Know Your Stagea

[iamhe77]

I decided to post this up because I am sick of all these dickhead car yards selling cars they have no or very little idea about and are misrepresenting said vehicles to potential buyers.

Case in point #1

M35 Stagea

Can anyone spot problems with this ad? Here are the obvious ones (please chime in if you find more)

1. The model designation is either an "NM35 Autech Axis" or an "AM35 Autech Axis".... "PM35" is the face lifted model which were in production 2005 onwards

2. It DOES NOT have either a 3.5L or a 3L-turbo engine. The engine is a VQ25det... as in a 2.5L Turbo

3. 2004 model Stagea? The 2004 model M35's are not eligible for compliance due to stricter emissions laws here in Australia. The engine cannot meet those laws in stock trim.

4. Anyone tried putting that VIN in FAST? Yep, 2 digits too many

Case in point #2

M35 Stagea

*sigh* again, this dealer has 2 mysterious extra digits in the VIN. Is this incompetence or flat-out dodgy?

I happened to call this dealer to let him know of his errors only to be met with "Are you talking about cars in MY yard? What the f*ck would you know about the cars in MY yard!"

(I can understand someone calling an saying that his ads are incorrect might piss him off, but I did so in a friendly manner)

I am sure there are a heap of "odd" ads out there and we seem to know of a

that knows little about these vehicles that have the "same interior as a 350z"....

So I guess what I am saying is, if you could be stuffed, post up any incorrect ads you come across (I know the whole "what is and isn't OEM" is needed with Autech C34's)... with corrections and maybe a recommendation of a yard that you would suggest the buyer to go to instead. I know that if I was a buyer that knew nothing about these cars (as I was 3 years ago) and was looking at buying a car in one of these ads/car yards, I would like to know what is and isn't correct.

If you can't be stuffed, then, well don't bother

If you happen to be reading this and in the market for a Stagea, there are actually a number of car yards out there that know their vehicles.

One I can recommend from personal experience is Northshore Prestige. From experience, not only have they been PROPERLY complying M35's for 3 years or so, but they are a helpful and pleasant group to deal with. They are also currently the ONLY yard that can sell the 3.5L M35's.

Hopefully this turns out to have a number of highly recommended car yards (that can back up recommendations)... as well as some "corrected" erroneous ads.

[horrace]

I totally agree with you, the same dodgy ads appear for imports in general and it really gets up my nose, it must be really easy to get in the used car buisness or something considering people with no knowledge what so ever can get into it.

[lachlanw]

when i test drove my c34 rsfour s i asked about the cam belt "aarrrgh some of these new nissans actually have a cam chain "

[3PointJ]

Yeah, I nearly gave up on buying one. I never realised buying an M35 would be so much of a f**king hassle.

I would like to say be wary of these two places...

http://www.drive.com.au/used_car_dealers/g...956results.html

Here is their "AXIS" - Clearly an AR-X : http://www.drive.com.au/used-cars/NISSAN/S...145194&pt=1

Another "Axis" (I test drove it...) - An AR-X with Colour Matched bumpers, I believe the interior is the dead giveaway : http://www.drive.com.au/used-cars/NISSAN/S...145194&pt=1

The fact this place operates out of a small shed with no signage, the husband struggles to speak english (no I'm not racist), but when I ask questions about the car, I find it annoying when someone needs to translate it to them, then back to me...

And also THIS PLACE - Not a very professional setup at all...

I'd recommend Northshore Prestige. Even though I didn't buy from them, they were keen to help me out...

I bought mine from Japlink Motors. The guys there were pretty casual, and were quite helpful. I bought the car with two bald tyres, and got them replaced, they were more than happy to compensate the cost (even after me getting it done without their approval) They had nice cars in their getting worked on, so it sort of reassured me that they aren't some dodgy ass hobo group if they have customers trusting their cars in there...

Anyway thats my 2 cents.

[garetb16]

i wonder if they are pleading ignorance or simply dumb...

notice on both AXIS is just in the ad name and not in the description so if anyone was to complain they could try to weasle out of it.

either way they should learn the product they are selling.

