Took my 04.5 Touring to Passport Nissan in Marlow Heights to have my 4 wheel alignment done this morning (9,582 miles). Yes, the F&R specs were off and they were adjusted, and I am SOL on the feathered (growling) tires on my 04 (unless an 04 TSB or a recall is issued later on…)

While I was captive for those 3+ hours, discussed trading my 04 Auto ZR with the Manager for a 05 Auto ZR that was currently at the Passport Alexandria dealership. Prior to going to dealership this morning, had obtained info on this 05 car on-line ($41,500 - Net Price $38,650) has Nav, 18" wheels, BO seats, etc. Only sales option difference (mine vs. theirs) was no alum kick plates or splashguards on the 05. Called Alexandria yesterday just to check mileage (22 miles).

After a serious long discussion today with the Marlow Heights dealership main man, the best this Manager would do for me on my nicely kept 04 was $28,650 with their 05 ZR to be purchased for $38,650. I balked, however he would not budge at all, even though I have bought other cars there before (including the 04 ZR). BTW: Kelly blue book on my car as of today is $30,125 (dealer trade) and $34,320 (private sale).

After receiving my car back from their service dept, I decided to go over to the Alexandria Dealership for the hell of it just to check out the “best deal” I was being offered at Marlow Heights (dealers are roughly 40 min’s apart). At Alexandria, they were equally quite impressed with my 04, but offered me $32,500 for it and the very same 05 purchase price of $38,650 on the very SAME car.

Their 05 was Picture Perfect, not a scratch, still had just 22 miles on it (no test drives). With agreement to have them switch my kick plates to my new car, and to buy a bra at their cost, I took this deal, and took the 05 home tonight! (I was thinking of taking the 04 splashguards off anyway with my BBS wheels, so no big deal they are not on my new 05 Z).

Yeah, I could have just said ‘Hey Gang I Bought an 05 SB Touring tonight!’

The reason I have provided all these specific details above is for our Other Forum Members living in the MD/VA area. Should be darn obvious (with these details) to those members who to go to, and who to avoid IF You are in the market to trade/buy a Z any time soon (Plus I got a very cool deal on the 75K 6 year extended warranty, Long after the Z sales deal was finalized… agreed not to say $, please don’t ask).

I will not be doing anymore business with Passport Marlow Heights Sales People in the future, but I will rub it in once (someday) to the Manager, that I bought the very car we discussed at the Alexandria dealer the same afternoon that I left their dealership today…

Hope this helps someone here…later on…

 

Just a dumb question to ask but, why did you trade in your 04 for an 05? Did you have problems with the 04? Any changes you feel with the suspension?

 

Only known problem with my car was the feathering issue.

Suspect I may have the same issue with the 05 one day, however I plan on having this Z car alignment checked every 5000 miles regardless if it appears to need adjusting or not. As far as suspension, my 04 was no slouch, but this 05 definately feels & handles much tighter to me (of course it is brand new, but I do not think that is the whole reason for the improvement feeling).

I also sense the transmission is smoother (again it's new). But this is only my first day with it, and not much can be said yet except I love my new Z. Hate to admit this, but I still felt kinda bad saying goodbye to my 1st Z baby last night...sniff...

Not listing the model year differences (most here know them). Obviously I must really prefer SB Color with BO seats, as I bought the same look again! A well polished black ZR is tough to beat!

As far as WHY the trade, the short answer is it's brand new, and the cash hit difference works for me. If I waited, would only get much less for my 1st ZR. The only minor negative (I guess) is I have 4 brand new 18" wheels/REO4 tires that are going to sit in my garage for awhile (with PSI sensors) as my new BBS wheels and tires I had just acquired for the 04, are to go on the 05 tomorrow morning.

If you read some of my prior posts, had my heart set on the GT ZR for many months, but when I learned it was not to be available as an auto (my wife would tear up a stick), the 05 is my next best choice for my long term keeper/pleasure car. And I went with the 75K warranty this time to help insure that plan.

Wish I took the time to retrieve my popcharger from my 04 (will buy another later on). The only thing I have to deal with now is keeping my Z under 4K rpm for the first 1200 miles!

 

I never had a TSB on my alignment. Since I changed the tires to Michelin Pilots A/S the tires never feathered even after 12k miles. So its the crappy OEM tires to blame.

 

Had my new BBS wheels/S-03 Tires put on my 05 ZR this morning. While at shop, my friendly trustworthy local shop guys Noticed the 05 Touring now HAS rear suspension adjustments that were Not on my 04 Touring ZR rear suspension. Not sure if the Front setup has had any changes made as well... Will find out in due time. For now just hope to enjoy my new ZR for many years...

I certainly will not need to buy any tires for quite awhile as the new 18" stock back-ups are stacked in my garage with a whopping 120 miles on them!

In spite of this 1 Nissan issue, ZR is still a Great car/value.
I do wish all the 04 owners Good Luck with your own ZR.

 

Do you have the 300HP engine? Feel any difference?

 

Wish I did, but the Touring ZR is only available as 287HP.
Can get 300HP in the Track and 35th Anniversary Coupe.

I definately feel a difference in the suspension compared to my old one (of course it's brand new). Just a feeling right now, perhaps I may learn of any changes made later on...

 

Congrats on the trade. As long as its a SB ZR its a good deal.

 

I've never bought a car at Passport in Marlow Heights, but I did have some service work done there a couple of times and would kick the tires on the new cars while I waited. I also shopped the lot a couple of times to see what they had. I never felt comfortable with the sales folks over there. They left me with the urge to check to make sure I still had my wallet when I left. When I finally bought my ZR, I traveled down to Sheehy Nissan in Waldorf and was very pleased with the experience.

