Yes the difference between a 2003 and a 2008 is worth the price. Especially if you want to keep it stock. There is almost no comparison here.

The tranny is way better.
The engine is leaps and bounds better.
Side airbags.

 

08 is way better in stock form.. unless you want to spend the money saved on the 03 for a vortech

 

Those rear wheels need some real tires too... first thing I thought was "what are thoooooose"

On a side note, I second the OBDII scanner. If you can get the codes, post them up! Interior looks pretty clean too

 

Hmmm, alarms are going off in my head now that he's mentioned "clutch bearings". I'm assuming he meant to say the throw-out bearing. If this is toast or the clutch itself is toast, then you need to drop the transmission. This is a pricey fix and SHOULD be used to your benefit to negotiate the price down. If you have the tools and mechanical know how, it's not that difficult of a job to DIY.

Regarding the sensor, it sounds like one of the cam sensors (Common on VQ engines). These are easy to replace yourself and relatively inexpensive (less than $100.00 per sensor). As others have suggested, definitely get a scanner on the car and find the exact code it's throwing. A little research on that code will give you a clearer understanding. The EVT Control Magnet (If bad) is a more pricey replacement, but still not that difficult to do yourself.

The 08 seems like the better car to go with even with these issues. Either use the problems to your advantage and get the price negotiated down further, or walk away and wait for another opportunity. I wouldn't mess with an 03-04 Z unless the price was really low, I knew the owner, or the owner could produce a solid paper trail for maintenance. The one major drawback to the 03-04s is the transmission (weak synchros!) assuming it's still the original transmission....also the non-revup VQ35DE engine produces a lot less power compared to the VQ35HR. The one major drawback to the 07-08s is the concentric clutch slave cylinder (located inside the bell housing), which means if your slave cylinder is leaking/toast you need to drop the whole transmission to fix it.

Good Luck with whatever you choose to do, definitely some things to think about.
-Icer

 

Hi guys, I'm at the shop and dd the obdII scan, the code it's throwing is P0014, how big is the solution?
The car is an american import

 

I would take the 2003,

the parts are cheaper, easier to find used parts here on the forum for the vq35de engine.
easier to sell parts as well. generally everything is cheaper for the de engine.

I never wanted the 07-08 models because its hard to find used parts for the vq35hr motor, and stuff will come at a premium cost when something breaks and you have to find used parts good luck most people dont own the 2008 so finding used parts is a pain your stuck with full retail price. so if you crash, and your looking for a new vq35hr good luck finding a used engine for cheap.....lol

 

Well i rejected the car. It was npt as clean as i thought, and after driving it i knew this would need hell of a lot of work. The car has no power at all. In the pictures you guys saw something wrong with the rear tires, that's true in reality also, rear tires are smaller than front in height ratio. Front 245/45/18 and rear 265/35/18.
The headliner of the car doesnt exist, interior trim plastics are broken in some places.
I'm gonna keep looking.

 

yeah keep looking, I would highly recommend the 2006 350z specifically that year vq35de engine plus the almighty cd009 transmission.

it has the cd009 manual transmission in it that is good for 1300 hp straight from the factory no modification needed.

the 2003-2004 has grinding syncro issues.....if you go 6 speed.....so eventually you will need to replace the manual transmission

 

so you recommend a year that is known for oil consumption.... OP, get an 07-08, you will not have problems finding parts, i never did

 

So 2003-2004 is out of the question since those have transmission issues and quite old now.

I wouldn't need a transmission that strong because I will not go for extreme mods to make it so powerful. I just need it as a toy for my daily fun commute. Maybe some minor mods but not boosting or anything.

And as travlee said, 2006 engine oil issues, I want to be away from trips to the mechanic as much as possible.

My buddy has a tire franchise and I can get any tires for cost price, or a huge discount, but still this had this weird combination which made the back of the car seem like 4x4 status. Maybe suspension problems as well.

I've gotten in touch with another buddy who says he knows a guy with a 350Z, 2008, stock, and he cares for it. He will be asking this guy and contacting me if that one is for sale. Of course will be doing the OBD scan and a ppp on whatever I spent my money on.

--------

Little about myself. I come from an U.S. background, but now living in the middle east in a country called Oman, right next door neighbors to Dubai, but the city I live in is 5 hours driving distance from there.

