to each his own. my Z os just a couple months old. its still in one piece. am I irresponsible?

 

Oh yea my Z is silver as well. Probly will keep it until the wheels fall off.

 

The 350z is not a ferrari or top end sports car. If you wanna be an elitist go buy a benz or a jag. The 350 is a cheaper sports car with pretty good performance for the price. Of course the kids are gonna enjoy, and if they enjoy who are we to judge. I will not judge you either but stop the hate and get over yourself.

 

if you want to remain an elite car owner, youd be better suited starting w a 911.
Aside from that.. this was a low to mid 30k dollar car.. its a great fun little square sht box on 4 wheels. end story. I paid 35k for mine brand new in 05.. most people still playing with them here appear to be 2nd owners, who have even less to complain about.. dunno.

 

Not to beat an old post to death but I couldn't help throwing in my devalued two-cents here.

And, REQUISITE WARNING/DISCLAIMER: this is long and preachy (sorta) so skip it if you'd rather read about "proper offset wheels" or "best mods for under $xx,xxx" cuz that ain't here.

Speaking of laughing, I kinda grin at the whole thread (not because it's silly or stupid; rather because it makes me feel young - despite my being at the higher end of the age range vis a vis the rest of the forum membership.)

Without a great amount of detail, I'll just say that I went through every phase known to the car enthusiast crowd.... started in mom's Pontiac, graduated to then decade old hot rods (now they're called "classics" and sell for gazillions of dollars on Mecum, ha!) and finally on to sports cars - in my case, Gen-1 Z cars (S30's).

At that time, I spent a number of years working for Nissan (nee Datsun) as a parts specialist - partly running the Datsun Competition (now Nismo) distribution channel in California - and even raced a Datsun (not a Z).

Then spent years following that doing the "responsible" thing of getting married, buying houses, raising kids, working 12 hours a day, and buying "adult" vehicles (Infiniti Q45, Mercedes E55, blah blah blah).

Why the history lesson, you ask?

Well, fast forward to a couple years ago - kids already raised to college level (the age many of my fellow My350Z members are now! ), I made the conscious decision to get back into cars and relive my childhood. No, I'm not in crisis.... not in the least. I just figured I worked my a$$ off for years so now, it's my turn.

Pretty much had my choice of used cars.... Porsche 911, BMW M3, STI, whatever.

I chose a Z because of the Type N blood running through my veins (that's "Type Nissan" - the reason I gave my long winded history above) and because it was an affordable platform with which to re-wet my feet, turn some wrenches, and indulge my type of driving all over again.

But besides being affordable, it is a solid foundation upon which to build upon. So much so that my modifications have been minimal to make it into what I want/need for my weekend car. But even stock, it'd outrun my last S30, which was thoroughly warmed over with a turbo, cam, water injection, etc etc.

Yeah, I thought about the image of a 50+ year old driver in a sports/GT car..... "mid life crisis", "fool old man trying to be young", etc. and guess what? I discovered that I must be mature. Mature enough to know that I didn't care about the stereotypical imagery. Yes, it IS all about me.

So I drive a Z - and I drive it like it's supposed to be driven (see my other post concerning my Sunday morning drives) - and have done what I have to it (suspension) to tune it to MY likes, NO ONE else's.

------------------

So, finally circling back to the original topic....

I am not so old as to forget that I too was young once and did a few of the things to my cars that this thread seems to look down upon, e.g. pointless "rice" mods, reckless (or maybe I should say "wreck-ful") driving.

I was fortunate enough, however, to have had more mature people around me while I did those "immature things" and I was smart enough to know that I didn't know everything there was to know about cars, mods, driving fast, etc. so I listened with a semi-educated ear and formulated my own automotive ethos. Again, my own and no one else's.

That said, I welcome the younger drivers and if they can learn something from me, great!! I'm not going to preach to anyone though - I don't expect 100% agreement - rather, just pass along my experience and if they take something from it that makes them a smarter, more pragmatic modifier, a better, safer driver, it's all good.

Likewise, I also know that despite my experience, there's ALWAYS something new to learn, regardless of whether it's coming from a 30 year old, a 50 year old OR, a 16 year old.

So to the "immature" ones here (note I didn't say "young" cuz immature is a condition that afflicts all ages!) If you do go out and do stupid things or gawd forbid, wreck your car, please.....at least learn from the experience.

Bottom line: If I had known then what I do now..... But I didn't. I just took the time to figure it out and now, I no longer care what others think of my predilection with a "young man's car" and if others around me want to do things to their cars for whatever reason, well hey.

Cheers,
Mic

 

Possibly the best post in forum history lol ..nice job.
While I'm only 37.. I'm also NOT 20.. i will never understand why the younger generation worries so much about other thier appearance w the car
.and why they worry about other people as much as they do..

This goes back to the op.... why do you care?...and why do you think your view is the correct one...and why do u care enough to ask us about it on a thread lol.. i never cease to be amazed as I bump elbows w those far far younger than I in this sport we have here..lol..scary times.

 

I appreciate you guys in the mature crowd coming on in the wee hours of the morning to shed some much needed light and wisdom on the topic.

It's really all about the experience, isn't it?

Whether you're young or old, if you're passionate about something and have the capacity, willingness, and need to gain new information, that is where our common interests lie.

We relate by sharing our experiences (good or bad) with each other. The fact that we're proud and connected with our cars and subscribe to a forum is just a conduit for us to do so.

