Originally Posted by Tysonm

Well I don't want to be into the car for more then it's worth. Which clean retail is roughly $10,600. I think I could buff out the swirls but I don't know the best way to go about the driver fender and front bumper, which I think could get pricey. Then the 3rd gear grinding will probably be pricey, but I am not sure since I don't know exactly what is causing it. All other gears are fine, it's just 3rd.

Originally Posted by Tysonm

Hi everyone, I am in the market for a vehicle and I found an 03 350z Touring 6spd with clean title and 79xxx miles and he is asking $8,500. I will post all the problems I noticed when I test drove the car and I am hoping someone can tell me roughly how much it would cost to fix some of these problems and what would be a good price to pay for the car.

The car is black and has orange leather.
1. Passenger seat has a cut in the upper back, maybe 2.5" long, which someone tried to glue it back together.

No cheap fix for this, except the glue already there. It doesn't change the seat's functionality though-I would skip for now

2. Front bumper has some good scrapes & scuffs from hitting something, The bumper isn't broken, but I am pretty sure the scratches are easily through the clear coat.

Pictures of this would help determine the ability to fix or not. If it's scraped on the bottom 1/4th of the bumper, welcome to low car life I would skip for now

3. Driver front fender has a quite a few rock chips and you can see the metal.

They make color matching touch up paint for the Z. I have a can of it, but haven't bothered to use it. The Z's paint is cheap, so this is common. I would touch it with clear coat and leave for now.

4. driver side tail light has a lot of condensation in it

New tails from 03-05 models come up in the marketplace for ~$100

5. Head lights are glazed over

Look into Depo 06+ headlights if the car has HIDs. I think the 03-05 ballasts are compatible with these. Otherwise I know I bought a set of 03-05 headlights with no internals for ~$150

6. 3rd gear grinds a lot and it is super annoying (seller said it's the syncro's, but he didn't seem very car savvy)

3rd gear grind IS the synchro. You can either skip 3rd or get a new trans ~$2k as mentioned.

7. lots of swirls all throughout the paint

Depending on the depth (pix would help) claybar the car and buff/wax/Chemical Guys the crud out of it. ??~$100??

8. Driver seat motor needs to be replaced

I don't think there is a fix for this. Buy a good comfy race seat or look for a set of manual seats for now in the marketplace

9. Passenger windows rolls all the way up and half way down, on its own sometimes

Common with all Zs. My 08 is starting to do this off and on. The window motor can be cleaned (Free) or a new motor can be purchased refurbished off someone on here ~$100

10. I noticed the back end squeaks a lot. Which I am not positive, but I believe it's the shocks. I'm not sure if it's possible to get rid of squeeky shocks without replacing them or not.

Buy some decent coilovers ~$1000 or less

11. car does have aftermarket 19" wheels (which one rim has a slight bend in it, but tires holds pressure) and aftermarket short air intake, Slotted rotors, and has aftermarket speakers/tweeters/subwoofer(subwoofer is quite beat though) and it also has a touch screen head unit which I believe is aftermarket.

If the wheel is fixable that's $100 there. If not buy one replacement wheel or look in the marketplace for a set of stock wheels $500-1000 with tires

Replace the sub as desired. doesn't determine performance. unplug if it's terrible. Walmart sells cheap subs for under $75

I would realistically like to get this car to look brand new again. How much do you think it would cost to get all the parts replaced/fixed and what would be a good price to offer for the car?

Originally Posted by Tysonm

Well I don't want to be into the car for more then it's worth. Which clean retail is roughly $10,600. I think I could buff out the swirls but I don't know the best way to go about the driver fender and front bumper, which I think could get pricey. Then the 3rd gear grinding will probably be pricey, but I am not sure since I don't know exactly what is causing it. All other gears are fine, it's just 3rd.

Originally Posted by travlee

dude i sold my hr with over 8k in parts on it, for under 15k. they are out there, you have to look and not settle

Originally Posted by bad boyz

Yep! don't let your money burn a hole in your pocket it will be well worth it to wait until you find the perfect Z trust me there out there,you will be glad you waited,with cash in hand you have way more options if you just wait it out!!

Originally Posted by slow7

ill recommend wait till u fine a virgin Z there are some still out there, with the money ur gonna invest in the z ur looking at u can get a better one, but its ur money do what u think is best

Originally Posted by dboyzalter

It is 12 years old. If these are the problems you noticed im sure their are others you didn't. However every problem seems very minor. If you want a pristine car your probably not going to get it for that price.. But I think the offer 6 and aim for 7 is a good plan if you like the car, if not I would plan on spending around 10k+ for a 12 year old garage queen.