One thing I always tell people "never buy a used sports car. Whoever bought it in the first place, had need for speed." But that not always true. Sometimes people buy it just to look cool or don't ever track it or anything.

As for buying 70K sport car, you should def. check it out. See how it is and drive it. My Z just rolled over 66k and seriously, it drives like brand new. It had redline synthetic oil every 5500 miles (religiously changed despite the weather conditions outside), transmission, brake and differential fluids changed regularly, outside detailed and waxed with Adams polishes, inside is immaculate as I have every single detailing stuff you can think of etc. My Z as a used probably drives better than many 20-30K Z out there. So it's all in the "how it was taken care of" really.

I personally think nissan makes very reliable engines. My brother Infinity I35 (vq egnine) holding up very well even after 130K of abuse, my old 350Z vq held up very well. HOWEVER unfortunately, Nissan's biggest weakness is the transmission. We all know how many tranny we went though with our 350zs. Luckily, still no issue with my first gen SRM equipped transmission in my 370Z. but it's def. weakest point.

Agree with AK: used is used. I would wager people with sports cars tend to baby them more (maintenance) then you going to get a nice used Accord/Camry/Altima etc...where people beat the snot out of the when cold, give them jiffy lube and call it a day.

Bottom line is cars are more resilient then we think: used is not the risk it once was. Stuff breaks on anything. Being an educated consumer and patient is key.

My first used sports car I got with 50K on it...sold it with 154K and it was quite well behaved (including a ton of mods I put into it).

Next used sports car was the 370Z. 2400 miles on it, someone didn't really fit in the seats well. Win for me.

Third used sports car is the Cayman we now have. Its still new, and yeah got an extended warranty for some piece of mind (wife wanted it, not me so much).

You an read the reliability studies and perhaps state that Honda or Toyota eek out a few points in issues per 100 then other brands but honestly, Nissan is right up there. A bulk of their cars are Altimas, Maximas, Sentras, Versa etc...the Z contains some unique components, lots of shared ones.

OP: find the lowest mile/year car you can find in your budget. If a few K is going to stretch you too thin...you should *really* reconsider the price point for now and save longer. I would shop within 5K ranges, so say 25K is your top end. If that hurts too much, then lower it to 20K.

- b

I worked for Ford for a year, and agree 100%. It's ownership/usage more than miles. Give me a 100K mile car that was driven by a guy like you vs. some highschool "pimp's" "Airforce One" with 20K miles on it, any day!

That said, my first sporty car was a 1995 Trans Am. I bought it with 14X,XXX miles on it, and kept it until 177K miles. It ran like a top. The only flaw it had was the heater core went out. When I bought it, the oil looked like pudding, it was terrible. Horrible maintenance. But you know what? That Trans Am was very fast for what it was, killing 350Z's and the like (for a 2.73 Auto LT1, not bad!). It was a great car, and literally the most problem-free that I have ever owned, other than my C6 Z06 that I sold at 4K miles, lol. Great car. Can't say enough good about it.

Then the 2001 WS.6 that I had, bought with 72K miles, former owner I called, he was older, lived in TX and drove 30mi to work each day, maintained it FLAWLESSLY (I had bought from a dealership and tracked him down, so no reason to lie to me). Was probably the worst car I ever owned. Horrible. Everything, EVERYTHING but the engine had issues to one degree or another.

Luck of the draw, some cars are ****, some aren't, and it could be as minor a difference as "this was car # 18 made today, and this was car #19". No way to know.

Congrats on getting a degree! I am a recent Clemson grad so I share a similar experience. You just spent several years paying to go to school. You earned your degree, now get EXACTLY what you want. IMHO it would be a crime to waste your "fresh out of college" car experience on a used one that you weren't there to start with from day one on your new life. You hesitated on automatic, get manual. Make sure you get everything you want the way you want out of a car you are buying with your own money. Don't have enough money? Save up. Life is too short to settle on something like this during your prime years. This is your chance to own a very impractical car before you have a family so do it right.

Take it from me, I bought a new 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe on a whim because it looked nice and saved me some money from getting a Z. Several maintenance issues later i traded the car in after 6 months for a new 2013 Nissan 370Z. Buy right the first time!


At the end of the day it's better to wonder "Why?" than "What if...?"


Ps: If you don't have a job yet, don't even bother looking for a car yet.

:iagree: Well said! Wise man, OP, listen to this guy

I knew I wasn't the only one that thought Nissans weren't unreliable pieces of junk! Just cause it has "high" mileage doesn't me it's automatically a bad buy. And honestly I think Honda and Toyota being more reliable doesn't even matter in this situation. I mean what has either company made in the past 15 years that didn't scream boring and conventional? With exception to the S2000. I'd much rather go for a Z over anything either company has made in 15 years even if it is slightly more unreliable.
Whoa, wait, seriously?!?! You have Mitsubishi in front of Nissan?? I'd have to STRONGLY disagree with you on that. The only Mits I would even consider buying, and actually did before the 370z, is a Evo. IMO, everything else is junk.

My mothers 2000 maxima with 225k miles and still running fine would like yo have a word with you.

I am glad that I don't want or need a new car since my favorite era of cars are from 1985-1995 with a few models up till 2001. High mileage never bothered me it just depends on maintenance and type of car. The 370Z is a good reliable car for the most part except for some small things and like the 350Z it is extremely easy to work on. I would have no problem buying a higher mileage Z. I think my lowest mileage car is my 944 and it has like 130,000mi on the body and my highest mileage is my daily with 275,000mi on engine/body. I think about a car payment and I can put a new motor in my Volvo so hard to justify another car. I also have a 230,000 mile BMW, 170,000mi truck and a 185,000mi expedition.

