Would you Buy? 2004 350z Buying Tips, General Questions
#1
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Thread Starter
Would you Buy? 2004 350z Buying Tips, General Questions
Hello everyone, I thought it would be a good idea to hop on here and get some advice on a potential financial move I'm about to make and that is finally purchasing a Z. I love my C-Class Benzo but opportunity has presented itself with a (nearly) stock 2004 350z sold by a franchised dealer which is hard to find here in Michigan. Some details:
- Silver
- 127,500
- 6 owners, 2 minor accidents, 1 reported theft
- Aftermarket radio, stock wheels, mishimoto radiator, comes with aftermarket wheels
- Driver's seat funky, didn't work when I went in to look at it
- More road noise than my Mercedes, although they are two totally different cars, once u get used to the quiet it's hard to get used to anything else
- Driver's mirror rattled when driving at high speed almost to the point of no visibility, if this had to do with the mirror or engine I did not have time to investigate nor do I have the mechanical aptitude to have done so - luckily there is a Nissan dealer just down the street.
- brakes strong
- starts right up
- clean exterior, minimal rust, aftermarket components in interior(dash etc)
- sushi mirror ornament
Original price was $9995 which is ridiculous. I made an offer just to test the waters for $7,000 and he said yes after speaking to his sales manager. Car also belonged to his gf according to him for 2 and 1/2 so it's "chick-owned" if that makes any difference... Dealer just recently dropped the price to $7,995 so i'm just sittin pretty to see how low it would go. How much would you pay for this car? Am I correct in my observation that market value ranges from fair - $7,000 to great $9,000? Thank you!!
- Silver
- 127,500
- 6 owners, 2 minor accidents, 1 reported theft
- Aftermarket radio, stock wheels, mishimoto radiator, comes with aftermarket wheels
- Driver's seat funky, didn't work when I went in to look at it
- More road noise than my Mercedes, although they are two totally different cars, once u get used to the quiet it's hard to get used to anything else
- Driver's mirror rattled when driving at high speed almost to the point of no visibility, if this had to do with the mirror or engine I did not have time to investigate nor do I have the mechanical aptitude to have done so - luckily there is a Nissan dealer just down the street.
- brakes strong
- starts right up
- clean exterior, minimal rust, aftermarket components in interior(dash etc)
- sushi mirror ornament
Original price was $9995 which is ridiculous. I made an offer just to test the waters for $7,000 and he said yes after speaking to his sales manager. Car also belonged to his gf according to him for 2 and 1/2 so it's "chick-owned" if that makes any difference... Dealer just recently dropped the price to $7,995 so i'm just sittin pretty to see how low it would go. How much would you pay for this car? Am I correct in my observation that market value ranges from fair - $7,000 to great $9,000? Thank you!!
#2
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Everyone has a different budget so only you could answer that question on whether it is a good buy or not since we can't even see the car in person. Everyone has their own threshold for what quality is on a car, which means my standards would apply only for me and would be very different from yours. Based on what you described, personally, no thanks. If I ever bought a used Z it would have to be: 1 owner, all original paint with paint meter verification, absolutely no accidents, under 30k miles on ODO, all original.
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Hello everyone, I thought it would be a good idea to hop on here and get some advice on a potential financial move I'm about to make and that is finally purchasing a Z. I love my C-Class Benzo but opportunity has presented itself with a (nearly) stock 2004 350z sold by a franchised dealer which is hard to find here in Michigan. Some details:
- Silver
- 127,500
- 6 owners, 2 minor accidents, 1 reported theft
- Aftermarket radio, stock wheels, mishimoto radiator, comes with aftermarket wheels
- Driver's seat funky, didn't work when I went in to look at it
- More road noise than my Mercedes, although they are two totally different cars, once u get used to the quiet it's hard to get used to anything else
- Driver's mirror rattled when driving at high speed almost to the point of no visibility, if this had to do with the mirror or engine I did not have time to investigate nor do I have the mechanical aptitude to have done so - luckily there is a Nissan dealer just down the street.
