Now I'll say this before I ask for advice. You may, may not agree with me, I frankly DONT CARE. You may think I'm spoiled, I DONT CARE. You may think I sholdn't have either, I DONT CARE. If any of these are going to be your suggestion, don't waste my time, and yours, by typing it, because it's useless to me.

I expect my Z in 3 weeks, and suddenly my mom is getting scared the car is too powerful, too agressive, too much of a head turner, and might attract the "wrong" attention, so she's offered me a used lexus is300, 6,000 miles on it, asking price is 27,000. I'm not sure which to get now. Here's a comparison I made.

Lexus IS300 Pro:
More room
Leather
Power seats
Auto, so mom can drive it too
Better Name
Safer
Slightly cheaper than the Z (2,500 cheaper)


Nissan 350Z Pro:
Better looking
Nicer Interior
More Powerful
Stands out more

Lexus IS300 Cons:
Not enough power
Pretty slow
4 doors
Interior not as nice

Nissan 350Z Cons:
Might tempt me to go fast and at my age, insurance flings up fast with 1 ticket.
Might attract the “wrong” attention
Not as safe as the Lexus IS300

Also now Lexus has a name, the Z is very popular now, but over the years it will be more common and not as special, so for short term, the Z will be very popular, long term, Lexus will uphold better.


I don't know which to choose, they both level out in my opinion. What about you guys, What would you chose? UN-BIASED people only.. I know this is a Z forum, and most would say "GET THE Z!" but, looking at it from reality, which is REALLY the better buy for me?

 

You shouldn't be allowed to have either till I get my g35C!

Sorry I just had to poke fun..

In any event, I would get the Z, from your comparison you obviously want the Z more. In my personal experience I have had two seat cars and four seat in all honesty I rarely need to seat 4 people, if we are going out someone else usually has a 4 seater.

Also, if you had the Z, and had 4 people that were going somewhere.. You know one of them would want to ride in the Z so that leaves just 2 people to fend for themselves. You are going to have ALOT more fun in the Z and if you are not paying for it then get the more expensive one..

You will eventually get lead into 'bad things' and its usually not by what type of car you drive..

 

great input, thanks, didn't think about that, more people = more peer pressure..

 

I think you may have just answered your own dilema without realizing it. In one of your pros, you mentioned that your mom will be able to drive it too since it will be an automatic, thus I think you can't go wrong with an IS 300. All the other pros/cons are short lived, especially styling and power. There will always be something much better looking and more powerful down the line. So, with that, I would say an IS 300 will serve your needs for still fresh styling, Lexus quality/treatment, practicality, and able to be used by others in the family as well, thus utility.

 

Ah good point on the IS.. heh. Very true about the styling and the power, like the mits evo 7, and the suburu wrx sti, but then again the Z is more of a classic car.. but then, it's a LEXUS.. heh.. ARGH..

so now its 1 for the z 1 for the IS

 

Well, from a standpoint of the 2 cars, we just got rid of a 2002 IS300 Sportcross, because of a new house and Z, and not needing 4 cars for 2 people. The IS is an awesome car, has plenty of power, especially for an inexperienced driver (no offense, but you've only got one or two years behind the wheel, I would guess. 5 years is an experienced driver, imho). Both cars turn heads, but obviously the Z takes the looks department.

I would go for the Lexus now and make mom happy. If moms happy, you'll be happier too! Plus, there's plenty of time for a Z later, when you really need it , like say during or after college, when you are 21 and all your friends want to go out drinking. You won't be able to take your car cause it only has 2 seats, and never have to be the designated driver!

 

Well, I might be wrong about this but...

I think your dilema is not tangible pro's and con's of interior, cost name etc. I believe you want a logical deductive reasoning process to provide the answer. I think you should consider inductive reasoning.

It sounds to me that your dilema is do you listen to your Mother and make HER feel good knowing you don't have a fast sports car. Or do you listen to YOUR desire and get the fast sports car trying desparately to convince your Mother and yourself that you will be good and can handle it.

