Hey folks.

I've got a deal on hold that I am really on the fence about.

I had a civic si and a mazdaspeed3 before(tc, tiburon before that), so Its not like ive had particularly slow cars, but all FWD.

I went and looked at an 08 san marino blue, base no options.

Driving impressions:

friggen comfortable as hell for a sports car, tons of leg room, good power, nice sound.


The dealer is offering me 26,319 + ttl and giving me within 100$ of kbb on my trade. And this is with the 2.9% financing. Its the first >25k car i've owned so the payment is going to be a shock (basically 160$ more a month than what I was paying before) but at the same time I realize its a really good deal on the car and I probably wont be able to afford the new 370Z. I also think the current car is beyond quick enough for me as my only real requirement is a car capable of 13s and not handling like a boat

I've never had a RWD car before. The last RWD car I drove was a Z4 M and that thing felt pretty stable and I hear they understeer at the limit. I didnt really push it(coworker's expensive car!) . I'm 27 and drive pretty reasonably. I like to get on it now and then, but when Im just driving around I cruise at a decent speed and try not to drive like a jackass. How difficult is getting used to the Z going to be without any stability control, trac control, etc? I guess im worried about spinning the thing out right after I get it :P

My wife has a jetta 2.0T with the DSG and we can drive that during snowy days(we work in the same complex), but It'd see winter duty(will get snow tires) on non horrible days. Also, how is the car in the rain? I had a 2006 Civic Si that was horrible in the rain (Dunlop FM 901s hydroplanes like crazy). The ms3 was actually awesome with the RE050A's which I think are the same as on the 350Z I'm lookin at. So im pretty confident in the tires.

What kinda payments do you guys have? Basically when my Si got nailed I bought the wife a 08 xB cuz at the time she wanted a bigger car and I really did not feel too safe driving a car with a welded on rear clip (you could see the seam from the trunk, around the inside of the car) and the car did NOT handle well at all afterwards. So I got rid of my smashed up Si for a 08 xb.

I did the math and it comes out to about the same thing as buying one cash at 27k so im very tempted to do this.

Still haven't had a 500$/mo+ payment before and I'm kinda nervous about stepping up :x

 

I drove my Z in the hilly, rough country area of central PA ALL winter. Get some blizzaks, use VDC, brake early and don't gas during turns. Also be weary of where you park. If snow or ice builds around the tires, and you're on an angle, it will fishtail in that direction until it gets moving.

In the rain, I trust it more than any other car. It's very stable and the brakes are awesome. I was on the highway when everyone ahead slammed on their brakes at about 60 mph in heavy rain. I was maybe 45 feet behind a guy and I wasn't worried at all.

BTW, no offense but uh... Si, Tiburon, TC, Mazda 3? You're a dude right? This car is nothing like them.

 

I go into work at 5-6am, have a 15 minute commute through city streets, and then have a parking lot with armed guards and completely fenced (navy base.. and no im a civvy ) so im not too worried about horrible commute or parking.

 

Read what I wrote. I meant parking during snow, situations change as snow builds. If you're on an angle, it can affect if you can pull out at all.

 

I would not be worried about spinning out just because there is no lsd or tc. I would also try and find a lower price. The 370z is coming out, and many dealers around here have 350z's that have been sitting for almost a year. But if your cool with that price than that is your choice. As far as getting use to the car... Well I drove a base around ALL day since they had to drive my touring down from another dealer, and I was used to the car in about an hour. I drove the car over 100 miles, some of them were hard miles I might add. You will not be disappointed. Just dont take corners in the rain or snow at stupid speeds and you should be fine.

 

I agree with the "find a lower price" statement above. There's a dealer here selling a NEW Nismo 350Z for $29,000. I've seen the other dealers offering some pretty good deals on 2008 and 2007 Zs still in stock.

 

1. I wouldn't worry about driving a rwd car. Just drive like you described your driving and you'll be fine without traction control. A great idea is to autocross your car. You'll have a great time and learn a lot about handling a rwd car.