[Houdini]

So harsh on the dealers. They are at least 2 steps up from lawyers and axe murderers.

[GoldZilla]

Pfft, the problem with most places is that the staff are salesmen first, and enthusiasts somewhere wwwwaaaaayyy down the line there. They don't really care too much about the product (and generally aren't required to), as long as they can convince the customer to sign on the line.

Remember, the majority of people out there either couldn't care less about the car or buy it in a heart ruling head situation or emotional state, where they think "hey, this thing looks good, I think I'll buy it."

[spoolin12]

I had some issues with a certain dealer .

Found a Stagea I liked on car sales, made the call to see if they still had the car as I wanted to come around and have a look (Money in pocket).

I was told it was in stock and ready for me to look at. Drove out (an hours drive) to check it out. On arrival I was told it sold 2 hours ago, BUT 'we do have these in stock, come check them out'.

Told him where he could stick it and left.

End Rant.

[Chris Rogers]

find me a ar dealer that can tell the difference between a DVD rom and a DVD player. the amount of people that call me saying these cars play DVDs is astounding. even more so are the dealers that tell me they have played DVD's in the the thing..

one of you hit the nail on the head - I like therefore I buy.

[mxfly]

A very good thread to start Cam for anyone who is interested in buying an M35 Stagea. I too am surprised and appalled at how much mis-information is out there on these cars, especially from dealers themselves. After all, dealerships who sell them should know know their products. But they don't. Even if they are unintentionally advertising something that's not what is claimed to be, it's the end consumer that will ultimately pay for their mistakes if the buyer is not aware of what they are buying. If you are unsure of what the model is, come in here and ask. Another simple way to tell is check the build plate on the car itself. Check the VIN/chassis number and it should start with NM35 or PM35 or PNM35. A genuine Axis though is a little harder to work out it's authenticity. One of the sure ways is to put the vin number through FAST.

And as Cam mentioned, another point to note is that Northshore Prestige Motors is the only importer that can sell the series II Stageas (PM35 or PNM35) with the VQ35DE non turbo engines which were built between 2004 and 2007. So if any other importer is advertising a PM35/PNM35, be careful.

[Stinky Rooster]

unfortunately, the "grey" import laws that were bought in to stop some of the general dodgyness surrounding JDM car imports really just concentrated the dodgyness to the select few that were given compliance approval. At the time I bought my stagea, there was only one imprter in WA with compliance approval, and they did some dodgy shit that I still cant believe to this day, such as inmporting 25X stageas that had copped a +T and passing them off as RS4's....

[deanoss]

Yep, I got burnt by said certain dealership in sydney. Beware

Edited April 17, 2010 by deanoss

[deanoss]

And also THIS PLACE - Not a very professional setup at all...

I'd recommend Northshore Prestige. Even though I didn't buy from them, they were keen to help me out...

I bought mine from Japlink Motors. The guys there were pretty casual, and were quite helpful. I bought the car with two bald tyres, and got them replaced, they were more than happy to compensate the cost (even after me getting it done without their approval) They had nice cars in their getting worked on, so it sort of reassured me that they aren't some dodgy ass hobo group if they have customers trusting their cars in there...

Anyway thats my 2 cents.

[Yep, I got burnt by "This Place...Beware.]

[Bis-e Bee]

And also THIS PLACE - Not a very professional setup at all...

I'd recommend Northshore Prestige. Even though I didn't buy from them, they were keen to help me out...

I bought mine from Japlink Motors. The guys there were pretty casual, and were quite helpful. I bought the car with two bald tyres, and got them replaced, they were more than happy to compensate the cost (even after me getting it done without their approval) They had nice cars in their getting worked on, so it sort of reassured me that they aren't some dodgy ass hobo group if they have customers trusting their cars in there...

Anyway thats my 2 cents.

[Yep, I got burnt by "This Place...Beware.]

I've heard some bad things about them, my experience was not overly bad and I'm very happy with my purchase however.

[scotty nm35]

My sister in law was about to import an m35 through a buisiness in Melbourne who had "organized" one from the Jap auctions. When she showed me I laughed as it was a 3L.