350Z

Why the Z came back

Nissan pulled the 300ZX from the US market after 1996, and for several years the Z existed only as an idea kept alive in California. Nissan's North American designers built a 240Z concept around a sketch by Manny Baker of the company's California studio and showed it at the 1999 North American International Auto Show. It was orange, retro and powered by a 2.4-liter four from the Altima, and it was judged too timid. What saved the program was Carlos Ghosn: in February 2000 he announced the car would be built, as part of the company's recovery. The production design took the proportions of the concept, a new nose and the 3.5-liter VQ35DE V6 that gave it its name. Underneath it shared the FM platform of the Infiniti G35 sedan, with the engine behind the front axle.

2003-2004: five coupes, then a Roadster

The coupe reached US dealers on August 20, 2002 as a 2003 model in five grades: Base, Enthusiast, Performance, Touring and Track. Base, Performance and Track were manual only, and every car used the same suspension settings. Consumer Guide's 2003 price table, dated September 2003, lists the Base at $26,370 and the Track, with Brembo brakes and lightweight wheels, at $34,180; Forbes, testing a Touring in April 2003, printed $26,069 for the base car and ran its test car to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds. The cabin had no glovebox. The Roadster joined for 2004 in Enthusiast and Touring form, with a power top and a heated glass rear window that stowed under a powered tonneau.

2005-2006: the 35th Anniversary and the Rev-Up

For 2005 Nissan marked 35 years since the 240Z with a 35th Anniversary coupe and gave it, and the Track, a higher-revving VQ35DE rated at 300 hp; early automatic Anniversary cars kept the 287 hp engine. Ultra Yellow, a three-layer pearl, joined the colors, and automatic cars gained rev-matched downshifts. The 2006 facelift brought bi-xenon headlights, LED taillights, restyled gauges, speed-sensitive steering and the 300 hp Rev-Up in every manual car. The Performance grade was dropped and Grand Touring became the top coupe. The Rev-Up is the engine CarGurus and CarScout single out for oil consumption; the MY350Z registry puts US Rev-Up cars at about 21,863.

2007-2008: VQ35HR and NISMO

For 2007 the VQ35HR replaced both engines: a taller, stiffer block, variable exhaust cam timing, 10.6:1 compression and a 7,500 rpm rev limit, for 306 hp and 268 lb-ft. The hood gained a bulge to clear it. Trims narrowed to Base, Enthusiast, Touring and Grand Touring, and in July 2007 a fifth coupe arrived: the NISMO, shown at New York that spring, manual only, with additional body welds, body dampers front and rear, Brembo brakes, RAYS forged wheels and aero that Grassroots Motorsports says turned lift into downforce at 73 mph.

2009: Roadster only

The 370Z replaced the coupe for 2009, and the Roadster ran one more year alongside it in Enthusiast, Touring and Grand Touring form at $36,870 to $42,570, with Moonlight White added. Every 350Z was built in Tochigi, Japan.

The problem most tied to a particular year is oil consumption in the 300 hp Rev-Up VQ35DE of the 2005 Track and 35th Anniversary manual cars and all 2006 manuals. CarGurus calls those engines notorious for it and CarScout says owners report some were replaced under Nissan's warranty; neither publishes a failure rate. Across 2003-2006 cars CarScout reports timing chain guide wear heard as a cold-start rattle, a $1,500 to $3,000 repair on its figures, and a sticky clutch master cylinder. The 2007-2009 VQ35HR fixed the oil burning, per both guides, but its manual cars use a concentric slave cylinder that CarScout says can fail at under 20,000 miles; Consumer Guide lists a 2007 campaign to replace it. CarGurus mentions a rare gallery gasket fault on the HR that lowers oil pressure, and CarScout calls the oil filter housing and gallery gasket an external leak point around 100,000 miles on either engine. Consumer Guide's trouble spots add a fuel line damper that ticks at idle, rear axle joints that click on 2003-2004 cars, an intelligent power distribution module that can stop a restart after a short trip below 10 degrees F, and airbag sensor corrosion in salt states on 2005-2009 cars. Recalls it lists: a fuel filler hose that can crack on 2003-2004 cars and a passenger seat sensor on 2007-2008 cars. CarScout counts 275 NHTSA complaint records for 2003 against 24 for 2008. RepairPal publishes no reliability rating for the car, citing insufficient data.

Start with the engine, because it decides the model year's risk. On a 2005 Track or 35th Anniversary manual, or any 2006 six-speed, CarScout suggests asking how often oil was added between changes; CarGurus calls the Rev-Up notorious for burning oil, and CarScout says some were replaced under warranty. On 2003-2006 cars, a rattle in the first seconds of a cold start points to timing chain guide wear, which CarScout puts at $1,500 to $3,000 to repair. A clutch pedal that sticks or returns slowly on a 2003-2006 car is the master cylinder, a $150 to $300 fix per CarScout. On 2007-2009 manuals, check under the dash for brake fluid and press the clutch slowly in fifth at idle; the concentric slave cylinder is about $180 to $220 in parts and can pass $700 at a shop. Consumer Guide records a 2007 voluntary campaign to replace it, and asking whether it was done is reasonable. Shift into second with the engine off to feel for worn synchros. Look at the oil filter housing for weeping past about 100,000 miles; CarGurus says the HR's gallery gasket can cause low oil pressure, though rarely. Cycle every window, since CarScout prices a regulator motor at $476 to $705, and run a Roadster top through a full cycle. Tires are staggered on most cars and cannot be rotated front to rear, per CarGurus. Originality matters more than miles on a car this often modified: CarGurus says unmodified cars are hard to find. For color, the factory palettes are documented in Nissan's kits (Ultra Yellow for 2005; Carbon Silver, San Marino Blue and Solar Orange new for 2007; Moonlight White for 2009), but no fetched source prints paint codes. NISMO cars came in only Redline Red, Magnetic Black, Silver Alloy and Pikes Peak White, with a serialized plaque on the console.

All figures are US dollars as of September 2026. classic.com puts the average 350Z at $16,040 with 56 cars for sale, and its lowest recorded sale is $4,200 for a 2008 Touring on September 16, 2025. Its variant benchmarks separate the ordinary cars from the ones people collect: Enthusiast $12,989, Base $13,427, Touring $13,549, Grand Touring $17,058, 35th Anniversary $20,476, Track $23,089 and NISMO $25,334. For the NISMO it gives an average of $24,288 and a low of $15,500 for a 2008 coupe on June 4, 2024. Recent NISMO results it lists include a 5,000-mile 2007 at $41,500 on Bring a Trailer in January 2026, a 2008 with 56,000 miles at $21,750 in December 2025 and a 2007 showing 27,000 miles, true mileage unknown, at $20,514 in May 2026; dealers were asking $40,500 for a 7,000-mile 2008 and $32,990 for a 28,000-mile 2008. Those Bring a Trailer figures come through classic.com, not from Bring a Trailer directly. CarGurus' undated buying guide says good NISMO cars sell for around $30,000 in one paragraph and are priced around $35,000 in the next, and puts a nice low-mileage 2007-2009 car around $15,000 and earlier cars around $12,000; it says manual coupes are worth more than automatic Roadsters. The spread is mileage and originality: CarGurus notes that clean, unmodified cars are hard to find.