2. Rain isn't an issue, see #1 above. Autocrossing in the rain is really a lot of fun and a huge challenge.

3. Snow is an issue and I wouldn't recommend it. I got stuck driving a high powered, lightweight sports car without any traction control in a blizzard once. It is a bad thing.

4. Payments are another bad thing. If you can't pay cash, don't bother buying a new car. It is a very stupid financial move and at 27, you shouldn't be making stupid financial moves.

5. It is "probably" not "prolly".

 

I pay $792 a month, but I also financed well over $40k. I'd say for $27k financed you are probably looking at around $550 per month at a decent interest rate for 60 months. It all depends on your interest rate and term length.

 

Its about $550. As far as paying cash outright... not that many people can really do that. If im buying a 3000$ tv? Yeah Ill wait for cash, but for this I don't think Id plunk down 27k cash if I had it to spend. If the car was stolen the next day I'd be out some scratch. Anyways, thats neither here nor there.

I'm not too worried about security. I work as a gov't contractor and am actually in the middle of the move process to come on board for the navy directly so once I'm in there its pretty tough to lose your job.

 

Ouch, How'd you manage that?

 

Work.

 

It's not as if the bank is going to say "Oh sorry your car was stolen, you don't have to pay us the loan." I just hate to see people, particularly young people get upside down on car payments. You will end up owing a lot more than the car is worth.

Other than that, an '08 would be a nice car, but I'd probably buy a '07 instead and save a lot of money.

 

Get GAP insurance. It's like $600 or $800, I forget, and you can include it in the loan. Then if anything ever happens you aren't going to owe anything, not even your insurance deductible because GAP covers it.

 

Step up, you only live once

 

Whats pretty much the bottom line you can get a 08 base for?

And how much work does it usually take to get there? I saw some other threads with people making claims of getting them for like 25k new + ttl, is this legit?

 

you aren't really indicating exactly how old you are but it sounds like you are old enough to know what you are capable of doing. car payments suck. the z is a great car and i am glad i bought mine, but make sure they you are able to keep your head above water before making the decision. also consider, do i really want to be paying this car off in 36/49/60 months? is that practical? will the car still work? you can easily ruin your credit if you were to lose your job, or if something out of the ordinary happened.

and i dont know what the last few posters were talking about... if you have an auto loan with any bank they will force you to maintain full collision and comprehensive coverage on the car until it is paid in full, not doing so is a breach of contract and usually results in large fees, and if not corrected, repossession. gap insurance is to cover you in case your vehicle becomes a total loss and the depreciated value that the insurance company puts out is not equivalent to what you owe the company that financed your car. its good to have, but def not necessary.

 

I'm 27. I've got a pretty good job, house, wife, shebang. Ive had 8 cars(yes, I have a problem :P) now, so I understand GAP insurance, etc ,etc I guess its always intimidating jumping into a bigger price point. As much as I like the 135i, z4, etc, theres no way in hell I could justify that much money for a vehicle. I think the absolute most I'd pay out of pocket would be a base C6. I was actually looking at 03 Z06's when I saw this Z for sale and I figured for the used price I could get a brand spanking new car that would probably be equally as enjoyable for me.

I know what gap is and yeah I'd probably get it because alot of these niche sports cars tend to depreciate horribly in the first 2 years.

 

I wonder what people did before stability and traction controls? Bet it was like risking your life just to go to the store for a pack of cigarettes.

 

Hah. I dunno, I guess what got me thinking about it is when I was looking at a blown s2000, and reading about the snap oversteer, I figure that my first couple hundred miles on a rwd car will be reasonably sane so I dont make an *** out of myself =P

 

Tiburon was my first new car. For 16k new it wasnt bad

The mazda3 was a mazdaspeed3 with cai & upgraded IC, so it wasnt exactly slow :P

TC I got right after the tib cuz the tib was depreciating like a brick. ended up selling the tc for 500$ less than I paid for it a year later. no complaints! It was before they went up rather significantly in price.