Is it silly to say I now feel like my life is complete? Ever since I was in high school and I saw a 300ZX for the first time, I knew it was love and that somehow, someway, I had to have one. Back then they were still seriously out of my price range, so it kind of got put on the back-burner. After I graduated I saw a real pretty black '95 for sale at a dealer, and the guy just tossed me the keys and told me to try to keep it under 100 for a quick test drive. Man that Z was sweet, but at $15K it was still too rich for my blood. After a couple years of community college I joined the military and for some reason, even though I finally had the means, the Z had somehow slipped my mind and I purchased a new Hyundai Tucson, followed by a '97 Probe GT (please don't judge me too harshly on that one, it was cheap and I thought they were kind of cool), and then a '06 Civic Si. After getting married I picked up a new '11 Elantra for the wifey, and then sold the Civic, and thats when I realized "hey, this might be the perfect time to start thinking about the Z again..."
I started looking in the Virginia Hampton Roads area, and found a perfect '93 NA with only 39K and all the necessary maintenance with receipts. The kicker was the lady wanted $12.5K for it, and having recently paying off lots of debt, and the wife's unenthusiastic "buy it if you really want it...", I decided to keep looking. I then found this gorgeous '94 with 102K for only $6,300 and I knew she was the one. Didn't even have to sell the wife on it, she was happy that I found one for half the price of the first one I had seen, and I flew down to Tampa and picked it up and drove it home. It's safe to say that I absolutely love this car more than any other I've ever owned, and its not even close. I have lots of plans for it, but unfortunately being married with a little girl, funds are limited, though I've slowly been making money on the side and saving that up for my "Sophia" (come one, we all name our cars right?).
Anyway, if you're still reading this, I haven't quite decided if I should go cosmetic or performance first, but seeing as it is a NA, I'm thinking cosmetic (fyi it had its timing belts done at 72K, so I'm good for a little while). I really like the '99 JDM taillights and the front fascia, so I'm thinking those will be some of the first things I'll go for. I just painted the third brake light (thank you Z-Owned for your helpful post), and even though the paint of the car is in great shape, its got little scratches and nicks that drive me crazy. I've been thinking about possibly taking it to Maaco and getting a halfway decent spray, because I know the $3k paint job is at least a few years away. My friends tell me not to sweat it, that its not really noticeable, but its probably safe to say that any Z owner feels like they stick out like a sore thumb.
Before I wrap up just wanted to say I really love this forum and I've been reading it for quite awhile, and I promise I'll not make any future posts so long!
