Hi there,
I'm graduating this May from LSU (Geaux Tigers !!) and I'm freaking thrilled that soon I'll be looking for my 350. The question I'm pondering now though is roadster or coupe. Here in Louisiana it's warm enough to go top down almost all year. However, I will be relocating to Maryland upon graduation. Just wondering if the winter there would be enough to spoil the roadster for me. If anyone could give me their opinion, one way or the other that would be great.

Eagerly awaiting the day,
zhopeful

 

Winter in Maryland? Is there such a thing? I live in Minnesota and I'm very glad I got the roadster. If I was a serious driver who took my car to the track, etc. I may go for the coupe.

Or, if I was budget contrained and I wanted a great car at a low price, I'd go for the coupe.

I wish I could afford both. I could see buying a coupe down the road, once the roadster is paid off.

I'm also intrigued by the base 350Z. What a great offering from Nissan. A stripped down performer at a rock bottom price.

I have received a lot of very positive comments from folks on the roadster. They all confirmed that getting the rag-top was the right way to go.

 

I'm from the Maryland suburbs of DC, and I'd say typical top down weather would be from mid-April to mid-October with a few bonus days before and after. Is this good enough to justify a Roadster? Mine's due for delivery in about 3 weeks. I lived in New Orleans for 2 years, and you're right, you could go top down there most of the year, but our winters aren't so long and terrible that a Roadster isn't a good plan. Besides, it'll make the summer days that much better.

I'm currently driving a '96 300ZX Twin Turbo, and I use it every day except when there's ice or snow. I probably park it about 5 days a year, maybe 10 in a bad winter.

 

Hey thanks, kovalf. It's good to hear from someone in Maryland that's lived in Louisiana. So it only gets bad enough (ice and snow) to have to park it a small portion of the winter? It would be my only car being a college grad starting a new job.

 

Some of the posts on this or the Coupe board are from people in cold weather states that have put snow tires on their Z's and seem to be doing OK with them. You might want to poke around the boards for those threads. I haven't bothered putting snow tires on my 300 since I have another car to drive. We don't invest a lot in snow removal here compared to somewhere like a Buffalo, so every now and then things will shut down for a day, and you won't have to go out anyhow. Every 5 or 6 years we'll have a blizzard (last year 18") and even 4WD SUVs couldn't go down my street for 3 days, but that doesn't happen very often. I'm not sure where you'll be in Maryland, but DC has an excellent subway system you could use on bad weather days.

As for the Roadster vs. Coupe issue, I figure I can put the top up on the Roadster in January, but I can't put the top down on the Coupe in August. Just my guess, but I think that the Roadsters might hold their resale value a little better than the Coupes.

 

My feelings exactly !!By the way, I would be in either Columbia or Baltimore.

 

I live in Frederick, MD and we got 46" of snow last year, but that is not the norm. This year we have only had snow twice and the roads were clear both times.

I don't have my Z yet, but Maryland does a great job of snow removal and road treatment most of the time - so I wouldn't be worried about driving on the roads if I did have my Z (unless it was icy).

I would be more worried about the salt and chemicals getting on it than not being able to drive it.

Also, you could always pick up a beater 4X4 or truck for cheap to use on the few days driving the Z would be a no go.



~KK