Ok, here's the deal:

I found a 2004.5 touring with 44,500 miles one it for $18,000. One owner, clean Carfax, 75k warranty.

Now, I also found another 2004.5 touring with orange seats, navigation, and 30,000 miles. I talked him down to the exact same price ($18,000). Here's the catch, this is the second owner and just recently (3/18/2008) an accident showed up on the Carfax from the first owner. There is no other information about it except that it happened on 10/11/2005. Not sure why it took so long to show up on the Carfax. The second owner didn't even know about it until I showed him. It does not come with a warranty.

Which one would you choose and why?

Thanks!

-Prev
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I am one of those people that think (rightfully or not) that once a car has been in an accident its dead to me. You never know how bad it was unless you get pictures of the damage.. and even then, it will be really hard to get rid of if you ever decide to sell. I wouldn't count entirely on carfax, but its a good thing to use as a tool. So, in the end its up to you, but a car thats been hit is more of an unknown safety and value wise.

PS - I just noticed your in charlotte as well... good luck with your decision.

 

well carfax isn't perfect. I would take it to a body shop and have them look over it and see if they can figure out what was damaged. If its frame damage I would forgo the wrecked one. It could be something minor like a dented panel and that wouldn't be such a big issue.

In general I avoid wrecked cars and I avoid black cars as they are too much trouble. I have a little trouble getting that excited about either one to be honest.

The Navi is not an issue for me one way or the other. It might be a negative if you decide to go with an aftermarket radio later since it ties into the bose system and I am unsure if it will still work if you pull that out (or it dies)

If it was me I would keep looking.

 

If color wasn't an issue, I'm guessing you would choose the first one?

 

the one without the accident and warranty

 

Get the wrecked one. Wrecked cars have personality.

 

+1 lol I wish Nissan sold me my car wrecked out of the lot.

 

Well 44k miles is a little more than I am comfortable buying personally on a 18k car.

Its not high mileage but it seems to me there are a lot of them out there with less at that age.

If these were the only two 350zs on the market I would buy the black one.

 

I also found a 2005 enthusiast for the same price with 9,800 miles. I really want a touring though, but that price with the low miles is tempting.

 

Well my ticket is booked to fly to Jersey to pick up the black one...the accident will bother me.

 

just think about re-sale, accident showing makes it tough. Honestly keep searching, especially on the forums there is a ton for sale.

 

Be careful even with carfax. Make sure that the car fax you get has the right mileage on it.

When I was shopping for a used RSX there were countless times people would tell me it had a clean car fax. Which it did. The only thing that was a bit suspicious was the odometer reading on the car fax was 11 miles!

Just be careful. If you can scrape up the money you might just be better off buying new. I mean in the long run how much difference are you really looking at. Plus no worries buying new, where my favorate slogan for buying used is.... Your buying someone elses problem.

Good luck with the search.

 

I'd get the one that hasn't been in an accident...

 

Mileage > accident.

 

That could go either way...

 

Keep searching, be patient, and don't forget arbitrage...

I picked up my dream black/black 06 enthusiast a few months back for $19k, with 27k on the odo. Spent $500 on transporting it from north to south, but ended up with a great car at a great price. Came with a ton of extras including a spare set of (useless in TX) all-weather tires.

Be patient...it will increase your consumer surplus and reduce your post-purchase cognitive disonance!

 

Buy this and upgrade!! That's considerably less miles then the other two for the same price!! Just buy the Leather seats and Bose (always for sale in the classifieds) And you have TCS still. It's not like an Enthusiast is bottom of the barrel compared to a touring!! This would really be the smartest decision IMO.

 

That's the only difference between the two, right? The touring only has leather heated seats and the bose?

 

As far as i know yes. And i think the Enthusiast only has TCS Not VDC. But i wouldn't let the be a show stopper. Unless you plan to drive alot in the snow. Or drive like an idiot in the rain.

 

Z/G Owner:
Z
Location:
Charlotte, NC
Color:
Schwarz
Trim Level:
Touring


Congratulations.