Surprise Z costs
 

I'm just trying to make sure I 100% understand the realities of paying for this car if I do decide to actually jump into one.

I've looked into the money-related stuff that I can see upfront (monthly payments, insurance, gas), all of which I'm ok with and could comfortably be paid. I keep noticing little things that I find are absurdly expensive for a car of this price, though (Granted, I've never owned a real sports car, so I have no idea what the norm is).

Right now I pay $30 for quality oil/filter to change my oil.. I see an oil change on this car is about $120. I'm assuming, although I admittedly haven't looked into it yet, that tires are outrageously expensive for this car and go quickly. What really caught my eye today, though, was someone mentioning replacing an O2 sensor at a cost of $500 for the sensor :eek: (Recently replaced O2 sensor on my car = $120). It's seeming to me like OEM parts for this car (so far) are 4-5x more than what I pay for my car now. If that's the case, I'm not entirely sure I should be buying a car of this caliber right now.

So, just out of pure curiosity, have any of you guys had any mind-boggling maintenance/repairs on this car that you weren't expecting? I remember a while back seeing a nice used M3 at a local dealer and finding out that the owner traded it in for a cheap Honda because he couldn't afford the maintenance.. I don't want to be that guy!

Thanks

Tires and headlights will be your biggest surprises coming from a civic.

No reason to pay $120 for an oil change.

Most of the other stuff is pretty reasonable. Most drivetrain stuff is shared across platforms so it winds up not being that bad
maybe also budget for a new steering lock if you get a used z.

Oil change usually cost me $70 for synthetic at the dealer. No big deal.

A lot of people have been having the steering lock problem, which is a $500 part (~$800 repair) unless covered under warranty still.

If you are going to drive in the winter you will need to factor in the expense for blizzaks/snow tires and possibly wheels. Throw in some extra for detailing products.

Overall the biggest thing is premium gas (>91 octane), insurance, tires and random problems.

I don't know from direct experience about the oil changes on a Z. I've read around here that $100 is about average for what a dealer will charge if they're using the officially recommended Nissan ester oil. That oil itself is MSRP'd at $16/quart, and you're going to use 5+ on a change, so the dealer will want to charge $80 just in oil. ~$100, so long as it's that oil, isn't too unreasonable. That's not cheap, and you could do it yourself for much less, but that is what synthetic oil changes generally cost at a dealer, based on my experiences (Audi, Saab, Subaru). Of course, there are lively debates here regarding whether that oil is "worth it".

No need for surprised on the tires. Go to TireRack.com and punch in the 370Z, and you can see what tires would cost. They're 18" or 19" tires, so they're a bit more expensive than more pedestrian 16"-17" tires. The OEM's are expensive (my '11 Touring has 18" Advan's that are like $400 a pop), but other brands are less. Some are much less. You could put on some cheaper Kumho's for $140/each, for example.

The key though, of course, is wear. They're high-performance tires on a RWD high-performance car, and you can't rotate them because of the staggered sizes & directonality (I think, right?). It's inevitable that they're not going to have exceptional treadlife. I'll be happy if I get 20K out of them. We'll see... my Z only has 1,100 miles on it right now. ;)

+1 on the insurance ideas. If you're a higher-risk driver (tickets, male, young), and cost is an issue, talk to your agent BEFORE you buy a Z. Have them run the VIN of the Z you want to buy against your policy to see what your rates will do. Be prepared; Z's can be exceptionally expensive cars to insure. :ugh2:

Not sure about maintenance. I'm interested to see what others say, as a new Z owner myself.

oil filter with crush washer: $7
mobil1 silver cap 5qt jug walmart: $23-25
30min of your time

this...

Tires and brakes are probably the big general maintenance surprises coming from a non-performance car.

I've had my Z for 25k now and my fully synthetic oil changes at the dealerships run me about $75 every 3750 miles

Tires are gonna take the biggest change out of your wallet. I've had these Invo's for almost a year now so I'll be shopping for tires pretty soon. I got somewhat of a hookup so my Invo's will run me about $800 for all 4 vs $1200 @ discount tire. Also consider I'm running on 20s.

Big issue you wanna think about is: MODS. If you got the mod bug, just be prepared to pay much higher prices for parts for the 370 vs mods for your civic.

good tires usually costs me about $1200-1300 to replace.

the conti DW's were pretty cheap... something like $1100 at tirerack. i dont member exactly but i remember buying extra cheeze fries with the money i saved. :yum: ;)

:iagree:

Agree. I only have my 370 for 4 months, so I can't say too much about the 370.

But during the 4 years ownership of a 350z, regular-oil oil change cost me $25 at my mechanic, I have winter tires, finished 2 front and 4 rears, same for the summer tires. Brakes cost ALOT cos they are Brembo. And that's it. Consider I put 40000km/year on it, It is very very low cost maintenance.

I have almost 100,000kms on mine now and other then tires, summer and winters, oil changes have been the only non warranty thing i've had to deal with, it just depends how you drive and when, if it's parked for the winter you'll save on winter tires.

:iagree: I just bought the "little lady" a set of tires. Four mounted, the works, for less than one of mine.

Oil changes. Buy one of the maintenance plans. You get all those $120 oil changes for three years and $500 at the dealership.

Definitely tires will be one of the bigger ones, especially if you're a spirited driver

Last service check I did was around $450 which included brakes, oil change and some other stuff. Might have been Service pack #2

For me I noticed more intangibles that increased:

I didn't like parking the Z near the subway as much anymore unless I had the perfect park, so this caused me to park downtown near work more.

So if it wasn't the $8 early bird a few blocks away then it was $19 for the premium underground right near work. Lets just say, it added up quick lol.

Then I had a few "baller" days where I paid the meter right infront...$26 lol, not smart...will be cutting down on that this spring/summer

Temptation to put in 94 Octane since its available.

I bet you will joyride a lot more, so you'll be buying lots of gas