Whether you're sixteen or sixty: if you love washing the car and feeling the curves, if you get out of your car and turn back to sneak a glance before you head inside, if you love the solitude of cruising windows down on an open highway on a nice day, if you love the thrill of exciting your senses on a twisty back road or canyon, if you love braving the unknown path just to see where it takes you, if you love meeting new people and realize that our cars are just a "vehicle" for coming together and sharing our journey and experiences...

Then you're OK in my book...

Also, to the OP's defense; He's probably spent far too much time browsing through the 350Z Facebook page. It's easy to become disillusioned after reading some of the posts over there. He probably just posted over here to get some actual feedback rather than some hateful f@ggot meme thrown back at him.

 

Like any highly desireable awesome iconic sportscar, people will want one regardless of their: age, budget, tastes, preferences, or plans to make the sportscar their own.

What really matters is that we all share the passion, and excitement that an established street creed, 2 seater platform offers us.




Personally, I cant get enough the what 2003 had to offer in dark red, 2 seat sportcars.




Threads like this pop up on the C5 boards all the time as that platform is now 11 to 18 years old, and cars become more affordable.


Bottomline; Enjoy what you drive, embrace the diverse ownership base as it evolves, and have fun on the road !

 

nice i always wanted those wheels for my camaro when I had it.

 

I dont completely agree with this. There ARe different classes of cars for sure. But in the show car/ younger/ non CEO/ car guy with a normal job WORLD, the new Z cars, new v8 stangs and camaros are the creme of the crop sports cars. Also in my opinion, because of the fact that they sell more of them than exotic models, i think the designs are better, less gimmicky, and more refined.

For example(s); i like mustangs better than gt40s. I like every year camaro over corvettes, and i like all z's over gtr's.

 

240sx isn't half bad...

 

Im a former 240 owner. I got in the 240 market right before or right as it blew up.

My car was done up with jdm only parts. No junk fiberglass kits. I spent enough money to build on a new wing at JWT.

After the car went drift crazy. Evey tom dick and harry had a 40 with paper thin kits (primered of course) fart canons and roll around in the trunk subs. I quickly sold my car and have only looked back to see the distruction the tuner market has done to that awesome platform.

Im looking for a nice trunk s13 to trick out for my sons 16 bd. they are all ragged out front to back with crap


This is the reason my Z will stay oem only parts. I may sneak in some nismo stuff though. Except form the sound. It has be upgraded with non oem stuff. 😊

 

if I get my 350Z today it will be my 3rd Z car and Ive had nothing but Z's since i started driving at 16. a 1987 300zx turbo i bought for 2k with 205k miles on it that I abused to no end with drifting, dragging and everything else and it drove perfectly for 9 years and 265k miles til I sold it to some lucky bastard when I bought my Z32. picked it up for 6k with 80k miles and babied it, made it look and sound awesome with premium parts and i drive it every day, gonna be sad to let her go. now I am 27 and im hopefully going to pick up my 350Z today and I have huge plans for it. save the elitist attitude for the bmw, and benz crowd. the whole concept behind the Z cars since their inception was to make an affordable sports car that could put a smile on anyones face, regardless of whether you are a millionaire or a working class stiff like most of us are. if they want to rice their cars, let them. if they want to drift their cars, let them. its THEIR car. to them, its exactly the way they want it so why should that bother anyone else? is your money funding their car? didnt intend on going on a rant but it happened lol. just laugh at them and their huge wings and roll call stickers as they laugh at you for your stock ride height and factory wheels. to each their own.

 

Mic and bmccan hit the nail on the head.

 

I definitely agree.

 

Finally caught up on reading everyone's responses. Mic, nosmoke, you guys are awesome. bmc, I don't recall saying my view is the correct one. I figured a thread like this would prompt the real Z owners to provide their outlook and opinions and it did. I'm not sure why you think I think my view is the correct one but I'm going to disregard that. Maybe you were aiming to offend me, not sure. Thanks for your input though. I probably shouldn't care if other's "rice" their Z's. I just love mine so much that it bothers me to see another Z get treated that way is all.

 

I would say the Z33 is the next 240... and I'm loving it. I used to own a 240. Ruined that now I'm ruining the Z. But I'm having more fun with it than I thought was possible.

 

^ that looks soo rough...

 

This thread is interesting. I have read every response and I have come to the conclusion that there is no right or wrong answer to the OP's question. People value different things.

I have owned a few Japanese sports cars. I am currently on my second Z33 and I purchased it for just over $10,000 a couple months ago. I did not let the fact that a teenager with a part-time summer job could afford this car dissuade me. I purchased a second Z because I truly enjoy this car. Yes, the value has gone down. Is that a bad thing? Not in my opinion. I owned a 2003 Touring before my current 2006 Base and I was a daily visitor to this forum for many years. One thing I can say with certainty is that the decreased value has little to do with tastelessly modifying this car. People modify this car with cheap parts today and they modified it with cheap parts back in 2003 when it was worth more. Yes, young kids will buy this car. And, yes, some of those younger Z drivers will drive recklessly. Yes, people, young and old, will disgrace it with poor modification choices. But there will also be older guys (relatively speaking), like myself, who will come back to a Z because of a certain personal or sentimental appeal or attraction to it.

If someone else's choices are going to influence your decision as to what car you may or may not buy, then I think you need to consider what you are actually seeking in a vehicle. All cars lose monetary value, but the real value is based on what the driver considers important. Just my $.02.