Tenacious T

iTrader: (4)

Hey guys, been putting off starting a thread for my nismo, as I've been waiting forever to get the ball rolling on the necessary repairs it's needed since I purchased it. It's a long story so I'll start from the beginning... In November of 2013 I wrecked my 2004 touring after an a-hole swerved into my lane coming around a corner on a two lane road. The conditions were wet and I had turned off traction control earlier in the beginning of my drive. Needless to say I could not correct and spun out into a street sign causing my side curtain airbag and seat bag to go off, as well, my door, rocker and quarter panels were toast. The insurance company declared the car a total loss, and cut me a check. After three plus years of ownership, I was totally addicted to the Z and knew I had to get another.

I decided on an 08 nismo from a dealer in Florida called Miami Imports. I was wary of purchasing from an unknown business sight unseen, so I asked my father, who worked for a local dealership to source the car for me, so I could use their third party inspection service to verify the advertised condition of the car. I was under the impression from speaking to the salesman and reviewing all the posted info that the nismo was in excellent mechanical and cosmetic condition. I was told that the car had a custom matte white pearl wrap, which was covering a tasteful two-tone black and maroon paint job. I carefully inspected all the photos that they sent me and decided that the car was in immaculate condition, and went ahead with the purchase after it passed inspection. I arranged for shipping through a local transporter and waited for the car to be delivered. The transporter ended up breaking down in Georgia, on his way to New York, and took two weeks to arrive with my car.

Immediately when the car was unloaded I knew something was wrong. The wrap didn't look right and was extremely filthy. Upon closer inspection I realized that the whole car was plasti dipped... On top of that, it was missing the rear carpet and floormats, the rear tires were completely bald, there was a vibration and clunking in the driveshaft from bad U-joints, and the transmission was grinding in 5th and 6th gear. The third party inspection verified that the car was in the condition that it was advertised as, however it was obviously in need of a lot of work. Unfortunately, because the transaction was dealer to dealer, and the time period for filing a claim through the inspection service was two weeks, which had already passed since the transporter broke down, I was stuck with the car. I'm sure some of you will say this was a stupid move, however, I thought I was protecting myself by asking the dealer thorough questions and carefully reviewing pictures along with the unbiased inspection service. Clearly I was wrong, the pictures were photo-shopped, the dealer was a liar and the inspection was a joke. Live and learn, I will never again buy a car sight unseen. This is what the car looked like when I first got it.

Tenacious T

iTrader: (4)

At any rate I started ordering parts from CZP to bring the car back up to my standards. I purchased a JWT clutch and flywheel, carpets, a few interior plastics and other miscellaneous things. I spent the winter repainting the interior, as it was totally trashed. when spring finally came I took it to the dealer to have both power window motors replaced along with a couple TPMS sensors. I mounted four brand new tires and got a synthetic oil change to top it off.

I brought the nismo to a private shop to have them install a new tranny and slave cylinder from CZP, they told me they would order the parts, no problem and get to work right away. For some reason the moron service adviser I was working with never ordered the parts, even though she was swearing up and down that she did. I went back and forth with her for about a month, and finally just called Nick at CZP myself to buy the tranny and have it shipped to the shop. It finally arrived and the shop gets it installed, however, it won't shift out of gear! I couldn't believe it.

I spoke to Coz at CZP and he instructed me to bring it to a local Nissan dealer and verify that the transmission was damaged. I brought it to the closest dealership in 60 miles to have a diagnostic performed. Again the dealership took forever to do anything and dragged their feet at every opportunity, giving me BS excuses. After about 2 weeks they finally verified that the transmission was bad. I was told that the part had a 1 year manufacturer warranty and all repairs would be handled directly by Nissan. I came to find out that actually, since I ordered the parts through CZP, Nissan would only cover the actual parts, but labor would be on me. After much negotiating between Coz and Nissan they finally agreed to cover the majority of the labor cost. It took approximately 2 more months but I got a new transmission installed along with a new driveshaft. During that time period the dealer had left my car unlocked, and someone broke into it and stole my CD player. The dealership told me they would take care of the whole situation. Unfortunately, to date, I have only received a radio bezel and cubby from them. They still owe me a shifter finisher and a check for a new stereo.

