Hi all, new guy here. Looking into getting rid of my Rx8 and getting into a 350z. Budget is around $14,000 so I'm taking my time looking around, trying to find the best deal for me.
So far I've learned the following: stay away from anything salvaged, 06 can have oil consumption, window motors often go bad, be careful around anything with aftermarket parts. I'm mainly looking at the lowest mileage, best packaged, well taken care of car.

I've been searching between craigslist and autotrader and so far I have come up with these:
03 with 46k miles, no idea what package it has
04 with 77k miles for $12-13k I like it, but the high mileage is steering me away from it.
05 29k miles for $16k Probably the favorite one of what I've seen so far. Price seems a little high, but I want your opinions on the cars.

I'm near Medina, OH so if anyone is local or has seen something I might have missed then please let me know. Thank you in advance for your advice. Cheers!

 

77xxx miles isnt high for an 04. and congrats on the HUGE upgrade the rx8 could of been amazing but compared to the rx7 they fail

 

03 is your best deal. You can try talking it down to 13k then you have a steal.

and 77k is not high milage on these engines. There are people with 100k+ turbo'd and dd as well.

Edit: Btw that 03 is a grand touring, should have leather heated seats and 18in wheels (which i can see from the pics) and looks like it has a Borla exhaust on it.

Edit edit: Yup i was correct; There have been a few upgrades to this car and they include the following: K&N Air Intake, Borla exhaust system, and a Kinetix intake manifold. Buy the 03 or else I will buy it.

 

the 03 probably is the best deal for ya but id try and go for an hr motor instead of the old de motor =x gl!

 

There is no 03 GT noob

OP - I'd skip the 03 unless it has a CD009 tranny (upgraded much later after it was bought). The orig trannies have a bad habit of the 3rd gear syncro going out (mine did).

I'd look for a 05 (fewest problems w/ DE motor) or 07 (HR motor) if I bought another one. Don't be afraid of higher miles if it's been well maintained, it's just saving you money.

 

i would get the 05 with the least mileage on it.

 

29000 miles is a winner. Offer $14,400.

 

I'd go with what David said. i bought a Z in ohio from a toyota dealer recently for 14,000 that had 25,xxx and was a 05 touring. So I wouldn't pay more than 15kish for it. Definitely not 16.

 

Did'nt make a grand touring in 03.Regular touring in 03 usually had 17" wheels.

 

I like the 05.
Price is a bit high.
None of these cars/prices mean nothing if you have not actually driven each car.

 

woops guess i missed that. None the less the 03 would be the cheaper of the 3. If you can spend less than your max budget then why not.

 

The '03 is either a Performance or Touring model. I would personally get the '05 or save a little more for an HR Z.

 

You better cop that 03 or save up for an HR.

 

Test drove an 05 at a dealership near me, seemed awesome, maybe it's just the new (to me) car adrenaline. Trying to drive as many as I can to get a feel of what is right and what is wrong. Called my insurance to see how much my rates would change, and with an 03 350z price would go up $200 semi-annually, which really disappoints me. Didn't think it would change that much. Trying to schedule a time to go drive the 03 and 04 on the same day.

 

If you're concerned about an extra $33 per month, then you really should be asking yourself if you should be driving a sports car in the first place. Of course, if you're coming from a gas guzzling rotary, you ought to be saving more than that per month in fuel costs.

 

an 03 for for 14k is alot, I know mileageis low but thats still alot for that year.

 

True, I guess. And I haven't really looked at what everyone else is doing oil change wise for 350z, but I use 5qtz every 3000 miles with the RX8, so I'd be saving there. But I only drive 10 miles to work, so it really kills my RX8 mileage, I'm not sure if you are familiar with having to warm them up, prone to flooding, etc, but do you think the gas mileage wise I'd see a lot of improvement from 350z to RX8?

 

Save up more and buy an 07+ VQ35HR. /thread

 

I hate rx8

 

Never did like the rx8. Now the rx7 is a different story!