I bought a used 2008 350Z about three weeks ago. MT Black. Car only had 4200 miles on her and was bought new here in Phoenix by the previous owner a year ago. Everything looks great on the car besides a few dents/ scraches. Most were touched up by the dealer when I picked her up. Tires also looked good.

I have a few general questions...

-the left headlight has condensation in it after it rained and after I washed the car a week ago. It is still there. How do I get it out?

-I washed the car and did a claybar treatment. Then waxed it. Anything else I should do to insure the paint looks good? Its Black so a hard color. I have never polished a car before but there are a few areas I would like to attend to. Any tips on how to polish and what brand to use?

-MT also seems good. I never drove a MT before so not sure what to look for. I'm getting a pretty good hang of it though with only a few bumps here and there. The first gear clutch is very picky BTW! Question about the MT is how to reverse. Do it put the car into gear or lightly push in the clutch? If I get close to putting it in gear the car flies backward.

-I would like to get an oil change soon. Is a normal oil fine or will I have to get something special? Any links to a video of how to change the oil on this car?

Thanks for the help/read and I'm sure I will have many questions in the future,

Mason

 

Congrats on the car. You engage reverse just like you would first gear. Press in clutch, put in reverse, let clutch out and give it gas.

 

Congrats and welcome.

There's a section on detailing. I'm sure this topic has been covered a thousand fold. What you did was basically proper with the wash, claybar, and wax.

Reverse is achieved by pushing the **** down, then over to the right and rear.

Oil changes are a personal thing. It depends on your driving habits and your area. I use Mobil 1 Synthetic. For your weather conditions, I would probably change the oil more frequently than I do. I store my car in the winter, so I change the oil in the driving season.

 

lol... maybe I incorrectly read that question about reverse.

 

*headlight= dealership time!
*wash, claybar...WAX IT! I recommend Zaino....
*reverse= in neutral position press down and hold shifter, move all the way right and all the way down
*use synthetic...your choice....I recommend mobil 1, i use motul 300v...pricey but best

 

Congrats but search much?

 

welcome.

pics or gtfo.

search.

/thread

 

wash, claybar, rinse, POLISH, wax. Your first MT is a $20k car? Sweet (and lucky)! "Normal" oil is fine, just don't go to Jiffy Lube or the like. Changing the oil yourself is pretty straight forward:

1) Jack up front of car
2) Insert jack stands
3) Remove belly shield
4) Remove oil drain plug and crush washer
5) Remove oil filter
6) Place new crush washer on oil drain plug
7) Install oil drain plug
8) Lube o-ring and prime OEM Nissan filter with fresh oil
9) Add oil
10)Replace belly shield

 

Congrats!!

 

Thanks for all the input so far guys

-OK, thanks for the reverse input. I'm sure I will get the hang of it.

-As for the oil. I don't plan to track the car but I do plan on keeping her a long time so I would like the engine to last. I plan on doing the first few oil changes myself but I'm sure sometimes I will just take it to a shop. Are there any posts detailing how to change the oil with pictures?

-As for searching on this forum I have. Just seems a lot of the talk/DIY is about the 2003-2006 350z's. Seems the 2007-2008 are different engine wise. Are they that different? I.E. oil change?

Yes scotts300, my first MT car is a 20K car but I did have a 2000 V6 Auto Camaro for eight years. She has 125,000 miles on her and she sits in my driveway broken I hope to fix her up though.

I use to add fuel cleaner every 3000-5000 to the Camaro. Should I do the same for the Z and if so when should I start. The car now has 5000 miles on it

She is fun to drive!

Mason

 

Many drivers are afraid of manual transmission. You are not. Good. OPerate reverse same as first gear forward. Practice makes perfect.

 

Well MT is different from AT for sure. I was a little afraid but got over it, just don't want to hurt the car that's all. A couple days ago I got stopped at a red light on a slight hill and a Lambo pulled right behind me. That was a little scary, lol.

 

congrats an good luck......

 

Don't add fuel cleaner. If you drive the car all the time and use gas from a decent source, you'll be fine.

 

 

all i can say is that you probably bought a Z that was in an accident before.

 

changing oil in this car is done the same way as in any car. if you changed your own oil in your old cars then u can do it in the 350

 

Haha QFT.

I recently brought my 350 out of storage due to extremely mild weather conditions, covering it in the driveway and driving it on the nicer days... Took me a good 5 minutes to adjust to the 350 clutch again after using a far stiffer setup on my talon.

I've been driving for quite some time and still do not enjoy the 350zs stock clutch 1st gear *espesially*. Drivable certainly, but annoying... I even have the fabricated dwolf mod too. Look into this for a bit of help in this regard.

 

I use amsoil in my 08 350. As far as I'm concerned it's the best damn oil out there. Costs me $60 an oil change just for the oil but to me it's worth it. Once you get under the car it's pretty obvious how to change the oil. Just make sure you get some crush washers from nissan for the oil pan drain plug

 

Why do you say that? Carfax was clean.

I use shell gas.

I will load some pics up soon