chingwithbling

Well as the title says, right now I'm looking for an '03. I think I finally found one that I like, and am satisfied with the price. It's an '03 5AT SB with B/O seats (no, this thread is not to help me decide on a transmission), but I've got a couple questions (I've already asked them in someone else's thread, but figured they would get more attention in their own thread). The leather slightly worn out on the edges of where your butt is, and I was wondering whether this is to be expected from a car with 32,000 miles. Also, the car doesn't have side air bags, which I wanted. If I were to buy the air bags separately and get them installed, would my insurance company acknowledge that I have them and give me a lower rate? And how much would it cost to get the air bags and have them installed?


The vin number is JN1AZ34E63T010944. Could somebody carfax it for me? I'd also like to know the build date, and whether it is still under warranty, so I can quickly get all the recalls/tsb's done.

ANXIOUZ

iTrader: (13)

The OEM warranty is good for 3 years OR 36k miles. Most 03's have hit the 3 years deadline already (since they were manufactured in 02) so you're probably out of luck on the warranty.

My stock cloth seats wore within 10k miles I would expect 03 leather to be fairly worn as well.

No idea about the airbags but your insurance should cut you a break if you supply them with the proper info. But I would suspect that it would just be cheaper for you to find another Z with all of the airbags than to get a cheaper Z and have them put in.

I have the side and side curtains in my car and I don't know how you'd get the ECU to know that you added airbags. Plus the install might be tough to keep discrete.

Built2shredZ

I think it would be cheaper to buy seats with the airbags already in them. As you would need the harness and all the other goodies. Try and find someone who swapped out there stock seats (with airbags) for aftermarket ones.

Ya the Leather Nissan uses is cheap, my car only has like 3k miles on it (even tho I bought it back in 2004) and its looking dull and slightly worn... Not a big deal for me tho because I want to replace the orange leather with maybe Red Ferreri leather (I got the netted seats).. thought that might look tight in my Z...

"Z"orilla

iTrader: (1)

I have an 03 touring and my black leather seats are still in perfect condition. Your car may have been ragged. Even my Corvette's leather seats didn't start showing wear until around 50,000 miles.

bamyi

iTrader: (2)

Well, I don't know the answers to all your questions but its sounds like you have a quite a ways to go before deciding on a car.

First off, the 03 have alot of "first year" problems. Transmission grinding, grease streaks, window motors, paint, and rear hatch to name just a few.

Also, the side airbags. I don't know the associated cost but I can take a good guess that it might be cheaper to just buy it with the car vs. installing it later. Most insurance will reduce the price (not much) but that all depends on them. For the answer to that question, contact the insurance company.

For a car to have a worn seat it can mean a numbers of thing. The car was a daily driver, the owner wore metal belts, lots of sex in that seat, etc....you get the drift.

Good luck.

chingwithbling

Well I'm okay with the wear on the seats, as it is a used car, but was just wondering if it was a little early. I test drove the car yesterday, and didn't see anything wrong with it, transmission seemed fine, as it is an AT, and I looked closely all over the body, couldn't find any dings, or blemishes in the paint. I did not check the window motors for grease streaks though. And what was the problem with the rear hatch? It seemed to open and close fine. The only problem I have with it is the airbags...

ANXIOUZ

iTrader: (13)

Sounds like a fine car. The rear hatch had an issue where you press the button, it pops up a hair but does not release itself from the latch. So you have to re-hit the button a few times to get it to release the latch and popup a bit higher.

There is a super easy fix for it though that literally take 4 cents and about 3 minutes.

The window grease is a vertical streak right through the middle of the window. It is very likely they had that fixed.

If it drove well and you like it, go for it. You can find stock airbag seats in the classifieds from time to time. Or find someone who crashed their car and are parting it out. Sometimes they'll swap seats.

"Z"orilla

iTrader: (1)

My 2003 has given me no problems whatsoever. Don't shy away from the 2003's just because it was the first production year. If you come across a good deal, jump on it, you will not be unsatisfied.

