would have gotten ppw, as ss are everywhere. other than that...no regrets

 

Would of got NAV
Overall, I'm happy with it.

 

I wish I would have known more about the crappy tires going into my purchase and I would have worked in a possible deal with the dealership to put some S-03 or Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires on the car instead of the RE040s. That has been my biggest headache. I also would have opted for the cheap stereo option since the upgraded Bose really sucks, then I would have used the extra cash to buy something really nice.

 

Maybe Pikes Peak White Enthusiast 6MT, and with about $7000 laying around, I'd slap stoptech 14" all around and get LE37T Gold edition (Can put some extra $$ other than $7000).

 

I'm very happy with my Z. Still think I made a great decision

 

Most days, I am very happy but would have prefered to have gotten the 6sp. Then there are other days, when the NYC traffic here makes me very happy I didn't. Still undecided if I was right on that or not, but other than that I wouldn't change a thing. (well, maybe I would have gone to a different dealer. )

 

LOL!

Guys, I've already met Nissan350Z and I can honestly tell you, at least at that point, she did NOT have any clear bra installed!!

 

Different trim level? No I'm fine with the enthusiast, but I might have opted for the Roadster instead.

Different color? Maybe Blue or Black not sure though I might have still ended up with Red lol.

More money down? No probably should have waited a few more months so I could put more money down lol.

Haggled for better price? Definitely I should have went to a different Nissan dealership, I should have walked out.

Different car?! If I could go back and no Nissan dealership would have given me a better deal (meaning paying no more than MSRP) I would be driving a BMW 325xi or 330xi right now guaranteed, as I already knew what deal they were willing to give me and I would have been much happier with that deal financially.

etc. I'm pretty happy with the Z overall, I am just not very happy with the dealership I went to or the overall buying experience I had concerning my 350z. I still would prefer owning the 350z over the BMW, but I just wish I would have played it alot smarter

 

I don't think I would have bought it. Insurance rates are killing me now. I honestly wish I would have waited another year. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

 

Purchased my Z 3 days ago, stilling loving every minute of it when I open my garage door.

 

That's to bad. Do you mind me asking what you put down and what your final price was? You should post the dealership's and the salesman's name (So others know who/where to avoid) :-)

 

I love mine... got every option in the touring...Nav, Airbags, even had them put on the tracks rear underbody defuser. SilverStone.. burnt orange leather.

Everyday is a good day.

 

Got all options on mine too. And MINE is the perfect color. See how it coordinates with the scenery??

 

Before I give the info let me clarify a bit.....

First off I did not need to buy a 350z at all, I already owned a 2003 AWD SUV and a 2001 Mustang Cobra with only 9,000 miles on it. So if anything I had the advantage going into buying any car because it's not like I absolutely had to have it to live, so I could walk away from any deal. That being said I was unhappy with my Cobra because I was tired of driving a manual in the city all the time in city traffic, and it was actually a little too small for me.

I was looking at either the BMW 325xi or the 330xi or the 350z. I wasn't really hardcore shopping for a car though just checking out the deals online. I happened to be on Nissan's site and there was a form where you could get pre-approved online. So I decided on a whim just for the hell of it to fill it out, and I put down no down payment on the internet form. To my surprise the very next morning Nissan had sent me a e-mail saying that I had been preapproved for a loan for any Nissan vehicle with payments up to $650 per month and that if I needed more credit to call this number. Otherwise it said print this out and take it to ANY Nissan dealership and pick out the car you want (hassle free). That's exactly what I figured it would be to hassle free, I was wrong

At the time a local BMW dealership was offering leases on all BMW models, and for the 325xi it was something like $380 per month with $3,000 down and the 330xi was slightly more. They were all 3 year leases, I figured I could sell both my Cobra and SUV if I got the BMW because I would no longer need a AWD vehicle for the winters because the BMW XIs are AWD.

So anyway I decide I would go to the Nissan dealership that's closest to my home, and I figured if the Z was too small or I didn't enjoy driving it I would just opt for the BMW. However, once I arrived at the dealership and saw the Z in person I was almost sure I would buy it right then. I was looking at the Z's for probably 15 seconds when I was approached by a salesman, which turned out to be the same salesman that I bought the car from.

He started to do his spiel or whatever, and I pulled out my printed sheet from my e-mail from Nissan and said I wanna test drive one of these. He looked at the sheet as if he had never seen one before, and gave it back to me. He then said he wanted to see my trade in before I test drove it, this struck me as odd. He asked if I was trading in my SUV, which was the car I drove there, and I said no I had a 2001 Mustang Cobra I would trade in. I really wanted to test drive the Z before bringing the Cobra up there, because at the time the Cobra was in storage and I didn't want to bring it up there unless I was buying the car for sure. He refused to let me test drive the car, until he saw my trade in and had it appraised. This struck me as odd and kinda ticked me off because according to the paper I had from Nissan I didn't even need to trade in anything to buy the Z.