- brakes strong
- starts right up
- clean exterior, minimal rust, aftermarket components in interior(dash etc)
- sushi mirror ornament
Original price was $9995 which is ridiculous. I made an offer just to test the waters for $7,000 and he said yes after speaking to his sales manager. Car also belonged to his gf according to him for 2 and 1/2 so it's "chick-owned" if that makes any difference... Dealer just recently dropped the price to $7,995 so i'm just sittin pretty to see how low it would go. How much would you pay for this car? Am I correct in my observation that market value ranges from fair - $7,000 to great $9,000? Thank you!!
- Silver
- 127,500
- 6 owners, 2 minor accidents, 1 reported theft
- Aftermarket radio, stock wheels, mishimoto radiator, comes with aftermarket wheels
- Driver's seat funky, didn't work when I went in to look at it
- More road noise than my Mercedes, although they are two totally different cars, once u get used to the quiet it's hard to get used to anything else
- Driver's mirror rattled when driving at high speed almost to the point of no visibility, if this had to do with the mirror or engine I did not have time to investigate nor do I have the mechanical aptitude to have done so - luckily there is a Nissan dealer just down the street.
- brakes strong
- starts right up
- clean exterior, minimal rust, aftermarket components in interior(dash etc)
- sushi mirror ornament
Original price was $9995 which is ridiculous. I made an offer just to test the waters for $7,000 and he said yes after speaking to his sales manager. Car also belonged to his gf according to him for 2 and 1/2 so it's "chick-owned" if that makes any difference... Dealer just recently dropped the price to $7,995 so i'm just sittin pretty to see how low it would go. How much would you pay for this car? Am I correct in my observation that market value ranges from fair - $7,000 to great $9,000? Thank you!!
Last edited by Ashton Wilson; 05-20-2019 at 10:43 PM.
#4
Master
iTrader: (8)
me personally i would not buy a car that has been wrecked or has rust. my nissan was at 35k miles when i got it, the vette was 9990 miles (being 7 years old at the time) and now my cadi i got it with 26k miles. it is very true that you get what you pay for
Last edited by travlee; 05-21-2019 at 03:15 AM.
#5
Registered User
Thread Starter
There's so many damn things about a car I forgot to mention some - it's auto, and the accidents are reported as MINOR. The car drove pretty well and does look pretty clean... I'm just looking for a general ballpark price I know everyone has different budgets circumstances etc.
#7
Master
iTrader: (8)
or even this.... 40k less miles for about what the original asking price of your first one was
06 interlagos
06 interlagos
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#8
Chick-owned... does that mean general maintenance was overlooked?
Truthfully, that's a $4000 car, especially being so many owners and accidents, although I don't know if your market prices are that drastically different than southern states.
Also you mention a lack of mechanical knowledge, well a car like this is going to cost more than the purchase price, due to age and how it is used. If you're unable to do your own mechanical work on it, it will end up costing more than its worth.
Depending on what kind of maintenance has been done, it could need bushings, ball-joints, suspension arms/ components, fluid changes, etc... items that deteriorate with age.
Just some things to keep in mind besides the purchase price.
Truthfully, that's a $4000 car, especially being so many owners and accidents, although I don't know if your market prices are that drastically different than southern states.
Also you mention a lack of mechanical knowledge, well a car like this is going to cost more than the purchase price, due to age and how it is used. If you're unable to do your own mechanical work on it, it will end up costing more than its worth.
Depending on what kind of maintenance has been done, it could need bushings, ball-joints, suspension arms/ components, fluid changes, etc... items that deteriorate with age.
Just some things to keep in mind besides the purchase price.
#9
Registered User
Thread Starter
Chick-owned... does that mean general maintenance was overlooked?
Truthfully, that's a $4000 car, especially being so many owners and accidents, although I don't know if your market prices are that drastically different than southern states.
Also you mention a lack of mechanical knowledge, well a car like this is going to cost more than the purchase price, due to age and how it is used. If you're unable to do your own mechanical work on it, it will end up costing more than its worth.
Depending on what kind of maintenance has been done, it could need bushings, ball-joints, suspension arms/ components, fluid changes, etc... items that deteriorate with age.
.
Truthfully, that's a $4000 car, especially being so many owners and accidents, although I don't know if your market prices are that drastically different than southern states.
