How was your buying experience (new)?

[thesilverbullet]

Not bad as i thought it was going to be.

Did my research, but never drove the car or any other Z before buying the car. I had only drove a friend‘s 280ZX one time in the early 80’s as a teen. Not sure the model year - i’m guessing in was late 70’s. It was a m/t. i remember how the rear suspension would squat with each gear shift.

i negotiated price over the phone, had sales agreement sent to bank, scheduled pick-up day after i received the check, walked in signed papers and drove off. the out the door price was ~2k off MSRP. ‘25 perf mt purchased in 4/25.

No down payment. they asked but i politely refused - i told them if they sell it to someone else in 2-3 days that i understand completely.

i did piss off the finance guy. after meeting the sales folks to setup nissan connect and go over the car (they were all nice), we sit down with the finance guy and he opened up with the usually bs questions - how long will you keep the car. I quickly responded - i‘m here to buy a car not insurance. We are going to sign the papers, give you a check and drive off. He didn’t say another word other than “sign here” with a bit of an attitude.

 

[NocturnalEmber]

I had spent all that winter drooling at pictures of the Z online, and when spring came I checked my local dealer's website and found they had one in their showroom.

I explained to the salesperson that I was long-time Z fan, missed my 350Z, and was really interested in the new Z. I asked him if I could sit in the one in the showroom and he said no problem. We had a lengthy discussion about the car and it was pretty obvious I knew a lot more about the Z than the salesman. I said I liked it a lot even though it was black and an automatic and said we need to talk about getting me one in Rosewood or Gun Metallic with a manual. He said he was sure I'd like the auto more and it would be "easier for me to drive." He offered a test drive right there, and there was still snow and a boatload of salt on the road and I declined. (WTH are they thinking, letting people drive pricey sports cars in slushy salt?)

About this time, the sales manager appeared and I repeated my inquiry about getting a different color with a manual, and he just laughed and said we'll get back to you on that. Never heard from them again.

Two weeks later, I saw online that another dealer about an hour away had a Rosewood with 6MT and the notation "incoming." I called them up and asked about the car and if it was spoken for. They said they expected it the next week and no one had a deposit on it, so I gave them one over the phone. When the car arrived, I went down to see it and do a test drive, and the salespeople were very helpful and everything went smoothly.

I've been back to the first dealer a couple of times since then, once to have the ANC/ASE turned off and once to pick up parts. The parts guy was very helpful. The service manager was even more condescending and sexist than the salespeople there. I parked where I could be sure the salespeople saw not only my Rosewood Z but my Evora on the day I picked up some parts. Easier to drive, my ass. You guys think your dealer treats you like crap, you should try buying a car as a woman.

I can't imagine having to put up with that; Sounds like they laid the mansplaining on pretty thick. I don't think my dealer treated me like crap so much as they just didn't care, but rampant sexism when buying a car is pretty low. Fragile masculinity maybe? Though I imagine it is pretty satisfying knowing you can probably drive that car and 80% of the people at that dealership probably couldn't.

I valet my Z pretty frequently, and the amount of times I have to park the car up front because they can't drive a manual transmission is...up there.

 

[NocturnalEmber]

Not bad as i thought it was going to be.

Did my research, but never drove the car or any other Z before buying the car. I had only drove a friend‘s 280ZX one time in the early 80’s as a teen. Not sure the model year - i’m guessing in was late 70’s. It was a m/t. i remember how the rear suspension would squat with each gear shift.

i negotiated price over the phone, had sales agreement sent to bank, scheduled pick-up day after i received the check, walked in signed papers and drove off. the out the door price was ~2k off MSRP. ‘25 perf mt purchased in 4/25.

No down payment. they asked but i politely refused - i told them if they sell it to someone else in 2-3 days that i understand completely.

i did piss off the finance guy. after meeting the sales folks to setup nissan connect and go over the car (they were all nice), we sit down with the finance guy and he opened up with the usually bs questions - how long will you keep the car. I quickly responded - i‘m here to buy a car not insurance. We are going to sign the papers, give you a check and drive off. He didn’t say another word other than “sign here” with a bit of an attitude.

Its always pretty amusing when the finance staff start the whole process and you know well ahead of time what's coming. The way I look at it, I'm there for the car, any extra profit they are trying to tack onto the end of the sale I can easily get at a lower price elsewhere.

Just for the heck of it, I asked about the Nismo accessories when I was sitting in the finance managers office. (I was planning on buying some anyway, but I figured if they wanted a sale so badly then they could bundle it in with the purchase for a discount, since that's literally what they were trying to do with all of their add ons.) I asked about buying the Nismo intakes and engine cover, but I guess they weren't interested, it's fine, I ended up getting the intakes on sale from another dealer.

 

[KCZ]

Though I imagine it is pretty satisfying knowing you can probably drive that car and 80% of the people at that dealership probably couldn't.

I valet my Z pretty frequently, and the amount of times I have to park the car up front because they can't drive a manual transmission is...up there.

A few years ago I went to another dealership to look at a 370 Nismo. I'd set up an appt in advance and told them I wanted a test drive. When I got there, the car was still in the showroom, and probably still there because they didn't have an employee who could drive it and get it out of the showroom.

 

[NocturnalEmber]

A few years ago I went to another dealership to look at a 370 Nismo. I'd set up an appt in advance and told them I wanted a test drive. When I got there, the car was still in the showroom, and probably still there because they didn't have an employee who could drive it and get it out of the showroom.

