Hi Guys. I've been lurking around for some time and is 99% ready to bite the bullet on used Z here. but can't decide which to choose.

06 350Z Enthusiast. 7000 miles. Looks to be very very mint. Tint windows. 07 350Z Base. 7500 miles. Not as mint, can use a wax job. Some after market muffler (not sure if its full exhaust or not..but sounds really good), windows need tint, windshield needs repair from rock chip.

Price is fairly similar. both are white. Im leaning towards the 07 because it is local and i dont have to drive 5 hours out of town to get the 06. But the 06 seems to be in better condition and owner seems to have taken very good care of it.

Let me know what you guys think

Prices?

I'm leaning towards the 07 because I have heard that the 06's have an Oil Burning issue. Don't know if that's true.

albert_ey wrote:Prices?

I'm leaning towards the 07 because I have heard that the 06's have an Oil Burning issue. Don't know if that's true.

....too many oil issues!

Thanks for input guyz. Prices are in Canadian though but you can convert if you want. 07 for 26,500. 06 for 27,000.

I heard about the oil burning issue. Warranty expired on the 06 as well. And the seller is not 100% positive that his car does it or not (since its been driven only 7000 miles)

You know those math questions on standardized tests that have "Not enough information available" as a possible answer to a question? That's the case here.

What are your plans for the car? Are you leaving it stock/fairly stock? Highly modified with some HPDE plans for it? Or will it be an all out track car? Do you plan on using it as a daily driver or is to going to be a weekend toy? What's the price difference between the two? Have you had an opportunity to do a thorough check of each vehicle?

I would say try to find a local car. I have had problems buying a car out of town and I know that it can become a huge hassle, especially if you don't know how to check out mechanical problems and do a thorough check yourself. I would say that the 06 sounds like a better deal if its not having oil problems. The 07 doesn't have that problem but you never really know what someone's done to a car they've started to modify...

I do agree with Badger we need more information to give you better help......

One (secretive) thing you can do with the local car is to check the maintenance records/paperwork. Take a look at what's been done to the car but more importantly note where the work was done. Then make a visit to the shop and talk to them about the car and its owner.

People in sales can tell a lot about a person by their clothes (especially shoes!) and your watch. A mechanic can tell a lot about you by your car. Make it clear that your future business with them depends on how forthcoming they are with information. Just keep in mind how willingly they give out information about the OWNER instead of the CAR, you might end up selling the car some day as well. You want information about both but you can't just start in asking about the owner, the key word here is finesse.

Was the owner timely on scheduled maintenance? Was he actually interested in what was being done to the car or was he disconnected and ready to leave the entire time he was at the shop?Was he content to do the bare minimum or did the want to make the car better than stock?Did he use cheap parts & supplies? How was the car when he brought it to them? Was the interior clean or did they have to peek around McDonalds wrappers to get a reading of the odometer? Did they have to turn the radio down when they got in the car? Its a courtesy issue - someone that's not courteous to their own mechanic probably isn't courteous on the road either. Agressive (read: hard on their cars) drivers are rarely courteous.What kind of stations are on the radio presets? Seriously! I'd be more inclined to buy a car from someone that listens to Celine Deon and John Mayer than I would from someone listening to Godsmack & Marilyn Manson.

The fact that the '07...

1) Needs a wax job - if I were selling my car it would look as mint as I could make it2) Has a chipped windshield - as above, plus its a cost you immediately have to absorb3) Has an aftermarket exhaust - aftermarket parts indicate a possibly agressive driver. If they're cheap as well that's an indicator of a different sort.

...would raise some red flags to me. Saving a five hour drive might seem nice until you find yourself waiting twice as long while something is getting fixed - on a vehicle you already own. And you already know you're going to be waiting on someone to do the glass and tint.

Wow that was a tonne of information! Thanks guys.I will be able to make a better decision.

I think the best thing to do would have to be staying patient. There's always going to be another car or another great deal around the corner. I agree 100% with Badger that there are some major red flags for the 07. if there are cheap parts on the car then that could also mean that the person didn't spend a lot of money on the maintaining the vehicle as well. I've always heard never buy a modified car unless you know the person or you know all the work that was done on the car.

For the 06 that's a 5 hour drive away...I'm not sure about how it is done in Canada but if it is anything like buying a car out of state here and you aren't buying from a dealership, then I would make sure to find a mechanic shop around the area (preferably a respectable one found on the internet or by ear) and schedule an appointment for them to do a full check on the car and also make sure that the seller can transfer the title over that day. It can be a real pain waiting on that title and then all the problems involved. And even the dealership may try to sell you a bad car but atleast with them you can return the car after a certain amount of time (or atleast enough to take it home and get it checked by your mechanic)...do remember that the 2006 does have a record of oil problems, but then again every car has problems and quirks....

ha and i take offense.. I listen to Godsmack every once and a while and my car has been kept in awesome mechanical condition! haha (I couldn't control the fact that some a$$hole in a parking lot thought it would be fun to hit the car and run leaving me with a messed up bumper)

Hi guys - Quick update i test drove the 07. I didn't "feel" it. The car was really dusty. swirls marks all over the paint. and the Base model really felt "base". I guess this car is not for ones that want a bit more technology.