Finally, it was time to take the Z to the body shop I had sourced the year before. After peeling off the plasti dip I found the "tasteful custom two tone" to be an absolute nightmare. The quality was absolutely horrible and whoever had sprayed the plasti dip had sanded down any body imperfection and used filler over the paint before applying the dip. Right now the car is being prepped by the awesome crew at Kolorcraft Auto Body for a custom starfire pearl paint job with magnetic black pearl accents. This is what the car looked like after having the plasti dip peeled off and a few pics of the body prep.

Tenacious T

iTrader: (4)

I almost decided to cut my losses and sell the car. My wife actually convinced me to spend the extra money to get the car right. I'm sure I would've taken a huge loss by selling the car as is, so it made sense to invest the money and customize the nismo how I wanted it in the process. I'll keep updating the pics as the shop makes progress. I expect the entire paint job will be done in 2-3 weeks depending on how busy the body guys are. Sorry the posts were so long, it's been a crazy ride. I'm also going to be ordering a custom plate that says "MRPHYZLAW" for murphies law, as anything that could have gone wrong with the car, has gone wrong up to this point lol.

abarclay

iTrader: (41)

Wow what a story. You're definitely a patient man; and from what it sounds like, you've learned from your past mistakes with the car. It still sucks that you had to go through all that BS, but props for sticking it out. The new paint color color sounds pretty freaking sweet. Keep us updated and best of luck moving forward dude!

And just a friendly little tip, paragraphs are your friend

oldschool350z

iTrader: (1)

Wow I agree buying a car especially a nismo sight unseen is a big risk..

It's a learning experience and im sure you will have it for years to come!

Stinvil93

Any plans to boost it or anything? And what color are you getting it painted?? I almost bought a Z from that same exact dealer but found a Daytona blue 350z much closer to my home in Orlando.

RUNWDVL

iTrader: (10)

Wow. Glad you didn't go ape sh*t or something. Keep up the good work. Take pride that you basically built the car ground up.

Tenacious T

iTrader: (4)

Thanks abarclay, and I adjusted my OP for readability lol. I guess I was typing vomit of the mouth, just trying to get my story out. Thanks for the tip.

Tenacious T

iTrader: (4)

No plans for boost as of right now... With as much work that I've put into it, I plan on keeping the car for the long haul, so maybe down the road if the engine goes or something I might consider FI. Right now I would like to go with some simple bolt-ons. I already purchased a nismo s-tune exhaust. I had one on my previous Z and miss it dearly. The stock nismo exhaust is just too quiet. I plan to add some high flow cats and possibly an XYZ pipe to make the s-tune even more aggressive.

As for the color, I've decided on Lexus starfire pearl for the main body and magnetic black pearl for the mirrors, door handles, wheels, spoiler and ground effects. This is pretty close to the color combination that I had envisioned for the car when I originally bought it. I almost decided on solar orange instead of the white, but couldn't find an example in person to help make up my mind. I think the white is more classic anyway.

Tenacious T

iTrader: (4)

Oh, I did lose it a few times lol. I let loose on the service department at Nissan when the service manager was arguing with me about the fact that she needed to replace the already brand new slave cylinder and install the drive shaft before performing the diagnostic to determine if the transmission was internally damaged. I basically called her a moron and sat there and explained to her why the slave cylinder had to be replaced every time the transmission is removed on an HR Z. Since the car had never even been driven since the new slave cylinder had been installed it did not need to be replaced. When it became evident I knew much more about the vehicle than she did, she shut up and passed me along to the regional service manager, who was also an @ss.

I will never again go to this dealership for service, but I was very limited from the start since I chose a private shop that was an hour away in the first place to install the transmission I ordered from CZP. The towing fee for over 60 miles to have the Z brought back to my preferred dealer would've been outrageous. So, I was stuck communicating by phone with idiots and waiting for updates that I almost always had to get myself. I'm just glad I finally got the Z back...