I have had my share of Mustangs and Hondas. Finally settled on a STi, which didn't prove to be a good ownership but not because of the car. I had factory guarantee on the car, for me to retain that I needed to get it serviced with the dealer (In this country car dealerships are run by a monopoly so we have 1 dealer per make). In doing so I regularly serviced the car at the dealers. At 25k KMs, the engine broke down. They replaced it for free. Then at 37k KMs it broke down again, they replaced it again. But from this time I got to know that they treat the STi engine the same as a normal impreza engine. so The use the same oil and spark plugs in replacing. This was the ultimate reason for the breaking down. I sold the car, and to no surprise, the engine was shot again. So I decided to not get a turbo car in this country as these stupid dealers don't know what that it.

My daily commute right now is very boring on a really exciting road. I had heaps of fun with the STi, but now am stuck with a family sedan with a CVT! I work hard and take care of my family, it's the least I deserve to enjoy. So I started researching on which car I would get. Picked out M5, E55 AMG and 370Z. The M5 on sale are either too beat up or very highly priced. All the E55 AMG were too beat up to be even called a Benz, and 370Z proved to be out of my budget at the moment. So I started looking into the 350Z and to my surprise from my research it seems to be a very fun car. So now it's just the wait or effort to find a proper one to have my fun with.

BTW I am 31 years old and the missus and me are expecting our firstborn in September this year. That's why the family sedan....

 

I would never buy a car from a person who painted the stock calipers red because they're obviously a dipsh!t and it's safe to assume their dipsh!ttery definitely negatively affected the car in some way.

 

Nothing wrong with 03-05 if its going to be a weekend cruiser fun car. Most issues will have been dealt with long before you got it.

Just find one in good condition that was well cared for it might cost a little more but if you do your homework you will discover you get what you pay for.

 

Hey not all 06s have oil consumption problems , but definitely something to look out for when shopping an 06.
-Icer

 

For guys who re still following this.

I found another 08. This one is silver, my preferred color.
Is an US import and has done 56k miles. Wants $7772 firm.
The car has exhaust, intake, headers, and real lenso wheels. In addition, also comes with the stock manifolds, intakes, and exhaust. Has a jvc double din unit with rear camera and bluetooth.

I saw the car at a used car dealership and contacted the owner directly and got to talking. After negotiations his final price is $7772. I will be taking a Zcar owner to test it and then getting a real shop to check obd and chassis n compression tests etc.

The wheel size is 9.5 x 18 on all sides.
Tomorrow will check out the car. Wish me luck that this is a good one.

 

Another bust. This one is in a worse shape than the last one.

The search continues......

 

My revup burns no oil and is an absolute blast. I was very cautious when purchasing.

Keep looking, You'll find the right one for you!

 

i never said every one did, just said they were known for it

 

There are gonna be a lot of opinions on this because people will have good and bad experiences with every year car from 03 to 08. I would not rule out any model year Z. Mine is an 04 roadster with 100k miles that I got a really good deal on. I drove it, than I took it to my local Nissan dealer (which I know very well through years of dealing with them) and told them to check everything they possibly could. Spent $90 on that. They said the car was in excellent shape.
I loved how it drove, how it looked and it is my toy to mess around with, like you. So if I have to do some work on it here and there, no worries.

I would just keep your mind open, especially about model year. There is always gonna be some problem that a small portion of each model year may have. Just my .02

 

I would suggest looking for something that is not modified already. you can find a stock one in the price range you are looking. I would take a higher mileage, stock ,unmolested, 1 owner car over a lower mileage, cheaper modified one. i also agree with RichV, if i could do it over i might have opted for a 08. But i settled for a sock ,one owner 2004 and i love it. ultimately the decision is yours, there are good and bad seeds in every year. there are just some precautions you should take to help you find the good seed. A non modified one is a start.

 

Non or lightly modified (no engine mods) is best for any sports car. I definitely agree with that. Mine had a Nismo exhaust and aftermarket wheels which I liked so I was good with that. That was about $2500 I didn't have to spend in wheels/tires and exhaust!

Mine was also a One owner car, which is pretty tough to find for a 12 year old convertible sports car. Most people buy them and keep them for a couple years and sell them. I was looking around a while and I found a 2005 that had 8 owners!!