Seriously looking at 370Z and need some pointers
 

Hi All,
I am seriously looking at a 2009 370z in LA and I would like a few tips before buying. I am in Portland, OR so I would be flying down and driving it back. The seller says it is a "company" car and was driven to events and what not, then in the last year they let one of their "trusty"(his words not mine) employees drive it. The car has 44k on it, and I have the VIN number (havent purchased carfax yet) but I was wondering if there was anything you guys would recommend he takes close pictures of before i head down there? I was also going to have him take it to the nearest Nissan dealership to get a full checkup. I am kind of concerned because they had a quick release steering wheel on it(included with sell) and when they put the original steering wheel back on is has the SRS light on. Should i be worried about that?

humm... kinda hard to tell from just that.

you check places like carmax and others if they have 370z's in your area?

company car, driven to events, etc. just doesnt sound like something id want to risk a flight for unless you personally know about cars and can work on them... or willing to put in the time.

id slightly recommend against it, The Trusty Employee drove it for 44k miles? I mean he didnt buy the car? He just Drove it? You already know what that means, he thrashed the shenanigans out of it. And im sure there are a crapton of cars near the area, whats your budget like.

Hit Cars.com etc. why would u fly for a car with warning lights on and no solid maint or real ownership history. Never rush a performance car purchase.

OP, what is so special about this specific car that you are willing to fly all the way out there for? An 09 with 44k miles... There are plenty of 370z's in the Seattle area that are priced relatively well. Less of a hassle driving 100 miles here than flying out to LA.

For free carfax, post a sale on eBay using the VIN. It's free to post a classified, so you can just delete it after you get the carfax results.

yet another one of them mr.jar smart tricks... :tup:

thank you all for the quick responses. I liked most of the aftermarket bolt on mods they did to the car plus the price was $19,500. The bolt ons were short ram intake, exhaust, headers, and some carbon fiber pieces. If interested i could PM the craigslist ad but im kind of hesitant to posting it since im not sure what the policy on this forum is. To clarify the employee only drove it the last year and that is where most of the miles came from. Im going to email for more details about maintenance records.

Wow Jar that is a brilliant idea! I will try it now.

short ram intakes... :ugh:

ask for mod parts list with manufacture name and model numbers.

#1 Elanshimoto Racing - titanium washers
#2 Tornado vortex generators
#3

Most importantly of all the service records, make sure the VVEL fluid was serviced regularly.

J/K, It's hard looking for the right car when its so far away and questionable. I was looking for a long time before getting mine. Nothing was right and it was really hard to be patient, but the right one will come along. I ended up going new, but still... patience.

Carmax had some pretty decent ones for sale on their website, and they can even ship to you. You have to pay of course even if you dont buy, but that gives you another option. Good luck!

The car was owned by a car shop and they did all the mods in house. Here is the list of mods
Mods:
VIS Carbon Fiber Hood
VIS Carbon Fiber Trunk
NRG Carbon Fiber Roof
VIS Carbon Fiber Side Skirts
VIS Carbon Fiber Rear Add Ons
VIS Front Lip
EvoR Carbon Rear Diffuser
EvoR Carbon Fiber Rear License Cover
Carbon Fiber A-Pillar & B-Pillar
Carbon Fiber Mirrors
Carbon Fiber Rear Deck Lip
JDM Sport Header
JDM Sport Catback
JDM Sport Test Pipe
JDM Sport Coilover
Kenwood Double Din with Backup Camera
Cold Air Intake
Polish Strut Bar
Torque Damper
JDM Sport Fender Washers (Purple)
5Zigen Bronze 19" Wheels

Eh, just put the ad up and let us take a look at it

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wtf is JDM Sport? Some stuff sounds legit, others.... idk.

Welcome to JDM Sport Nation

I dont know, but they have KIT from knight rider on their home page, so they are cool in my book! hahaha

Jar, again thanks for the tip. I was able to get the free autocheck from Ebay.

The SRS light is probably due to removal of the airbags or at least their disabling in order to fit the quick release steering wheel...

I'd continue shopping around -- ideally you want a car that is not only well maintained with low miles, but has either no or only few prior mods like simple bot-on's (unless you are looking for a potential project car, that is...), or if it had been more extensively modded, is either back to stock or has clear evidence of being ready for service to you as DD (again, unless this is primarily going to be a track or project car).

Good luck -- maybe I'll get to see a Z cruising around on Portlandia :tup:

what is your budget and what are they asking for it?

There are quite a few nice Z's on this forum for sale. And with that list... that is a bunch of mods to take over on.

Oh and employee car? Good chance they drove it like they stole it.

