Im 24, recently started a job...will be paying my college credit cards off and be left with rent,school loans and a career ahead of me. I currently drive a
1998 NIssan MAXIMA. I LOVE nissans. I am looking to by a Z, ABSOLUTLY love the car, driven it once and dont know much about the car.

Hopefully you all have some patience to answer these questions for me:

MY AIM: TO MODIFY MY Z OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME ! IN WITHIN 2-3 YEARS I WANT THE CAR TO BE doing well like beating M3's, WRX-subaru and maybe a damn modded lancer..i refuse to call it EVO. lol.

1. I know there are differences in models of the Z...therefore, should i get the base AND then modify it to brakes, SC, bars, exhausts etc or go with the track?

2. which YEAR do you recomend me to get? I PERSONALLY like the roadster but my budget by the end of NOVEMBER will determine this. I need a good suggestion here.... can i go with the 03 basic and mod it, or get a track verson of 04 and do sumthin to it? MY BUDGET is $30,000....DEPENDING ON MY PERFORMANCE AT WORK..I MAY BUMP IT TO $35,000.

3. How much am i looking to get this thing modded over a 2-3 year period to get it to 400HP?

4. give me some TYPICAL problems with the Z that are frustrating and expensive.With my maxima it was the damn 02 SENSOR, FUEL INJECTOR and AIR FLOW SENSOR that cost ME the most to fix.

5. Anyone in the chicagoland area i can email maybe to email back and forth?

6. JUST PLAIN STOCK, provided the driver is DECENT, what cars can the Z beat? just an ego question.

7. what are the MAIN differnces between g35 and Z..... does anyone here recomend i look @ the g35 too? i personally dont like the front lights.

8. my maxima has PROVEN to be very reliable for me, i have a heavy foot and i drive that thing 36,000 miles a year in chicago and the suburbs.... is THE Z GENERALLY a reliable car?

 

All of your questions can be answered by using the nifty 'search' feature thoughtfully provided by this forum.

 

Invest in a house before you purchase a vehicle. House last over 100 years and appreciate in value every day. Cars last 10 years and depreciate in value. If anything stay under 20k$ and buy used if you insist on renting over buying a place to live.

 

1. get the enth. or performance. It has VDC or traction control you won't be able to get later

2.go for 2nd half of 04 or later, less problems like tire feathering or transmission

3.you'll spend atleast 8k, 5k for a FI kit and 3k to have it installed/tuned at a minimum.

4. tire feathering, 2-3 gear grind, window streaking, paint chip on bumpers. fortunately the Z doesn't have much problems with sensor/fuel injector/air flow sensor

6. if just a drag race, corvettes, evo, wrx sti, m3, srt-4. On a track course, evo, wrx sti, m3, s2000

 

explotainment...i agree with u, i will invest in a house.
Im a systems admin at an IT firm now, i was a mortgage broker and real estate in chicago is HUGE NOW.

i was seriously thinkin of real estate before my Z but honestly, if i get a house, then my Z wont come in for a long time with the mortgage payments and i PLAN on settling before 27( fed up of clubbbing and being a bouncer!!).

i figured if i settled i wont enjoy a Z as much as i will now, SO FOR NOW, im hoping to get a Z by NOvember and hopefully by 07 settle down.... but yet again... this is just a plan... life never turns out like you want.

I sincerely appreciate the advice from every1 though. keep helpin! thanks

 

I agree with 350zroadster above.

Enthusiast or Performance; 04 or later.

 

hey man. same situation as you (and a 1996 +2001 maxima as well)

25, and working ot pay off the bills, now going to buy a house, then save for a Z.

the post college bills add up quite a bit. I bought my second MR2 right after i graduated, bad choice. didn't realize how much all of those bills add up once the student loans come due ($280/month for 20 years). so i had to take a step back. i was orginally going to buy a new car last winter, but have since decided to push it back for a couple of years. my recomendation is to pay off all your bills as much as you can, save money, buy a house, then worry about a car. house prices are getting insane around here, and with all the added costs..... it can get scary. if you want to talk, shoot me a PM and i will send my #... where are you at in chicago by the way?

just remember a Z will probably cost you $400-650 a month, plus increased insurance and what not...... i love having my cars paid off, and insurance only being $80/mo (i only have liability) and am finally making very good progress on my other bills. but buying that second mr2 right after i got out was a bad idea, and i am paying for it now.... just a lot more costs of everything that you don't think about....

insurance, cable, phone, cell phone, water, trash, electric, CC bills, student loans, maintenance, rent, etc, etc,............

 

My answers:

1) Where are you driving the car? If it's all year round, go with the Performance. It has the VDC which can save your a$$. If you're just looking to race it in the spring/summer/fall and put the car up in the winter, go with the base.

2) '04 or newer due to the tire feathering issue. I wouldn't look at an '03.

3) Refer to the above answer

4) tire feathering is the biggest one I've heard of

5) I'm in Indianapolis, but feel free to email me: JustinLStahl@yahoo.com

6) All Chevy Cobalts, S10 trucks, and cargo vans

7) Although the Z is pretty heavy itself, the G35 is a helluva lot heavier since it's more of a luxury car. If you're looking to race, get the Z.

8) It's a Nissan car that's built 100% in Japan...I'd guess it's reliable, but I haven't had mine long enough to tell you for sure.

Good luck!

 

The big things that are really expensive to mod in the lower models just to get on par with the other models are the headlamps and the LSD (and brakes if you're considering upgrading those). If you're really serious about modding, you'll probably replace everything else that makes the models unique anyway.

In my opinion, if you're going to mod, the decision on which of the three top models you get depends on two things: 1) Do you want heated leather seats or not, and 2) will you be upgrading the brakes. The big brake kits are probably a $5K undertaking, so if you don't want to spend that kind of money, get a track. The track model is worth it for the brakes alone unless you are sure you're going to replace them. Also, If you don't care about heated, power seats, that's further argument to get a Track. The track only comes with cloth and thus isn't wired for the power seats even if you wanted to put them in later, but leather covers are an easy upgrade. I personally am not a fan of leather seats in performance cars.



For 400WHP and any reliability, you're going to have to build the engine. So with a good TT kit and a built engine, figure on around 20K. I say that because to effectively F/I the car, you'll need the F/I kit and all associated accessories, a built engine, a heavier clutch, bigger tires to maximize grip, a free-flowing exhaust, etc. It adds up fast!

I'll leave this to the people that have had problems, but hey, it's a sports car. What do you want?!?!

You need to see Charles at CJ-Motorsports there in Chicago. He's probably one of the most knowledgeable 350 shops in your area, and in the country. Charles has a TT Z that is running record HP on stock internals.

The G has a back seat, a longer wheel-base, and is heavier. It's a more luxury oriented car than the Z, and is therefore more refined. It's worth looking at, as most of the power goodies for the Z either work on the G or come in a G specific trim. There is a G sedan here in my area running in the 12's with a vortech S/C, and it's a beautiful car.

While you'll find all the complainers making noise here, I'm sure the general concensus of Z owners is that the car has been fairly good to them. We're not bias or anything. .

Good luck with your purchase.