hi, I have been looking at a few 350Zs, and I have some questions. Here are two deals I found, but I don't know what to look for. I know the 03 models have major alignment problem. I hope that problem has been identified and repaired under warranty.
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Deal #1

2003 Silver 350Z Touring w/Navi Auto 41k miles for $16,999 at a dealer. It's a one-owner car. Clean carfax title.

Manfactured or shipped in September, 2002.

I did a visual inspection of the body, and the hood's color is a shade lighter than the front bumper OR the bumper is a little darker. Is this common?

Also, there is a gap between the hood and fender on the driver side that is wider than the passenger side. Is that normal?

there are tons of scratches by driver door handles. Even the "Z" bar in the back/trunk has scratches and marks...
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Deal #2

2003 White 350Z Touring no Navi Auto with 31k miles for $18,500 obo by owner. It has 3-4 owners. Clean carfax title.

Manufactured or shipped in June 2003.

I will see it tomorrow and update this post. By looking at the pictures, the car looks very clean and well maintained; however, I will see it in perosn and get a better idea.
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I will use the search function to look for signs of problems and things to look for when purchasing a 350Z. In the mean time, please let me know what you think of those two deals and/or advice on signs of 350z specific problems.

Thanks in advance.

 

stay away from DEAL#1....sounds like it had shabby body work done. Clean carfax doesn't mean much.

 

Yea if the paint isnt matching, and there is a large gap like that, it sounds like its been hit and repaired poorly.

On deal two I tend to personally stick with one owner cars, 3-4 owners makes me wonder why every owner kept it for one year then got rid of it. Just something to think about!

 

pass on both!

 

Keep looking for Z's..also consider a 6-speed.

 

thanks for tips and advice.

yeah, I agree with the paint and gap problems as well as the multiple ownership issue.

I will keep looking. hopefully, I will be a Z owner soon.

 

is there a problem with front and rear bumpers being a shade darker or lighter from factory like acura TL's front and rear bumpers being darker than body.

 

here is an image of another Z's front bumper/hood and rear bumper:

front bumper:


rear bumper:


or I am just looking at the wrong ones? lol

 

i just bought mine '04 base at a dealer, an employee/manager owned it/3rd owner. 36K miles $16,288. it had damaged to the driver side door but they fixed it ofcourse before i bought it, i asked them if it was salvaged or had damaged to the frame they said no its illegal to sell a car with frame damage & i thought they had to disclose that very critical info atleast or it'll be like fraud right....well i had the car for about 3 mos now and its a dream!.....i just put some 19's on it and some cosmetics and love it......no problem with the engine, ride or anything at all! guess got lucky!!!!

 

I had 3 documented accidents, years ago in my neon. And none of them show up on my carfax. It has a salvage title too cause of them, and it still shows clean!

Don't trust carfax!!!

 

Welcome enigmaos. If you have any doubt if a car has been in an accident, I'd do a slightly more thorough visual inspection. Things like lifting the carpet out of the back and the spare wheel and have good look around, have a crawl around underneath if you can. Obviously paint match is a pretty easy given. Deal 2, has had a lot of owners in a short period, would immediately make me ask why.

As per your photos, that's pretty normal, across the board with most of the colours. It's the paint reaction on the plastic as apposed to the bonnet and roof for example being metal. Plastic panels, are front nose, back bumper, over the door, and the side skirts. Our plastic fantastic Z's. Lol

 

leave them both alone. a sports car with multiple owners was likly driven hard ball all

 

There is a major magazine that gives buyers objective reliability data. Check it out.