Ask them if you can move it out for them and enjoy the reactions. Though I'm sure in cases like that one of the techs gets pulled away from a job to do some re-arranging he isn't paid for (makes me wonder how it got *in* the showroom to begin with.)

 

[alienpoker]

My experience was strange. I had my 370Z in the Service Dept as it had let me down, for the 2nd time only in years. But… I knew I wanted the new Z.
Sales was pretty pressured, the first guy was fine and very young. They tried all the tactics with the add-ons already on the car: Ceramic sealant $995, some “forever start” BS $995, Options (like mats, audio cable kit, lighted kick-plates, wheel locks, …), forever oil changes, and whatever the latest lo-jack is (SWAT I think). TBH I can’t remember all of them, but it was over $3K.

I kicked off the serious negotiations saying “discount from sticker and I’m declining all the add-ons”. I don’t think they liked that as they make money on every “up-sell” they can add. Of course they say they can’t remove them.

They moved me on to a different salesman (the kid was probably in over his head) and a more pushy ‘Sales Manager’ to finalize the deal. In the end I walked away with the “forever oil changes” and SWAT and they threw in the dealer options and the clear coat protection they had added. I took their finance, fully intending to move it elsewhere. They had the audacity to tell me they were “losing money” selling me the car, when I knew there were dealer incentives from Nissan. I bought around April 2025.

But at least they weren’t trying to add markup like they did (+$25K ) when I was kicking tires on the Proto Spec Z in Jan 2023. (Can you believe someone would pay $82.9K? Someone bought it, but idk what they actually paid). I waited for all the price nonsense to go away. BTW for giggles here’s a pic of that mark-up:

(Edit: remembered wheel locks )

 

[NocturnalEmber]

My experience was strange. I had my 370Z in the Service Dept as it had let me down, for the 2nd time only in years. But… I knew I wanted the new Z.
Sales was pretty pressured, the first guy was fine and very young. They tried all the tactics with the add-ons already on the car: Ceramic sealant $995, some “forever start” BS $995, Options (like mats, audio cable kit, lighted kick-plates, …), forever oil changes, and whatever the latest lo-jack is (SWAT I think). TBH I can’t remember all of them, but it was over $3K.

I kicked off the serious negotiations saying “discount from sticker and I’m declining all the add-ons”. I don’t think they liked that as they make money on every “up-sell” they can add. Of course they say they can’t remove them.

They moved me on to a different salesman (the kid was probably in over his head) and a more pushy ‘Sales Manager’ to finalize the deal. In the end I walked away with the “forever oil changes” and SWAT and they threw in the dealer options and the clear coat protection they had added. I took their finance, fully intending to move it elsewhere. They had the audacity to tell me they were “losing money” selling me the car, when I knew there were dealer incentives from Nissan. I bought around April 2025.

But at least they weren’t trying to add markup like they did (+$25K ) when I was kicking tires on the Proto Spec Z in Jan 2023. (Can you believe someone would pay $82.9K? Someone bought it, but idk what they actually paid). I waited for all the price nonsense to go away. BTW for giggles here’s a pic of that mark-up:

I think the first Z I saw in person in Jan-Feb of 2023 was an auto proto for $75,000~ Absolutely insane.

 

[alienpoker]

Besides being outrageously expensive, the one I saw was an AT as well. I really liked the bronze wheels, but yellow is a color I don’t really like on a car - I ended up buying a Red Z. You can buy a used Proto Spec Z in my city (Fresno, CA) right now for <$50K. With around 10K miles on the clock.

 

[RobotAZ]

Awful. I know usually more than anyone at the dealership how to buy a new car, but my dealer did two things to me that were incredibly uncool. First they put it on me to have a terrible high interest Nissan loan for 6 payments so that they can make more off of me. Second the gave me an oil change deal for 3 free oil changes, but only after 6 months and prior to 24,000 miles.

I like the service side. They do good affordable work on my wife’s Murano, but I hate, hate, hate the sales side and will never buy another car from them again. It’s shady stuff Nissan would flip out over if they knew about it. That means the dealership are liars.

 

[NocturnalEmber]

Awful. I know usually more than anyone at the dealership how to buy a new car, but my dealer did two things to me that were incredibly uncool. First they put it on me to have a terrible high interest Nissan loan for 6 payments so that they can make more off of me. Second the gave me an oil change deal for 3 free oil changes, but only after 6 months and prior to 24,000 miles.

I like the service side. They do good affordable work on my wife’s Murano, but I hate, hate, hate the sales side and will never buy another car from them again. It’s shady stuff Nissan would flip out over if they knew about it. That means the dealership are liars.

Maybe Nissan corporate would care. Could always try calling corporate if you have an active issue on the post sales side you are dealing with, but that then brings into the equation do you trust your car with a dealer you just actively complained about.

I think Nissan has a lot of work to do honestly. They've built up an image of being a mediocre car maker and here we are.

 

[NocturnalEmber]

Awful. I know usually more than anyone at the dealership how to buy a new car, but my dealer did two things to me that were incredibly uncool. First they put it on me to have a terrible high interest Nissan loan for 6 payments so that they can make more off of me. Second the gave me an oil change deal for 3 free oil changes, but only after 6 months and prior to 24,000 miles.

I like the service side. They do good affordable work on my wife’s Murano, but I hate, hate, hate the sales side and will never buy another car from them again. It’s shady stuff Nissan would flip out over if they knew about it. That means the dealership are liars.

The funny part with that is Nissan specifies 11,000 miles for the oil change interval, so if they are the 'by the book' type, you won't get 1/3 of those oil changes. Luckily mine didn't care, I used all three of mine before 11,000 miles.