4 Years, 83,500 Miles, 3 Tickets Later.... **Long Read**
4 Years, 83,500 Miles, 3 Tickets Later.... **Long Read**
Alright, so this thread is a little recap of my 4th year anniversary today of owning my 2004 Z.
4 Years ago today, I got my 2004 Z on my 18th birthday. I can still remember the day. Went to school, then went out looking for a G35 coupe. I went to Infiniti, and was taken for a joke. "Where is your dad?" asks the sales man... I flipped him off and left. Then I headed over to Nissan to take a look at the Maximas. My parents had always told me to get a 4 door family, automatic car. After about 6 hours of negotiation, I left with a 2 door, 2 seater stick sports car.
Back when I got my car, was before all of the vultures of this forum prayed on the young 18 year olds who got a 350Z as their first car. Sometimes I feel bad for the 18 year olds that join this forum and get their nuts handed to them. But then again.... mostly not, since most of them are dumb lol. And just for the record, I have never had an accident in my car (or ever for that matter) so I guess you could say I was one of those 18 year olds that werent in the "going to get in an accident" statistics.
Now on to the car...
I purchased the car brand new with 50 miles on it. I didnt know how to drive stick when I took home. I some how managed to drive the car 25 miles home... hitting what seemed to be every red light that was possible. It took me about a week teaching myself how to drive stick to get comfortable enough to drive on the street without any worries.
The first problem I noticed when driving the Z home the night of buying it, there was a seal problem in the drivers side window that you could hear air. I dont really know how to descibe it, but.. the passenger side didnt have it, so if its not on both sides then 1 side has a problem. After about 4 visits to different dealers, they couldnt fix the problem... and to this day live with it. Not that I really hear it since I drive with my radio on anyway, but you get the point. (Maybe its seems like Im making it out to seem like more than it is, but Im just trying to give a description here)
The first thing I purchased for the Z was an Injen CAI after doing a 3,000 mile break in (back then, that was the recommended break-in from the forum consensis). I did the cold air intake, but had a very rough idle... after a very bad rainy day, I decided to change it to a short ram.. and the rough idle went away. Kept it that way since.
The next problem I had came about 14,000 miles. I went over a speed bump slowly at friends apartment complex and my SES light came on. Apparently my throttle body went bad and was replaced under warranty.
Over the next few years, and thousands of miles.. I slowly purchased parts for the car (in which you can see in my sig) and participated in a few Auto-X's. Overall no major incidents to write about. I loved my car and had no complaints.
I reached to about 55,000 miles and finally took the jump into forced induction. When originally purchasing my Z, I never had any intentions of doing FI. But when searching through the marketplace on the forum, I found a deal that I felt was just too good to pass up. So I purchased the Stillen Supercharger with everything I needed. After recieving my kit, I called up Scott at Relentless Autosports and set up a meet to have my kit installed. I planned on spending new years weekend at Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland so I took advantage of the long weekend and dropped off my car to Scott on friday evening. After a few hours, I got a call from Scott saying that there were a few parts missing and they couldnt complete the install. After spending some time on the phone with the person I purchased the kit from (while waiting for a train from San Diego to Orange County) my phone started to die, I gave Scott the number to the guy I purchased it from and said please just take care of this for me. After about 20 minutes, I got a quick call from Scott and he said dont worry about anything, everything is going to get taken care of and to enjoy my new years...I then picked it back up on sunday and drove it home!
The Stillen kit has been everything that Ive needed in FI. I wanted a fun daily driver with a little extra power... not to mention the sound is awesome and nothing else can compare. I love getting on it and just watching heads snap. Either looking to see my car... or trying to find where the cop siren is coming from lol (everyone says that the whine almost sounds like a cop is behind them). It has been great for light to light runs and fun coming out of the corners. But most of all.. the longevity of my daily driven car. A lot of people complain about the price of the stillen kit for the power you get... but for the price I paid, I cant complain with the power I get out of it.
Again, at about 72,000 miles.. my car had an issue starting one day. Then when I floored it, the car felt like I was starting in 6th. Come to find out, my throttle body had once again gone out. I was out of warranty, but having some awesome friends and many contacts through the Vegas Z club... I had it replaced under warranty no questions asked. A quick 30 minute swap and I was on my way.
Here I am, almost 30,000 miles later after getting FI... with no major problems to speak of. The biggest problem Ive had my with my kit has been some minor belt sqweeling after a cold start up... but this was expected with the different extreme tempatures that Vegas goes through and nothing a quick tightening cant fix.
Over the 4 years, Ive recieved 3 tickets (1 being back this last march) ... So Ive gotten into my fair share of trouble with my car.. but nothing my lawyer hasnt been able to fix and drop down to a parking ticket (love vegas for this) ..
Over the last 4 years, I have loved every minute of owning my Z. Would I do it again?? ABSOLUTELY. Aside from owning an awesome car... it has brought me many awesome friends. Being apart of this forum and the Vegas Z/G club has been the best part of the whole experiance.
I didnt mean for this post to be this long, but.... I guess you guys understand my enthuZasm!!
PS. Happy Bday to me! hehe
Edit: Oh, And I forgot to mention... Im still on my stock clutch!!
4 Years ago today, I got my 2004 Z on my 18th birthday. I can still remember the day. Went to school, then went out looking for a G35 coupe. I went to Infiniti, and was taken for a joke. "Where is your dad?" asks the sales man... I flipped him off and left. Then I headed over to Nissan to take a look at the Maximas. My parents had always told me to get a 4 door family, automatic car. After about 6 hours of negotiation, I left with a 2 door, 2 seater stick sports car.
