car to them.

Best of luck to you :tiphat:

I'm in ElDo. Apparently the population has dropped quite a bit since I last checked; Wikipedia says 18,491 in 2012. It was up to around 30K back in the late-'60s.

I wish you a lot better luck with Trotter (was Murphy until recently) than I have had. Haven't tried Welch but, at this point, I'm pretty disgusted with Nissan dealers. If I can't find a replacement car soon, I may give Welch a call.

If you want to get together and talk cars over burgers, PM me.

Thanks!

I've been doing a lot of "networking" the past week or so. So far, I've been getting the expecting mix of mostly good things with a few minor complaints every now and then for most of the other dealers within 50 miles or so of me. The local Nissan dealer and a Chevy dealer in another town are the only ones getting mostly bad reviews and even they have their fans.

Maybe I'm expecting too much. It just seems to me that when I pay to have "all the fluids changed (except the differential; did that about 10K miles ago), change the intake and cabin air filters, and do the 30K scheduled maintenance" that the power steering bottle would be above touching the low line, the battery would have been checked (can't swear that they didn't check it but there was dust on the top and caps when I got home), the cabin air filter would be replaced, and the tires would have more than 210kPa in them (they were at 230-235 two days before, so I'm guessing they couldn't read the tag in the door jamb (240kPa) and let some air out). Oh! And they changed the oil change alert to 5K miles without asking even I had told the Service Rep that I stick to the factory 3750. I don't have a lot of confidence that they actually did the trans/brake/coolant flushes.
And that's just one visit to one dealer. :shakes head:

But anyway. Life is good - much better than I deserve - so I'll just grit my teeth, find a car I can get worked on, and carry on. :driving:

Good choices for the GTI, Ford Focus ST, for the FR-S you should be able to take that to Toyota, S2000 would be fantastic and will run forever since it's a Honda. Have you considered Lexus for a 4 door sporty look? For Lexus, you should be able to take it to Toyota. How about Infiniti dealerships nearby? For either a G35 or G37.

Gotta love car salespeople. I asked how much they were willing to give me for the Z on a trade-in. "Depends on what you'll be buying." What?!? What does anything but the condition of the Z have to do with what it's worth? No good answer to that question just another "depends." After much hemming, hawing, and calling in managers, I finally got "somewhere between 17 and 18-five."

While that's not an insulting offer, I've been offered $20K, no trade, by one of the used car lots that I've done business with before. I got the feeling the guy wants it for his personal car. :) From what I've found on the 'Net, somewhere around $20,700 is the most I can expect. I need to grab that while the offer is hot but don't want to have to rent a car while looking for a replacement.

I'm getting conflicting reports on the only VW repair shop in town. Independent shop and, by all reports, very good with the old, air-cooled Beetles/buses/&c. Maybe not so much with a recent VW. Still investigating.

I talked to the Ford dealer again and he is expecting an ST and another Mustang "soon." Will test drive ASAP.

I will call the Toyota shop and see what they say. Thanks for the tip.

The S2000 is on the short list but I'm still not sold on a vert. If it had a hardtop, it would be a main contender. :)

Hadn't really thought about Lexus. Will take a look. Thanks again.

No Infiniti dealers in town but that is a great idea since Infiniti and Nissan share so many parts. I'll check the Infiniti web site after I finish this post. :)
Edit: Closest Infiniti dealer is 80 miles (I think it's closer to 100, but the web site says 80) away in Shreveport, LA. If I were only closer to Shreveport, I'd have my pick of brands.

:tiphat: Thanks :tiphat:

I've been driving an IS 250 RWD with a 6M for almost 4 years. Its a fun car to drive, BUT since getting my Zed (I'm Canadian eh) a few weeks ago I have learned what I've been missing. 205hp vs 332hp is hard to take.

This is like a Seinfeld episode where Seinfeld and George are offered 1 ticket for an upgrade to first class on a flight. Seinfeld asks George if he has ever flown first class. George says no to which Seindfeld replies I have so I should take the ticket you are better off not knowing.

I think power in a car works the same way, going backwards will be very tough to do. You will always know what you are missing.

Yeah. I've thought about that. Quite a bit.

The 200HP figure was more of a minimum, not a target. I'm not averse to having more HP, it's just that I don't really need it.

Thirty or forty years ago it would have been no contest - the more HP, the better. Nowadays, I'd rather have a car that can take a corner. I guess that as I've gotten older, I prefer my Gs laterally. :)

Sorry to hear your considering unloading the Z due to teriible dealersh1ts in your area.

Thinking outside the box of the normal mustang, camaro, challenger. Are you into sporty sedans at all? If so i have couple suggestions.