Reyes_USN

iTrader: (5)

only issue I had with mine was tire feathering

"Z"orilla

iTrader: (1)

Only the fuel line recall for me. Since it was a recall, I don't list it as a "problem."

bamyi

iTrader: (2)

I agree. Don't let me scare you off with all these problems of the 03. In fact, the 03 have some advantages as well.

The 03 has better handeling than the 05+. they had to sacrafice the handeling performace in order to fix the tire feathering.

I actually like the looks of the 03 better than the 06s. Those huge headlights look like bug eyes.

Ztalker

03s are also more mod friendly.... just in case you don't already aware of this best kept secret btw.

ANXIOUZ

iTrader: (13)

O Rly?

Nismo 350z

Yup. People can put cams in 03's and have no problems where as 04.5 and 05's have a bunch of problems with them.

Ztalker

i also heard CEL is less likely to come on after replacing the stock cats with testpipes.

Mewantbfp

seems ok i just checked Carfax:

Tab
Ownership History Ownership History
The number of owners is estimated by CARFAX Owner 1 Owner 2
Year purchased 2003 2003
Type of owner Personal ---
Estimated length of ownership 7 months 2 yrs. 6 mo.
Owned in the following states/provinces California California
Estimated miles driven per year --- 11,315/yr
Last reported odometer reading 1,798 32,458



Title Problems Title Problems
CARFAX guarantees the information in this section Owner 1 Owner 2
Salvage | Junk | Rebuilt Guaranteed
No Problem Guaranteed
No Problem
Fire/Flood | Hail Damage | Buyback/Lemon
This vehicle qualifies for the CARFAX Buyback Guarantee
Guaranteed
No Problem Guaranteed
No Problem
Not Actual Mileage | Exceeds Mechanical Limits Guaranteed
No Problem Guaranteed
No Problem
GUARANTEED - None of these major title problems were reported by a state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If you find that any of these title problems were reported by a DMV and not included in this report, CARFAX will buy this vehicle back.
Register | View Terms



Other Information Other Information
Not all accidents or other issues are reported to CARFAX Owner 1 Owner 2
Frame Damage Check
No frame damage reported to CARFAX.

No Issues Reported

No Issues Reported
Airbag Deployment Check
No airbag deployment reported to CARFAX.

No Issues Reported

No Issues Reported
Odometer Rollback Check
No indication of an odometer rollback.

No Issues Indicated

No Issues Indicated
Accident Check
Accident reported on 09/25/2005.

No Issues Reported
Accident Indicator
Manufacturer Recall Check
Check with an authorized Nissan dealer for any open recalls.

No Recalls Reported

No Recalls Reported
Basic Warranty Check
Original warranty estimated to have expired. View Info
Interested in an extended warranty?

Warranty Active
Warranty Expired

chingwithbling

Hmmm, all looks good except for the one accident. If it wasn't totaled and the airbags weren't deployed, it couldn't be that bad, right? Like maybe a fender bender. Is there any way I could find out the nature of the accident, and do you think it could possibly be anything too severe? I'll try to check with the dealer selling it.

Edit: I actually just checked, and it the car had a side impact. If it wasn't bad enough to merit any change in the title, the car should still be pretty structurally sound, right?

Edit 2: I was on the dealer's web site just now and saw this picture:
Is that a side air bag I see? And if the car has the side air bag, does that also mean it has the curtain air bags, or are they the same thing? If so, it looks like this car has my name all over it!

chingwithbling

bump

ANXIOUZ

iTrader: (13)

No, they're different. Side airbags come from the side of the seat (as pictured). Side curtains come from the ceiling.

There's no telling how bad the accident was. However, the Z got a 5-star front, 5-star driver-side, and 4-star passenger-side crash test rating. So...it's kinda a safe car. I'm not sure if those ratings are based off the side airbags or side + side curtain though.

Is the deal too good to pass up? There are tons of Z's out there if you really want the extra airbags. But if you're excited about this one, go for it.

ANXIOUZ

iTrader: (13)

From your pic, that car has side airbags. I can't tell if it has the side curtain airbags though.

Here is what to look for.