Only you can answer this, you must make your own decision and find what is right in your heart. I assume your Mother knows this too and left the decision to you? Well she's right. Mom's typically are.

And don't think this will stop when you get older. I'm almost 40 and MY Mother didn't want me to get it! Just like my two previous 280's. Father on the other hand was ecstatic and can't wait to drive it! And neither one of us can be "good" and handle it! We're just more experienced than we were when we were younger.

"The only true freedom we have is to make our own decisions."


Enforcer

 

I had both a used 911 and a used Vette in high school, and knowing how I drove just a few years ago, I wouldn't ever let a son of mine have too fast of a car at that age

Damn, sounding old, and I'm barely in my 30s. Down geezer, down!

 

A big concern of mine is, the 350z right now is a big head turner, in 2-3years, do you think it will be as big as a head turner? I mean honestly, will it be as popular in 2-3 years? Will the Z be an on-going car or just tempory full production?

 

for those who own the lexus, is it fast? I see the 0-60 for the E-Shift is 7.1, fairly similar to my celica.. how would you rate it performance wise?

 

Who knows if it will be as popular as now, but I think it will have staying power. A car this popular now will not be boring in a couple of years. Either it is a design that people like, or not. Things aren't quite that trendy.

If I were your age, I would have wanted the Z. Not sure that would have been the safest thing for me, though If you get it, fight the tempation to drive too recklessly. It will be hard.

 

When lots of Z's are on the road, obviously won't turn as many heads as a few. And after people get used to the few that are on the road now, heads will turn less. But there is no gaurantee that there will be lots of them, just a desire by Nissan to sell a lot, time will tell. For some people, a sports car always turns their heads and for others they don't. But I can say that I still turn my head whenever I see a Z, any model, and I could care less about Lexus anything. But then, I'm a Z fanatic. As I'm sure there are Lexus fanatics. Have no idea what the numbers of both are.

Don't know if you are trying to ascertain resale value, but there will always be a market for used Z's and used sports cars and used Lexus. What matters just as much if not more is how good of condition the vehicle is in and how many miles it has and what it's reliability history is.


Enforcer

 

I thought this was your best advice: "I would go for the Lexus now and make mom happy. If moms happy, you'll be happier too! Plus, there's plenty of time for a Z later."

You would still be getting a great car, you will be proving that you are reasonable, you can build a good driving record, show you're a responsible driver, and can go for the Z later. Heck, there may even be another version of the Z or another car altogether that you like better by then.

You have given some great advice on this site. I'm sure you will make the right decision.

WayneTN

 

I still think the Boxter is gorgeous, and how many years has it been? I think the Z is beautiful and I bet that years later, I still will. There are some cars that stop me in my tracks no matter how old they are.

But at your age and given the set of circumstances, is that really a part of the decision making process? Your Mom sounds cool and you sound like someone who wants to do the right thing. If it were me, I'd make my Mom happy, but tell her that you still plan on getting a Z in a couple of years once you feel like you have gained enough experience.

The lexus shouldn't depreciate that much, so you won't really be bad off waiting a couple of years. But the points you gain from listening to Mom now will serve you well. NAd when the time comes and you do buy a Z (or whatever it is you really want 2-3 years from now), your Mom will apreciate that you really thought long and hard about it.

 

I know you want the Z more, or else you wouldn't be asking this forum for advice. LOL. Just be careful.

 

You only live once, richboy. Get the Z.

 

Get the Z. The IS300 isn't fast enough for your tastes (you want a Z). It has nice handling (ive driven one) but that's for a car in its class. You'll be dissappointed w/ the fwd. Also, for a lexus, the is300's interrior isn't as nice as i thought it was going to be.

Chicks buy cars for the badge.

Men buy cars for the car itself.

Get the Z.

(Disclaimer: I in no way support the idea or connotation that all women do not appreciate cars. I only speak of what I've experienced. That is that many do not. I know of plenty who do, and I want to date them.)

 

The IS300 is RWD.

 

Ummm... yeah. I'm going to have to get a judge's ruling on this one.

BUZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

Yeah. The IS300 is definitely RWD. Thanks for playing.