The trade in value at Lokey was like 31K. Thats a 7K hit for a 6 month old car. Too much. And if I wanted to take that big a hit...I'd go for the 2006 and get the projectors/Ikey/memory seats or whatever new options come up.

 

wow, thats pretty bad, i thought they held their value a lil better

 

They do, just not if you go to the evilship (dealership). If you want any real money on the sale, sell it privately.

Sorry neffster, I know they are a sponser,but I just had to say it. Nothing bad against Lokey though, all evilships are the same. After all they are a bussiness and just trying to make money.

 

Hmmmmmmmm....this is a much tougher decision!


Todd. To use your words in an old post. The Vortech isn't safe...just safer. Things go wrong with cars. And once I do this...I lose my warranty (even if I install through Lokey). And 7K is a ton of money. If I get out now, I only lose a few bucks. I've read just about every "Vortech" thread on both this forum and my350z. I've even gone to other nissan sites. Its just a tough decision. And yes..I am relatively uninformed. It may best for me to either use that money for my next car many years from now or at least wait til I get closer to 40K miles. I dunno. My drinking last night didn't give me the answer. No doubt it would be fun but it may create headaches that I do not need. The whole AT thing scares me...(as well as costing me about 2K more)

 

Well... "I'm all in".

G-man... the 2005 6mt's cost more than the 2005 5AT's so that is part of the reason for the $7k hit. Also, if you buy a car and drive it off of the lot you lose ~10%. That is close to $4k as soon as you take ownership of the car. It's never a financially smart decision to trade in a car after 6 months of ownership IMO. Take the $4k depreciation hit, add to it the price difference plus tax and subtract the amount for the mileage he added on you're right on the $7k mark.

 

I understand and agree with what you say, but either way you will never get the full value of the car by trading it in to a dealership.

I just looked up the value for a fully loaded 2004 AT and I got a price of $32,250 for private party value. I am sure the 2005 would be worth another grand or two.

 

I would love to see you get the supercharger. I'm sure your going to love the added power but you will always be scared something may go wrong with your G. From reading your posts I would recommend holding off. This is a big purchase and could potentially cause a lot of damage to your engine if not porperly installed and maintained. To put your mind at ease hold off.

 

Ok I'm having too much fun playing the devil's advocate here Not the devil's advocate, but the 'reasonable person'. The 2005 6mt costs a grand LESS than an 2005 5at with sport suspension. If you sacrifice Navi/Aero, the trade-in difference is even smaller. And who says a Vortech is a financially smart decision, unless you keep the car for your kids and grandchildren to enjoy? Fast forward 5 years, when even Eclipses will be running 13's stock (repeating myself on that one, but it will happen). G ain't cool no mo', nor is it that fast, so you decide to get rid of it. You'll never see a penny back for the $15-20K worth of mods/labor (new clutch/bumper down the line.. they add up) you will have spent on it whether you part it out or sell it as-is. So FI is a really hard decision for what it gives you. I have the money to go FI almost immediately, but I'd much rather wait this out. Maybe like Jason said I might do it after I'm out of warranty, or put the money towards my next car. Who knows.

 

I've never kept a car for more than 3 years, although I have never put so much money into any car. I will keep this car for a very long time. When I get bored with it, I will buy another car, and just keep this one to drive it when ever I feel like driving it. I know I will never get back half of what I invested so it will just be with me for a long time.

 

You don't count because it turns out you didn't initially and deliberately decide to modify your car the way it is now, your car should be running hella faster than 13's, and most of all because you already admitted you'd rather buy a c6 z06 if given a choice today

 

I don't know if I was dreaming or not...but I remember reading that the install dates were pushed back. Will the guys that ordered the Vortechs have them installed before the dyno day?

 

You're really starting to bug me Finiti... In all fairness, who are you to talk about financially smart decisions? I could EASILY sit here and nit pick about the decisions others have made regarding the purchase of their G's and the timing around it like employment status, how soon out of school, etc. but I haven't! Also, for me it IS a financially smart decision. I get the M3 performance I initially wanted at a drastically reduced cost. Even if I have a $12K repair bill it is still a wash (the M3 I wanted would have been $65K out the door, the G was $40K and the S/C and all the NA toys, wheels included, are ~$13K) . I could pay off the G and the S/C tomorrow with my savings alone. I could also pay off MOST of my house at the same time, but then I'd have to start all over with my retirement savings, college funds, etc... Please get off of the "financially smart decision" stuff it's getting really old. (edit- and as you can tell I'm taking it personally since you seem to be quoting my posts)

Also, I'm going to go to the local BMW forums and see if I can get an E46 M3 to go to the track with me just so that I can race it (just to prove to you how fast the Vortech S/C'd G really is).

We should be there in time. It all depends on if Jason goes through with his install and whether or not his tuning is done.

 

Not that it is any of my business, but I figured I would chime in because there hasn't been much going on these days on the boards.

The best analogy I can think of is playing a sport (because I play a ton of organized sports and it is a big part of my life). Some people won't play more than one sport or won't play a sport at all because they are worried about getting injured (you are worried about potential motor issues). In all reality, you could slip down the stairs in your house before ever breaking a bone or pulling a muscle playing a sport. You could easily have NO issues with a supercharger, or you could have tons, however there are a couple of proven reassuring facts of the Vortech unit:

1. It is vortech, they are a huge corporation and know what they are doing. I highly doubt they build kits that will immediately blow motors because there would be some legal action that could be taken.
2. There are a ton of people you can take advice from around here that have had direct experience with this kit and have not had any problems at all.
3. Torque is the most important issue to deal with here (especially if you are having your kit professionally installed), and we all know that the Vortech kit does not produce the amount of torque it has been proven to do any damage to our motor (unless other issues occur, such as fuel/oil/etc which are moreso back to the install factor).
4. I could be wrong here, but no one that I know of has blown their motor with a vortech unit on the stock pulley with a good install and tune (?).

Make your own decision from research and other people's proven results. I come from another FI car, so for me it is an easy decision. The hard part for me was justifying the price for install, which is why I am just going to do it myself. If you are reading through this thread and taking a head count of yay or nay's, I am all for you buying the kit.

 

i couldnt agree more w/ the last two post

...23 days until the fun begins

 

Hopefully 5 days for me