Hello guys, new poster here. I'm in the market for some kind of upgrade from my current car. The Z is my first choice after getting a quote from my insurance guy of $200/month. I do however have some questions about the price.
My cap to buy would be a monthly payment of $230, and I could spend as much as $20500 on the car (without tax/title). I read up on a thread of a guy who found a '03 for $20K, but with mechanical problems it wasn't worth it. So my question is: could I get a '03+ with less than 30,000 miles for my price? Would I spend months looking for a dealer with the right price or would I have to buy privately? I don't care which trim it is, as long as theres no inital problems with the vehicle itself.

**edit: I just saw the Buy/Lease forum, if a mod could, move my thread there. Sorry!

 

you can definitely find some Z's with that mileage for that price. Look in the for sale section and surf the autotrader. you'll find a decent amount if you're willing to drive to get it.

I know theres tons in Cali

 

Welcome. You mentioned reliability twice. Consider something other than a performance sports car.

 

03 Touring <20k miles < $20,500 with no mechanical problems except the axle click which is covered under warranty. You can definitely afford it. But I don't suggest that anyone buy a car for anything other than cash money. Also, if you insist, get a bank loan first. You want to have cash in hand so that you can feel them out for which is going to get you the best deal, financing or cash. At the end you're just going to pay cash, but lead them down the "oh ya, I might be interested in financing" path to see how much they'll knock off the price. Then pay cash so you don't get di*ked on financing.

 

I'm not locked into any vehicle yet, I've been looking at the Altima or Rx-8. Altimas are a dime a dozen and RX-8's supposedly get lousey gas mileage (I read complaints as low as 14mpg). I've just been pricing different vehicles and reading what will suit my needs.

 

Well i finally made my decision. After test driving several cars (350, mazdaspeed 3, lancer, etc.) I choose the 2008 Lancer GTS. Its got all the features I want for the price I needed (19,115+tax/title/fee).

Best of luck to all of you.