So, I started about a month ago with the full intention of buying a car loan and down payment in hand, I decided I should be able to get what I'm looking for in the 14k mark. And off to the internet I went.
I started on the standards, Autotrader.com and Cars.com, but also branched out to the forums on enthusiast sites as well. Places like my350z.com and 350z-tech.com both offered some cars for sale, and their ads were usually quite detailed and well informed. But as I soon learned, these owners are definitely in love with their cars, and very few were motivated sellers.
The first owner I approached was through my350z.com and had gorgeous black 07 enthusiast that was a little modified, but mostly aesthetics.. stuff that was easy to remove after I made the purchase. His initial asking price was at the upper end of my budget, but it was in budget. He wanted $13,800 for it. Upon calling, we had a discussion, and there were a few more problems that came to the surface.. an accident history, and a currently cracked windshield. He was also still driving it, so it had reached 92k miles.. getting on the higher end of the stick. As I always do, I ran the KBB on the car with the revised information.. Excellent condition it's only $11,500. Being he had stated he was already pricing on KBB (below it actually), I confronted him, and made an offer in this range. "I didn't know the value dropped that much within the past few months" was his response, holding firm on 13k.
Oh well. Can't win 'em all.
Just about every other car on those forums was modified further than I wanted to deal with. Clutch and flywheel changes are pretty frequent, and it's not surprising as it appears the car has a dual mass flywheel that can't be machined. So when it becomes time to do the clutch job, it's a lot cheaper to put a lightweight racing flywheel in instead of springing for one from the dealership.
Next up was a fun string of incorrect listings on car sale sites. Being that the 350z doesn't have different models, but packages, a lot of dealers trying to sell these cars have straight up mislabeled their cars entirely. I've seen more than a few cars labeled as Enthusiast or Touring actually be base models. This also is generally affecting their pricing.. Sure, $16k may be completely justifiable for a Touring.. but it's no where near where you should be for a base model. So I began calling dealerships that have clearly mislabeled their cars in an effort to perhaps find that diamond in the rough, and get to a place where we can negotiate a more reasonable price.
I learned quickly, dealerships don't like this.
Admitting fault or error is not really their strong point.
Finally, I hit it lucky.
A small town dealership outside Oklahoma City, OK has a base model 08, with fairly low miles, but they're right at book pricing assuming good to excellent condition, but there's no pictures. I called them Immediately, and got the lowdown. They've just gotten it on the lot, not even having pictures yet. I get some pictures emailed to me..
OK, it's a little rough, but the sales guy Jeff is very willing to work with me.. something that's very appreciated. He's first to point out some scratches, rock chips, and a dent. While I came back with the info that the tires are mismatched, and the ones on the rear are the wrong size (say nothing about those wheels.. ugh). I said thanks, and began doing some of my own research... and then it hit me.
Google the VIN.
How did I never think of this before? One search and I had some history of the car. Looks like it had lived in New York, and wound up moving to OK by way of auction. I also found a free carfax that a dealership had posted along the way, and lastly, oh my... the vehicle condition report from the auction house in Oklahoma City where Jeff had bought the car, complete with images and descriptions of any damage. Bingo. I had all the information I'd ever want.
Armed with as much if not more info than Jeff had about the car, I called him back and made him an offer, pending the results of a pre-purchase inspection (PPI) to be completed by a Nissan dealership in the area. We went back and forth a bit, and came to a number both of us could be happy with. The deal was ready to be done.
A few days later the PPI report came back with only 2 reported mechanical issues.. low brake pads (My friends at Hawk would be rectifying this anyway) and a shot windshield washer pump. Neither of these being a big deal, I called Jeff back and made my deposit, and booked a flight for a little under two weeks later.
And that's where I sit today. I'm flying out Friday to pick the car up and drive back to Minnesota.
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