I have a chance to buy a 2007 Nissan 350Z convertible with only 72,000 kilometres on it for $16,500. In your experience, would a car of this vintage maintain its value? Would I be better off using a dealer/broker to handle the cross-border details? Thoughts? – Don
The Nissan 350Z has proven to be a fun, modern, reasonably reliable rear-wheel-drive sports car with a distinguished heritage and devoted fan base. However, it has yet to hit that sweet spot as a highly collectible car. Its convertible sibling will likely be a better long-term investment as most soft-tops depreciate at slower rates.
In a similar situation a few years ago, I imported a rare manual-transmission 2001 Audi S4 wagon from California. This was at a time when our dollar was close to parity, making the expense of sourcing, shipping and importing the vehicle a little more palatable.
Currently, most used-car dealers in Canada are struggling to stock decent local products owing to an exchange rate that favours Canadian vehicles being shipped south of the border, away from our buyers.
The specs and price you have mentioned are decent, but not amazing. I would consider this model to be limited, but not rare. Focus on the local Canadian market before going through the effort and expense of importation.
Lou Trottier is owner-operator of All About Imports in Mississauga. Have a question about maintenance and repair? E-mail globedrive@globeandmail.com, placing "Lou's Garage" in the subject area.
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