I should have left at this point and went to another Nissan dealership, but the only other dealership I knew of was pretty far away. So off I went in my SUV and picked up my Cobra from storage and brought it back to the lot. The salesman said they would go appraise it now. He then allowed me to test drive the Z. He asked me what options I was looking for, I said I wanted no leather seats and I want an automatic. So he said you want an Enthusiast then. So then he asked me what color and I was thinking red or black, but I decided on red because I hadn't seen any red Z's in my area yet. So he's like I got a red Enthusiast right here with all the other Z's sitting out in front of the dealership.

So off we go on the test drive, and he said that I couldn't test drive it alone. This seems like a common practice with car dealerships these days so I saw no problem with that. He came along talking up the car etc. etc. I took it on the highway ran it thru the gears with the autostick, and which point he cautioned me to go easy or something. However I probably only took it up to 70 or 75 mph in a 65 so I was thinking no big deal. I was really really happy with the drive, the power, the handling, the interior, and that it had much more space than my Cobra had inside. At this point I was sure I wanted this car. He then told me that these cars are in high demand, and their dealership was not willing to sell any Z for anything less than $3,000 over MSRP. Yeah I know I should have walked then too, but I was pretty much blinded by light by now that it didn't even phase me at the time.

So we get back to the dealership, and we go back to his desk and tries to get the appraisal on my trade in. No numbers yet. So he asks me to sign a paper of intent or something, where it basically says if I am happy with the vehicle and if we can agree on the numbers that I will purchase today. I saw no harm in this as I figured if I wasn't happy with the numbers then I could still walk, but I was pretty sure I was gonna buy this car. In hindsight I probably should have refused. After I signed the paper he proceeds to tell me that the reason he didn't let me test drive the car is that they have all kinds of kids coming there all the time wanting to test drive them without any intent of ever buying one. I thought this was reasonable, except that I wasn't a kid I am 29.

They come back with my numbers on my trade in, and I believed I owed $17,900 on it and they were only willing to give me $19,000 for it. This is far beneath what I could have sold it for privately, but I really wanted out from under that loan so I took it basically only getting $1,100 for my trade in. So at this point it's looking like I'm gonna pay $29,XXX (the MSRP) + $3,000 for my Z. He asks me if I wanna put down a down payment, I said I'll put down $3,000. He comes back with the payment numbers I didn't like the numbers (over $600 a month payments) so I said I'll put another $1,000 down. He came back with the payment numbers again, I said that was fine. I signed some paper work etc, no haggling at all. For whatever reason I was just stupid and I really believed they were marking all of the Z's up 3k and weren't willing to deal. Either way I didn't care I wanted the Z, and I actually probably still wouldn't care except I came to this website and see all of you guys getting the same car I got for MSRP or less then that's when I started to get angry about it lol.

Meanwhile I ask the salesman where my Z was, expecting him to say they are cleaning it up and will bring it around front or whatever. Instead he said you just drove it, I then said that's the Z I'm buying? Remembering back to the test drive I noticed that it had 300 miles on it. He said yep that's your car, I said is that a demo? He said no demos have 3 to 5,000 miles on it yours is brand new. Now after reading other accounts of this here I'm positive this was a demo or one of their test drive cars they used on the lot. I've bought alot of new cars and I've never bought a new one with more than 20 miles on it until now. I thought this was odd, but we proceeded anyway. At this point he had my Z taken and cleaned up and pulled out front. I went out and inspected it more thoroughly now knowing this was my car and saw a scratch on the bumper as well as 2 scratches on the passenger side door. I got angry immediately as new should be in perfect condition in my opinion. So I confronted the salesman about it and he said they would give me a paper called a "We Owe" basically stating they would have to fix all of the scratches for free for me. I was still unsure so he had the sales manager come over to reassure me of this.

So everything went to the finish from there, papers signed and off I go and I have to admit I was very very happy with the car. And I still love the car, but I am no longer am happy with the experience.

 

PART 2: (I didn't know there was a limit on how long these posts could be, told you I was long winded lol)

The salesman had told me that they would call me to make an appointment to have the scratches fixed, not that they were very noticeable unless you got up real close and inspected it but I was still concerned. Two weeks go by and I get no phone call from the dealership, at this point I have made plans to go up there and confront them about it. Then I got a call from Nissan, but it wasn't the dealership it was Nissan doing a survey on my buying experience. I told them how I was unhappy about "We Owe" thing. So a few days later I arrive at the Nissan dealership and confront the sales manager about this "We Owe" the salesman tried to intercede but the manager told him to have me taken care of immediately. The salesman seemed really ticked off, but he took me to service and had my appointment set up.

