Advice buying a used 370z
 

Hello. My 2003 350z Touring was totaled a few weeks ago. I'm on the hunt to buy a used 370z. I considered staying with 350 but don't think I want to reach back to 2009. I usually buy used but only a few years old.

What suggestions does anyone have regarding 'gotcha's' in buying a used Z. For example, are there certain years that had certain problems more than others? Or is there a certain year that some new feature was added? It's very slim pickings with what I'm looking for. My requirements are a) Touring b) Silver (K23), Manual Transmission, black interior and low miles.

The good part is I'm not in a hurry so I can take my time.

Thanks for any suggestions...

Here are a few things to read up

CSC
Master cylinder
Steering lock
Oil consumption
Rear differential bushings

These are known issues with the 370 and most of them likely will burn through your pockets. Rarely does Nissan honor any warranty claims unless you're still under their 3 year warranty then you have a small chance getting anything covered. I'm sure I missed some stuff and other people can chime in, but do some Google searches so you know what to expect.

Good luck and welcome aboard! :woot:

get the newest one you can afford

Thanks Zbrah, that's the kind of thing I needed.

victort - is that because you think they've worked out various kinks each year?

Right now I'm looking at a 2014 touring sport and a 2015 touring...

Some of the early problems (eg, ESCL which has bitten a lot of people) were fixed by MY 2012. Going by reports on this site, the CSC for all years is prone to failure - plan on having it replaced. ZBrah gave a pretty good list, but, judging by what I've read on this site, the items other than the CSC and ESCL are not all that bad (although they can be expensive to fix).

This site has a large membership and even minor problems are frequently posted. Try searching the site for various car parts ("clutch problem", "brake failure", &c). I don't like the site's search so I will head to one of the major web search engines and add "site:the370z.com" to my search string. Eg, CSC problem site:the370z.com

I was at the dealership for some minor issues and one of the advisers mentioned that the CSC issue has been fixed for the more recent year cars. I am wondering if anyone out there who has a 2014 or later Zs has any CSC issues?

Many people have, some with less than 1k miles on the car. He's full of ****. It's the same part, and keeps failing.

Is it just a "wear" item? What exactly is causing it to fail? It seems so random.

All the internal seals are plastic.

For what it's worth, my 2016 had its clutch pedal not release during a spirited (not ridiculous) launch, and that was within the first 1000km of ownership. I had to back off the throttle and it slowly grabbed.

It's never done it again (I've got 12,000 km on it now), but the fact that happened at all suggests the issue has not been addressed for >=2014 models.

However, there's no consistency as to when it permanently fails. I've read of anywhere from 1,000 to >70,000 miles mentioned by members....

The next time you see that service advisor, let him know to shine your balls while he's there blowing smoke up your *** :cool:

That was your master cylinder ... not the slave. They are both shitty and prone to failure. Slave usually fails catastrophically, stranding you on the side of the road. Master sometimes fails and then pressure may return.

Agreed on all the above. Buy the newest one you can find and take it to you mechanic to analyze the common problems stated above.

are you on zilvia ?

Very interesting. Thank you all for this fantastic input. I had the clutch replaced 2 years before the accident, then just 3 months ago about $2,300 in repairs that were generated when it sometimes wouldn't start. something about spark plugs and the part that was bad required replacement of a bigger picture part. I know nothing about mechanics, but totally trust my mechanic to do what needed to be done to keep her at 100%. The plan was to drive her another 10 years minimum. Forgot to consider some dumb person would run a red light and wipe out my best laid plans. It's definitely expensive to maintain a z car.

I just found a 2014 touring sport <11K miles for 27K and a 2015 <4K miles for 31K. Both are at dealers. Both meet my 4 conditions!

I don't know what zilvia is but on my way to check it out right now...

Don't. Zilvia- You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. You must be cautious.

I should have asked, what do you think is a reasonable price for the two I listed?

The 2015 Touring (<4K miles) they are asking 31K. What is a reasonable offer?

I already offered 25K for the 2014 Touring Sport (<11K miles) and they said no. They're asking 27K.

:rofl2::rofl2::rofl2:

Keep looking, or up the offer on the Touring/Sport. The sport package has a lot of stuff you want. It's more expensive to piece it together after the fact.

madeinjapan, stop laughing at me! :) Are you laughing because the 27K for the touring IS reasonable and I should just buy it? It's not about money, more of my upbringing to negotiate for the best deal. I assume from Chuck33079 post I need to woman up and just pay what they're asking? I am not too familiar with the sport options other than bigger tires and they red gauge in the wheels lol. Now you can really make fun of me!

The sport package is a limited slip diff, good brakes, forged wheels and SRM. You want all of that.

Ignore madeinjapan. He's our village idiot.

Thanks Ckuck33079. Here is what I'm confused (suspicious) about. In 2014 could one purchase the Touring and add the 'Sport package'? If I go to the Nissan website right now you either choose Touring or Sport. I don't see where you can choose the Touring and add the better brakes/wheels etc or choose the Sport and add leather seats. If this is advertised as 'touring with sport package' was that something available in 2014 at the factory or was it something the owner did after purchase?

You used to be able to get both touring and sport together.

Got it. Thank you!!!

If you have to choose, it would be far cheaper to add leather than to piece together the sport package.

I'm going to look at it tomorrow and will probably end up paying what they are asking. They won't budge because they just dropped the price by over 2K to sell quick. It's been on the market for a bit. And my web searches indicate the asking price is 2K below the average. There are very slim pickings out there and the time I'm wasting thinking about this could be better spent. I like that it has the sport package, not sure about the SRM, but after reading posts here I guess you get used to it and it's worth having? I never even heard of the heel toe method until I was searching posts on this forum. Amazing the things I don't know about.

I have that feeling in my stomach where not sure if I'm making the right decision. And no one can tell me if it's the right decision but me.

wish me luck!

If it helps, I paid 29 for mine and that was with a maxima trade in. (14 touring sport and tech package) Ark grip cat back exhaust and stillen long cold air intake

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