Hear is the story. Currently drive a 2004 G35 Coupe AT. I was stupid a year and a half ago to buy this car with Auto Transmission. Now I have been killing myself looking for MT sports car. I love my G but realized the Z is practically the same thing. My G has 45k miles and is real clean and taken care of so I emailed a dealer today who has a 2004 Z on his lot with 42k miles. They were asking $18,000. I am going to the dealer tonight to check out the Z because they said they would like to see my car but it looks good. I want to do a straight trade mine for the Z I still have payments for my car so hopefully we can work it out for I pay the same amount if not less(I doubt it.) The Z has all options except Nav. It has Leather heated seats which is a plus. I dont know which model if is tho.

A few questions I have for you guys.
1. My car didnt have a LSD and I really want to get a Z that has it. How will I know if the car has LSD?

2. How much more will Insurance be do you imagine? Ive heard that Z's are more expensive to insure. Im 20 but the car is under my parents policy. I pay 180 a month now with the G.

3. Anything important I should look for. I know these cars pretty well. But I wasnt sure if theres anything that may need for me to look into more detail then other areas.

Other then that I am just going to check out the car tonight. Test drive it and see if everyhting seems fine. If I do decide to trade them I probably wont get it til this weekend. Thanks any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Thats a lot for an 04. If I were you i would def shoot for a newer model 07-08 hr motor. Its worth the extra 30-40 more whp. If its under your parents name insurance should be good but living in philly it will be higher plus the z is in the top ten worst cars to insure

 

take you time with this search...


questions

How far is you commute daily?
Are you sure two less seats and less trunk space is cool to you?
How long have you been driving, and how long have you been driving a stick if ever?

 

Well thanks for the responses and I dont live in Philly. I am about 40 minutes outside in a very good neighborhood. MY commute everyday is about 40 miles round trip to work. On weekends its even less unless im going for a drive. 2 less seats is fine with me I dont even let people sit back there to begin with. And the trunk space is fine by me I had a co worker who bout a Z brand new in 2004 and he let me drive that thing alot. I valet park cars on weekends and I can drive stick pretty well. I drive my buddys G35 6spd all the time and I know the Z is the same exact thing. Overall I want a more performance tuned car and sportier car.

Do you really thing I can get an 07-08 for about 18k. That is about my price range right now. I dont want to be putting money down on the car when I trade my G in because I want to buy wheels and tires right away. Thanks for the advice.

 

07/08 for 18k maybe if you wait and keep searching....but yes 07/08 had be had for 23k or less 'base models'...so good luck man hope you fine one and don't settle just cause you want a Z car...

EDIT:

If you are car savy in a way there should be no problem getting a older Z seeing it might need some love...

 

if its loaded it has lsd, i pay 500 a month for insurance, i have an 04 loaded and i wish i had a newer one... alot better trust me!!!!

 

Do you have a base G? I thought they all had LSD, but maybe the base didn't, and there aren't too many base G35s out there. Did yours come with the 18" wheels? As for insurance, the G is in the top 10 CHEAPEST cars to insure, the Z is in the top 10 most EXPENSIVE cars to insure. Being on your parents policy will help, but expect it to go up regardless.

If your G is not a base, it is worth more than a 2004 Z, however, you will get trade in value for your G while they get retail for the Z. You should sell your G privately if you can. Also take the G back to Infiniti to see what they'd give you for it straight up. I did this with my G35. No questions asked - here is $26k and I didn't buy a car from them. Their offer was good for 1 week while I considered the options. Regardless, it sounds like you'll either need financing or bring some cash to the table to close the deal. Do you know how much you owe and have compared it to edmunds true market value?

 

Agree.

A dealer will not want to do that. There is no cash in the game. $18,000 to $18,000 is a break-even trade. THe dealer gets nothing. You may have to step up. Say $18,000 to $20,000 with $1,000 cash. Finance the balance.

 

these guys are right. stealerships have to make money outta the deal. dont let them try to screw you over because more than likely they wont give you enough trade in value. my advice is be patient and look around. see if you can sell your g35 first, once cash is in hand you will probably find a better deal from a private seller.

 

I agree, but don't get me wrong, dealerships will take a trade-in car of higher value and give a car of less value PLUS cash if the deal is right. I have done this twice before, and cashed out given the cars' values.

 

are you serious? You pay 500 for insurance? DO you have a ferrari or something?

 

^^^THats not true most dealers use galves which is lower than kbb it mainly depends on how much money they own the car for which depends on the wiggle room plus the most a dealer will go over is about $500 from what the car books out to. Every used car has anywhere from $300- $500 tacked on to it to cover any repairs to make it inventory ready even if its immaculate its still tacked on. The best time is to haggle during the last couple days of the month. People think theres some crazy amount of $ that a dealer makes on cars which isnt true. 9 out of 10 people actually get good pricing but its that 1 person that comes in that a salesperson can hit a home run with. Key factors how long has the car been in there inventory, what they bought the car could be low could be high they may even be buried in it. There not gonna give anyone a high amount for a trade in cause they will never be able to sell it and will end up taking a loss. Its basic business, when I was in sales most people wanted top dollar for their car but want mine for rock bottom doesnt work like that there has to be a balance. Dealers make no $ on new car sales used is where the $ is. On average they might make anywhere from $500 to a few thousand on a used depending on the factors

 

Did you work at a dealership?

