Surprise Z costs

awkwardturtle

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 (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

Red__Zed

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.

Augustus

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.

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

Vaughanabe13

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.

__________________
2009 Nissan 370Z Touring, w/sport, 6MT, chicane yellow/black.

kenchan

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

edub370

this...

__________________

tjlazer

I would double that and still be fine with it, this way I know what was done to my car and how. Too many issued with *** hats messing up. Once they forgot to put the oil cap on the engine in my SUV and oil came out everywhere. If I have to double check all their work its best I just do it myself!

__________________
2009 370Z Monterey Blue,Nismo Conversion,RE-11's, K&N Typhoon intakes,Blue Kickplates,Homelink,FI 18" CBE,ERZ HFCs,Hotchkis sways, Swift Spec-R, EVO-R Highwing, UPREV

leeyeegue

^^ or pay a lil more for Redline or Royal Purple... Mobil1 is... ugh.... lol

alcheng

'Surprise Z costs' .... mmm.....

Try having a VW or BMW, then you will understand the meaning of 'Surprise (whatever brand) costs'

For the Passat I drove, Battery dead right after the 40000km bumper-to-bumper warranty, $250+tax. Dashboard failure--don't know how much fuel, how fast, how hot..... dealer wants $800+tax, eventually my mechanic charge $600, BTW, a 3 weeks wait for the part. A fuel/air sensor failure since day 1, they change it for free while under warranty, but after the warranty, $300+tax.
While I was trading in that sh!t for the BMW, the air-con wasn't working, consider the VW was only 3 years old and close to 100,000km on it, a piece of unreliable scrap-metal.

BMW... ball-joint of the front lower arm is a must-change every 20,000Km because of the aluminum material, if you are lucky, the mechanic can take out only the joint, then $200-$300, if they can't take out the joint, then $800+ because they have to change the whole arm. Mine was a cabrio, hydraulic line of the soft-top failed, of course it broke after the warranty period. Part was about $300, one week in BMW service department cost me $2700 labor, plus I have to pay for a one week rental, yup, they said all the courtesy were out, yea right!! Fuel line + fuel pump failure after that, water pump, power window motor. Plus lots of here and there problems.



The 350ZR I drove?? Please read my 1st post, can't find it? Ok, cost me $25 for oil change.... 2 1/2 sets of tires, 1 set of snow, and 1 1/2 sets of summer. The driver's side power window auto-up was failed, 4 years of daily abuse with one failure. Yup, that's it.

Still thinking the Z cost so much????

RiCharlie

Holy S*T i never knew this! My son has an Audi and i thought it was just the fact he bought a used one,.,lots of problems.. I though German cars were good, although i never owned one.

A friend has an American made truck and he could write a book on it's problems.

My wife has a 10 year old Honda with 140,000 miles..we replaced the timing belt and I think that cost $600 because of the labor involved..and that is it!
Altogether I have had about seven Japanese cars..Toyota and Hondas. and one Acura...this is my first Nissan and never a problem with any of them..

I hate to think of what would happen if the Japanese and the Chinese merged into one block.

m4a1mustang

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

__________________
- Steve

Zs & Coffee - Saturdays at 10AM in Fairfax, VA and Columbia, MD (Click the banner!)
LIKE us on Facebook!

alcheng

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.

Mt Tam I am

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

__________________
Nissan Motorsports 34R Oil Cooler. Stillen CBE. Hotchkis Sport Sway Bars. KW Variant 3 Coilover System. Stillen Gen3 CAI. Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Stillen Brake Ducts. Carbotech™ XP10/XP8 Pads. Z1 Front Rotors. Z1 Stainless Brake Lines. Two degrees of camber

sexZness

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.

__________________
Clarification #1: I'm not a bro...
[FONT="Garamond"]♥ Baby Zilla ♥ ~ Instagram: @SxZnS
Forgestar | FAST INTENTIONS | Berk | Injen | H&R | SPC | Seibon |

kenchan

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.