Ordering vs Buying off the lot
 

Hey guys, I'm new here (only been a spectator till now) and I'm looking for some opinions. I tried searching but didn't come up with what I was looking for (unless I just suck at searching). I am going to be buying a white 2013 Nismo 370z this weekend. The dealership has a white one on the lot. The only thing it doesn't have that I kind of wanted was the kickplates and the back up camera (two things I can live without, i guess) My question is: What are your feelings about buying it new from the lot if it has 10-12 miles on it as opposed to ordering? I just wonder how those miles were put on. I am the type of person that obides by the break in process, and worry that if people test drove the car, that they "wanted to see how fast it was" and am not a fan of people reving it up and banging through gears when it had 5 miles on it. My other option is to order it, with the two options I want, but then have to wait 3 months, and probably have less bagaining power. Maybe im just being paranoid, so i figured I'd ask the question on here. I know in the end it boils down to what makes me happy, but I'm just wanted some personal opinions to bump my decision against. Right now I'm leaning towards ordering... Thanks for the help.

if you don't mind waiting 3 more months.. then I would wait... but that 3 months will feel like forever... But if it was up to me..I would get the one off the lot and start modding right away... GL in whatever you decide

Thanks for the input man. Modding is definitley going to start as soon as I get the car. I'm gonna be out of state for about 2 months starting in may for military training, so I'll be slightly distracted from the wait. Still a tough decision though.

Those are dealer installed options. If you aren't buying the car from a Nissan dealer take to the nearest one and have them installed at your convenience.

You could also ask the dealer if they can locate a brand new one in port for you. I got mine this weekend after about a 2-3 week wait. They just claimed one that was still waiting in port.

Excellent advice guys, I didn't know those where options. When I get there this weekend, I'll ask about that. Hopefully I luck put and one is in port. If not I may go the install route.Tahnks again.

Even if you order it, it will have about that many miles on it. I've never heard of picking up a car with 0 miles on it. 12 miles is nothing to worry about.

You should see the guys driving them off the boat at the port. I doubt anyone would drive them any harder during a test ride.

I had to order, its been 2 months and it feels REALLY, REALLY long.

But it only makes it better when I actually go in to pick it up on the day of. :tup:

I would also say its up to your financial situation, owning a Z is not cheap, so if your going into basic training, then maybe its better to wait, to save a little as well as having a steady pay check afterwards, if your in already the military then disregard lol
:tup:

You can negotiate the same type of deal with an ordered car as compared to one on the lot, with the exception of the car that's on the lot has been sitting there for awhile. Then you'll have better negotiating power with that one. However all things being equal, it comes down to your negotiating ability.

As for odometer reading, my ordered 13Z came with 22 miles. My dealer is 10 miles from port and was told that it was driven from there, not trucked. Who knows how true that statement was?

Maybe they took the long way? :)

I ordered my Z 3/27/13. Dealer said they found one at port and claimed it. Got into town in Iowa 4/12/13. I test drove it 4/13/13 and took possession that day with 8 miles on it (including my test drive). I didn't give any specific instructions not to drive it or anything; they did say they have a policy not to drive these cars without the owner present. Probably a good policy for a relatively expensive car (for Nissan) and one that goes to typically picky/informed buyers.

Just an example.

I've been in for almost 7 years. I'm just going back to training for a year with a few breaks in between because I'm getting a new job. And while I'm there I won't have any expenses, in fact I'll be getting per diem too, so money is a non issue. I bought my Frontier Pro-4x brand new in '09 and its been paid off (it's getting traded in now that I'm not in Alaska anymore). When I got that one though, I got it off the lot, so this is my first time dealing with the possibility of ordering. Thanks again for all the input guys. If the cars have already been driven regardless and I can have the dealer install the options then I feel much better about getting the one from the lot.

most new cars have 5-20 miles on them, i havent seen a GTR with less than 46 miles come off the truck yet.

I work for a Nissan dealership in Australia, all of our cars have 12-20km on the odometer by the time they get to us, you will never buy a new car with an odometer at 0. The lowest I have ever saw on an incoming car was 4km.

I had 7 miles on my 2013 Nismo that was ordered and no one even moved it except off the truck. I instructed not to take the white plastic off or wash it. I actually brought my adams wash supplies to the dealer and washed it there, put painters tape over the whole front and drove 15 minutes to the clear bra installer :)

My Nismo i ordered was never driven except by me following the correct break in procedure (yes i even went with the salesmen to fill the tank up myself and drove it back for them to do the safety inspection)

The dealer in Charleston SC was VERY accomodating and was also good at giving me updates on where the car was and it arrived on the exact day they told me from the beginning.

This is great info guys. I like the idea of ordering, but if this car turns out to be well taken care of and 10-12 miles, I'll probably go with that one. I have been to talking to an online sales rep trying to get prices from him (following advice from the car buying 101 thread). I also read through the "what did you pay for your z" thread. He quoted me at $43,600 PLUS taxes and registration. The car doesn't have any trim, just basic NISMO. This seems high, after bumping it against the Fair Market value on three sites, which all said between $40k and $42k for my zip code. I am assuming i will be able to negotiate that down? What did you pay for yours Volkz, if you don't mind me asking? Only reason i wanna get a feel is because that article i read made it seem like the internet sales guys give u a straight up bottom line answer. I'm debating just walking in and getting a lot salesman and starting fresh with all the paperwork printed out. This guy doesn't seem real into the sale or personable, all his emails seem generic and uninterested.

I paid 41,800 give or take plus the cross the board 300 dollars for tax down here in SC
I have the reverse camera and illuminated kick plates

I originally was going to buy from the Nissan next to me with same extras and the best they could do was 42600 plus tax.