2012 Buick Regal GS. It has a nice set of specs. 270hp and 295tq. I test drove one back in 2012 before buying my 2010 NISMO. It was alot of fun to drive but I hate paying full retail for a car. Back then it was $36959 and now can be had for $21k to $25k. It's a sleeper car. Opt for the ones that have factory 20" polished rims unless your wanting to go with aftermarket rims. They come with factory summer tires. Sure wish GM would came back with the Grand National or give us the European version of the Regal GS: twin turbo V6 with AWD. :driving: Damn CAFE standards.

2007-2008 Acura TL Type-S. A year or 2 outside your want list but a very nice car. 286hp and 250tq. They are still head turner imo. Can be had for around $17k to 25k if wanting one under 100k miles. It's Honda tech so they run forever.

Good luck with whatever you end up with.

Now I know by where you live, that your home is on wheels. I say just get new sway bars for your mobile home and drive that.

I have a slight preference for 2-doors but a 4-door is fine. My DD before I got the Z was a 4-door Pontiac Grand Prix GTP.
The pics I found of the GS look pretty good. I'll investigate further. The Acura isn't quite as good looking but would be OK if the handling is there. Thanks. :tiphat:

Are you jumping the gun a bit here? I use a local Nissan/Chrysler dealer and they have been relatively fine. Even though I can do my own stuff, I have been using them for most of my basic maintenance (I do my own air filters, its cake).

*ANY* dealership can scam you. Anyone can not change fluids and just charge you. Often the simple maintenance stuff is done by their low order grease monkeys while the seasoned and certified techs work on the hard stuff. Some level of trust must be established starting with blind faith on the consumer end.

And that is something to consider: sounds like your car has just been basic maintenance for a few years and you are more aggressive with the preventative care? Nothing wrong with that (I did my diff and trans myself, even though that is only 'premium service' according to Nissan).

Why unload a car you like to drive just like that? Next time in for service that is more then just an oil change, ask to speak to the tech for a few minutes: just to meet them, and ask 'so you see anything else of interest on the car?'

More often then not they will probably be entertained in the fact they got to work on a Z, which is rare in itself :)

Otherwise you have good feedback. For a FWD car the Ford ST's are getting rave reviews. I also would look at a RWD 'merican thunder if you could. V8's are fun and the MPG won't be much different then the Z :)

- b

I've had similar experiences with the two Nissan dealers that are closest to me. It wasn't just the one episode. I can see how "And that's just one visit to one dealer." could be confusing. It was just one visit - out of many - to one dealer - of three.

:iagree: A lot of good suggestions that I really appreciate.

Yeah. Nothing like the sound of a thumpin' V-8. If I can find a good deal on a V-8, I'll jump on it but most sixes and quite a few fours have enough power for me, so why pay a premium to get an eight?

If I would get rid of my 370z, I would def pick up a clean, low mile E46 M3

Only because I've always wanted one.

Why? Because it goes to 11. :tiphat:

You don't need a reason other then its yummy. I didn't need to get the 335d for my commuter, a baby turbo 4 would do fine too. I like the torque.

I agree the 6's in both the bow tie and ford coupes are pretty slick for what they are but given how porky those cars are, its gotta be an 8.

- b

Forget the dealer if you do not like them, there has to be ONE competent mechanic in a resonable range, you need to find some other sports cars people in your area to find out where they go, for routine stuff the Z is just a car, nothing special about it. That said the only reason im a Z guy and not an S2k guy is im fat. My best friend traded his s2k in with 240k miles because cyl one was starting to lose compression, damn things are amazing.

I've been looking for over a year for an independent shop that can work on Zs (or Nissans, in general). If s/he is out there, s/he is staying well hidden. :(

For oil changes and such, yeah, just about anybody should be able to do that. If the car didn't sit so low to the ground, I'd DIY. But the car is probably going to need a "real" mechanic before too long.

If I need someone to work on "classic" cars, I have quite a few good options.* Not so much for modern cars. :(

The S2000 is sounding better all the time. Apparently they hold up very well if not abused. I haven't talked to anyone that has had an S2000 (rare as hen's teeth around here) worked on at the local dealer but most ppl I've talked to are satisfied with the work done on other models. The convertible top worries me a bit; they are getting old enough to start having (expensive) problems. Is there a manual mode of operation (ie, hand crank or "freewheel"), in case something electrical fails?



* One being DIY but I just don't enjoy working on cars as much as I used to. The last "big" job I did was rebuilding a "Ford design four speed" (AKA toploader) about 6-7 years ago and it was getting to be a chore before I got done. I've had my mower apart for 2 months and having a hard time working up the want-to to go put it back together. :(

Things are starting to come together. Talked to the guy I have looking for the replacement car and updated the list of possibilities. He said he might be interested in buying the Z after all. We're supposed to get together tomorrow or the next day and look at what he has found.

You probably are already aware you can buy a hard top for the S2000 and mount it yourself, right? There's the aluminum OEM, Spoon or Mugen FRP or CF one. It's something extra on the budget but it's worth it if you really like the S2K and just worried about it being a vert.

