Well, I guess i'll introduce myself. My names Matt. I'm not a forum newb. However I am new to 350z's. I'm serving in the US Army Reserve. Because of this, I'll soon be coming into a large sum of money.

When I get back from AIT i'll be sitting on ~13-15k. I drove my friends 350z the other day, and fell in love. I have no idea what type it was, what year, nothing.

So i come to you in search of guidance. I've never had what you would call a "tuner" and i'm looking to make this car my car all through college and possibly longer after that. So i guess you could say i'm looking to "rice" it out. I'm wanting to do a lot under the hood. Are there any particular models you would suggest to me? Is it even feasible to find a good Z within my budget?

Lookin forward to being foum troll

 

Welcome. Forgive my ignorance here but. You're the second person to come in and say they are joining the Army. That's all well and good I'm in the AF but why do you assume you are going to have 13-15k saved up? Unless you're recieving an enlistment bonus, you will only have closer to 2-3k saved and thats if you don't spend anything in AIT. Even if you did recieve an enlistment bonus you'd only recieve half up front and most career fields ( almost all) are not over 20k. I'm thinking your recruiters are blatantly lying and you're believing. Just curious.

But to furthermore answer your questions. Basically buy anything above a base model. Having a LSD at the track is so much better than open. Just research man. I wish I would've and bought that Boxster that I wanted. But your specific car is out there. Either you have to wait or wait.

 

bahaha!

I've already been through BCT man. Yes, I got 20k on my signing bonus. So its 10k after AIT, which will be taxed down to 7100 I've done my homework. I'll leave from AIT with 3k in my pocket from workin. That's 10,100. Then I'll make ~3000 While i'm at AIT. Thats 13,100, then i've got a buyer on my truck that offered me 2000. So that puts me right at about 15,000.

I know what I'm talking about bro. No worries

 

So if you got through BCT or BMT (AF) would'nt you be at AIT already? Unless you go home then to AIT. I'd prefer you to buy an 06 though. Still have warranties on them, bi xenon headlights, 18" wheels standard, and they look alot better. But good luck on the search man.

 

I'm a split-Op, I went to BCT between my junior and senior year of high school.

 

In that price range you can easily find some 03-05's, more so in the 03,04's.

I would suggest a base model as you can skip all the fancy dancy and to the mods quick, mainly cause the base models are the cheapest your gonna find for sale as well.

welcome to the forum..
-J

 

if you can, get a 2007-2008 z, those are the best years...then 2006 is the next best bet...

the 07-08's are the High Rev Engines and respond to mods really well

dont get me wrong, all the z's are nice but those years have upgraded parts like headlights, taillights, engines, wheels, brakes...

and the term rice would mean to put neons a 7foot long wing your car...just so you dont get flamed on here, say that your going to "mod" it, not "rice"it out...unless of course you plan on destroying another 350z

;-) regardless, welcome!

 

then "mod" it will be.

 

Hi, hope you find the Z you're looking for. I am from KC and see a lot on sale on craigslist and/or autotrader. Best thing for you to do is go out and test drive them and when you do pull the trigger, you will know what you want.

 

With where you are with your math, you should be able to get a nice Z especially these days with great deals out there. Good luck, but the maths should not stop there since you are interested in mods. I have had my Z for less than 10 months but has already sucked up about 6K and I have not even gone under the hood yet. So plan on that and try and save up. You would find out that money spent on mods would be worth it because you would love it enen more.

 

Welcome and Congrats. You can probably find a 03-05 Z for anywhere aroung 10.5-15k. Just make sure if you find a great deal that the car wasn't previously boosted. just a heads up....

 

That is a very important thing to consider.

 

please don't

 

^^ +1

 

Welcome. Joining the military and getting a bunch of money is a popular introduction. 9 out of 10 we never hear from again.

 

I just bought my 2003 350z Touring a week ago. I bought it for $14,250. It has 46,000 miles on it so i think i got it for a pretty good price. I'm going to do a few mods on it but nothing too big. I wanted it for the color which i just love and yes that is my Prelude on the side as well.... It's FOR SALE NOW hahaha.....

 

That is true...and the best advice we can give is...save your money. If you're trying to put yourself through college, I would spend it on your education. Plus you can't drive your Z when your playing in the giant sandbox for 12-15 mos at a time.

It's your money, but its just my two cents.

 

Thanks for the advice.

I actually have a full ride to my college. Academics FTW!!!

And my unit is non-deployable, so i'm not going anywhere anytime soon.

 

...

 

do you plan on doing something like this?