I was just thinking, the Z is going to be a full production (30,000) cars released, starting next year. There is about 1,000 dealerships in the US, so you average out at abuot 30 350Z's per a dealership, in 1 year. This comes out to 2-3 Z's a month per each dealership. Now I highly highly doubt with only 2-3 Z's a month, the dealership will be selling under MSRP, I think it will be MSRP (except for the LAME dealers). Also, the people who don't happen to get one that month will prolly request the Z for the next month, so it won't really be a pre-order, but more of a reserved allocation. I think we won't see prices drop for atleast 2 years from now.

Anyone agree?

 

YOu post a good point. However, in large cities such as Miami, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago I believe the Z will be quite popular and dealers will get more than 3 cars.. Some dealers in the middle of Nebraska might get 1 or 0 cars per month while their cars are re-allocated to Los Angeles for example.. I do believe prices will remain high for at least 2 years though.

 

I agree. We're not dealing with averages here. There will be a distribution curve where the more densely populated areas will see higher Z allocation. So, the big cities will probably soak up a lot of the Zs and they may appear less "rare" than in other areas. There were only 30k WRXs made last year and I see a few of them around Chicago. They are by no means commonplace, but they aren't a hard to come by commodity, if you see what I mean.

 

City size does make a difference. Look at the S2000, I think they only make 5000 a year, by here in LA you see them all over the place.

 

Is that 30,000 production number just for the U.S. or for the whole world?

Michael.

 

There are only 5000 S2000's made a year! I see at least one every single day. And the S2000 has been out for some time. That means the Z will be a dime a dozen where I live.

 

I dont know... m brother in law is a new car manager at a nissan dealership here. He's telling me that I can pay invoice as soon as 6months.

 

The rationale of this thread makes no sense whatsoever. Regardless of whether Nissan had 100, 1,000, or 10,000 dealerships, they’re expecting to pump 30-40K Z’s to US consumers. Low by family sedan/truck standards, but plentiful by sports car standards…in fact, it should be the best selling sports car in the US for ’03.

I agree that the Z population will likely be concentrated in major metropolitan areas.

 

US only. 20k 5 speed manual WRXs and about 10-12k automatics. (for the '02 model)

 

The Z will be rare for the first 3 years .. and for the next 12 months it will be exceptionally rare .. after that it will be commonplace like the Vette.

but it really does have a timeless look like the 300ZX .. everytime i walk up to the car and see the design i gasp .. i dont think that seeing more of the car on the road will change my impressions on the coolness factor of the car.

 

HUH?? Not a chance! Unless you meant to say MSRP and not invoice. The only way you'll pay invoice is because he is your brother in law. Ask him how many he'll sell to the public at invoice in six months!

Remember:

MSRP=Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price
Invoice= What the dealer paid for it.

 

I think they might discount up to 500$ or so next year. So far i know one person paid 300$ below MSRP. by looking at the number of Zs being imported, it tells that the car will be mass produced. So I really think after the inital hoomp & doomp it will be a little flexiable if not the dealer will throw in couple of cheap options and keep the car at MSRP. The car is already priced really well, so it's a bargain to begin with. don't u think????

LIL Raja

 

That's hard to believe. The S2000 and corvette is still commanding MSRP. I can see 500-1000 off MSRP, but invoice is stretching it.

 

We'll see...

I know what i'm talking about.

I know dealers here also sell s2000 for invoice for awhile now, took 6-7months after the s2000 release before they did.

 

why are you guys so scared of seeing another Z? its not like they are exotic limited edition cars.

 

Unless you are referring to the friends and family program. Now that I can believe. Someone has already bought one from the employee program for cost.

 

s2000 at invoice? which dealer? i paid 1800 below msrp and I thought I got a decent deal, but looks like i got raped.

LIL Raja

 

If Nissan isn't making much from the 350Z, then it may be at MSRP for a while...

Michael.

 

I would be EXTREMELY surprised if anyone got below MSRP on an '03 before the next model year. Somone may get a deal on a Z when the '04s land, but it sure doesn't look that way with the way they are selling now. For there to be discounting below MSRP, there has to be a surplus or a drop in demand. It comes down to basic econ. As long as they keep ordering like hotcakes at MSRP and above, that price won't drop.

 

I posted this fact months ago using the same 1000 dealers you refer to, I'm sure if you do a search you'll find it.

UPDATE: I was told by a dealer that there are in fact 1800 Nissan Dealers in the US. Also it has been mentioned that the target for US production is 25,000 per year.

US production of the S2000 is 9000 per year.

In 6 months Nissan employees and relatives will be able to get a Z at list price, but not till then.