Cavallino

Looking at buying a 2004 350 Z Roadster. Current owner is a friend of a friend.

-He is the 2nd owner, and purchased as a CPO from a Nissan dealer with 40k miles.
-The car now has 83k miles.
-Black on "Burnt Orange" interior. The seats are leather, but have a black cloth inserts. First time I've ever seen this, wish it was full leather.
-The car has never been in any accidents, and has a clean history.
-6 speed manual, navigation, power everything, etc.
-Car is completely stock, unmodified.
-I drove it and it drives great. Drives similar, if not better, than my sister's G37S 6spd coupe. Stayed straight even with my hands of the wheel and under braking. Clutch was good, shifts good, etc. Motor pulled hard in every gear, idled fine. All electronics work.

The Bad:
-A lot of little scrapes, and dings from NYC parking.
-Cosmetically it needs to be cleaned up.

I'm looking at $14,000 +/-. The cosmetics can always be corrected.

red roadster

Price seems good. Tech treads in here on top repair, also top should stay up in the cold, bout 32f I think.

Cavallino

I mean yea I wouldn't be driving with the top down in the winter, I just want to make sure it works before I buy the car. Is it common for the motor to "freeze" up in colder temperatures?? Or is that a load of BS?

scruggyj

It is common. Guide states not to operate the top in cold weather.

Blooster

iTrader: (1)

Worst case, factor in $1500 max to replace the 5th bow motor, which does sound like a possibility.

Also - get in the car with the top closed in the sun and check for pinholes. Fabric replacement, if needed, could cost you another $1500 (??max??).

The car is a total blast and worth the maintenance, IMHO.

Cavallino

Okay good, so it sounds like he's telling the truth -- I've been reading that the top should not be operated in temperatures under 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Honestly not looking for a car that would require me spending lots of money on, other than cleaning it up cosmetically. As far as I could tell the top looked and functioned fine. It did show some minor aging in terms of its color, although I saw some DIY remedies posted here to restore its deep black color. That's not a real "problem" however.

I think I will bite the bullet. Car drove great.

Jennifer 2

Cavallino, from your description of how the top is misbehaving I would say the 5th bow motor is not the offender here. The first segment of the sequence that opens and stores the top, is the 5th bow motor lifting up the rear fabric top panel (the one containing the rear window) to provide clearance for the top storage hatch cover to swing open. Once the top is being lowered into the storage hatch (this is where you are describing it getting stuck) the 5th bow motor isn’t operating. By the way, there are five motors that open and close the top, two for the hatch cover, two for the top and one for the 5th bow.

Again from your skimpy description, I would say that it’s the second bow that is causing the problem. The other four bows are all linked together and always articulate in proper order. The second bow is mounted on independent pivots. As the top is being lowered this bow must pivot back to snuggle next to the third bow. If the section of inner fabric the bow slides against is sticky or dirty, or if the pivot needs lubing, or if the elastic connection between these two bows is weak the second bow may not fall into place. This will cause a jamming action as the top is folding. The top motors will stop if they feel this extra resistance.

This is not a serious problem, an experienced owner or technician can easily look at the second bow as the top is lowering and if necessary put things right. (Search this site for posts on this).

As you might have guessed there are a lot of moving parts, so to speak, in the operation of the motorized convertible top. Consequently every few years the gears and linkage should be serviced, cleaned and lubricated. Also the top should be regularly cleaned and have a coating of special protectant applied, this keeps the top a nice rich black color and more importantly provides UV protection.

Nobody can assess the condition of the top mechanism ‘sight unseen’ over the Internet. If you’re unsure about this, seek out the services of an expert (not a Nissan dealership). People who install and repair convertible tops can listen to the sound of the motors and observe the top operation and can give you a definitive opinion in just a few minutes.

Blooster

iTrader: (1)

Hate to disagree with Jen (she's smart ), but it sounds like what my top was doing when the 5th bow motor went bad.