Also you mention a lack of mechanical knowledge, well a car like this is going to cost more than the purchase price, due to age and how it is used. If you're unable to do your own mechanical work on it, it will end up costing more than its worth.
Depending on what kind of maintenance has been done, it could need bushings, ball-joints, suspension arms/ components, fluid changes, etc... items that deteriorate with age.
.
Ahahaha that's what I told the guy and from my experience girls may not press the gas as much as guys(aka meatheads) but I have witnessed some doing u turns at 90mph and caressing the occasional curb... not to say all girls are bad drivers and the car was free of scuffs, scratches etc but still 6 owners... after some more research and thinking I do think it's worth no more than $5,000 which isn't a lot of money for a car. Not to mention I don't do too much driving - work is 1 mile away, the gym, library, grocery store and many other shops are within biking distance(I've put 15,000 on my Benz in 3 years)...
Also when doing the test drive it was fun to drive and hard not to press on the gas, something to consider - how many times it's been pushed to its limits. Anyway, if they take $5,000 I'll buy it. I'll be trading in my Benz they estimated 1,000 to 1,500 for it. I usually look at old heavily depreciated luxury cars driven by older people. My first car was a Buick, then I bought my Benz both from older people. The only thing that's gone wrong on my Benz is the ESP which I actually fixed myself... so I'm not that mechanically unable but I won't be getting down and dirty with any major components like suspension etc...
Thanks so far very good advice!
And sorry forgot to mention BUDGET: Which the max is $8,000 including extra fees like tax etc so the car would have to be $7,000 or so.
Just some things to keep in mind besides the purchase price. The most I've paid for a car was $4,000/
Last edited by Mel-Z; 05-21-2019 at 06:51 AM.
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khnitz (05-21-2019)
#10
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says the person who was looking at a 186k mile car for $7500
me personally i would not buy a car that has been wrecked or has rust. my nissan was at 35k miles when i got it, the vette was 9990 miles (being 7 years old at the time) and now my cadi i got it with 26k miles. it is very true that you get what you pay for
me personally i would not buy a car that has been wrecked or has rust. my nissan was at 35k miles when i got it, the vette was 9990 miles (being 7 years old at the time) and now my cadi i got it with 26k miles. it is very true that you get what you pay for
#11
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Ahahaha that's what I told the guy and from my experience girls may not press the gas as much as guys(aka meatheads) but I have witnessed some doing u turns at 90mph and caressing the occasional curb... not to say all girls are bad drivers and the car was free of scuffs, scratches etc but still 6 owners... after some more research and thinking I do think it's worth no more than $5,000 which isn't a lot of money for a car. Not to mention I don't do too much driving - work is 1 mile away, the gym, library, grocery store and many other shops are within biking distance(I've put 15,000 on my Benz in 3 years)...
Also when doing the test drive it was fun to drive and hard not to press on the gas, something to consider - how many times it's been pushed to its limits. Anyway, if they take $5,000 I'll buy it. I'll be trading in my Benz they estimated 1,000 to 1,500 for it. I usually look at old heavily depreciated luxury cars driven by older people. My first car was a Buick, then I bought my Benz both from older people. The only thing that's gone wrong on my Benz is the ESP which I actually fixed myself... so I'm not that mechanically unable but I won't be getting down and dirty with any major components like suspension etc...
Thanks so far very good advice!
And sorry forgot to mention BUDGET: Which the max is $8,000 including extra fees like tax etc so the car would have to be $7,000 or so.
Just some things to keep in mind besides the purchase price. The most I've paid for a car was $4,000/
Also when doing the test drive it was fun to drive and hard not to press on the gas, something to consider - how many times it's been pushed to its limits. Anyway, if they take $5,000 I'll buy it. I'll be trading in my Benz they estimated 1,000 to 1,500 for it. I usually look at old heavily depreciated luxury cars driven by older people. My first car was a Buick, then I bought my Benz both from older people. The only thing that's gone wrong on my Benz is the ESP which I actually fixed myself... so I'm not that mechanically unable but I won't be getting down and dirty with any major components like suspension etc...
Thanks so far very good advice!
And sorry forgot to mention BUDGET: Which the max is $8,000 including extra fees like tax etc so the car would have to be $7,000 or so.
