Tbag84

I may be joining the ranks of you guys soon. I'm looking into buying a 2003 Performance model with a little over 18,000 miles, seems to be in good shape, and I was wondering if that seems like a fair price.

Also, since this is an early production year, do they tend to have problems (other than the feathering issue I was reading about?).

Thanks

Asian Invasian

iTrader: (31)

There are only about 500 threads just like this.

The price seems high, but the miles are low so its not too bad..
Yes there have been feathering issues.

Tbag84

I appologize, I figured there were a ton of threads about it, but I haven't had a chance to really search the board yet, and I'm in a time crunch to make this happen. I'll be sure and search for any future questions.

I'm going to try and talk them down on price and hopefully they'll come down some.

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

Agree with above. Be sure a mechanic you pay & trust checks it out.

If in good shape, I'd think paying a little more for such low miles is fine.

Tbag84

Thanks.

Luckily, my brother is a mechanic, so whenever anyone in my family buys a car, he always checks them out first. He gets pissy when I ask him to help install performance upgrades, though

davidv

iTrader: (2)

18,000 miles is a winner. Does the model and color suit your needs? Go for it.

Tbag84

Absolutely! I would have settled for a base model, so the fact that I found a Performance model in my price range with low miles, is great. I've been searching for months for a red one that is local and in my price range, and luckily, I found this one relatively close. I saw it on AutoTrader and I emailed the dealer, and I'm waiting to hear back from them to see if it's still available. Hopefully it is.

On a side note, I Carfaxed it, and it came back clean for accidents or any other problems. It had two owners, one leased it for a month and put 10k miles on it (that kind of bothers me a bit), and the other owned it for a couple years, and put about 8k on it. If my brother gives it a clean bill of health, it's most likely going to be coming home with me. Then comes the process of choosing an exhaust, intake, and whatever else.

jackie chan

iTrader: (1)

seems high to me. i have an 06 enthusiast with 12k im trying to get 21500 for

Polo08816

+1.
I have a friend just bought a 2006 Base Z for $18,500 with 16,000 on the odometer. He is also a mechanic, goes to Carnegie Mellow University, majors in MechE, and is the Chief Technical Director for their Formula Race team so with his background, I'm willing to bet that he's got a car in great condition. So it's more than possible to get a newer car with similar mileage for a better price. I'd say you should just keep looking.

In my opinion, it's not worth it to spend $20,000 on a 2003 when new 08 base Z will go for $26,000.
The decision is really based on what you believe. If you believe you can actually sell a 2003 Performance model for $20,000 after 6 years of use, then why don't you just buy a new 2008 Z because if you work the math out...

(savings of buying used instead of new)/(# of years) = (rental rate aka depreciation per year)
$6000/6 = $1000 per year = less than $100 per month

Logically, if you believe that a Z will only depreciate $6000 after 6 years (using your example of the 2003 Z), then that also implies that it is better to buy new and resell after 6 years of use than to buy used. In other words, for cars that do not depreciate a lot, it's better to buy new. For cars that depreciate quickly, consider buying used.

Tbag84

I agree with you guys, it does seem high to me as well. I would love to buy newer, but unfortunately, I'm very limited to what I can spend. I can't go over 20k.

Right now I have a 2003 Eclipse that I bought new, and I have to keep the monthly payments in the same range as what I'm paying for the eclipse.

I got confirmation that the car is still available, so I'm going to go look at it, and try and bring them down on price, and if they don't, then I may walk.

NickRaine78

iTrader: (4)

Seems a little high but if its well taken care of go for it. Where in PA u at?

Thermal1

iTrader: (23)

The 03s apparently have transmission problems (if its a manual anyway).

NickRaine78

iTrader: (4)

It all depends. Some do, some don't. Same with the oil consumption. I personally haven't had a single problem with my 03

Tbag84

I'm in the Quakertown area, about 45 mins north of Philly.

NickRaine78

iTrader: (4)

eagles fan ftl! Nice job by the flyers though!

Skrilla

iTrader: (15)

I'm a credit supervisor and have a team of 5 buyers, I purchase "paper" for a living, IMHO I think the price is a bit high. Consider this, I purchased my '04 in '06 and paid $20k with 15300 miles. Secondly its always better to buy 2-3 yrs used on a common car (in terms of exotics buy new or low mileage with thorough inspection with 15kish miles).

Since I'm at at the office I took the time to book your vehicle using our corporate Karpower (official Kelly Blue Book), Luckily or you I purchase car loans in PA. Your car is worth about $16750. Which means the dlr should have purchased the car for 14-16k. Technically your car is allowed to be sold for 110%-120% of its wholesale value, but you should be able to find it at a dealership (who didn't over pay for the car's acquisition) at 17-18k. The dealership almost never pays for the small extras, such as a system, alarm, rims, tint, etc. I do know that market for used Z's is strong so they have about a 1-2k mark up on it. I hope that helps in your decision or hunting. If you tell me the dealership I can find out how much they are in the car for and give you a heads up

Tbag84

Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it. I was thinking about offering them 18-18.5k for it and see if they accept it.

Here is the website for the dealership:

http://www.egersales.com/

Skrilla

iTrader: (15)

No problem, glad to help

Start at 17.5 and go up to 18.5

I checked my dealerships and the only one I have listed is an Eger Subaru Suzuki. I would go in if I were you and give it a shot. Keep the blue book value in mind when you go in there. In Pa they use NADA to book cars, and they have a lower value than the kelly value I gave you, so unless he's buried in the car the dealer shouldn't give you a hard time about walking away with an 18.5k selling price. It is a business so no matter what, a dealer will still make money off the sell, and thats ok as long as he doesn't rip you off. So again try 18.5 or less

Tbag84

Will do.

Thank you again for the help.

Polo08816

Don't even bother. You could get a 2005 performance model for $18,500 easy. Why buy a 2003?