All this talk of Z buying had me thinking. I'm 30 & have probably
bought no less than 20 used cars so far in my life, here's a few things
I look for. I always buy used...anyways I can pretty much spot a winner
now but thought this might be helpful. I always look for mint then work
my way down. =)
First off body:
The dealers first off will pressure you, screw that. If the car is on
the lot go back when they aren't there, maybe a Sunday this way you can
check it out without anyone there. If something is wrong they will keep
you busy so you don't notice it. These were 40-50k dollar cars so if any
got wrecked you know for sure shops tried to salvage them & they are
back in the market.
Signs of paintwork besides obvious mismatching:
1. Lift up any rubber seals on the car even around the windows &
look for a paint edge.
2. Check every wheel well & even see if you can lift up the edge
of the liner to see if there is a paint edge.
3. Pop the hood & hatch. Check the bolts that hold the quarter
panel on, should be covered with factory paint & look like it's never
been removed, if it's been
removed you will know it because it's near impossible to line it back
up & not show where bolt location was previously.
4. Check the gaps on both sides of hood, should be small & equal.
Check the gaps right under door where fender meets door, make sure same
on both sides.
Check gaps on both sides of bumpers front & back.
5. Open doors & look through hinge ares for messed up sheet metal
on the pillar.
6. Check in back upper hatch seal area for signs of wreck.
7. Always look in the spare tire well.
8. Look for OEM glass & always check for cracked windshield this
is easy to miss & not uncommon.
9. Look up under the bumper at the frame that connects to it, look
under hood area at that also, this is what gets straightened from a head
on collision.
10. Whatever you do NEVER & I mean NEVER buy a car at night! Even
if you go where lights are. In the day look down the body for dings &
depressions especially since Zs are durasteel.
11. I don't use a magnet since I can generally knock & tell if
has bondo but feel free. Owners will look at you funny & get irate
sometimes...hey, if they don't like it, don't buy it, this is NOT a small
investment. If the owner knows the car is excellent they will have no problem
whatsoever letting you check it up & down, normally they are pretty
proud when it's really clean.
12. I prefer stock paint that has been maintained.
13. Check the calipers, see if they look all the same.
14. Check lights for condensation..though sometimes this is not indicative
or wreck, check the seal area & alignment around the lights very hard
to get to factory spec.
I almost bought a Supra (but decided against it) at a Toyota dealer
until I checked the hood & noticed huh....the gap isn't even. Then
I checked up
under the wheel wells & counted the bolts, guess what? driver fender
missing 3, then checked top bolts on 1/4, saw where bolts had been removed...I
bailed..made me to nervous. Keep in mind this might be sometimes nessary
for autowork so not it's always a negative.
With individuals just ask them, ever been in an accident, alot of times
they will tell you! Or they might say a little fenderbender on bumber but
Nissan fixed it. I called a lady on a Z & outright asked "ever been
in accident" she said Nissan told her car had been repainted. *wow* all
I did was ask. =)
Interior & Electrical:
1. Pretty obvious but check the leather for paint, dealers like to spray
messed up leather with leather paint.
2. Being these cars are T-tops check the seat rails for excessive signs
of corrosion from where they fell asleep & a rainstorm hit while they
were inside. =)
3. Check the radio, easy to talk down dealer a little because I gaurentee
the stock system has problems.
4. Work everything electrical on the passenger side. Duh, I always
forget this...never know when a seat or window switch won't work over there.
Too many factors with engines, read the faqs & take to a shop...but
whatever, test drive a friend's then the one you want, not down the street,
get it on the interstate, work the gears & *listen*. Drive it for more
than 25 minutes when you get serious (overheating, etc) , I never like
to waste the owners time so I go look, come home, think & cool down
my jets, then if thats the one I want tell them I'm serious but want to
drive it for awhile.
Other tips:
Now other things I've found with dealers is 9 times out of 10 they bought
the car at auction, if the car is 22 they paid 18 or less. Believe me,
2 grand off the asking is a given, unless it's unusually low priced. Know
the value in kbb/edmunds/& general area. I just bought this 94 convertible
at a local nissan. On the lot for $22.7K & this baby is mint. Book
is $22.6K I got it under 20. Now if your credit is poor, it's much tougher
since they have the advantage. Individuals are much tougher to talk down
but if the add says best offer that is dead givaway they need to sell it
bad...payments or something, so offer less. If the car is mint the owner
will generally not budge for good reason & I have no problem paying
more for mint.
By far the cleanest Z's Ive seen are at Nissan dealers. Cleanest I've
ever seen are at Ft Lauderdale Nissan but they price accordingly. I've
talked to the Zman down there & he sounds impressive.
Last but not least! Carfax! but don't be surprised if you see auctions...that
is normal part of auto business but I double check when I see that. Auto
auctions are VERY good at cleaning cars for the sellers, they can hide
anything.
Shawn
