What to look out for in a used 370Z Nismo

hellopaul

Hello

I am intending to buy a used, new-ish 370Z (hopefully Nismo) and wondered if there's anything I should look out for. I read about the random plastic thingies left on the spirings by some dealers, and have also read some slightly worrying posts about stratospheric oil temperatures. But I couldn't find a "things to check on a used 370Z" or equivalent. Maybe it's such a fantastic car, it doesn't really have anything specific to look out for!

Another question that someone might be able to help me on...I'm new to USA (came over from UK 4 months ago) and cannot find reliable information on taxes payable in California. I've looked at the CA DMV site, which looks like something made in about 1995! Absolutely useless! Because I don't have the license plate of the car I might buy, I cannot use the vehicle tax calculator to work out my annual fees. I've also looked at the specific county, and their (also hopeless) website has no mention of vehicle taxes. Seems very bizarre to me that car tax goes to fund schools and other completely irrelevant things - no wonder the American roads are in such awful condition!

Maybe somebody can give me a rough idea of what this might be on a say, $25000 car. I found another site which said I'd pay 1.15%, but then went on to quote an example of the author's crap mathematical skills - the figure quoted was not 1.15% of the purchase price! I assume there'll be 9.75% sales tax, which seems to be unavoidable even if I bought the car out of state. Anything else I should be frightened of? (Other than the relatively expensive price of decent petrol ("gas") in CA - but still WAAAY cheaper than the $7/gallon in UK!).

So, bored with tearing my hair out, looking at conflicting info on bad websites, I thought I'd come to the experts!

Ta very much!

fullmonty

How many miles are we talking? There really isn't anything aside from the normal stuff you'd look for in a used car. Tires, records for the oil changes, a car fax, any body work, you get the picture. As for tax I would think it would be whatever the states sales tax is, but someone from Cali would be better to answer that. BTW WELCOME!!

__________________

SoCal 370Z

Here's the link, but it looks like you have already found it: Vehicle Registration Fee Calculator (Used)

You will need the information it is requesting to calculate your potential fees.

Regarding the Nismo itself, if you have a seasoned mechanic contact that you can trust, I would have them inspect the vehicle. Also, a dealership can printout all the information on the vehicle, including services performed to date (summing the vehicle was taken to the dealership). Owners' are adding an oil cooler, and there is a Nissan oil cooler available.

__________________

( Click to show/hide )

Why I NEVER say NO to the Panda Lou Fusz!!!

hellopaul

Thanks for that info. I took another look at the DMV fee calculator, but without knowing the license and VIN, it's impossible to get a quote. Also, some parts of it are written in a language completely unknown to me :

Vehicle Identification Number:
(key last 5 positions)
(key the full VIN)
(If less than 5 positions, key the full VIN)

WTF does this mean? By 'last 5 positions' does it mean last 5 characters? If so, what's the "If less than 5 positions" bit about? Maybe if I'm after a quote on my Ford Model T, it may have a VIN like "001" or something?! I've never seen a VIN shorter than about 13 characters.

So, in a nutshell, can someone give a very vague guess as to what I'm likely to have to pay (in taxes) per year to keep my (as yet imaginary) $25000 370Z on the road in Ventura, California? I've really no idea if we're talking about $100 or $1000 .

Thanks!!

fullmonty

Yearly registration for my car in the Great State of New Jersey is roughly $45 per year.

__________________