He then took me aside and confronted me about what I said to the Nissan on the phone, I told him what I said and I think within 2 weeks I should have gotten a call by now and that a new car should not have damage on it. He said I caused him to fail his evaluation or something, I felt like saying I really don't care but I was polite and he asked that if everything gets taken care of if I would give him a good evaluation on the next survey. I agreed but wasn't sure I would. The dealership was true to their word and fixed all the scratches and you can't tell they were ever even there, and I've had no other problems with the car at all. But then I came here and seen how much most you guys paid for your Z's and realized that I got suckered and was stupid then I became angry about the whole situation. So when more surveys came my way I did not fill them out as a satisfied customer. I mean I got a 03 Enthusiast for basically $33,XXX while many of you on here were getting the touring version for that price. To give you an idea this dealership also has a Enthusiast Roadster on their lot with a sticker price of $39,XXX

A couple other things I went to the dealership originally with a friend who told me to go to this Nissan dealership and talk to this salesman he knew him from somewhere. So he went with me and the salesman that came up to us was the salesman he knew and the salesman recognized him as well. He told him he would get a $75 referral check for sending me there, he never got it and that was back in July Also I've been up to that dealership several times since then for things like buying the Nissan bra etc. and everytime I have went up there I see my salesman and he sees me but he never even says hello he just completely ignores me. I will never buy from them again, and I will never be so blindly stupid when buying a car again either. Realisticaly all of the above could have been avoided if I just wouldn't have been so stupid and acted like a kid in a candystore, but I didn't so in reality I guess I got what I deserved

So to answer your question the dealership was: Suntrup Nissan and I believe the salesman name was Lamarr

One saving grace was that it turned out I actually only owed $15,400 on my 01 Cobra and the dealership sent them a check for $17,900 to pay off the loan. So the bank that held the loan on my Cobra sent me a check for about $2,500 a month or so later that I was not expecting at all because of overpay. That takes the sting away a little but not completely

 

yeah man, you got ripped pretty dirty by the dealer, but that's the price you pay for not trying some slick negotiation tactics. Luckily for me, I know of about 3 nissan dealerships around my area and I was able to haggle. I pretty much payed what you did out the door, and I had a loaded touring model with 12 miles

 

on a sidenote- since you got an 03, you should have been able to negotiate even further due to the overabundance of 03's and the 04 models being out...

 

Good grief! You got royally screwed!

Back in June, I had one dealership offering $2000 off a fully loaded model he had on the lot....12 miles on it. But it was fully loaded sans Nav system so I haggled with him on a car he would have to get from an out of state dealer. Most he would come off sticker was $400 so I told him to take a hike. It was their flat bed truck, their driver, one day....and that isn't going to cost them $1600! So I went to a dealer about 50 miles away, they located the car I wanted in VA (Im in OH) and they flat bedded it in for $1000 off MSRP.

Car salesmen are like pimps...gotta just keep kicking them till you get what you want.

 

If I could change something it would have been the trim. Would have gotten the Enthusiast or possibly the track.

Color- Nope love my PPW

$ down, I put down 10K so no regrets there. Should have the car paid off in 2 yrs.

If I woulda changed one thing it would have been a different dealer. ACADEMY Nissan in CS, CO. is not about customer service, they are the greediest and the rudest dealer I have ever met. Once they get their $ from you and the deal is done, you can forget about customer service.

I got railroaded on a clear bra nightmare. Basically to sum the story up, the Nissan dealer put a full clear bra and the ^#%^@ installer (who I found out later, had only been doing this 3 months, and I was the first Z to be done) RAZOR-BLADED my entire front end, both mirrors and headlights.

The car had 150 miles on it. I was so furious, they even tried to cover up their mess, and they tried to cover the razor blade scrapes by using TOUCH-UP paint. They didn't even tell me they were doing that, I was so furious. They touched up the scratches and re-applied another clear bra. It looked so pathetic witht eh touch up paint, it was not even funny.

The dealer refused to give me a new car, (The owner stated, sue me then, you are not getting a new car) and basically I got the entire front end, mirrors, and both quarter panels re-painted, and new headlight covers .

I am still messing with them on this nightmare and it has been nearly 3 months. Hopefully I will get this resolved on Saturday when I get the top of the bra replaced. GET THIS, the dealer said if their are scratches on the hood, when they take the clear bra off, they WILL NOT repaint the hood. What a crock?

Oh, and as of last week, Academy Nissan no longer does clear bra's, they contract them out. HMMMM I wonder why.

Okay I am done venting, thanks for listening.

I am extremely happy with my car, especially my new custom stereo system.

If you are thinking of Clear Bra's, they are definately worth it, but do your homework. I do not have 1 rock ding or chip.

 

First thing: what is the deal with people's inability to type "would have"? "Would of" does not mean anything! That's not a typo, that's just poor english.

Second, if I were starting over I would probably get a track model instead of an enthusiast model. I picked the enthusiast because I figured I could upgrade the wheels and brakes on my own for cheaper than the track model but it has proven more difficult than I had hoped. The 13" StopTechs ended up costing around $2500 with brake lines for the rear and installation and then I could not use the BBS RGRs I had planned on getting because they don't clear the brakes. Additionally, the cost of the brakes will not be recovered at resale which makes for a steeper depreciation on the total I paid for the car ($29K + $2.5K = $31.5K paid but would probably sell now for $24K). Had I opted for a track model, I would have paid $34K but it would be worth around $26K now meaning my real cost so far is about $7.5K and would have been around $8K for a track model (which would have better wheels).

So, I think ultimately, a track model might have been slightly better. But I'm still happy with my Silverstone Enthusiast. I ran a 2:18.04 at Watkins Glen yesterday with the car, which is pretty quick for car that is stock other than brakes and old Yoko A032R tires (on stock 17s).

Jason