Dealers who use their own $ to buy new cars from the factory make a 2% holdback of the invoice amount with options plus any amount over invoice. They don't like to talk about holdback, but I've done it before successfully.

Dealers who take financing from the manufacturer do give up 1/3 of that holdback amount each month the car sits on the lot. So sort of like you said, if a car has been sitting on the lot for more than 3 months on the manufacturer's dime, they have lost the perks of the holdback.

Dealers make the most $ on a new car when they sell it fresh off the delivery truck, within that first 30 day period. Dealers that use their own $ to buy cars from the manufacturer keep the entire holdback (but of course have to keep paying to advertise cars, keep them clean, etc.)

Nissan dealers out here also add a "dealer value added" fee on top of Maximas, some Altimas, most Zs, etc. When I bought my 02' Max years back, they tacked $3k onto the sticker price for the DVA, hoping that an idiot customer would negotiate between sticker and the sticker + DVA. I bought that car for invoice, which was over $5k less than what they were initially asking for it. We are the 2nd owners of our 04' ZR, but the original owner is a close friend. The DVA fee was $8k on the ZR when he bought it. I think he said he paid $3k over sticker for it. Similar to when they put $25k DVA on the R35 when they came out - that's their fastball hoping that someone with coin will whiff and pay their asking price.

Used cars at a dealership that were traded in are a joke. Like you said, they always start high trying to hit that home run. I thought it matter whether they planned to auction the car off or put it on their own lot, but have found out it doesn't. They basically pay the published trade-in values based on the car being in "FAIR" condition (Kbb, Edmunds, etc.), even if it really is in better condition. This tips the $ scales about 15% more in their favor, and lazy America traditionally doesn't want to deal with the hassle of selling a used car and have their eyes fixated on the new car they just drove, so they accept the horrible trade-in deal.

 

wow you must have one hell of a a track record... 500 a month are you serious??? Either you're 16 years old or like i said you must have one hell of a track record... But for the OP yes if you look really hard you can find a 07 Z in that price range tho it will more than likely be a base model with no LSD which is what i thought you were originally lookin for. A 03-04 Z you should be able to find with low miles int the 15k or less range

 

So i went and looked at an 04 touring with 41k miles on Tuesday. The dealer was trying to screw me over the entire time. The wouldnt let me even take a look at the car until my G35 got appraised. They appraised my car at 15k. And they want me to purchase the Z for 18k. They told me if I put down 2k cash that my payment a month would be the exact same. I left there and told them I would think about it, which they werent too happy about. I got the feeling that they wanted me to buy the car that day which wasnt going to happen.

Ive been thinking about it and I liked the Z alot. I just cant see myself having to pay 2k cash and downgrade to a car that is worht less then my current car. I looked up the prices and my car is worth about 1500 more. I am thinking about emailing the dealer and saying that I am not putting any cash down and expect them to bring the price of the Z down so that I can have the same payment a month. I think all in all this would be a fair deal for them. They will still make some money and I get what I want. I have the cash to put down right now but I would rather use that money for some rims or brakes. (I noticed the brakes were fairly small on the Z and would like to upgrade to larger calipers). What do you guys think I am going to wait for some responses before I email the dealer back. They are holding the car for me until Saturday.

 

That's how Nissan works - they DO want you to buy the car that day. Their sales team is trained to say things like, "what will it take to get you in the car today", and verbiage like that.

On the second point above, DON'T work the price to get the same payment as you have now. Work to a dollar amount, and get your own financing. If you work through their financing, you may get approved for x% but they are allowed to add to it and take the extra money (i.e. you get approved at 4.5% and they tell you 6%).

Honestly, I suggest you start over at another dealership if you are set on trading it in. When you arrive to look at the used Z, say nothing about your trade in. Work the price to the bare bones on the new Z, THEN discuss your trade in to maximize the pricing for each. This should be a couple day process. When you make an offer, they should laugh at you and say things like, "no way" and "how did you come up with that price?" and that's when you leave. If you offer what YOU think is fair, that value then gets negotiated to a higher value. You need to start low. Yes I've done this MANY times before and had those things said to me before. Also make sure they are representing the vehicle fairly, i.e. the Touring model comes with the BOSE stereo standard, yet some of their programs, like KBB, allow them to add the BOSE as an option on TOP OF the Touring. They did this on the used Titan we bought as did TWO other dealerships we visited to look at used Titans. I also don't work with salespeople that smoke, but that's just me.

Regardless, you will come out WAY ahead if you sell the G privately.

 

Thanks for the advice scotts300 the problem with selling the G privately is that I still owe alot of money on the car. Like more then the car is worth. Not by much but a little bit.

I dont know how I would go about selling the G privately if it is still financed and I dont have the title. My options at this point are either try to get into another car or just keep the car and count this whole thing as a loss and wait til I am in a better situation to buy a car. I have some decision making to do. Thanks again.

 

Also being that you're from penn you also have to deal with the snow and it's getting close to the end of the season and the last thing the dealer wants is to be stuck with a car that's more of a summer car than anything. You have them almost at your mercy and should be able to get them to either A. raise the trade in value of your car or B. lower the price on the Z. That's how i got my Z at a really good price back in the day. I bought my 03 Z in 05 and paid 20k everywhere else i've seen they were askin 23l+ at that time with only 28k miles on it

 

Did you move up to a 2006 or 2007 350Z like I suggested?

 

Guess not.