About a month ago I went to test-drive the coupe. The local dealer (Niello in Concord, CA) had a 5AT coupe and a 6MT sedan for me to drive and I had to imagine what a 6MT coupe would be like. Then they asked for a $1000 NONREFUNDABLE deposit to order a 6MT coupe and wait up to 6 months. I balked at that and decided to look on Ebay out of curiousity. Looked like there were 1 to 3 coupes on auction at any given time. I bid on a black 6mt, but didn't go real high with the bid as it was missing the navi that I wanted. I looked back on ebay a week later and there was the 3 day auction for a fully-loaded desert platinum 6mt coupe with only 200 miles! (CB was my first color choice but DP was my next choice) I started to bid along with a couple others. Then the Iraq war started on the second day of the auction and the bids stopped coming. I think this war actually benefitted me by distracting the other bidders. On the last day of the auction, the seller lowers his reserve and I win it for $35000! This car cost him $37600 plus taxes at MSRP. So it cost him well over $2600 to drive for 250 miles over 2-3 weeks. Today, exactly 2 weeks after auction close, I went to pick up the car at the transport company's terminal about 50 miles away. On my first ride home, I tried real hard to drive it gently as it still had less than 300 miles. But this souped-up Eclipse kept speeding past and slowing down. Maybe he was just checking out my car, but I thought he was baiting me to race. I tried to restrain myself, but when there was a clearing in the traffic, I dropped from 6th to 4th and floored it. I started at 70 and when I looked down I was going 105. I quickly slowed down back to 70. I'm not sure, but that 70 to 105 to 70 felt like it all happened in about 4 seconds. I can't wait for the break-in period to pass to I can push the car and see what it can do!


Jim
G35 6MT Coupe/DesertPlatinum/Graphite/Aero/Prem/Nav

 

$35K OTD for all those options and only 200 miles? What a steal! I'm jealous [img]/w3timages/icons/mad.gif[/img]. I ripped through 200 miles my first week of ownership. I'm sure the car is fine, but have you tried looking it up on carfax? I wonder why the owner decided to dump it so soon.

Congrats on your G!

G35c 6MT/BS/G/Prem/Aero/Nav

 

He's a former NFL lineman and current NFL asst. coach. The car turned out to be undersized for his oversized body and the loss he took selling it was probably just pocket change for him. I did try carfax, but it had no info yet as the car was so new. Everything works like a charm on the car so far and it has the factory warranty, so I'm not worried.

Jim
G35 6MT Coupe/DesertPlatinum/Graphite/Aero/Prem/Nav

 

Great story bro, and welcome to G35 Driver. Congrats on your 'steal' [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]. Post some pics in our Rides section, and enjoy your new ride.....
[img]/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

<font color=red>GSM</font color=red>

 

man. i'm way jealous...

 

Nice!!

-Jason
Laser Red '03 6MT

 

I've read some complaints from bigger-sized people (6'+, 200lbs+) that the driver's seat control panel tends to bite into their right thigh, so I can see that.

In any case, you've found a really sweet deal! [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]

G35c 6MT/BS/G/Prem/Aero/Nav

 

Actual, you both got a good deal. If it weren’t for the big demand for the car, I could see other cars loosing $5000 once there driven off the lot.

 

I think I saw that auction! Were the pictures of the car taken inside of a garage?

 

Yeah, the photos were inside his garage. There were a few things inconsistent about the auction listing such as saying automatic in one place and 6mt elsewhere, but the photo showed a 6mt. He also stated it had a winter package, but that's not available on 6mt. He just thought the standard seat heaters were part of a package. I emailed him and thought he was reliable prior to bidding. He had previously sold 4 other cars on ebay, the most recent being a Porsche 928 and I emailed that buyer who had only good things to say, so I felt confident in bidding. Ebay is great if you take the proper precautions. Now I just have deal with getting a smog check for the California registration. Can you believe I have to have a car with less than 400 miles smogged prior to registration?!? I guess they want to make sure there aren't any mods that may increase the emissions.

Jim
G35 6MT Coupe/DesertPlatinum/Graphite/Aero/Prem/Nav

 

Yep that was the same auction, I had it on my "Item Watch List", I was curious to see what price it would end up at. You got a really good deal on that G dude.