There's a good video of the 5th bow symptom on this thread: https://my350z.com/forum/350z-roadst...-plz-help.html

Mine would stop just like that. It was intermittent but got worse quickly. 5th bow motor replacement fixed it ($1500 @ dealer).

Netko350Z

iTrader: (8)

I have a 2004 roadster with 15k miles for sale, 6spd Daytona Blue, Touring Edition. SSR GT3's, Borla Cat-back, K&N Typhoon... car is MINT! NO ISSUES AT ALL!!!

Only rained on once, stored winters...blah blah blah...

PM Me if you want info. Car is located in Northwestern PA.

JCITY

iTrader: (2)

Geez!readin all this stuff/maintenance on a roadster,motors etc,
Why would you buy a roadster?Also,design wise,they look pretty
bad.

Cavallino

Sounds good, nice mods and amazingly low miles... but unfortunately unless you're asking <$14,xxx then you're out of my budget

To have a convertible??
I think the design on this car is awesome, both top up and down. They certainly executed it very well, and IMHO it looks better than most coupes gone convertible -- especially the G35 hardtop/convertible.
With the top up the roofline is very low and sleek. With the top down it looks even better with the tucked away soft top under the cool body panel with the 2 humps and roll bars behind the headrests.

I'm coming into this car from 4 BMW M3's in a row, 3 coupes and 1 convertible. I honestly wouldn't even be looking at a 350z unless it was a roadster. Although I did find a very clean coupe, but it was silver and they're just too generic looking in my area. You don't see many roadsters here. And the black exterior with the orange seats is an awesome contrast IMO. Also, I'm not really buying this car for its performance. Like I stated earlier my sister had a 6spd G37S for a few years, and it just lacked the low end torque I was used to with my M3. Thus, the roadster is going to be a great cruiser for me, while also helping me avoid speeding tickets.

Thanks for the input everyone, truly appreciated

NismoZR

iTrader: (38)

Well put welcome aboard hopefully you will be in one also. I never regret getting mine.

Cavallino

Thank you sir! I see that you are from NYC also... Any advice on having a roadster in our cold winters?? Do you also experience the problem with the top (motors freezing up, etc) in cold weather?

Jennifer 2

Cavallino, the motors that operate the top don’t freeze up as such. The vinyl coated top material becomes stiffer in cold weather. The design of the Roadster is such that the top must really fold up tightly in order to hide away in the hidden hatch. When stiff, the vinyl coated fabric resists being folded that tight and can cause problems. According to Nissan anything below 32 degrees is too cold to operate the top. Top down weather is typically way above that, so it has never been a problem for me.

I just sold my 04 Roadster recently; it was my daily driver, summer and winter for over 9 years. I had zero problems with the car and the top still looked and operated like new. I do live in a temperate climate and had a garage to keep the car out of the weather though.

NismoZR

iTrader: (38)

Your motor won't freeze but weather is too cold to drive with top down so you shouldn't have a problem mine open or close no problem even with temp below freezing . But when I was in another 350z roadster at the used car lot trying out the top, it stop mid way had to close and open again for it to fully open. It only occur when u operate under 32 degree. You can drive top down when weather is 50 or above any lower its too cold to. Our z rear wind deflector doesn't do any justice just for looks unlike volvo or Mercedes. Btw make sure you have all weather tires or snow tires but I still wouldn't recommend you drive in snow.

Cavallino

Pulled the trigger today, it's a done deal.

Lubed the top up a bit and it went down with ease, so that's good! Car definetely needs a thorough detailing. I will try to post some pics asap!

Thanks guys and Happy New Year!!

Cavallino

Sorry it's filthy, and the top wasn't fully open at the time I took this pic





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NismoZR

iTrader: (38)

Congrats when the weather get better we sometime held weekly meet either at Greatneck or RAD hopefully you can stop by.

dexrod

iTrader: (1)

Congrates on the new roadster!!

MB33

iTrader: (6)

Congrats and welcome!