Reputation for "KURUMAYA VENTURES" in recent years?
 

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. I've been wandering RevScene for a while now to read up on what I can before buying my first car and the day is finally drawing to closer.

The reason for my post is, I'm really interested in the 2003 Orange 350z (158000km) from KURUMAYA VENTURES. I went to the dealership several times to ask questions and to test drive the vehicle. And everything seems fine aside from the minimal wear and tear that I see on cars of this age.

However, I believe KURUMAYA VENTURES got some pretty bad reputation from 2004, but it is now 2014, and I wonder if anyone got recent experience with them?

The person I spoke to several times was "Shawn". He seems to be very nice (like most car dealers are) but what surprised me about Shawn was how he kept telling me to check everything to make sure everything is working, and that he keeps encouraging me to take it to the Richmond Nissan or Morley Nissan to have a full inspection before I buy the car. CarProof that he showed me seems to be legitimate. The only bad thing I see about the car is that, the paint job doesn't seem to be the best, the front bumper has a small crack. The weirdest thing is, '03 350z usually have an intense amount of wear and tear interior (the interior dashboard or door handle is usually pretty scratched up, due to poor factory paint), but this car's interior appears to be in excellent condition, without wear and tear on the dashboard and door handles. Lastly, I found no rust which is surprising since '03 350z has rust issues as well. Everything seems too good to be true??

The price is definitely in my spending range too, so I hope to get some feedback on this dealership before I go ahead with inspecting the car and everything!

If you made it this far in the reading, please post something! Thanks :)

Is it a US car? Either way, take him up on that Richmond Nissan/Morrey Nissan inspection, and possibly have it inspected at a reputable body shop for any accident damage. Other than that, good luck.

Canada car!

Thanks very much!

No problem. Keep in mind there's always more cars out there if this one falls through. With that said, don't be afraid to jump on a good deal if it shows itself, assuming the proper inspections are done.

Just because I'm paranoid, I'd take it to someplace other than the 2 he recommended, just in case they know inspectors who work there or something.

My 03 did not have any of the issues above. Except for the paint near the bottom of the front bumper.

The interior was pretty much perfect except for the leather seats showing some signs of age. Also it was a local car previously driven by a middle aged guy so it wasnt taken out during the winter so it had no rust issues.

Just get it checked out by a Nissan dealer and see what they say.

Thanks you for the comments everyone.

As far as the inspection, say if BCAA or Nissan did the pre purchase inspection, would they provide a repair estimate so I can discuss a deal with the dealer or do I have to go to an alternate location to get repair estimate?

This one?

2003 Nissan 350Z 2-Door Coupe - KURUMAYA VENTURES LTD New Westminster, BC V3M 4K5

one word of advice: if you are stretching to buy the car from a vendor with a bad reputation, please earmark some funds for 'maintenance and repair'.

the last thing you want is to have your dream car break down on you as you know this vendor will not have your best interest at heart.

That's the one!

I'd take it to a respected independent shop for a PPI (anyone recommend a good indy nissan shop?) and they will definitely give you a good breakdown of what the car needs now, in the near future, and the distant future, as well as a cost breakdown of what it is going to be. Hopefully someone on here knowledgable about nissan shops in the city can point you in the right direction.

That would be so ideal to have the ppi and repair estimate all done together!

I'm in Burnaby if anyone could recommend something like that for me. Thanks :)

I'm not sure if speed syndicate does PPI's but if they do, I'm comfortable taking any car there, and they are in Burnaby. All around awesome shop.

alpha 1 automotive in South burnaby does PPI's as well.

The owner is very familiar with the 350Z / G35 as he regularly caters to those guys.

I'll those shops in the morning. Thanks :)

Correct me if I'm wrong but why are the inside of the doors mismatched? Or did all 350z cars come with a handle on passenger and no handle on drivers? lol...

http://www.kurumayaventures.com/imag...used-coupe.jpg

http://www.kurumayaventures.com/imag...used-coupe.jpg


**edit**
before anyone fails me, i've googled this and apparently it actually DID come like this from Nissan. Interesting.

Interesting. I don't see any place where it looks like to should bolt to in the pic, so like you said it's probably factory.

That's the most important thing to do for any car, never spend 100% of the budget on the car in case of mystery issues that may pop up right away.

Went back to see the car today and noticed some interesting things!

It appears theres something missing top portion that's suppose to be covering this, or no idea why theres rubber surrounding it hmm

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0322-1.jpg

Then, there's this crack in the front bumper.
And the paint seems to be chipping away or just bad paint job, not factory paint?

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...y/DSC_0347.jpg

Lastly, there seems to be alignment issues. The seller did tell me this car was in few accidents before (I believe 1 major one at $3,000), then the rest were small accidents ranging from $600-$1,500 IIRC.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0331-1.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0332-1.jpg

Not sure if all this will be cheap or expensive fix, but that's all I can spot so far!

$3,000 isn't a major accident these days, I would be concerned about the obvious panel issue and cracking paint. My gut is telling me to move on and find a different one, but if you're still interested take it to a reputable body shop for an accident damage repair inspection.

First pic looks to be an aftermarket intake, hence the missing cover piece. From the other pics, going by the paint and alignment both bumpers have been hit at some point, with the cost of bodywork IMO these would be things you'd live with on a car at this price point.

Does anyone else think the price is concerningly low for a 350Z with only 158k?

Those are called the OH SHIT handles, passengers need them to hang onto when you're ripping around corners, you only need your hands on the steering wheel.

That's the thing. Price seems to be low, couple things look improperly repaired, i'd say pass on this one...

This doesn't look like the car you'd want to buy. Just be patient and wait for the right 350 for sale.

That's not missing a cover on the intake. The intake seals against the inside of the hood. Take the car to someone who has some understanding of something and have it inspected.