But i sent an e-mail to 06 guy and amazingly he dropped 3k off the tag. He's going to buy his new car and wants to get rid of this one. that's amazing! Does anyone here with an 06 have that oil consumption problem? How much was it to fix? I did call nissan USA and gave them the VIN number to that car, they said it wasn't part of the recall so she assumes its OK. Thoughts?

If you got the VIN, run it through carfax. That will tell you a little bit more. Many owners are not very honest about accidents. Some might be 2nd owners and had no idea what happened to it with the previous owner.

The major difference between the 07 and 06 is the enigine. The 07 has a 7,500 redline and is rated at 306. The 06 has a redline of 7,000 and has 300hp.

Goodluck!

Wildo wrote:Hi guys - Quick update i test drove the 07. I didn't "feel" it. The car was really dusty. swirls marks all over the paint. and the Base model really felt "base". I guess this car is not for ones that want a bit more technology.

But i sent an e-mail to 06 guy and amazingly he dropped 3k off the tag. He's going to buy his new car and wants to get rid of this one. that's amazing! Does anyone here with an 06 have that oil consumption problem? How much was it to fix? I did call nissan USA and gave them the VIN number to that car, they said it wasn't part of the recall so she assumes its OK. Thoughts?

I have a white '06 enthusiast. I would definitely go with that one.

As for the oil consumption thing, I have 31K miles on my car and I've never had an issue. This is the first I've heard of it.... What exactly is the problem? They just burn a lot of oil?

Im surprised you haven't heard anything about it. I found it in this forum:

No Linking To Outside Forums

208 pages of discussion!

My 35th Anny is over the 60K mark now and its RevUp runs fine with no issues at all. I've heard about the "oil burning issue" and kept my eye on it, but never noticed anything.

Its the 350Z equivalent of the WRX "Glass Transmission".

I've also had no issues with oil consumption on my 350z, but it only has ~11k on the clock. I keep an eye on it since its under warranty for a while longer for powertrain, so if it starts burning oil then its new motor time from Nissan.

rousie13 wrote:I've also had no issues with oil consumption on my 350z, but it only has ~11k on the clock. I keep an eye on it since its under warranty for a while longer for powertrain, so if it starts burning oil then its new motor time from Nissan.

only 11K miles, nice! Your Z looks extremely clean. Did you buy it new?

RCAnismo wrote:
only 11K miles, nice! Your Z looks extremely clean. Did you buy it new?

Its actually got about 10,8** on it. I bought it last August with 6k miles on it. The guy that bought it new never drove it and I got him to drop ~$4k off of his asking price. You have to love people that have to sell something.

rousie13 wrote:
Its actually got about 10,8** on it. I bought it last August with 6k miles on it. The guy that bought it new never drove it and I got him to drop ~$4k off of his asking price. You have to love people that have to sell something.

Very nice, looks like you got a great deal, very clean car.

Back on topic, I did check my oil today and I was a quart low

Has anyone actually had success getting a new motor from Nissan? This seems like it would be extremely hard to get them to do..... Especially now since it's 2009 and the car is an '06

Wildo wrote:Hi Guys. I've been lurking around for some time and is 99% ready to bite the bullet on used Z here. but can't decide which to choose.

06 350Z Enthusiast. 7000 miles. Looks to be very very mint. Tint windows. 07 350Z Base. 7500 miles. Not as mint, can use a wax job. Some after market muffler (not sure if its full exhaust or not..but sounds really good), windows need tint, windshield needs repair from rock chip.

Price is fairly similar. both are white. Im leaning towards the 07 because it is local and i dont have to drive 5 hours out of town to get the 06. But the 06 seems to be in better condition and owner seems to have taken very good care of it.

Let me know what you guys think

Id say go for the 92 z32;)

Edmonton! Where is the one that is 5 hours away ? if its up north i can dive it down on one of my weeks off;)

I had the oil consumption problem starting on the second oil change which was about 6k miles. I fought with NissanUSA for over 2 years, at which time they finally acknowledged the problem officially with some sort of TSR report. It stated exactly how many miles required what amount of oil consumption. I laughed as they tested mine... because it was EMPTY 2k miles into my oil change. The black soot on the back of my car was a good indication of my problem.

My engine was replaced at 18k miles. They dont' reset the mileage with the replacement of course, so I'm now at 24k miles and have had the oil changed 2 times. Both times, I had burned no more than half a quart so I'm happy.

As for the problem itself, I think that it was mostly contained within the engines manufactured from Feb2006-Mar2006, but not completely. Mine original one was, of course.

Jason

Wildo wrote:Im surprised you haven't heard anything about it. I found it in this forum:

No Linking To Outside Forums

208 pages of discussion!

If the '06 is a MT - there is a chance it has the Oil Consumption issue. That problem only infected the rev-up. The auto had the 287hp, 6600 redline engine - well proven reliability. I've got an '06 ZR auto - no oil issues - and I don't expect any.

Good Luck