Hi all,
So this may be a semi-long story, but I wanted to share it since it explains what brought me to the world of the Z. I had a '91 MR2 turbo with light mods that I was in love with, and I have been eyeing different cars for the last four or five years looking for something fun to drive (after switching from the MR2 to a Jetta and then finally to a Kia Forte). I've always loved the GTR of course, but it's a bit too expensive still. Anyway, I was considering an Evo, S2k, or another MR2, and had been actively looking for over a year, waiting for the right car to find me.
Then it happened. I got a random mailing from my local Nissan dealership with a chart of what my payments would be for different cars (nothing fun, just SUVs and minivans and such), and I thought "I wonder if they have any used Evos there." After searching the site for an Evo, I decided to look around and see what else they had. Then I saw it, "Supercharged Nismo 370z: 18k miles, $29,500."
"That can't be right..." I thought. It was listed with an automatic, which I knew couldn't be right (since there isn't an auto Nismo), but the pictures showed a manual. There were also no engine bay pictures, so I assumed that someone who didn't know much about the car had listed the car with incorrect specs. The mileage also seemed unbelievably low for a 3 year old car. So I emailed the dealership to find out what they really had.
I got a response almost immediately. "Yes, it's supercharged. It's a manual. We just listed it today. I have included photos of the engine bay. Please let us know if you would like to come see it."
The listing wasn't wrong, aside from the trans being listed as auto. The dealer sent about 20 pictures, and the car was beautiful. I replied right away and said "I get off work at 6, and I'll be there at 7 to see the car."
I arrived and test drove the car. It pulled hard but had a bit of hesitation, and the dealer who rode along with me explained that they had to detune the car to sell it. I told him that detuning a supercharged car was a terrible idea and would make it harder to sell regardless of whether I bought it or not, and we began discussing the price. They wanted to take my trade in at a $2k loss and give me a crazy high APR, so I stood up to walk out. I apologized for wasting the dealer's time and keeping them after hours, and told them the truth, that I had mostly come out of curiosity. I told them that I loved the car and I knew that they wouldn't have any trouble selling it, but that I couldn't buy it under those terms. They called a manager in, and he said, "Let me see what I can do."
After an hour long discussion (which I tried to walk out of twice, mostly due to guilt from keeping them 2 hours past closing and not buying the car) they lowered my APR by 6%, gave me $1k extra on my trade in, and knocked another $1k off the price of the car. I was actually sort of scared, because I knew from my research that a stock Nismo in this condition would normally cost more than that, and on top of that they weren't offering a warranty due to the supercharger being installed. I asked my friend who had come with me what he thought, and he said "You're probably never going to get this much car for this little money again in your entire life. If it was me, I'd get it." It was an offer that I couldn't refuse, so I didn't.
I drove the new-to-me Z to my friend's house to drop him off, and we discussed the situation. I knew that it was going to cost me about $1k to put it on a dyno and get a real tune (part of the reason they dropped the price by $1k), but aside from that I was very happy with the deal I got. Then we got to his place, opened up the engine bay and started looking around, and googled how to tune the car. After we found out that a cable is normally sent with the supercharger kit, I literally said out loud, "I wonder if..." and started looking for compartments in the car. I reached my hand behind the passenger seat, opened the little compartment in front of the fuel pump, and TADA! The UPREV cable that came with the kit was hidden in there, along with the install CD for the software! My friend looked at me and said "You lucky mother f."
We tried to flash the ECU, but we ran into a few issues and were unsuccessful (it was about 3 am at this point). The next day I talked to Mark at Stillen (super awesome/nice guy, and a great company btw), and he sent me the correct software. I flashed the car with the stock Stillen tune, and the difference was insane, and immediately noticeable. The idle stopped being weird, throttle response was much sharper, and I've been in love with the car ever since.
I've had it for about a month now, and aside from the normal issues that everyone on the forums seems to have (hatch lid sticks, hard clutch to get used to, etc.) everything is great. I'm not sure how this compares to other deals, but it felt like a once in a lifetime situation, and I almost walked out on it. Now I have the opposite of buyer's remorse, though. I get lots of looks and compliments on the car, and it is definitely much faster than my Mister was. I've been calling it my baby GTR, and I really never thought that I would find anything this nice for the amount I was looking to spend.
I've also been lurking this forum ever since. I guess the one common factor with Zs is that you sort of get obsessed with them once you get one. I've watched a documentary about the origins of the Z, read most of the DIYs on this forum (a few of which I want to try), and have actually dreamt about the car already. I also keep making excuses to go driving when I don't need to, lol.
Anyway, I'm glad that I got a car that has such a passionate following, and I'm glad to be part of the Z crowd. I'm excited for summer when I can actually start going to meets and stuff and really have fun with it.
Sorry for the long first post, but I figured it's a story worth telling. Plus I know I'll be spending a lot of time here on the forums, so I figured I should make a decent introductory post.
TL;DR Found a crazy deal on a supercharged nismo 370z and almost missed it. Researched it, bought it, and it's the best car I've ever owned.
P.S. The pics are from the email that the dealer sent me. They're the reason I drove straight to the dealership after work, lol.