To keep or not to Keep
 

Currently, I am the owner of a 2003 350Z Touring. I have always liked the 7 and am now conidering buying an FD preferably with low mileage, but that would mean getting rid of the Z. Help me in my decision and tell me the pro's and con's of staying with the Z and the pro's and con's switching to a 7. Vote which one I should go with or tell me what else I can do. Thanks

I can tell you this. I am selling my G35 Coupe (loaded) becasue I just bought an FD.

The 7 is lighter, and has MUCH more in the way of performance headroom. Or, if you decide to keep it stock, out of the box, it is already quick and has awesome handling. It also has timeless good looks, and will eventually be a classic someday IMO. BTW, I had a '91 300ZX Twin Turbo for 5 years. Great car for what it was, very fast and beautiful, a great GT car, however it was a pig in the turns! I loved that car, but all that time I owned it, I always wanted an FD.

The RX7 will be alot more of a money pit with performance upgrades and maintenance. With your 350Z chances are you won't have hardly any maint costs for the next few year, but it doens't perform like an FD does :)

in my eyes you are not really comparing apples to apples here. The FD is in a league all it's own.

If I was looking for a daily driver, I would keep the 350Z. If I was looking for a toy to modify the shit out of, and spank some domestic ass, than I would get the FD.

No offense meant here, but, everyone's decision making process is different. You need to figure out what is best for yourself, and not have a bunch of strangers on a forum telling you how to make some very expensive decisions.

Keep the 350. It will be reliable.

Just like JesusCookies said, if you are looking for a daily driver then the 350Z would be your best bet. If you want something that you can drive on a pretty regular basis but still be able to mod like crazy and have a true high performance machine then pick up an FD. Just please read alot on these forums and see what you'll be getting yourself into. The FD is anything but a practical car. Beautiful, timeless looks, fast, incredible handling, capable of incredible performance levels. Those are all attributes of an FD, but notice that overall reliability was not one of the things that I mentioned. I will never get rid of my FD. I'm hating the fact that I have to get rid of my FC to fund my FD project, but it will be worth it. Overall though it's a choice that you will have to make, we can't make it for you. Best of luck with your decision.

Zach

if you have another car to drive daily, id go with the 7. if i were you, id sell the Z and buy the infinity G35 coupe. i think it looks alot better than the z, but then again, its still the same car.
what do you want out of the car. the 7 will most def. out handle the z. power wise, im guessing you could get the z just as high as the 7 as more parts start to come out for it. i dont know how much parts are for the z's but the 7 parts are pertty expensive.
you will have have lots of fun in either car. and you have to think about the money loss that you will take from selling a new car. cars suck when it comes to holding value...

I'm getting ready to sell mine so I can buy an RX-8

Selling your FD to buy an RX-8 or selling a 350Z for an 8?? If your selling your FD, how much you want and what's the condition of it? Please PM me with the answers to that question. Thanks in advance.

Zach

I agree with the others. The FD is a very narrowly focused car. It is great for driving but little else. Most FD owners are crazed enthusiasts partly because the car requires it. It needs constant attention because it is fairly high strung.

I have had an FD for a few years. I thought I would test drive the Z when it came out with the thought of trading the FD in for one. After half an hour in the Z (to try it out in various situations) I was convinced it wouldn't do, so I am still with the FD.

I think the key difference between an FD and the Z is that the FD is just a more engaging car. I realize that sounds pretty nebulous but if you try one I think will see what I mean.

I could not agree more. Until you take an FD around a corner at 70MPH, (that has a 30MPH speed limit posted) your not living.... :D

Jesuscookies has it right IMHO. I am lucky enough to have an 8 (sorta compares to a 350Z or G35 coupe) and an FD, and that is exactly the way I approach my situation.

I love my fd, but My heart is with a forced induction z. Its ten years newer and wont have all the problems of the fd, plus with a bodykit and rims they look P-H-A-T

You'll love your 7 when it runs well....but you'll hate it when it doesn't. Right now I hate mine!!!

NO, dude! Keep the 350Z. I like my FD3S, and probably would not give it up to get something else, but...in your case, I would not give up the 350Z for an old car like the FD3S, despite the FD being a better-performing sports car than the 350Z. You just can't beat the feeling of a new car. You will be disappointed every day that you canNOT stretch the FD3S's legs out, where in the 350Z, you're perfectly happy tooling around in such a cool car :)

The FD makes an excellent second car. Unless you have a reliable daily driver in addition to the FD, I'd never recommend buying one.

Sell the 350Z, buy the FD *and* a reliable fun daily driver, something like a 1990-1991 Prelude or CRX.

That only flies if he already owns the 350Z. If not, he probably doesn't have enough equity in it that the sale would allow him to buy both an FD and a "driver". So basically, he's looking at two loans instead of one unless he has enough after the sale to buy the driver outright, then finance an FD... :)

how often do 7's have problems that will keep you from driving? I dont think I would mind small annoyances. As for the Z not having problems that's not exactly true, I just past 6000 miles and have already had a transmission replaced because of 3rd gear grind. Many people have also replaced their trannys, some even twice or more. Then there are other minor annoyances like window grease, tire feathering, and some people do not think the bose system is good enough. I don't think I would want to drive around a CRX or Prelude but Im sure if I had to have another car I would be able to find one I liked....Thanks for all the responses

Take everything you hear here with a grain of salt. Anyone not trying to put 400 hp down and has a reasonable amount of money, can have a reliable daily driver FD. Like I said, I did a LOT of research and decided to sell my G35 for the FD. If you plan to just put down around 300 hp, and do it the correct way, it should be a very reliable daily driver. And stock it is faster than your 350, so with 300 hp it will blow the doors off the Z. But keep in mind, the motors do only last 60-100k on the average. I am willing to accept the expense of a new motor every 4 years, since the FD isn't really depreciating anymore. This is what my research has pointed to, but I'm sure many people here will disagree.

anything to look for in particular when I am looking at a 7? also is it better to to rebuild an engine over say 130 thousand miles or get a new engine all together...sorry for all the questions

I looked for a long time and spent more money than normal. But I got a great deal. I got a 94 PEP with 28k miles for $17.5. I am glad I got a ery low mileage FD because everything is very new, like the interior and so forth. But if I couldn't find a deal like that, since it is hard to find, look for one with 70k or less and a fresh rebuild by a reputable shop. Or that needs a rebuild, and you get it done. That would actually be ideal, because you are starting from ground 0 and you know exactly what you are working with. That was my plan, but I lucked on a cherry. Also, look for stock or close to stock, since you want reliability. And you make the decision on the year, but I insisted on a 94/95, as they fixed many interior and paint issues after 93. 95 is actually ideal, since it has r134a freon AC, but they are really hard to find.