I just joined the board this evening, though I've been viewing in the shadows for a couple of months now. I'm shopping for a Z and I think I have found a cherry. I currently own a 1989 240SX and a 2003.5 Mazdaspeed Protege. It's a nice car, don't get me wrong but it's not me. I've always loved the Z, and I'm finally at a point in my life where I can do something about it.

So to make this short, the Z is a private party 2003 touring with low mileage. I was wondering what issues I should be looking for, or maybe even questions to ask the seller. I'm aware of the tranny and tire feathering issues, but for the most part they seem to be fairly reliable. Any help is appreciated.

Thank you,

Chris

 

Are u selling the 240 and Mazda?? If it were me, I'd ditch the 240 and the Protege and use the $ to buy a newer Z.

 

Yes..... buy a new Z...

Or get the 05 touring... great car.. no probs

03 is $hit..

 

Reliably data from 350Z owners. Compiled by Consumer Reports.

 

or you can find a low milage 03' that has an extended warranty.

Example my 03 has 22k miles, covered 70,000 miles or till 2010...

 

Keeping the 240, and selling the protege. I'll probably end up offing the 240 down the road but for now only the Protege is going.

The Z I'm looking at has a whopping 10k on it. A guy at work has an 03 and said he was able to purchase the extended warranty, even though the car was used, though he has never had any problems with his. I know I can only purchase the extended warranty if I'm under a certain mileage. Even with the 100k mile warranty do you think the 2003 isn't worth it? I guess it doesn't help that I'm partial to the Brickyard...but in all honesty the money isn't there for a 2005.

 

whatever you choose:

get Carfax
get inspected by mechanic you trust

 

not trying to bash and '03 owners but one of my rules that i hold in high regard when looking into cars is: never buy the first year model of the car. the '03 Z has had a lot of problems that were corrected in the later models.

this also pertains to the first year anything that is significant on the car. the new '07s are going to be awsome but if I was to buy a new Z, i would wait for the '08, just to make sure that they are not having problems with the new engine.

 

Good points.

I was planning to see if the seller would be willing to take the car to our local Nissan dealer for a full circle inspection. I believe the cost was around $40, which was worth it to me. They should also be able to tell whats been done to the car warranty wise correct?