Just some things to keep in mind besides the purchase price. The most I've paid for a car was $4,000/
#12
Registered User
Thread Starter
So yeah, someone might want the Benzo for more than the dealer is going to give me but I don't feel comfortable selling it with the rattling noise and I'm scared to check it out at the shop lol - jk will do soon. Maybe you're talking about the old diesels or 190E etc...
#14
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Everyone is giving you some very good advice I would look for a newer Z 2007-2008 it should definitely fit in your budget 7500-8000 out the door not to much more than 80,000 to 90,000 miles all original no mods you can do
that yourself don't get in a hurry to buy and just take your time until the right one comes your way,you'll probably get more enjoyment with a manual if you have cash there's no way you can't get a helleva good deal!
that yourself don't get in a hurry to buy and just take your time until the right one comes your way,you'll probably get more enjoyment with a manual if you have cash there's no way you can't get a helleva good deal!
#16
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Thread Starter
Everyone is giving you some very good advice I would look for a newer Z 2007-2008 it should definitely fit in your budget 7500-8000 out the door not to much more than 80,000 to 90,000 miles all original no mods you can do
that yourself don't get in a hurry to buy and just take your time until the right one comes your way,you'll probably get more enjoyment with a manual if you have cash there's no way you can't get a helleva good deal!
that yourself don't get in a hurry to buy and just take your time until the right one comes your way,you'll probably get more enjoyment with a manual if you have cash there's no way you can't get a helleva good deal!
You're right, honestly this isn't the best deal and unless it goes way low like 4 - 5k I won't be buying but I'm still scouring for a really good one to come up near me. Everything is molested! The right time will come that's what I tried to tell myself too -- unless another heavily depreciated benzo with low miles shows up!
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bad boyz (05-22-2019)
#17
New Member
Too much. That’s closer to a $4k car...
Chic’s are REALLY hard on cars - This isnt a 80yo granny we are talking about, it’s likely some bleach-blonde-multiply-augmented skank with an enormous attitude that never did anything but have someone fill it with gas for her.
Not sure about others but I rarely ever see other Z’s on the road, I do however see tons of them on CL. They are out there. You just need to define your priorities and embrace patience.
Chic’s are REALLY hard on cars - This isnt a 80yo granny we are talking about, it’s likely some bleach-blonde-multiply-augmented skank with an enormous attitude that never did anything but have someone fill it with gas for her.
Not sure about others but I rarely ever see other Z’s on the road, I do however see tons of them on CL. They are out there. You just need to define your priorities and embrace patience.
#18
Registered User
Thread Starter
Too much. That’s closer to a $4k car...
Chic’s are REALLY hard on cars - This isnt a 80yo granny we are talking about, it’s likely some bleach-blonde-multiply-augmented skank with an enormous attitude that never did anything but have someone fill it with gas for her.
Not sure about others but I rarely ever see other Z’s on the road, I do however see tons of them on CL. They are out there. You just need to define your priorities and embrace patience.
Chic’s are REALLY hard on cars - This isnt a 80yo granny we are talking about, it’s likely some bleach-blonde-multiply-augmented skank with an enormous attitude that never did anything but have someone fill it with gas for her.
Not sure about others but I rarely ever see other Z’s on the road, I do however see tons of them on CL. They are out there. You just need to define your priorities and embrace patience.
#19
New Member
Also keep in mind this model is at least 11 years old. There are literally thousands of diy vids on YouTube covering virtually anything you could possibly want or need to do to these cars. Plus, they are actually very well engineered and comparatively easy to work on. It might be a good time to drop $100 on a Craftsman set and learn to wrench. Doing something like replacing the diff bushings is one of those things that gives you a huge sense of satisfaction but costs you 1/10th the price of paying a shop to do it.
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khnitz (05-24-2019)
#20
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Thread Starter
Also keep in mind this model is at least 11 years old. There are literally thousands of diy vids on YouTube covering virtually anything you could possibly want or need to do to these cars. Plus, they are actually very well engineered and comparatively easy to work on. It might be a good time to drop $100 on a Craftsman set and learn to wrench. Doing something like replacing the diff bushings is one of those things that gives you a huge sense of satisfaction but costs you 1/10th the price of paying a shop to do it.
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