350Z Buying Advice

[zman240uk]

After weeks of looking I have finally put a deposit down on a 53 plate 350Z GT.
Car is in great condition and has only done 21K miles, as the owner spends a lot of time abroad.
A couple of little things have been niggling me and I wonder if these are common for older cars or I should beware.

1. Two of the rays alloys are starting to bubble in a couple of small places. Accident damage or just normal wear and tear?
2. The gate between 5th/6th Gear and reverse felt loose. A couple of times I was struggling to shift up to 5th as the gearlever had slipped all the way over to sit above reverse.
3. Have asked the owner for evidence of the big 5th(?) year service, as he couldn't find in at the time. I hear this is the expensive one, can anyone explain why. Whats the risk if it hasnt been done on a car with such low miles.

Cheers
Ken

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Ken, our friends on the 350 sites might be worth asking.

Have a look at this schedule:

350Z-UK.COM The Nissan 350Z & 370Z Owners Club • View topic - Service schedule for a 350z

Basically you have a P1, P2 and P3 service schedule (P = Programme?).

Nissan say change brake fluid at 2 years, antifreeze at 3, plugs at 5 etc.

In my view a lot of that is to generate income, yes I know the theory behind these service items. My mother-in-law has a Micra bought new in 2006, done about 7k miles total. I drive it sometimes, great car. You should hear the crap they frighten her with! Her latest bill included engine flush and fuel flush, they told her it would reduce emissions. I reckon thats flushing additive when changing the oil and fuel addittive to clean injectors (£24 extra please!).

Anyway the wheel problem is normal I'm afraid, but the gearbox issue seems wrong to me. When cold they can beat the synchro in the higher gears and the bearings are noisey at tickover in Nuetral but that fault you have sounds serious, especially at that low mileage. Be careful Ken

My gearbox had done 120k and was fine.

 

[martinmac]

The rays issue is quite common as Rob says, a set of good second hand rays is usually about £400. Refurb of wheels generally goes out about £50 each. Make sure you choose a good trader though.

The P3 service cost varies greatly around the country and the highest figures are about £400. Servicing needs to be P1,P2,P1,P3 etc at 9k or 12 months. The plugs normally get changed at about 50k. Changing to Denso irridium is a good move IMO.

The gearbox issue is difficult to comment on whithout actually seeing it. The gears can be a bit clunky compared to other cars.

I am happy to get a local 350 owner to have a chat to you if that helps, just drop me a pm.

 

[zman240uk]

Thanks guys.
I plan to drive another car this weekend as a comparison and then drive my proposed purchase again before parting with the cash. In all respects, other than the gearbox, it was exactly how I remembered it.
Gearbox was fine at start of test drive and then halfway through I found myself unable to get fifth. No crunching or anything like that, just unable to get the lever into 5th. However, back on the driveway I could get fifth again. I reckon a couple of things could be happening:
1 - I was forcing the lever too far over to the right when changing to fifth, so I was hitting the space above reverse? My memory of my old car was having to give the lever a sturdy tug to the right when trying for reverse, so how did I end up that far across the gate. Dont remember ever doing this in my old car.
2 - there is something wrong with the box. If thats the case then the deal is off.

 

[Mr.F]

re. gear shift - the lever is sprung to return to the 3/4 plane, so 1/2 and 5/6 require some small positive "push" in each direction. There is a guide plate which prevents accidental movement into the reverse plane - you have to push the lever down so that the lever ridge goes down under the guide plate to select reverse. You shouldn't be able to accidentally select reverse unless you are positively applying downward force.

Misalignment of the lever and guide plate on reassembly after dismantling for whatever reason may lead to the selection problems you are experiencing...?? I think this may have been responsible for early gearbox warranty claims when the 350Z was relatively new, rather than the box being at fault. I've had the problem when fitting some aftermarket gear levers - they don't just drop in; they have to be "set up".

If the worst comes to it, I have an almost new spare gearbox at the back of the garage!

 

[Paul_S]

Hi Ken, congratulations on your new purchase!

Everyone has answered your questions so there is nothing more for me to say other than I hope you get the niggles out of the way and enjoy every minute

 

[zman240uk]

Mike - as always you are a font of all 'Z' knowledge.

 

[zman240uk]

Car has been purchased and as Mr F correctly diagnosed it was a guide plate alignment issue. 10 mins work and it was all sorted

 

[Arkwright]

I hope you enjoy it. I love driving mine.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

That's good news Ken.

Another satisfied customer of Mr F's Technical Advice.

 

[Paul_S]

Result

Enjoy!

 

[racer]

Come on Ken where are the pics!!

 

[zman240uk]

pics as requested.
completely bog standard GT.
any suggestions re worthwhile and stealthy mods?

 

[Rob Gaskin]

pics as requested.
completely bog standard GT.
any suggestions re worthwhile and stealthy mods?

Very nice.

Leave it as it is but consider winter wheels/tyres.

 

[racer]

Nice! Looks good in Silver.
Can I be nosey? How muck was it, what's the mileage etc?
I'm in the market for some new wheels myself this year so could you tell us what the running costs are, Road tax/MPG?

Also considering an E46 M3

 

[Paul_S]

pics as requested.
completely bog standard GT.
any suggestions re worthwhile and stealthy mods?

Looks clean!

You might want to consider a plenum spacer, grounding kit, UpRev tune to start

 

[zman240uk]

You might want to consider a plenum spacer, grounding kit, UpRev tune to start

Paul - you have experience of using any of these? Ive already been looking at the plenum spacer.

 

[zman240uk]

Nice! Looks good in Silver.
Can I be nosey? How muck was it, what's the mileage etc?
I'm in the market for some new wheels myself this year so could you tell us what the running costs are, Road tax/MPG?

Also considering an E46 M3

Price was slightly above what Parkers quotes for a good private sale, but I reckon it was worth it as the mileage (21K) is very low for the year.
Road tax is £250 ish and average 24 mpg.
I also dabbled with having an M3 but found the purchase, insurance and running costs pretty high. All the cars in my pirce range had high mileage.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Price was slightly above what Parkers quotes for a good private sale, but I reckon it was worth it as the mileage (21K) is very low for the year.
Road tax is £250 ish and average 24 mpg.
I also dabbled with having an M3 but found the purchase, insurance and running costs pretty high. All the cars in my pirce range had high mileage.

Yep road tax is good on these pre 2006 cars, I wonder for how long

I had the UpRev throttle response 'flash' done (£150) it was an improvement in the lower gears.

I know I'm an 'old fart' but you will have enough power to enjoy driving it on the road and tbh sometimes more power is less fun - I like having to 'rag' a car through the gears. My 370Z is too easy.

You will find though that in the wet or winter you are limited by rear grip and it will dictate your speed - a plenum chamber spacer will seem superficial then

You'll get more than 24mpg average I'm sure unless it's all town driving.

 

[Paul_S]

Paul - you have experience of using any of these? Ive already been looking at the plenum spacer.

I have a 2004 UK car and the grounding kit did help smooth out the idle and made the car more drivable at low speeds around time for me. Some people say they noticed less of a difference but I think the earlier cars benefit from it.

I also had the plenum spacer and that gave a noticeable increase in torque. It's a another easy DIY mod.

I never had the UpRev tune but friends who did said it made the car better to drive - and a real winner is improved power AND better MPG. It pays for itself! - speak to Abbey Motorsport