Looking for a NEW car....Are these cars the same "quality" as BMW or Mercedes? Hows resale? Im looking for the "scoop".

Test drive tomorrow.

 

Why do you sound like a bot?

 

Buy mine! It's awesome! I'm getting rid of it because I hate it. Resale is pretty good, but I'm losing tons on it. Quality is great but I need something much better for now. Gas mileage is great but I'm getting 18mpg and it's killing me. The Z is fast as hell but I'd like to get a hold of the faster cars out their because this one is hard to make quick.

 

Have you looked at the Consumer Reports reliability ratings on the Mercedes line? Fourth from the bottom being only slightly better than Cadilliac, Hummer and Land Rover. BMW is slightly higher than Nissan (18 vs 21) and that's in the middle of the pack for all manufacturers.

 

I haven't actually. I need to look at CR and some other reviews, but isn't Nissan known for quality?

I'm between this and the Pontiac G8 GT that just came out...but 360 hp V8 6.0litre with gas prices the way they are...not quite. I also feel like the G8 will have worse resale value in a few years.

Is the MPG really good with the Z? Also, should I go Enthusiast version? Does it come with leather and a sunroof?

 

 

In my opinion you dont buy a Z if you are comparing it to a BMW or Mercedes, its like comparing apples and oranges. You got the Z the little coupe sportster vs know luxury brands. I love my Z but I was looking for a sports car. You really need to think of what you want in a car and what you want the car for. Ultimately the Z does get fairly good gas mileage. My 03 gets about 22-23 mixed with more town driving. Im sure strictly highway its much better around 26 mpg. From what Ive seen resale is decent, but I believe its starting to lower a bit (Not positive on this).

At the end of the day like I said what are you looking for in the car and what are you looking to do with the car. This can help when decision time comes up.

 

The G8 isnt fun to drive, the Z is!!! No new Z comes with a sunroof, you can get one put in for $700-$800. A Nissan is way better quality then a Pontiac is (a Firebird was my last car before the Z) and I am way happier now!!!!

 

If status is important to you, both the BMW and Mercedes are higher up the scale than Nissan. The Z is very reliable; fun car. Sounds like your looking for a fun car. If so, drive both the Z and Pontiac. Buy the one that gets your blood pumping.

Enthusiast is best bang for the buck model of Z. Leather only comes on Touring model but you can get after market leather. No Z model comes with a sunroof.

You probably need to go visit the Nissan site to learn about mofel differences and CR for ratings. Might also check out the MSN auto site for reviews.

 

Ouch...no sunroof or leather on the Enthusiast. So we're starting to get very pricey.
What kind of "deal" can I expect on a Z? Do they cut some cash off the MSRP typically? Im looking for 30k OTD.

 

Test drove the G8 a month ago. Love the exterior and the interior is better quality than our Z. Awesome acceleration, exhaust is refined but muted. Handling sucks.

 

as far as the Z goes, you should get one.... yeah no sunroof and no leather but the cloth seats are pretty nice on the Z and stay cooler than most leather seats (important in texas) and if you want good highway mileage the picture will speak for itself [28.8 mpg] (my gas mileage from austin to dallas last weekend) i average about 20 to 21 miles per gallon city (under normal driving) 18 or so if im pushing it fairly hard and about 15 if im really just tearing it up.... the comments that i get plus the pretty good gas mileage and the fun i have with this car is amazing.... as much as it pains me to say so i love this car even more than my 74 Porsche 911 when i had it... can't go wrong in my opinion... one thing that you will notice is that more than a few members have had some issues with there cars and some have had engines replaced by the dealership due to factory defect so it can go wrong but more of us have had nothing but good from the car compared with nothing but bad from the car.... in fact i dont know of anyone who has had nothing but pain from the car save 1 or 2....

hope this helps and i apologize for the long, somewhat rambling reply


oh also if you do some shopping for stealerships you can usually get a z pretty cheaply (i paid $26,800 for my base, which was about $4,000 cheaper than the other stealerships)

 

If the G8 is anything like the Solstice - run, run away from it as fast as you can. My wife was interested in a Solstice but once we started digging a little we discovered that it is rated the absolutely worse car produced in recent years. It had like 240X more reported problems than the highest rated cars.

 

That's good to know. A few friends of mine were interested in the Solstice/Sky.

 

The Z is a sports car. It has a fairly stiff suspension, but the drive is actually very enjoyable. I drove mine to Carlisle Pa from Ohio, round trip,680 mile. 24.5 mph on the way out and 26.2 mph on the way back. I drove the 5+ hour drive out and back and never got tired of the drive. It is a two seater with limited storage room. But it has the best fun factor of any car I have owned.

 

Well im coming from a 1999 Camaro Z28...and 26k is a nice price, but I REALLY like the leather...its almost a MUST for me, even the Camaro has leather.

If they got the Enthisiast model down to 28ish I'd be happy. Im going tomorrow where they have only enthusiast models anyway.

Or should I just go Base? I thought leather was part of enthusiast..so maybe the cheaper the better if I cant get leather anyway

 

I got my leather installed from Classic Soft Trim - it's the official aftermarket supplier to Nissan but you can go to any authorized installer and get it done for significantly less than the dealer. Looks like OEM but better.

 

I like the way that looks. I dunno...it seems to me to get all the good stuff you have to go up to Touring Level, and thats getting too close to Corvette for me.

 

Dude, get a Touring model for less than $35k or a corvette for $50k or more. That's not a comparison... apples to oranges.

If leather is a must, get Katskinz or go with what DavesZ#3 did. Will save you a boatload of money over a vette.

 

Oooooh! How much did that run ya?! Do they fit well? I mean do they fit like you bought leather seats or like really good "seat covers?" Did you choose the colorway? Got links?