Hello, New to the forum and looking for advice. I am now the owner of a 2005 35th aniversery 350z in yellow. This was a rather unplanned acquisition, long story short my girl friend coesigned a car loan, the owner defaulted and we took the car from him. Given the situtaion around it I dont blame her at all for signing with him, he used to be a really stand up guy and could have more then afforded the car. She ran the numbers and figured it was a safe bet. Didnt calculate the humman factor though. The killer is that there is 77k miles on the car and 20k left on the loan. Needless to say not quite sure what to do. My first thought was sell it and take the loss, move on, life lesson learned. However in the process of driving it back from where the previous owner had it she decided to bond with the car and named it.... Now she has her heart set on a 350z/370z, cheaper then the porche she wanted i guess.... What would you guys/gals do in this situtation? I have been searching around and found a few 370z's in monterey blue that she really seemed to like thinking possibility of a tradein/up. If we were to go that route, what options are a must have? I know manual is a must and after reading it looks like the 370z breaks are a bit less then they should be.... Any thoughts and help would be greatly apprecated.
Thanks,
-Textile

 

Welcome. So who owns the 350Z? You or your girlfriend?

 

if you go with a 370z, get one with the sport package, comes with 19" rays wheels, VLSD, synchro rev tranny, and sport brakes

 

The Girlfriend owns the Z, I am more of a mustang man my self having grown up on fords. I Have ordered a 2013 Boss 302 in grabber blue which should arrive this spring. What ever we end up going with the Z will be for her. The intent is to track the car, I agree on the need for the sport package however we are looking to keep everything including what ever losses we take on the 350 under 30k. She wants either the Monterey Blue or the Perl White.

 

Considering she owns the 350Z, she will do what she pleases regardless of advice from you or I. Women are funny that way.

 

This is VERY TRUE however this all being a bit unexpected and both of us being new to the Z's I am really just looking for some solid advice. Given the choice what would you do? keep the 350? trade up? Or just sell the 350 and cut our losses and wait for the prices to come down on a 370z with a sport package.

Thanks,
-Textile

 

Welcome and WOW!! $20,000 is owed on an '05 with 77,000 miles? Expect to take a BIG hit on this.

Good luck!

 

To me the 350Z is a very versatile car. It can be enjoyed bone stock or taken to high levels of performance and aesthetics. Your best bet is to spend A LOT of time on this forum learning more about the car and its qualities/downfalls.

As far as the 370Z......not in love with its looks...at all. But more power and an upgraded interior is nice to have.

To me there's nothing else out there that feels/looks like a 350z for the money. If a 370Z is in your budget and you don't mind the look, go for it.

 

You have a 350Z plus a $20,000 loan. Only potential problem I can see with 2005 is the transmission. Any sign of transmission problems, dump the car now!

That said, get some miles for your money. Drive the Z until the tires fall off.

 

Yeah the pervious owner really racked up the miles, it is the 35th aniversery so it has the dvd / Nav system and the brembo brakes. I found the exact same car in my area and they were asking 18.5 however that one is in better shape with 10k less miles. I expecting to take a 4 or 5k loss on the car, though I hope its alot less. In talking with the GF it seems she really has set her heart on a Z in blue, either Monterey Blue or the Daytona Blue.

 

Hate to double post, but I did leave out that the gear box was replaced by the dealer under warrenty soon after the car was bought, around 47k miles. Its the auto... not as much fun as a manual.

 

^This...................The brakes are more than the average person will ever need. I went with the auto but thats cause I didn't like the 6mt. Make sure you drive both before discounting the 7at. Play with the paddles. I now have 2-7ats and love them both after having been a die hard standard kind of guy.