Originally Posted by vt_maverick

I have an 03 (not 03.5) 6MT coupe with all the bells and whistles, and I have almost exactly 40500 miles as of the morning commute. I bought mine slightly used (1800 miles) for a steal back in May '03. I had to change the tires at ~20K miles, but I get the feeling that it was only because the first guy must have burned them up a little. I'm still on the original pads which still feel fine, and the clutch hasn't shown any problems whatsoever. The only work of any significance that I've had on the car is to have the passenger's side window motor replaced.

I wouldn't worry about maintenance issues with it being an 03. The only difference between the 03 and 03.5 coupes are mostly cosmetic - for example, some 03's (including mine) came with the 350Z center console, not the G35 console. A TSB came out for potential fuel hose problems, but all the dealerships replaced them under warranty and the fix was included on 04's and beyond. The 03's are more or less identical to the 04's mechanically and cosmetically, so to me the argument that 04's are more reliable is ludicrous.

The major thing to assess is how hard the car has been driven. Unfortunately it's hard to determine that in most cases, and with 40K+ miles the damage might already be done. On the other hand, you might be able to find an 03 with only 30K miles, but that car may have been driven harder than the 40K one. I would see if the guy would let you take it to a dealership (not the one he uses if possible) to get it checked out. Safest way to get an accurate feel for the quality of the vehicle.

Barring something drastic (like the car was reassembled from two totaled cars), I would say 25K sounds reasonable.