I have had my eyes on a 350z for a while now and I'm finally able to get one but I have a couple questions first.

My first question is that I want to get it in manual since it's a sports car after all, but it will be my first manual car. Would learning manual on the 350 be a bad idea in terms of safety and damage to the car? Has anyone gotten an automatic Z and regretted their purchase?

Secondly, the car will be my daily. I don't think this should be a problem but my only concerns are how it would fare in snow and heavy rain (it's also my first RWD car). Anyone use their Z as their daily and have any issues with it?

Lastly, how reliable are Z's in the 90,000-150,000 mile range? Is it pricey to maintain?

The one I'm currently looking at is $9,900 from a Nissan dealer. It's a 2005 112,000 miles, manual, black, and from what I can tell it is the base trim. I haven't driven it yet but the dealer didn't mention there being anything wrong with it. Has a rip in one of the seats but other than that no major cosmetic issues. Do you guys think it's a good price or should I look elsewhere?

Thanks.

 

Price isn't too bad, is take him down to an even 9k as long as the car was maintained properly it will be as if you bought it with 20k these cars are very reliable.

For learning manual with a z.... Parts are a bit more expensive for these cars, if you have money then I wouldn't worry about it, if not learn on something cheap, something around $500 that runs and drives, it'll give you an idea, and you won't be too invested in it if something happens to it.

I have an auto and I don't regret it, sure sometimes I wonder, but I'm surely happy with my choice.
The z would most likely be a terrible choice in the snow... Heavy rain, just be careful, make sure your tire tread is good. I've had the back end try to come out on me a few times with near bald tires and even once or twice with decent tires, it just depends on how heavy the rain is and how much you press the gas (at any given time) if your just cruising at 50 or whatever speed and you floor it, chances are you will spin out.

 

auto manual its all up to the driver. me personally i like manual better than auto whether its a sport car or not.

rain and snow is always a challenge in a rwd car. no matter if it has 190 hp or 500 hp. but then again i havent seen anyone who had ever spinning a rwd car driving like a granny. but i have seen plenty crash a rwd going 25mph into a turn. boils down to whether you wanna be a dumbass with it or not. my preference on cars has always been rwd and manual so theres my view on that.

z is mad by nissan and nissan are fairly reliable ASSUMING that they were maitain and taken care of properly. but that goes for all cars. how pricey it is depends on the parts you want to replace and with the brand you want to replace said parts with. an oil change costs me 60 bucks. and yes i do the changes myself.

dealers are not going tell you jack about the cars. their purpose is to move them. take the car to a mechanic you trust and get it inspected. and even then, there could still be hidden problems. thats the risks of buying used cars.

merry Christmas and stay safe

 

this is desperate... especially if you're financing. not good

 

holy crap! I paid 39.99 the first time the oil was changed since then I've done it all myself and it costs me under $20 with the filter for OEM factory synyhetic oil. I guess that's the bonus I get for getting parts etc for 50+% off at the parts house, but still $60 is insane man. Are you buying the unicorn tear brand or something??????

 

haha you cant get unicorn farts with using unicorn tears. But in seriousness, im using royal purple oil, 35 for oil. And k&n filter 15 for the filter. And tax is about 55. Rounding it to 60 for an even number haha

 

I don't think I would pay that much for a Base trim, a 35th Anniversary, Track or Touring I would.
The z is a very reliable car, I bought my Touring trim brand new in '04 and have driven it daily ever since with zero problems, it's had every scheduled maintenance and still runs as good as the day I drove it home from the dealership.
They're no more expensive to maintain than any vehicle.
As far as learning to drive a manual transmission and a z being the car to learn on, you shouldn't have a problem as long as you grasp the concept.

 

I would test drive it. See how you like it. That is not many miles for the z. I've seen some locally for sale with 150k+ miles.

 

Where in the "US" are you located?