Thank you sir, I'm very proud of the outcome of the car. Can't wait to see it painted.

KingBaby

iTrader: (3)

Awesome stuff man...can't say I feel your pain as that's alot to take on a purchase !! I will say this though as long as it's a numbered nismo all will be forgotten once it's back together and on the road !!!

in for more

musubi

iTrader: (1)

Wow, what an ordeal you went through. Things could always be worse, but I agree that was a crummy deal. Glad you have the funds to make it right and the way you want it. Make sure to update us with pics on your paint job!

Do you know what the original color was for your Nismo? Just curious.

bb17

Wow that car looked like a giant POS when you got it, and after taking that wrap off. But you're doing the lord's work and restoring it to its former glory! Too many Nismos have been ruined and my hats off to you for fixing one of them

Tenacious T

iTrader: (4)

Thank you sir, it's definitely the real deal.

Yes, the original color was nogaro red.

I agree, didn't want to see this girl passed off to an 18 something punk for 10K and then be just trashed even more. I thought, she's had a rough life, time to do it up right

Tenacious T

iTrader: (4)

Update for you guys:
I visited the shop today on my way home from work, and I was pretty surprised how much work they got done. The whole car is pretty much blocked out already, the front emblem is shaved, along with the rear emblem and rear wiper. All the dings and dents have been fixed and most of the plasti dip overspray has been removed. I was checking out the rear end without the antennae and liked the way it looked so I gave the body shop the go ahead to shave that as well lol. Just a few minor things left to finish including a rear fender roll.

There was also another couple of surprises, apparently the painter that originally did the two tone job signed his name on the inside of the rear bumper cover. His name is Kody Compton, and he painted the car for his buddy Jason Cataloni. I was browsing Kody's facebook page and came across this pic from when he first finished painting it. It actually looks decent in this picture. The body shop told me that they thought it was a quality paint job and whoever had the car next and then plasti dipped it was the one who F'ed it up so badly. Kody also left a little present for his buddy behind the passenger door handle lol... Yes, that is a **** and ***** airbrushed behind the door handle. The body shop wanted to know if I wanted to keep it there LMAO.

At any rate I'm hoping that the prep will be done soon and the paint will be started by the end of the week. The owner of the shop also informed me that he needed to order a box of hardware for the reassembly as there are a ton of missing bolts and such. He told me there were license plate screws holding the headlights in I told him to make the car as right as he possibly could. I'm just happy they are making good progress.

67ZNISMO

iTrader: (6)

I gotta say, if it's not one thing...it's another! You're a VERY patient man - I'll give you that. Since it wasn't asked, what did you pay for the Nismo? Looks like the previous owner didn't like the paint job and went the cheap way of changing the color with the plasti-dip. Major props for what you're doing. Like KING mentioned, as long as you got a badge on there and all the parts are legit, you're gold my friend. In for updates!

Tenacious T

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, all the parts are correct, suspension, yamaha dampers, brembos, chassis welds, engine braces, plaque and body kit are all correct. I paid 23.5K when all was said and done for the nismo. In the condition it was in I shouln't have paid a dime over 11K lol. I probably could buy an almost new 370Z nismo by the time this is done...

floppymoppy1234

wow crazy story man. You should have bought my nismo! i sold it to a dealer for 22.5k in June with 18k miles! I would have wanted to sell it to an enthusiast like yourself than a dealer.

Tenacious T

iTrader: (4)

You know what's crazy? I saw your ad literally a week or so after I bought mine and thought "damn if only I had waited two weeks!" lol yours definitely looked super clean. Only thing I didn't love was the color. But oh well, at least the car will be exactly what I want in the end. I'm headed to the shop after work today so I'll update you guys tonight.

Tenacious T

iTrader: (4)

Just got back from the shop, looks like the body work is almost done. Hopefully soon to primer. Here's the pics