Thinking of getting something cheaper..

ImportConvert

Former C6 Z06 owner here, and I liked my friend's C5Z's interior better. GM really didn't fix the crappy Lear seats, the junk door panels, etc. but the leather quality did go down. *sigh*

Also, I hate my 370Z's suspension compared to my Z06 or the Grand Sport C6's I drove. The crappy weight distribution and the complete and utter lack of rebound control make the 370Z plow in the corners and bounce all over the place if you hit a bump. Corvette did a MUCH! better job planting the ride and handling the curves IMO/IME. Further, enter a corner in the 370Z and accelerate for balance and you might "go over the edge"---you can't stop accelerating after a certain point of you lose the back end when the weight shifts forward---hope you gauged things right. With the Corvette, you can back off without near the drama. "Plan as you go" in the corvette. Not so much the 370Z. IMO/IME.

Now, back to OP...


...What about a G35S? They are nice cars, peppy, cheaper, etc.?

Man, I really just don't know what to recommend. The Lexus IS is nice, but then, you are paying a premium to work on things, and those Japanese cars suck in my opinion. Why? They just fall apart once they get old. Not the engine itself or anything, but all your rubber bushings, things like that. Everyone I know who ever had an older Lexus/Infiniti/Nissan has run into that. The "little stuff" just seems to be pure junk. It falls apart. I ran into that on my G20, my friend Cara ran into that on her Lexus RX300 and Lexus car (I forgot what model, around 2001), and my friend has run into it on his Frontier. Sure, the motor keeps turning and the trans likely won't take a dump, but to keep the car 100% functional will totally kill you nickel-dime wise.

Great design and implementation and fit/finish and all that, but it's "weird" how some of it "goes together" and unnecessary in many cases, and the material the small-parts are made from is like bargain-basement from the 1995-2003 era it seems. Cracks, breaks, falls apart. My 1988 mustang GT held up better than my 2002 G20 and it sat in some old guy's lawn for years, lol. Interior had no cracks, body bushings were great, etc. If that had been a Lexus? Anything not made of metal or glass would have been worthless. Even their metal and glass seem inferior to American counterparts. My 370Z is literally the crappiest windshield I have owned---other than my G20. Japanese stuff just isn't as durable. My G20 windshield cracked with the heater turned on when it was cold out. Twice. My 370Z? It has tons of peck-marks, and broke with less than 500 miles on the car. My Z06 sat way lower and never had any issues. One TINY! peck when I sold it, and it sounded like a 9mm hit my windshield when I got that, probably would have fubar'ed my 370Z. I have no idea why this is, but it has been my perception from owning American and Japanese automobiles. YMMV

American cars, it seems to be stuff like window motors, water pumps, that sort of thing, but the other stuff does good, if you can put up with a somewhat crappy interior.

So take your pick, I guess, but the older American car is probably going to be a better choice for insurance, as well as "restoring/keeping" at 100% function.