Exactly

 

Doesn't sound like you'd be a happy Z owner. Besides, by what you shared, you seem to prioritize price and what will make your wife happy (which isn't such a bad idea). Go for an Altima 2.5.

 

Porkiness...

 

oink oink

 

I think we convinced the OP to stay away from this site and the Z. One can only hope.

 

 

5.5 years now, normal maintenance, cheap to maintain. Stock motor with bolt ons , still fast enough , still one of the faster cars at a track day and still on street tires. 150k miles , still going strong, two cam sensors , one trans under warranty and 3 window motors now. I have to say its a great car.

 

I think I just got bad luck. It was a one owner car before me. Soon after I purchased it, the fusible holder went. Few months later, tire feathering, a little while later, car won't start here and there even with new battery and checking grounds, I didn't have most of these problems when I first got it, just a few months later when all hell broke loose on me. There's no doubt that Nissan is a great company, my dad's told me about that. He's gone through multiple Nissan hardbody's for work, he even was a 280 owner back in his day. I literally just got bad luck and and things just started falling apart later down the road.

 

^ I get what you're saying. There will be a few bad apples in the field but your original post made it sound like every Z car is bad. I've never owned one but you know sti and evo have their problems too. Better do your research before your stroke of bad luck continues...

 

I'm a very strong believer in proper maintenance...meticulous maintenance. I get commented all the time "damn you love that car" or "your car is ALWAYS clean" and then their jaw drops when I tell them it's a 2003.

I looked into evo's, sti's, S4s, M3s...you name it. Out of all of those my Z is slowest...but in my opinion? The SIMPLEST. My track model has nothing fancy on it. VDC, cruise control, and a limited slip. Done and done. I can work on it, modify it, and have a huge family of supporters from decades into the past.

Its the thrill of the drive.

Find your motivation and stick with it. My Z...IS me.

Bahhhhziiiing

 

Theres all these "possible" assumptions of what can go wrong.
In all honesty its how you take care of your care. You take care of your car just like how you should be taking care of your health. i have friends with evo's, sti's, mazdaspeed 3's. Every car has their own problem.

i hear these from everyone:
evo- has bad transmission, and will wear out quick. the cluth goes bad about 60-70k
sti- the suspension will start going bad after 70k miles. understeer is another issue. crappy pistons.
ms3- a lot of torque for a fwd. stock turbo goes bad.
350z- transmission,cluth, etc.

it just depends on how you abuse it and how you maintain it. i bought my Z because i just fell in love with it. i wanted a 07 STI but then i fell in love with my Z. if your second guessing yourself, then buy a kia sonata and call it a day. make your wife happy and yourself and im assuming you will be having kids as well.

 

350z was porky and slow. I have a baby boi and he like to ride around in porky cars. Guess what I did when I was car shopping. I ditched the porky 350z and picked up a porky G35 Rev-Up 6mt. Damn all this porkiness....I hope it is HALAL.

 

Talk you in or out of buying a Z? Who are we? Your board of advisors?