Hi all

Well I'm in the process of getting a Z but before I go car shopping I wanted to know what people's experiences have been with the dealerships here in Portland/Vancouver area. I'm still debating whether I should get a coupe or roadster considering I live in Oregon. Any advice on what to look for or watch out for would be helpful as this will be my first Z.

Also, it would be nice to know what your thoughts are with this car, any regrets, is it tough to drive this car in the winter and what kinda of problems you've ran into would help me make my decision. If you leased the Z what's been your experience been? If you've owned one and traded it in, how does the value hold?

I have a 05 Mercedes Benz C230 to trade in unless someone is interested

 

I didn't feel very comfortable at any of the hillsboro car dealers, so never really had any business there other than looking at cars, so cannot really say how they end up being, once you get down to it.
For some reason they always gave me the feeling of vultures feeding on you as soon as you come close.

The beaverton dealerships tend to be better IMHO, but it depends which company.
Beaverton Nissan probably has a very large Z collection, but they are spoilt by too many customers with money. They don't have to fight for you, and that's how you feel there.
With the service you can have luck or not.
With the sales department, they are crooks, at least I had very weird experiences there. Others seem to confirm this (search, there are other threads regarding this)

Gresham dealers I found reasonable, down to earth, more likely to treat you well. (I had some experience both with toyota and nissan).
Downside is, gresham might not have a large Z choice compared to beaverton nissan.

Regarding service, I heard good things about gladstone nissan twice, but maybe it was the same guy both times recommending them.

Overall you can always have luck/bad luck with the person at hand, but in general hillsboro, beaverton, and gresham areas are different, and my theory is that it shows in the dealerships.
Don't know much about portland, gladstone, willsonville dealers...

On the safe side, get 2005 and up models, although you can be lucky with 2003/2004.
2006 heavier, mp3, some other differences, rev-up motor I believe, led lights, bi-xenon
2007 different look/hood, different engine, ...

If you ever want to track the car a little bit, try to get a BREMBO version.
If you want to track A LOT, never mind, you may need a BBK anyways.
If you never will track, or maybe just once and never again, normal brakes will be fine.
Upgrading brakes afterwards is costly compared to picking brembo right away.

If you are not an enthusiast driver (who I would assume should know what he is doing), and also not a generally slow driver, but a driver that once in a while punches the gas, and is curious what happens without much expectation, try to get a Z with VDC (vehicle dynamic control). Especially in the rain, I think it saved a few of those that punch the throttle to see if they can be surprised.
Either way car is totally fine for Oregonian winters, as it mostly rains.
However if it snows, forget it, unless you invest in winter tires.

 

+1 and go to Bob Bohannon at Beaverton Nissan for service.

 

I work for Lithia, and my company has (I think) 2 Nissan dealerships in Oregon. You can get any of those 350z's for $200 over invoice. Hope that helps. Send me a PM if you need some more info (contacts).

 

double checked. 1 in Eugene, and 1 in Medford

 

I've purchased a couple of Nissans from Tonkin Nissan, and have always had good service (customer and repair) from them.

 

Thank guys for all the advices. I went to the one in Hillsboro and you were dead on. Just too much pressure to buy and the one guy that was helping said I needed to meet the manager or else he would get mad at him. I thought wtf? I didn't know if that was some trick or if it was for real but I bolted out of there. Never go there again. I also went to the Beaverton dealership and was very, very pressured and just pushed around to buy buy buy and I didn't like that at all. They were blood suckers and made me feel very unease.

Little did I know my co goes through The Vantage Club and I called this broker who said he could get me a

2007 Enthusiast, auto, floor mats, splash guards, and carpeted truck mat for 35960.00. That's not including the dmv and all the other stuff.

I've never gone through a broker so I'm not too sure about this. But it sounds a lot better than dealing with the dealerships. Now I know why they have such a bad repuation. Anyone here gone through a broker??

 

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DONT GO TO BEAVERTON NISSAN! I can give you about 20 different horror stories from about 10 different people =)

Wilsonville/Tonkin nissan is very good. Always great service and no hassle.

 

Hey myfast, thats seems awfully spendy for a Z. I picked up my 07' Touring with side airbags, convience net, trunk net, floormats and destination for $32,600. I checked out www.cars.com and invoice on the 2007 you described is around $29,500. You could expect to pay $1000-1500 over that before tax, tags and licensing.

I would recommend calling around to 2 or 3 local dealers, ask for the Fleet or Internet Sales manager and ask them their best price on the car you want. Let them know you are just investigating and are calling some other dealers as well. First dealer I called when I was doing mine quoted me $1,000 over invoice. I did purchase mine at the end of the Nissan Sales Event, which may be why they quoted that low. Anyhow, let me know if I can help at all.

 

nissan of FIFE. i live in AK and bought my car there. gave me a fantastic deal w/ NO hassle. didnt try to pressure me to buy any other crap. good people.

 

I will echo some other sentiments...

Do NOT use Beaverton Nissan, repeat NOT!!!!

I highly recommend Gladstone Nissan.

 

That is a normal process, and the sales guy wasn't lying to you. It's called "turning your customer" it is not an option. It is mandatory that all customers talk to at least 2 people before they leave the lot. If the sales person fails in that duty, I have seen salesmen follow their customers out of the dealership (got canned). If you want, I can get you 1 for $200 over invoice from one of my stores down there (although they get credit and paid on it, not me or my store) I can help you out with that if you wish.

 

I bought my 350Z through Nissans employee program which every dealer is supposed to honor (but some try to jerk you around especially on a high demand car like the 350Z was at that time), I called up Tonkin, took care of ordering the car over the phone (with no hassle), they called me periodically with updates as to when the car would arrive. When the car arrived, I went down there, spent maybe 30 minutes filling out paperwork, handed them a check and was on my way. It was as easy as buying a pair of shoes.

 

Which dealership do you work for?

 

chevrolet of issaquah

 

+1 Wilsonville Tonknin Nissan, that's where I got mine, talk to Kevin Courtenay or Mario (sales manager), good guys they won't give you the run around

 

Just bought my new Z on Saturday from Alan Webb nissan in Vancouver. Best price & was painless. 2K below msrp. If you need more info gimme a call & I can hook you up. 503-358-3470