Hey Bonz

Aren't you in the Mid A region?

the wife and I just moved up to MD from SC.

 

I still have mine... 56k on the odo right now...

 

I still have mine with 71k and going strong.

 

I was a few months behind you guys. I got my 350Z around December if I remember correctly. They were raping customers selling them for 5K to 10K over window in southern Ca at that point. I went to all the local dealers & none of them would come down in price. The classic part of the story is a salesman at the dealer in Temecula was trying to get me to buy one at 5K over window & I remember telling him I am sure someone will buy it at that price but it will not be me & he replied that there is no way I will get one then & have to wait 1-2 years to get one at the price of window or lower.

I went on line & searched all of the USA & found a Silverstone exactly how I wanted it on sale for list price. They wanted to charge me to ship it to California & part of my requirement was list price delivered to my door. We went back & forth negotiating the deal & finally the salesmen stated we had 2 weeks to work out the details because it was not delivered yet. Then, it occurred to me, it would be delivered in California so why ship it to Wisconsin to just be shipped back to California? We worked it out & he had it shipped to a local dealer here and you guessed it, to Temecula. It gets better! They get the 350Z, prep it & call me to pick it up. I go into the office to give them a check for it & they have a sales person drive it around front & the guy that drove it & handed me the keys was the same salesperson that told me I would never get one for less than 5K over list. I asked him if he remembered me & our discussion & he said yes. I then pulled out the paperwork showing him I paid exactly list price & not one penny more.

I certainly think a dealer should make a profit but do not appreciate excessive greed.

My only regret was when ordering my 350Z I had only seen Silver, Red, Blue & asked a salesperson about the Brickstone color & he said don't bother, it is Barney purple thus I did not even look at the color chart. When I finally got my 350Z I had seen one & loved the color but did not want to cancel or order & get one in that color. Besides, I was worried about the up keep of the darker color.

 

Wow, what a thread!

Thanks for everyone that has shared their stories. Its amazing to see. I wish I was around at that point to experience the tight knit group. I can only imagine what you guys think about the site at this point. Thanks for sticking around!

 

As with all things, the changes happen slowly. In the beginning it was focused more on the 350Z, what is new about it, everyone doing first mods, etc thus really helpful.

I remember some of us fearing that because of the reasonable price of the 350Z it would be long before the younger guys would be able to buy them used & they might not appreciate it (or each other on the forum) as much as those of us that waited years/decades to get one with many of us appreciating the heritage of 240Z & all versions of the Z that lead up to the return of the Z with the 350.

 

I'm proud to say I'm one of the "younger guys" that zland mentions above, but just like you original guys, I had to save years to get my car, and I'm confident saying I appreciate my car as much as anyone on these forums. Wow, I just read this whole thread, and I'm glad I learned all the history of the first 350Zs, the photos on the dock, not knowing what the colors looked like or anything. I got mine this summer, and it means a lot more to me that I own a '03.

So I went out and checked the inside of my door panel for the first time and I saw something that made me very happy, a production date of "12/02"!!

I may not be an original owner, but I drive an original car. My 2003 LeMans is a top of the line Touring with burnt orange interior and everything. After reading this thread I'm glad I bought an '03, it's kinda like owning a 1964.5 Mustangs, having one of the first ones.

Now that I know I own one of the ones made in '02 it makes me appreciate my car even more, and I think I'll probably end up keeping mine for life.

 

^^ Yea check the vin number to see what production number it is. Mine is #12XX, 2nd owner unfortunately.

BTW Awesome thread, wish I could have been around

 

Wow, that is awesome!

 

Hey Doc...still alive and kicking in Arizona and other parts of the country as usual Good to see some of us still lurk if not as active as we used to be. Still have my CS that was delivered Oct 16, 2002

Zland...what's up bud

 

I am not one of the pre-order guys. My infatuation with the Z started back in 1972. I had a friend who had returned from VietNam and was going to the same college as me. He called me on Christmas Eve asking me if I wanted to go cruising in his new car. A brand new 1972 Datsun 240Z. A what? Had never heard of or seen one. Short story. Most awesome car I had ever seen. I have since had a 1978 280Z project and a 1976 280Z project. Both never finished. My wife wanted a Z we could drive without all the work. I got my 2003 Z In November of 2007. Best car I have ever owned. It's a Daily driver in Ohio, even sees snow. To all the pre-orders, Great stories about the rebirth of an awesome car.

 

Great story carbon z. I own a 1972 240Z and was never attracted to any subsequent Z until the 350 was announced. I placed my preorder deposit on January 19, 2001, and took delivery August 24th 2002 - the first 350 delivery at Courtesy Nissan here in Richardson TX. I now have 133K miles, been coast-to-coast, and thoroughly enjoy the car. It still does duty as a daily driver, show car, and track day car. I have not at all been attracted to the 370Z.
My VIN # is 0159.

 

Still on my 2003 Track Z with 78000 miles on them! it was first 3,115 th batch!!
Still smells like new

 

Well, it's been another 2 years since anyone posted in this thread and as the Curator of the Preorder 350Z Owner's museum, I felt it necessary to bump this sucker back up from the dead to see if there are any more of the Original Preorder guys lurking in the background.

This thread will be sort of like how all the WWI vets would gather every year, their numbers dwindling as the years passed. Eventually only one guy would remain and he'd open the last bottle of champagne and toast all of his fallen comrades. Who will that guy be?

To qualify, you first have to be a preorder owner. Someone who ordered their 350Z back in the winter of 2002 before the car even existed. Finally, you have to still own that original car now, more than 9 years later.

So chime in all who qualify! We want to hear from any surviving members.

 

Dr Bonz. VIN #1496. Brickyard Track edition. Ordered 2/02. Took possession of the car 9/24/2002.

Just drove the car home from Atlanta from Forged Performance in ATL and crossed the 47K mark.

Had A LOT of new mods installed and I'm now at 530 RWHP on Sharif's "heartbreaker" dyno. Went with a Greddy TT setup and built engine.

Love the POW-AH!

 

I'm chiming in even though I don't qualify.

Hi Doc!

I sold my pre-order Z some years back, and regret it to this day, even more so now that you posted this.

I actually inquired in my local area of this forum just a few weeks back hoping to find the person who bought my Z, because I want her back. I don't think a different Z can fill the void.

Kudos to you Doc for still owning that beautiful brickyard Z.

 

Just to keep it interesting, I will try and post some CLASSIC pix from my old hard drive.

Here are some of the Nissan concept car that preceded the production 350Z

 

I took delivery on January 16th, 2003. I was out of town on business when it came in, and was killer having to wait for over a week before I could go pick it up. Mine was ordered way back in September or so. I've still got all the fun things that came with it. The Z has 69k miles on it right now, and will be here for quite a few more years yet!

 

ChinaClipper
VIN #00159
Silver KYO Track Edition
Ordered 1/19/01
Delivered @ Courtesy Nissan 8/24/02.
(First Z33 delivered by Courtesy!)
Odo now at 161,800 miles.
Won 1st place Z33 Daily Driver @ 2011 ZCON in Savannah GA!
Still a daily driver!

 

VIN 002652

Superblack Touring fully loaded

Delivered on 08/02!

Preordered mine after I saw it at the autoshow in Chicago that year so it was around December of 2001 or January of 2002. My odometer reads 40k miles. It was a weekend driver for nearly its whole life until the last three years where I put on the last 20k miles as my daily driver.