 

Thanks for the info, I do appreciate it, and will share this info:

Have bought 4 new cars at Marlow Heights in the past and IMO have negotiated excellent deals there on all 4 of those deals (no trade-in's) at those times. However, this was my first trade-in deal and I felt they were trying to get over on me, which was verified when I went to Alexandria and bought the very same exact stock # ZR that we were discussing to buy at Marlow Heights at the exact same sales price, while receiving $3,850 more for my 04 ZR trade-in. Based on this One experience, I will not buy another new car at Marlow Heights (these two Passport dealers share/access their stock inventory at no expense to either dealer since they are in the same dealer group).

Have not dealt with the Sales people at Waldorf, and I will certainly take your word that they are good Sales guys... But Have had two simply absurd experiences with their service people at Waldorf that forever cures me of ever going to them again for any service. One was recently getting a new alternator replaced under a Nissan recall action on my 97 Maxima that involved THEM also replacing the Interstate battery (both parts at no cost to me). When I later went to jump start some one else with my Maxima that needed some help, my battery negative cable just completely lifted Right Off the new battery neg terminal (they installed this) as I started to attach the negative jumper cable to it. I then also found the positive terminal loose. Good thing I carry tools... The jump start for another was only less then two weeks after their recall "Service" was performed. The other absurd incident (even more recently) was with my 04 ZR and is described in the first post in this thread if you are curious...

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....hreadid=108656

I believe I made the best buy choice (for me) by going over to Alexandria. Do not have a problem going back to Marlow Heights service people when needed (not sales), but will also check out Alexandria service shop one day...

 

I do respect your opinion, but really find it hard to believe the Bridgestone RE04's are the definitive problem with this issue. I would think these tires exist on other cars without this issue Z owners are dealing with.

FWIW: Had the alignment print out before/after specs looked at by an independent shop (the same shop that saw the 04 Z tire wear on all my RE04 tires - inside wear). They stated the minute alignment adjustments they made to my 04 Z would not have caused that tire wear (the amount that it was off). Therefore I doubt that the adjustments they made would have rectified the problem on the 04. I Will never know because I traded it in, shortly after the 04 alignment was performed that day.

Right After the alignment was done on my 04, discussed my results with the service manager. I was suspicious of the 04 suspension myself, it is one of the reasons I am driving a 05 now. In time this matter will show us all what the real reason is, and I will be checking on differences between 04/05 suspension setup (if any).

 

I've read all the posts in this thread and I still don't really understand why you did this. It is more a question out of curiosity than anything else. There hasn't been any real change in the car itself. You didn't have high miles on the other car. You say you are going to keep the car for a long time, so what's the difference if the car is one year old and has a few thousand miles on it. If the car is/was a keeper, you could have taken that $6000 and put on a Nismo suspension, upgraded assorted other items, etc. I just don't get it.

 

Your the one that could not grasp that a sports car can be an automatic, and also thinks an automatic ZR is a "pretender".

You do not have to "get it".
And I am not compelled to explain such simplistic reasoning. As you once said yourself in another post..."to each their own"

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....hreadid=106581

 

I stated that I was simply curious about your reasoning. It is unusual for someone to trade in a car for the same car, virtually unchanged, just one year later. I know people that get a new car every year, but you stated you want to keep this car a long time. What is so special about the '05 that you want to keep it for a long time, vs. the '04 which you dumped after a year? Don't get so defensive. I am not criticizing.

 

I did the same for with my 03 DB Touring Z for a ZR. I traded after 1 year. It had only 7500 miles on it. I was curious next thing you know I came home with a 04 SB roadster. My reasoning is, you only live once and this would be the only opportunity to get it.

 

How true! Plus, the way the deals are currently (at least at Passport), the numbers are very favorable for switching if you have even a glimmer of a desire to do it.

 

From the moment I joined this board, I liked the way members share Z information, and try to help out other members. Anyone reading of your done deal for your new car, should realize how well this Z board can truely serve that purpose. Your post proved it. Congrats again on your fast action, your PPW looks great!

No matter that some may not ever grasp my own trade-in action. As I said above before, "works for me" - It's not that I did not love my 04 SB ZR (I clearly did), it's that my Z smile is now a little wider in 2005!

BTW: Love the way this car looks Without the splashguards (and with my wider BBS wheels/S-03 tires). Besides the known 05 model differences, those gaurds were the only visual change from my 04 ZR. - New JWT Popcharger for 05 on the way today, and will order Hawk HPS pads for F&R tomorrow. Stock pads have only seen 126 miles, but I cannot deal with the front dust factor that will come from the OEM pads.

Rained all day today... at least that should wash all the road salt away... I am Really looking forward to some Summer days, my spoiled Z has a happy home, but she would really like to get out of the garage soon!

 

New Baby

 

3 Months, 1,800 miles later... - LOVE my 05 ZR!

Although I do not currently know what the specific differences may be in ZR suspension between my 04 ZR and my 05, it is clear to me from the first evening when I drove my 05 home that the 2005 suspension has been vastly improved in some manner... My 04 was certainly not a shabby ride, however my 05 ride and handling is much smoother and tighter (in my opinion).

Have been having a blast since the 1200 mile break-in elapsed!

http://www.somdwebs.com/350z/

 

Did you sell or are you selling your stock 18's? My wife kissed a curb 6 months ago and I was looking to buy a replacement versus getting it fixed.