I've had an '87 Z31 for several years and have the opportunity to pick up a 2005 35th Anniversary 350z. 37,000 miles. Clean. Buying from a friend who is a mechanic, owns three shops and bought the car for himself. He's been driving it for a month, but he has too many cars and thought of me for the Z. The car drives straight, true and tight. Here's the trick, it had front end damage that was repaired. I'm not worried about any issues from the repairs as the car was carefully inspected and then driven by an expert mechanic so I'm 100% confident about the car. Curious about $$$. Lower model 2005s with an average of 60,000 retail here for about 18k or 19k What's fair for this one?

 

 

how bad was the damage? was the accident from your friend? if so does he have pictures?

 

Damage was in the front only. The car was damaged and repaired by someone else, but he does have a photo of the damage. I need to get it to scan in.

For purposes of pricing, assume it was repaired properly and there are no issues with the car, just the title. This thing was inspected out the wazoo and is straight.

 

Sorry wrong forum. This is where new 350Z owners post a photo of their car. And we say “Congratulations!”

 

ughhh i hate our new plates in ohio. It's a good looking car, I like it. People typically say that a salvage title should go for around half what the normal price would be. KBB it and see where it comes out, find 50% and offer that if it seems reasonable to you. I'd first see what was repaired though after the acccident, and chechk out the pics. could be setting yourself up for problems.

 

If you know the guy he should be giving you a deal anyway. If he isnt making you the sweetest of deals then just drive it, see if you like it, and buy one with a clean title.

 

He's selling it to me for what he has in it after buying it about a month or a month and a half ago. I need to hear from his banker what that is exactly at this point.

I drove it yesterday and it drove and rode great.

 

KBB puts it at high $19k for clean and this one is clean. I won't get quite to 50% off that.

 

Then to answer the original question, no. You should not buy this Z. Take that money and buy one with a clean title.

 

car does look really good but too much for what it has gone through.
my car had probably the same front damage (pure cosmetic) everything is sound with the car but wouldn't be able to get any where near what an unmolested one would go for.

 

You could pick up an '05 without the lame title "35th Anniversary" for 14K if you shop around... $19k for that car is a joke.

The anniversary edition isn't really better... a few extra HP (that still falls short of the RevUp and HR), different crank, pistons, yada yada yada... still doesn't outperform the "normal" models in anyway.

If you really want the Brembo brakes you can pick up a Track model in the '05 year, or get an '06 Track/Grand Touring (better wheels anyway).

/done

 

All that is way overpriced.

You were probably using Kelly Blue Book = wrong.

A better guide, for the consumer, is edmunds.com. Their "True Market Value" estimator for an 05' anniversary with 37k miles is $14k private party. Look for yourself: http://www.edmunds.com/nissan/350z/2...e-results.html

Add $1k if it has sat radio, front head airbags, navigation, and front side airbags to $15k total. And that's just fair, which most sell privately for less than that. That price also doesn't remotely reflect that the car was hit and fixed. I chose "clean" as the condition.

Dealer retail for that car with all the add-on options I listed above is $16.6k, trade-in is $13.1, so I'd shoot for $14k for THAT car.

 

Can't get much around here for $12k

 

1) What has it gone through?

2) That's my point. The going rate around here for an unmolested one is $18 or 19k. $12k isn't anywhere near that.

3) What am I missing?

I can't seem to find these incredible bargains that people keep talking about. They don't seem to exist in my world.

 

kbb was way high. I used NADA. Using the Edmunds pricing, I'm at $14 or $15.5 dealer. I am buying it from a mechanic who spent 3 hours inspecting the car before he bought it so I have a ton more confidence buying it from him than from an individual. Yet I can't actually find any for that price. Books are good to an extent, but I'm trying to base what I pay on what's actually available where I live. I found nothing with low miles and even those were thousands more than Edmunds pricing.

I do appreciate the help Still trying to figure it out.

 

Thanks for the opinion.

 

you say the seller is your friend. i'm sure you can work out a better deal considering the amount of damage. good luck.

 

I'm paying what he paid. There is no better deal. And what amount of damage?

 

I bought an 05 35th anniversary a month ago for 13k. only 51k miles on her. All she needed was an oil change and new tires so 1k later I had spent 14k and car is perfect. 35th anniversary doesn't get you much if you are paying 18k+ but at 13k it was a better deal than most "regular" 350s in similar condition (excellent).