I guess your opinion of high mileage changes when you can work on something yourself. I look for cars that are easy to work/reliable rather then low mileage. P.S. Toyota might be the worst brand ever for older cars. Ever try to get parts for an old Toyota? Yea, Good luck!

For the most part, that way of thinking is outdated and isn't that simple. It's a relic of an era when cars had low safety standards and manufacturers had little repercussions for selling a sub-par product.

You also need to first define how something is considered reliable and go by each model year specifically. I'm sure there are plenty of cars in Toyota and Honda's portfolio that are less reliable than others...the same goes for Nissan. My dad's 98 Maxima, bought new for example, had close to 122k miles and was still running strong before we sold it about a year ago. Aside from fixing normal stuff that wear out, she was plenty reliable. By the same token, I had a 92 v6 Camry with a blown engine at 120k miles. The interior was still in really great shape and all the electronics still worked though, but it was just a useless piece of metal at that point. Before that, I had an 89 Civic that had every body panel rusting out, parts falling off and making noises...but that frikin' motor refused to die. It's up to the owner to keep a car reliable and it's up to the owner to decide what part is considered a wear item vs an unreliable part.

I guess my point is, manufacturer reliability ratings rely heavily on opinions, not facts. The same goes for re-sale values. If a part was not well made to begin with, they usually need replacement early in the ownership and usally get covered under warranty anyways. Given that the average car ownership is 6 years, it fair to say just about any new car today will last that long mechanically at a minimum. That wasn't always true, which is why there was once a great emphasis on reliability ratings.

I just think people have a higher standard these days because we're living in a world where returning a piece of electronic device because it's not perfect is normal. That's fine for an iPod, not so simple when it's an entire car. There are literally thousands of things that can go wrong and I think for the most part, just about every manufacturer these days is on the right track at making all modern cars "reliable." The problem is, people want more creature comforts in their cars, which means more stuff to go wrong. It's silly to label an entire car lineup unreliable because of a broken stereo, but for some people, that's enough to label it a POS. Most new cars made these days a better made, regardless of manufacturer.

...except maybe cars from China.

The thing I find to be the worst indicator of reliability is "Initial Quality" like J.D. Power.

I was about to type this exact same thing. Even the Evo has some build quality issues, and it's the best-built thing they've got. Mistubishi is the Japanese Chrysler.

:icon18: WTG! Thanks for this thread, I am getting some answers too about high mileage Nissans that I didn't have and wanted:tup:

and I will have to say the salesman where I bought my Z looked at me the same way:tup: My husband just smiled....:p

:tup:yea, but what is your opinion of high mileage Nissans? I am afraid (pretty much KNOW) my Z is going to be high mileage and I am interested in your learned opinion about it:tup: Do I need to worry? and attempt to keep miles down?

I am driving a high mileage z and the only problem that I have had is the steering lock replaced last week. Other then that- its perfect

I wonder how many miles ill run her til I sell her. I still owe about half the car on the loan!

What a load of horseshit. I still dd a '91 240sx with almost 250k miles on it. I estimate I still have another 20k on the 1st transmission, and maybe 3k on the 2nd clutch before they finally go. Engine runs just fine with no dead spots although I need to replace the fuel injectors and fuel pump.

My grandfather still drives an older model Nissan truck with over 300k on the clock. The speedo doesn't read correct anymore, but besides that, nothing is wrong with it.

Nissans are JUST as reliable as other manufacturers, you just have to not be a putz when it comes to routine maintenance.

70k isn't high mileage and hasn't been since probably the 80's or 90's. People who dump a well maintained vehicle after 70k because they think it has too many miles or that they can't get good resale for it are brain dead morons and should take a intro to finance class because they obviously do not understand money.

So did you ever get the car? I'm surprised you hadn't found one for reasonable miles and price in DFW.

I just got mine last week from courtesy nissan 09 std, base with 37k. Listed for $22g and dealer took off another $1,500

I'm going to hold off on this one. I can find deals similar to that all the time, but not ones that are sports+touring, and I'm only interested in those.

I'm going to be patient and start looking again in a couple months... maybe when I get a higher paying job (last thing I want to do is get myself in financial trouble).

I appreciate all your responses! I've wanted this car for so long but I know I really need to wait. I think if its come to this and is this hard to make the final purchase, I'm probably just not ready to buy. Hoping to get a new job soon and with that, a Z.

There are also gonna be some even more amazing cars coming out in the next few years.

Cool, I just realized as I went through more of the posts your looking for touring/sport.

Yeah don't rush, u will find what you want. I didn't mind the base, only thing that I wanted from sport was wheels (which I can find), spoiler (I found and added to mine already). Toss up was the leather but I don't mind the cloth

wow, best reply ever.

I agree and I agree with him. I did the same thing right out of college first job landed a little after and within first 6 months searched and found my perfect Z and had to fly to Louisiana to get it. Drive it straight home 1200 miles with the biggest smile on my face.

I just traded in a 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT on my 2013 Z. I had the car over 8 years. I bought it when it had 75000 miles and drove it until I traded it with 154800 miles. To date it was the most reliable car I've ever owned. It never broke down for any reason, ever. At 215 HP it's not everyone's "cup of tea", but it was NEVER junk.

I apologize, maybe I was a little harsh saying it was junk. I just think in terms of quality and reliability they are not up there with Nissan.

well since the Z is a sports car it will be beat on a lot more then a used civic, that being said dont think its a bad idea. If up to me id buy new or close to new, but then again its a Z, if it drives, runs, has no mechanical issues then go for it :tup: