Someone please talk me out of this nonsense...
 

Hiya,

So to keep this short and sweet just looking for some opinion on the following:

Currently I'm daily driving my Z about 150 miles round trip from the inland empire to orange county for work along one particularly fun freeway here in SoCal labeled the 91. I've had the z since February 2012 bought new (78K Miles Now) and payments are around the 400 dollar range monthly. Insurance cost isn't to bad thankfully, but the gas on the other hand at 75$+ twice a week so there's another 600$ to add per month. The money isn't a big deal but for some odd f***ing reason I have been looking extremely hard at the Nismo Juke RS with the cvt and AWD.

If you look at my signature you can see the mods done to the Z and going through that process was extremely fun, but it just feels like I'm at the point where all the small go fast mods are already done. I'm not really into the idea of sinking 6-8k into an FI build just because it is my DD and can't see the benefits of having 500+ HP in stop and go traffic.

So the question is do I keep the z and drive it into the ground? Or trade the Z in for the Juke while it still has some equity in it, and bank the extra savings monthly for something else bigger and better than the z down the line at some point?

All opinions are welcome and don't let the title of the thread influence your feedback.

Thanks in advance. :tiphat:

Or.....buy a beater and commute with it

My dad has a AWD CVT Nismo juke RS as a grocery getter and it is a fun little car however no way i could replace my Z with one.

I'd just find a civic hatchback or CRX to commute in. Very fun. Very economical.

Just say no to a CVT transmission.

Buy a Prius (50 MPG), keep the Z for fun, do some track days and canyon runs and get the most out of the car and all the mods you did to it

My Z is my commuter car. I don't want to have to buy a 3500 dually truck for some time, hence it is an 04' with only 112,000 miles. They are way more expensive than my car. Drive it in the ground and see how far you can go. That's what I am doing. I drive 104 miles a day as my commute.

:iagree:

Wish i had more space in my apt complex to get a beater for the daily commute. On the other hand, i dont mind driving the Z everyday, 'cept when it rains. Daily commute is 1 1/2hrs

Get yourself a civic beater on the cheap and save so much on gas

Do it. Do it NOW.

Enjoy your Z.

Have you test-driven the Juke yet? If not, I would so so and then determine if you really want it over your Z. If you have, and you really think you have the hots for it, go for it.

Myself, I would do what a lot of the other guys on here have said and keep the Z, and buy a beater for the commute. But that's just me, as the Juke doesn't really do it for me. Good luck either way.

My husband has a Juke fwd. I can honestly say that it is a blast to drive, and surprisingly nimble for such a heavy subcompact. We do most errands and out-of-town trips in it. But... at least in fwd trim, it could never replace a Z.

I haven't seen a single awd Juke in a 50 mile radius, but on paper the torque vectoring system might fix my biggest complaint; any amount of sharp turn-in under acceleration breaks traction on the inside wheel. He's never chirped a tire in the damn thing, but every single time I've driven it, I slip a wheel at least once. In my defense, I drive a Z on a daily basis :driving:

It is a fun car, though. The leather seats are comfortable and we average over 25mpg since we bought it, even when I drive (averaging 19-20 per tank in the Z). Coming from a 6mt, I even like the CVT. It does a great job keeping the RPMs where I want them, and it works around the turbo lag brilliantly 90% of the time.

I like driving the Z and I drive it daily, of course I don't drive the miles you drive but will drive it until it goes no more, I just bought a set of winter tires and rims and will venture out this coming Winter...have fun :driving:

I bought my Z in February 2012 as well. :icon17:

I picked up a Honda Fit for a daily last Fall. Keeps the miles off the Z, the Z doesn't have to sit in a parking lot all day baking, the deterioration of the roads in the winter no longer chew up the front of the Z. Now the Fit is subjected to all this abuse, but I do not care as it is a beater after all.

So look at getting you whatever economical beater of your choice and carry on.

Temecula to OC is no joke, the 91 is awful. I live in Yorba Linda and I wonder all the time how people live out that way and sit in that traffic every day. If the sun is in drivers eyes there is traffic. If somebody gets pulled over there is traffic. If they turn on the amber alert sign there is traffic. As for your Z I'd do a simple calculation. Total your monthly expenses driving your Z, then factor in a better MPG car and all it's costs and see what you would save. It should be enough to get you to want a high MPG car, makes too much sense financially and you're protecting your prized asset.

wat? :icon08:

I test drove a Juke NISMO (non-RS) back in November 2013. While it looks fun standing still, and feels fun driving it around back roads at 40, it's definitely not fun on the highway. I frequently found it jumping to 3k RPMs to make it up small hills. Worse yet, it felt like it would start torque steering when it downshifted (suppose it could have also been wind though). Needless to say, it feels like it drives you and I decided it wasn't the car for me. Your mileage may vary, but it's definitely something to look for when test driving.

