[Son_of_Thunder]

Hey guys, not sure if you remember, but recently I bought a 2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R in very good condition, with less than 65K on it, for 2000USD. I bought it from my mom, which is how I got the deal I did on it.

Well, it blue books at around 8,500USD, so I'm thinking of selling it for something older and faster. Something like a 300zx. If I bought something like that, and didn't spend more than 6K on it, I could still get a crappy winter beater, even one with some speed, for less than 2,500, and have a nice summer car, and a winter car. Or, I could get something that would suffice for both and pocket the difference.

What do you guys think, stay with my SE-R, which is fairly fast, 0-60 in around 7.5 seconds, automattic with 24-26mpg, or get something faster?

If you say something faster, what would you recommend?

[Dark Lord]

the 300zx's seem to be nice cars. its on my list of possible cars to replace my sunbird.

[pr0digal jenius]

300zx is nice, but they are fairly high maintenance past about 60K, from what i hear

[Dark Lord]

i dont know much about the maintainence part. im more interested in a 93-97 Z28, but if i happen to come across a 300ZX, Stealth, or 3000GT i stop and take a look.

[Son_of_Thunder]

The 300HP stock, turbo, and 0-60 in 5.6 seconds was what got me interested in the 300zx.

[OldBuzzard]

Better make sure you can afford the insurance first.

According to your profile you are under 25, unmarried male, with a sports car.

That's the 'worst of all possible stats' for insurance.

[Dark Lord]

if your driveing record is clean, you can figure some where in the 150/month range. its in the same class as a Z28 which is what i got a quote on.

[LuCifer]

lol Man 300z aka Fair Lady is an alright.. car.. its pretty heavy though.. you should just get a Nissan 240SX that goes for about 1,500USD (no joke) and a drop a Silvia S13 SR20DET in it!!

[Son_of_Thunder]

I was actually thinking about cars that I'd do for the winter one, and the 240sx and mid 90's sentra SE-R both came to mind.

My insurance right now is 125/month or 620/six months. That's if I had insurance right now, and that's for liability only. Full coverage is closer to 2400/six months if I'm a full time student with a 3.5GPA or better. The GPA isn't a big problem, but the full time student part is. Without all the discounts, from my (up until three days ago) carrier, it's 3200/six months.

[Falstaff]

you may go to hell for this one...

[Sandok]

You got a good car right now... Dunno, that's taking a risk but if it's got hidden profit, go for it... I myself am looking at the newer 350Z (among others)... The 300ZX is a rarer car though... But twin turbo chargers right? That's gotta be tough to keep maintained

[Son_of_Thunder]

Not exactly sure what Jeff is talking about, but it made me laugh when I read it ;p

I know for a fact that I can make a ton (this is a ton for a college student) of money by selling my car. The real question is whether I'm going to be able to get something that's just as reliable and just as much fun to drive. I'm a big fan of Nissan, my family started driving them back when they were Datsun, but I've heard that recently they've been harder to maintain and service than many cars, due to them being more rare, and an import.

Right now, I like my car, it's fairly speedy, it's a decent people mover (I usually end up driving when my friends and I go places) and it gets decent gas mileage. The problems I find with it are more in the mid-range torque area. If it was a manual I wouldn't have this problem, but sometimes it just won't downshift like it should, and I get horrible acceleration.

Call me overly competitive, but I'd like to be the friend with the unquestioned fastest car. I'm just weird like that.

[CDsDontBurn]

when i had my 8, my insurance was $300/mo at first. but then, i got a new policy and it went down to $165/mo. your sentra is a 4 door, 4 seater, it is naturally aspirated (no turbo or super charger if you didn't know), while the 300zx though, is a two seater, a two door, has TT (the one you're looking at), and definately faster. So, despite it being an older car, don't expect insurance to go up based on those factors.

also, besides the insurance part of it, look into the fuel economy portion of it. more HP means more fuel consumption. more fuel consumption means more money spent into gas. expect paying about double what you are paying now for gas. according to edmunds it gets 18/24 on mileage, but always expect 3-5MPG less on both. also, does the 300zx run on regular, or does it require premium? if it can run on regular, would you still use regular? FYI, the difference in price of gas for regular vs. premium is about $3 for a 15gal. tank. your sentra i bet runs on regular and probably has a smaller tank as well.

i'm bringing thses up because they are important. if you are having difficulties maintaing your current car due to general costs (i.e. maintenance, fuel, washing it, etc.), then expect the 300zx to be more difficult to maintain. i'm telling you this out of experience. i didn't look into the fuel factor bit when i bought my 8, and lemme tell you, it was KILLING me! i was spending $1,000/mo just to keep the car. that still didn't include simple maintenance like changing the oil, changing filters, brakes (never did, but it was coming up), and stuff like that.

and also, because it is an older car, the car could have a bunch of different issues already to begin with.

oh, and if you want to get this car simply because you want the glory of saying "i want the fastest car out of all my friends," it is NOT a good reason to buy a new car. again.....i got that lil bit from experience

so yea....that's all i have to say for now......i'm sure there's more i could add if i remember, or if you ask

[Son_of_Thunder]

Well, a reason I'd like to get a faster car is because I'm thinking of trying to get a car club started. I really don't know what I'm doing, but I've got four or five friends who all really love their cars, and somehow come up with the money to drive. I feel like if my friend and I are going to get this club started, then I should have a car worthy to lead. His accord has about 5K put into it now, and is a monster. Back when he and I first started hanging out my Sentra could keep up with him fairly well, now I don't even cruise with him anymore because he simply blows me away.

It just seems like it may be a good idea to upgrade, seeing as I could easily get 8.5K out of my car, when I only paid 2K for it.

[CDsDontBurn]

Originally Posted by Son_of_Thunder

Well, a reason I'd like to get a faster car is because I'm thinking of trying to get a car club started. I really don't know what I'm doing, but I've got four or five friends who all really love their cars, and somehow come up with the money to drive. I feel like if my friend and I are going to get this club started, then I should have a car worthy to lead. His accord has about 5K put into it now, and is a monster. Back when he and I first started hanging out my Sentra could keep up with him fairly well, now I don't even cruise with him anymore because he simply blows me away.

It just seems like it may be a good idea to upgrade, seeing as I could easily get 8.5K out of my car, when I only paid 2K for it.

well think about it. your car is bone stock. your friend's car is bone stock + 5k of upgrades in it. if you were to put 5k of upgrades in it, then your car would still be able to keep up with his .

[Son_of_Thunder]

Yes, but I don't have 5K to put in it :P I could sell it, get something cheap, then put 5K of upgrades into it, or I could sell it and buy something that's better stock.

[CDsDontBurn]

im sure your friend didn't dump 5k into his car all at once. it's like putting together a computer bit by bit.

and if you want to get something cheap, you could get an 88 civic hatch back .

if you want something better at stock, then the 300zx is the cheapest alternative before you go buy something new/used (w/lo miles) from a dealer.....but i'm sure you don't want a car payment