Back when I got my car, was before all of the vultures of this forum prayed on the young 18 year olds who got a 350Z as their first car. Sometimes I feel bad for the 18 year olds that join this forum and get their nuts handed to them. But then again.... mostly not, since most of them are dumb lol. And just for the record, I have never had an accident in my car (or ever for that matter) so I guess you could say I was one of those 18 year olds that werent in the "going to get in an accident" statistics.
Now on to the car...
I purchased the car brand new with 50 miles on it. I didnt know how to drive stick when I took home. I some how managed to drive the car 25 miles home... hitting what seemed to be every red light that was possible. It took me about a week teaching myself how to drive stick to get comfortable enough to drive on the street without any worries.
The first problem I noticed when driving the Z home the night of buying it, there was a seal problem in the drivers side window that you could hear air. I dont really know how to descibe it, but.. the passenger side didnt have it, so if its not on both sides then 1 side has a problem. After about 4 visits to different dealers, they couldnt fix the problem... and to this day live with it. Not that I really hear it since I drive with my radio on anyway, but you get the point. (Maybe its seems like Im making it out to seem like more than it is, but Im just trying to give a description here)
The first thing I purchased for the Z was an Injen CAI after doing a 3,000 mile break in (back then, that was the recommended break-in from the forum consensis). I did the cold air intake, but had a very rough idle... after a very bad rainy day, I decided to change it to a short ram.. and the rough idle went away. Kept it that way since.
The next problem I had came about 14,000 miles. I went over a speed bump slowly at friends apartment complex and my SES light came on. Apparently my throttle body went bad and was replaced under warranty.
Over the next few years, and thousands of miles.. I slowly purchased parts for the car (in which you can see in my sig) and participated in a few Auto-X's. Overall no major incidents to write about. I loved my car and had no complaints.
I reached to about 55,000 miles and finally took the jump into forced induction. When originally purchasing my Z, I never had any intentions of doing FI. But when searching through the marketplace on the forum, I found a deal that I felt was just too good to pass up. So I purchased the Stillen Supercharger with everything I needed. After recieving my kit, I called up Scott at Relentless Autosports and set up a meet to have my kit installed. I planned on spending new years weekend at Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland so I took advantage of the long weekend and dropped off my car to Scott on friday evening. After a few hours, I got a call from Scott saying that there were a few parts missing and they couldnt complete the install. After spending some time on the phone with the person I purchased the kit from (while waiting for a train from San Diego to Orange County) my phone started to die, I gave Scott the number to the guy I purchased it from and said please just take care of this for me. After about 20 minutes, I got a quick call from Scott and he said dont worry about anything, everything is going to get taken care of and to enjoy my new years...I then picked it back up on sunday and drove it home!
The Stillen kit has been everything that Ive needed in FI. I wanted a fun daily driver with a little extra power... not to mention the sound is awesome and nothing else can compare. I love getting on it and just watching heads snap. Either looking to see my car... or trying to find where the cop siren is coming from lol (everyone says that the whine almost sounds like a cop is behind them). It has been great for light to light runs and fun coming out of the corners. But most of all.. the longevity of my daily driven car. A lot of people complain about the price of the stillen kit for the power you get... but for the price I paid, I cant complain with the power I get out of it.
Again, at about 72,000 miles.. my car had an issue starting one day. Then when I floored it, the car felt like I was starting in 6th. Come to find out, my throttle body had once again gone out. I was out of warranty, but having some awesome friends and many contacts through the Vegas Z club... I had it replaced under warranty no questions asked. A quick 30 minute swap and I was on my way.
Here I am, almost 30,000 miles later after getting FI... with no major problems to speak of. The biggest problem Ive had my with my kit has been some minor belt sqweeling after a cold start up... but this was expected with the different extreme tempatures that Vegas goes through and nothing a quick tightening cant fix.
Over the 4 years, Ive recieved 3 tickets (1 being back this last march) ... So Ive gotten into my fair share of trouble with my car.. but nothing my lawyer hasnt been able to fix and drop down to a parking ticket (love vegas for this) ..
Over the last 4 years, I have loved every minute of owning my Z. Would I do it again?? ABSOLUTELY. Aside from owning an awesome car... it has brought me many awesome friends. Being apart of this forum and the Vegas Z/G club has been the best part of the whole experiance.
I didnt mean for this post to be this long, but.... I guess you guys understand my enthuZasm!!
PS. Happy Bday to me! hehe
Edit: Oh, And I forgot to mention... Im still on my stock clutch!!
Last edited by Nforce1; May 27, 2008 at 12:50 PM.
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 13,406
Likes: 130
From: MexiCali dodging potholes
Originally Posted by bstansbu
Good write up man! I would have loved to be able to buy a brand new 30k$ car when I was 18. If you dont mind, what kind of job did you have at 18 to be able to afford your Z?
Aah lets see at 18... a boy genius....a dot com gabillionaire....a rich boy....or a had a rough life, and had to start working at 13 like my cousins...it happens...while some of us are at school some are making bricks into walls.....
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A definite tear jerker. The feel good MY350Z hit of 2008!
Happy birthday! Nice writeup, just purchased my 05 Touring with 24k miles on about 2 months ago.
Good to hear your story of 30k miles FI and no major problems (with a proper tune, good kit and sensible driving). Makes me a little less afraid of FI down the road...
Good to hear your story of 30k miles FI and no major problems (with a proper tune, good kit and sensible driving). Makes me a little less afraid of FI down the road...
Very cool. I'm in it for the long haul as well. I'm also looking to SC someday, as I want exactly what you were looking for :A reliable DD with some extra power, plus the SC whine 
. Congrats, and enjoy the Z in good health 
. Congrats, and enjoy the Z in good health