I was aware but hadn't investigated due to the rarity of that option (I thought they would be very expensive). I did a Q&D search and the hard tops go for $1500-2500 (~$3500 for CF). If I understood correctly, also requires a ~$750 installation kit. My favorite body shop should be able to paint for ~$250. Not cheap but less than I was expecting. Thanks for the tip. :tup:

Whats with all this "work" that has to be done on your car?
Or,for the fact,any new car you will be buying.
I would'nt buy any car if I knew it had to have regular trips
to a dealer.
If you must go domestic,I'd recommend the NEW Mustang or,a Camaro.
If you want a sport fun car,look at a FRS.Its a Scion.Your Toyota guy in town
should be able to work on it.
??Don't you do ANY work on your car?

So far, no major work done, just oil/filter changes, cabin air filter replacement, 30K maintenance, &c. I'm a big believer in Preventative Maintenance - some might say obsessive. When I buy a used car, the first thing I do is change all the fluids, get the alignment checked, &c.

Very little. As I've said before, I used to love working on cars but, nowadays, it's more of a chore. I've done a few very simple jobs such as cleaning the MAFs and pulling the ESCL fuse. I've got a garage full of tools just going to waste. I do check the tire pressure and adjust when necessary. ;)


I feel sure that there are Nissan dealers out there that don't have their heads firmly planted in their rectums, but they ain't near me.

You know, I've been pondering a move to a simpler place to live. I'll move to that neck of the woods, if someone builds me a shop with 3 bays, a couple of lifts and an alignment rack. On my military retirement check, I might do pretty good and I'll work on your Z. Problem solved. :icon17:

Come on down! :)

Things are moving right along. The guy that is looking for a car for me has agreed to buy the Z when he gets back from a mission trip in a week. He's paying a few hundred dollars less than another dealer offered but I like dealing with this guy so it's worth it to me. He has found an '05 Corvette with 26k miles that looks interesting if we can get the price right but I won't know any details until he gets back.

Do your homework on the 05's. That C6 has a few big weak points. If you aren't modding you will probably be fine, if you are, consider looking at an 06+.

Thanks for the heads up. I have a good friend that is a bit of a Vette nut (he's owned several over the years) and I'll be talking to him about the car and hope to take him along for an inspection. He's out of town for the weekend, so I'll be looking on the Web for more info until I can talk with him.

I don't plan on doing any significant mods. All I've done to the Z is add some sound damping material in the hatch area and had some small exhaust dumps (flanged tee with orifice and downturn; my version of the "washer mod" heehee) installed. And pulled the ESCL fuse.

The Vette owner is negotiating with my car guy (he wants it on his lot even if I don't take it) and the price hasn't been firmed up. He did a Q&D search and estimates that he can get the Vette for $23-28k. Possibly less since there is a "minor problem" (I didn't ask for details) with the CD player. I can get the Vette (or any other car) for a flat $500 over what he pays. If he can hit the low end and the car is in as good of shape as described, I may be willing to bust my $19-20k budget. But everything is on hold for a week while he is out of country.


Thanks again to all who have made suggestions/tips. Y'all have been a BIG help. Virtual beers for everybody!

I moderate the FS forums over on S2ki.com. I think you'll find Honda OEM hardtops are commanding a premium these days and are hard to find. $3k+

Did I hear Vette? :excited:

Thanks for the info.

All I did was a Q&D Web search for "S2000 hardtop" so I'm guessing that the ones I found were not OEM. :) My buddy that used to sell Honda parts said it wasn't a common option, so it doesn't surprise me that the OEM part is so expensive.

Update: I drove an '2010 Camaro SS2 w/6.2L engine the other day and was pretty impressed. Good handling (but not great), lots of cabin room compared to the 370Z, decent stereo, and the V-8 sounds very good with more power than I will ever need (IIRC, ~425 per Chevy). Definitely feels "heavier" than the Z but I guess that's because it is heavier. :) Too bad it was black/black (not a good color combo here in S AR). :( Got my car guy looking for one in another color.

I might be in the minority here but I like the looks of the new camaros and mustangs. Just think of the mods that will give you bigger gains for a lot less $, I am jealous :driving:

Not bad, I wanted one before I got z. I just couldn't get over the interior on those early models but they did start to work on it in the later years.

Yeah. I like the "retro" look of the newer Camaros and Mustangs, too. I've had about a dozen pre-1972 Mustangs over the years (my first car was a '64.5).

:tup:

My biggest interior "complaint" about the SS2: the gauge cluster is located at the front of the center console, under the dash, and is not very comfortable to check.

I've been driving 4-/6-cylinder cars for too long. That V-8 sounded gooooood. :)

A client brought by his 2013 ZL1 Camaro last week and took me for a spin. He'd upgraded the supercharger pulley (that's all he'd done) and the car was making about 610hp. It was stunningly quick. He did a roll from 20mph to about 85mph and if you'd asked me to reach up and take something off the dash in that run I honestly don't think I could have.