Idk about you OP, but I usually don't like buying a car that is heavily modded. 2 reasons for that:

1. I like to mod the car myself because it's a different experience.
2. Unless you're buying from a trusted friend/forum member the car was probably driven very rough.

Just my two cents. I could be wrong.


-M-

with the info he gave took 2 seconds to find on cl 2009 Nissan 370z

I am trying to stay at the 20k mark and I haven't really seen any on here for that cheap. The auto check came out perfectly clean with the 1 owner but I was thinking the same about the mods and about them driving it like they stole it. I am going to talk with him later tonight but as most of you have commented it might be safer to walk away. When it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.:shakes head:

give it some time. I am sure some others for under 20k will come up that don't have that weird history

Don't be in a rush to buy. Take your time and find something that you are 100% comfortable with. As others have stated, have you ever rented a car before? I have and I sure as hell would NEVER buy a vehicle that was a rental at any point in it's life. I would consider this one a rental too as its just some random shop employee driving it. The person has no reason to NOT beat the piss out of it all day, everyday. I would and I suspect most others would too.

Sounds like you are on the right track of thinking with "...if its too good to be true..."

It is not the service records that you need to worry to much about, could have been doing in house service. But you need to make sure to pull ALL WARRANTY CLAIMS. Service records just cover oil changes and such, not warranty work, new clutch, or if had the oil consumption issues and was an early oen and got a new long block, or a latter and got a short block.

Carfax has nothing important as far as services, only one record from 2009 for recommended service, other than that, 1 owner, clear title, no accidents.

I would stay away, there are sick clean cars in California, if you are willing to travel to CA, pick up something spotless clean

Hey bcoffee20. I think everyone else has already said the same thing but just to put this in perspective (because I hate seeing people get ripped off.)

The car you are looking at (without mods) has a KBB value of $21,582 (give or take depending on your opinion of KBB)

The mods you listed were included do not have what I would consider "top of the line" parts that might make this really worth considering.

Here is a breakdown of how much some of those mods run (note I used the most expensive options just to show higher end price)

VIS Carbon Fiber Hood $948.00
VIS Carbon Fiber Trunk 948.00
NRG Carbon Fiber Roof $649.99
VIS Carbon Fiber Side Skirts $906.00
VIS Carbon Fiber Rear Add Ons $600.00
VIS Front Lip $600.00
EvoR Carbon Rear Diffuser $349.95
EvoR Carbon Fiber Rear License Cover $174.95
5Zigen Bronze 19" Wheels $586.30 per wheel?

So basically you will invest in travel expense for a car with a questionable history, with upgrades from the middle of lower end of the quality spectrum and a SRS light on which you would have to diagnose.

I also want to point out that anybody can throw parts on a car - the part quality and quality of the installation will determine the "perceived" value.

Also from a modder's perspective - not much aside from really great upgrades like a Turbo kit installed by a reputable shop will ad "real" value to a car.

I just installed a nice carbon fiber spoiler on my car. Decent part but that doesn't mean I added value to a depreciating vehicle. Instead I probably lowered the overall resale value of my car because I was F***ing around with it.

So overall, I would recommend holding on this one or keeping an eye on our own for sale page. I have seen some very nice Z's listed over the last few months.

Good luck with your decision!

Sources at the bottom

Car Trucks Body Kit Carbon Fiber Hood Trunk Hatch Spoiler

NRG CARB-RC-42 Carbon Fiber Roof 08+ Nissan 370Z Z34

Motorsport! 370Z Exterior - The Z Store, Nissan-Datsun 240Z-260Z-280Z-280ZX-300ZX(Z31/Z32)-350Z-370Z Parts

:iagree: Thank you guys for giving me good feedback. I was trying to talk myself into it but I can wait. I'll keep my eye out on this forums for sale section and also on craigslist, but for now ill enjoy my saabaru for a bit longer.

Think you made a difficult but wise decision bcoffee20. I know the car looked the way you wanted it to but there were a few too many unknowns to make it a good purchase.

Also you may want to keep an eye out on the north west regional forum.

North West Region - Nissan 370Z Forum

Probably a lot of really good people/resources there to help you in your search.

Why do I feel the SOB stole my idea?

OP, where in LA is it? I might be able to check it out for you

I can copy you on the PM I sent him. He asked me a question, and I basically said if he had any other questions it was your idea and to PM or text you and gave him your phone number :rofl2:

:tiphat:

Greaaaaat... Another forum member who has my number... Brings the total up to........... 300? LOOOL


(JK OP, feel free to contact me)

Buy right the first time instead of buying twice! Cars definitely arent the thing to practice this on haha. I know from experience


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