It is normal for any car to go down in sales after it has been out a while and no major improvement made to it so far. I am happy with the Z not being your avg Mustang type car. I was surprise when Nissan brought back the Z and was selling around 30K a year. I thought it would be even lower volume sales such as the Prelude around 22K.

 

Exactly. I'm hoping this works out for me when I go to try and purchase an '05 Track in March.

 

It was less than that. The 5th and final generation of Prelude (97-01) sold just 58,118 units and less then 10k in its final year.

 

See there you go even lower than I though. Boy, those Preludes were nice huh.

 

I love my Prelude. I'm only considering buying the Z because with all the stuff I was going to do with the Prelude, could be better spent buying a new Z.

Lets not forget in 1997 the Prelude won best handling car in the under $30k category and tied for 5th with the Viper in the under $100k.

 

 

As stated... most likely due to winter sales but I do believe based on conversations with some potential buyers (members of the older Z community) that if Nissan stands behind the issues with tire feathering and the transmission, more may be willing to take the plung. BTW.. I love my "Z"

 

Keep in mind that in '03 and early in '04 the demand was high because of the "newness" factor. It's inevitable that sales will decline and taper off.

While the Z's sales dropped 16% for the year in 2004, the G35's sales went up about 16%. The fact that the total production of both rose slightly should be seen as a good sign. Since the Z and G share a lot, Nissan will see it as cost-effective to keep producing the Z if a lot of the burden is carried by the G.

Remember, the reason that the Z went away in 1996 was because they only sold 6,000 300ZXs. 30K Zs last year is a long way from it being written off.

 

Most people don't even drive their Z during winter. Why border buying it now ? In just 3 months time value of z decreased by $$$.

 

Agreed.

FYI; Z sales for the last 6 months:

08/04 2,364 ... 08/03 3,775
09/04 2,158 ... 09/03 3,386
10/04 2,332 ... 10/03 2,724
11/04 2,118 ... 11/03 2,143
12/04 2,301 ... 12/03 2,124
01/05 1,728 ... 01/04 2,431

And I agree with wildone_106I like not seeing another Z when I go for a ride.

 

Exactly!

 

I see enough Z's! I hope they don't get as common as G35coupes!

 

Don't forget that in a lot of ways, the economy still sucks. A sports car like the Z is a luxury for most people. For me - it's a necessity!!!!!

 

I wouldn't have a problem seeing another Z once in awhile... its cool to acknowledge someone in another Z!

 

The tire feathering has been blown way outta proportion.

 

I don't think the tire issue nor the tranny issue is contributing to the decline in sales at all. Basically, The vehicle has been out for 3 years now. The honeymoon is over, inventory is plenty, and there is new competition and agressive pricing not only on the Z but other vehicles. You can get a STi (a vehicle commonly cross shopped and compared to here) for $250 over invoice or less in so cal these days. I don't think the z is suppose to be the volume leader for Nissan. You can't expect Honda Accord or Camry-like sales figures for this car and like someone else's analogy here, you could have 10,000 Accords shipped to Tiajuana by mistake and no one would notice, especially when they sold approx 450,000 Accords last year. Realistically, how many forum members will still have their Z's 3-4 years from now? If I were a betting man, I would say at least 60-70% will move on to another vehicle and new members will replace them.

 

You are correct, sir!

 

There is no new supra...if you look at the new Motor Trends the car isn't even going to be made for sure yet and it'd be marketed as a Lexus if anything with a V8 or a V10 motor. I don't think that just because it is made by Toyota and is the new halo car, would qualify it as "the new supra."

I do agree that the group of cars that the Z is in the market for is widening out very quickly. There are, as mentioned, tons of cars in the near future that will be in Z territory hp range.

I suppose I disagree that the VQ is "maxed out." FI is still an obivous answer if Nissan wanted to make it faster. If HP numbers were all Nissan cared about, I'm relatively sure that they would have resorted to something like this much sooner...quite similar to how Ford markets SVT Mustangs. Anyone can buy the GT, but if you really wanted the pony car then the SVT is for you.

Corvettes and Z's are two different classed cars...honestly if you had 50k to blow on a new car you wouldn't be even bothering with a 30k Z. If you have the money for Corvette C6 you are probably also considering things like used porsches, M3's, potentially a used M5, vipers new/used and used/new Z06s and the fact is that you are asking a lot of a 30k car to compete with these cars.

 

Look guys the body stlye of the 350 is not going to change for another 3 or 4 years. The 300zx looked the same from 90 until 96 they stop the production.

 

Figure more competition in the $30 sports car bracket in the last year

The fact that 2 seat cars are extreamly impracticle, the majority of buyers are single guys in there early 20's and people who are able to buy them as a second car for the weekends... not a big market.. Usally 2 seater cars do not last that long in the market, with the exception of the Miata...

I heard that Toyota is canceling the MR2 Spyder and the Celica...

One thing the 350z has going for it is that it basicaly uses a lot of the same parts that the G35 does, and the G35's are still have high sales figures... So I don't expect to see the 350z disappera anytime soon...