Torque steer it definitely has, torque it doesn't. Gotta love fwd.

juke drove well when i test drove it a few yrs back. it was the 6mt one. quick and fun.

but i wouldnt get that to replace a 370z. no way.

If you want an SUV go for a Mazda CX 5 2.5l . Wife has one, it aint too shaby.

And i thought my 55 miles total round trip work work was bad .... boy boy boy :shakes head:

I drove a Juke Nismo several laps around the auto-x course set up at the Nismo Performance Academy. It was great fun, and I could see it being a decent DD. My only complaint was I had to have my passenger repeatedly pulling back on the shift knob to keep me in first gear, but that won't be a problem during normal street driving lol

Trading the Z for any Juke is blasphemy. Complementing the Z with a Juke Nismo DD is :tup: :tup:

Sell the Z get the juke.

Be done with it. You obviously don't feel the Z is doing it for you so stop asking for help and just pull the trigger.

The juke is 2,866lbs
The Z is currently over 3,300lbs

The juke is actually very light for an AWD vehicle.

Compared to subcompacts of similar interior space, the Juke is heavy.

I'm not sure where your numbers came from. The lightest Juke is over 2,900 lbs, our SL is over 3,000lbs, and an awd Juke can weigh over 3,200lbs.

for me juke interior space was too small for a dd-hatch. i know it's a crossover.

rear seat ceiling, foot well, cargo space, etc. all too small. it'd be great for someone that only needs rear seats on occasion and to carry groceries.

Maybe for fully loaded, I weighed z at dragstrip and it was 3,3xx with me in it and 3,1xx when I hopped out.

The OP didn't have much to say. Did you test drive anything of interest? Are you trading it in on a Prius? The world has got to know!

I debated a similar trade my Z for a Nismo R Juke, didn't like the seats for DD in the RS. After driving one...i'll drive my Z till it dies. It was ok, in the city, but out on the hwy, not so much. My reasons for the possible trade in was tranny problems with the Z were getting to be too frustrating.
Currently just under 200,000 miles on my Z...like I should be there tomorrow. lol

In my opinion, nothing like the Prius for a drive like yours. I routinely get 50 mpg, often more in heavy traffic as I am behind other cars and when it slows, it's on electric. Moreover the mpg and the tank means 450 plus miles on a tank with regular gas. Moreover it's fun doing hyper mileing with it, my best was 59 miles per gallon for a 422 mile non stop drive on way to Florida.

I take the Z at other times. 50 mpg and the difference is significant. 25 mpg and the difference is too little.

To the OP: Do you rent or own your home ? If you rent you'd be better off spending the money you spend on gas, new tires and depreciation on your Z because of the high mileage on the car towards living some place closer to work. Not withstanding what the aggravation of driving the horrid 91 freeway does to people.

I can only assume that you are talking about the 91 parking lot?

Also.. Do you have any experience on a motorcycle? I have a lot of room to talk here, because i literally did the same daily trip as you a few years ago. I lived in Corona and worked in Santa Ana. It was about a 30 mile trip that took at least an hour and a half, sometimes two hours. Then i bought a motorcycle, saved 300-400 a month on gas, and shaved my commute down to about 30-45 minutes. With the ability to split lanes in California, and have good weather year round, that would be my recommendation.

I work in Orange County, I tell people at work to move to OC so they are close to work, but everyone refuses to, they claim "they get so much more for the $" which I agree, but sitting on the 91 freeway 2 hours each way is no way to live your life.

I have even figured out all of their expenses caused by their commute, including their time sitting in traffic (not even mentioning stress) and they come out better if they moved close to work ... in fact as I type this, they are on the 91E heading to Corona/Riverside ...

that is an insane commute. Anyhow, I bought a new Fit for grocery getter/ dog carrying/ utility purposes. Only problem is now I don't get to drive the Z very much. Ont he plus side, the Z feels great when I do drive it after being in the Fit for a few days.

Drive this in sexy mode
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...489C539D_1.jpg

Drive this in Bully mode ( 465hp SRT8 )
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...8918C3B5FF.jpg

Drive this to commute and be Smart............ Like Me:)
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...007CDE4A8A.jpg

I have a crazy commute as well, 120 miles round trip, but I love my cars won't let my commute stop me from enjoying my passion. I drive the SmartCar mainly, but occasionally I'll pull out the Nismo or the SRT8 and have a blast for the hour its takes me to get to work. Keep the Z man, don't compromise and get a minivan or Camary to replace it, $1000 will get you a nice Saturn that you can commute in..

That's quite the Collection, I wouldn't rock those SRT8 wheels though, Beautiful cars anyhow

^^^ Yeah, I admit the the choice of wheels could've been a lot better, but back in 07 when I bought the car new, there were very few options and now after 7 years of ownership, I'm cool with it, I like it..........it's ok:)

To trade or not to trade that is the question... Seems like the overwhelming feeling in this group is to keep the Z. At this point I am leaning towards driving the thing until it dies. But great cases made by all.