Damn, I wish I had more options. Albequerque is really the only city I can go to since I am stationed in Clovis, NM which is quite literaly in the middle of no where. If I went east to Texas, I'd be paying double the tax. I guess I'm gonna have to see how good my negotiating skills are. $41-42k before tax is where I wanna be.

Yeah my cousin was stationed in alamagordo NM... I think they had an Applebee's and that's it... Lol
Yeah 41-42k before taxes is good... If you can get one with the reverse camera I recommend it as the wing doesn't help for visual backing up and the side little windows on my 350z were usable but on the 370z they are useless so the only thing you have is side windows and a little bit of the rear window in between the wing!

Im sorry for your cousin, Holloman AFB is just as bad as here. We have a Chili's, Applebees, and one bar in the entire town. And I think there are more cows here than people. Haha.

Thats what I origionally wanted, and the illuminated kickplates. Someone eariler said that those are dealer installed options. Does that mean I could have them throw that on at a later date? My other option is: Since I am not getting bose and planning on getting a custom soundsystem installed right away with Kenwood DNX890HD, I could have a camera connected to that right?

Yeah the kickplates can be added later as well as the reverse camera... To me though I like it all stock with electronics.
I'm more into suspension, forged wheels and shaving some weight off rather then adding with subs etc.

Well I hope you get what you want, one way or the other the Nismo is gorgeous! If I were you I would jump on a 2013 before they change some stuff for the 2014 (gray two tone bottom) etc. Personally I don't like it. So the 2013 will be the sexiest year for the Nismo yet.
White, Black and Red are the sexiest colors to me :)

Nissan usually end their ordering for that current year car around June or so.... So hop to it if you want to order a 2013 before they alter them...

Yeah I couldn't agree more. I'm getting a 2013 this weekend, whether its the one they have, or I order it. I'm not a fan of the two tone, it looks a little ricey to me. As for weight, I'll be heading to CA and having GTM put on the stage 1.5 SC when I get back from training.

Sick! Post pics once you get your new Z

It's like I tell my wife when we go to Costco, "if you see something you like, you better get it because it may be gone when you go back". I say that you do what you have to do to get the EXACT car that you want; wheter it is on the lot or wheter it needs to be ordered. Good Luck with your decision.

Ok guys, got the car! I figure I can wrap up this post by sharing my buying experience with everyone, to help future buyers.

I started by calling the internet dealer earlier this week asking for a bottom line price, and he gave me $43.6k. When I got to the dealership, i realized the car I wanted was actually inside the building on the showroom floor next to the GT-R! Already a good sign.

I sat down with what seemed to be a young, new sales guy being helped by the manager. He was very excited and said "Wow, I've never sold a NISMO before!". They sat down with me at the table and the manager gave me the 4 square paper that said $47k. I smiled and showed them the bottom line quote the internet sales rep gave me and took out the print outs of true market value from edmunds, KBB, and USAA car buying service. They all said around $42k for that zip code with no trim.

He returned with the offer of $43.6k and appologized for jerking me around and said "we had to try". They also offered $17k for my truck. I had an '09 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X, fully loaded; leather, premium sound you name it, title in hand. with 35k miles on the odo. I showed them true market value for a trade in on my truck at $18.5.

Long story short, after about 45 min, I got them to drop the price to $43k on the NISMO, and $18.5 for the truck. That is when I found out the NISMO had Bose sound and illuminated kick plates. I asked for the dealer invoice, and it turns out they were giving me the car for just over invoice and couldnt actually go any lower. I signed the papers.

When it was all said and done, out the door I only had to finance $25k and they gave me a 60 mo. loan at 1.39% APR. All in All, I am very happy, and it def paid to talk to you guys first and do my homework.

The car turned out to only have 3 miles on it! And I felt like a baller when everyone in the dealership had to get up and move the tables, drive out the GT-R and then get my car out as all the customers watched. The car is fantastic and I couldn't be more happy. I will post pics tomorrow when it's light out. Again, thank you all very much for the help!

Great price with Bose! Post pics and take that thing to get clear bra'd asap :)

congrats dude!

Here's some pics. I didn't have much time. I'll take better ones later this week when I clean it, and post them in a diff thread. Thanks again for all the help every one!


http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/...ps14ff5892.jpg


http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4d6bf3e9.jpg


http://i1314.photobucket.com/albums/...psfb5b325f.jpg

That looks like you are in those fields where Tornadoes hit.... Those are pretty nice first pics! Great choice on the color! Black and White are by far the sexiest

Hows the color match on the bumpers and side skirts vs the rest of the car? that was the reason i didnt get a white one as that paint differed so greatly on the plastic panels vs metal panels.... Also thats a 3 stage paint so if you ever need paint work you will need to find a VERY good painter.

As far as the pics go the color match looks real good, but you can tell more when the sun is beaming on it.

I gave it a wash and wax today, then checked it out in direct sun light. I don't notice any mismatch in the color. They did a great job as far as I can see. Hopefully I can get an appointment this weekend to get a clear bra and tints put on! I wish I could get some better pics but this town is such a $#!& hole those farm pics are about all I got haha. I'll get some nice ones on the way down to San Antonio I'm sure.

Glad to hear you dont have a mis-match. That was a big issue in the earlier white Nismo's and regular Z's for that matter.

Nice looking ride...I'm glad your decision wasn't too painful. Just enjoy it; both the drivijng and the people looking at it. It never gets old. If they would have had a NISMO in the 40th colors, I would have gotten one in a heartbeat.