Any of you that have had your car for a while start noticing gaps getting bigger around the car particularly where the hatch closes and in the doors meet the roof.

I don't know if its my imagination but I sure don't remember noticing all these gaps when the car was new.

I can understand the gas cap is flimsy and bends with time so its not as flush, but whats going on the doors and the hatch?

Is my car ever so slowly coming apart? I'm overstating here cause it probably just has to do with latches and hinges but has anyone else noticed this?

 

Haven't noticed it.

 

Ok, well i'm not knockin the car its just it seemed to have tighter tolerances when it was new.

Some body even commented the hatch looks slightly open when its closed so i don't think its totally my imagination.

 

Nissan quality has gone downhill for sure. I thought the G35c quality was bad, then I looked at the 350z build quality. Everything in the interior is just plain flimsy. My dad's 1982 280zx (he bought it brand new) feels more sturdy than the brand new 350z.

 

Drive a GM car and you'll stop complaining. The Z has great build quality, given the low price. My other car is a $50k Q45, and the Z holds it's own parked next to it.

 

its theoreticly possible that some parts have shrunk in the cold weather. but errr. itd be so little I doubt you could measure it if you tried....

plastic peices would shrink more than metal body panels though.

 

I've owned several GM and domestic vehicles, they do not even compare to the Nissan. However, that is not saying much. The gap tolerance on this vehicle has not been the best, however not the worst either. Just average for a Nissan.

 

why don't you measure certain spots now and see if they get bigger?

 

i think it may be your imagination. as you get over the excitement of initially buying the car, you start to notice things you hadnt before, like large seams and thick weather seals on the trunk area.


as for total build quality, it's not a Lexus, but you cant get a new Lexus with the same bang/buck ratio. it sure beats Honda by a long shot, though... my Prelude had PLASTIC door handles. which of course broke off after only 3 years... the handles just snapped in half due to normal use. i was glad to see metal interior door handles on the Z.

and plastic is plastic... unless it's vinyl over padding, it's gonna feel cheap and flimsy. maybe they could have made an all carbon fiber interior option for the ballers. but it's nowhere near as crappy as the C5 Vette's interior. i was actually quite shocked to see the same exact A/C unit in the Vette as the Cavalier had.

 

definitly a possibility....my car is practically new and i have noticed that the fit of the exteriors parts are not that great. for example, my fender/hood/bumper/headlights dont line up evenly on each side and the gas filler door is not completly flush with the body.

i actually took my car in to the dealer to see if they could fix some of these imperfections but they just said "these cars are assembled by machines and so they can be off a bit." oh well, sounded like some BS to me but i figured that if they tried to fix it, they might make it worse. i just hope these imperfections dont get any worse like you are seeing.

 

Imagination. I have seen my car around the 04-05's (comparing) on the 05's the 'gaps' actually looked larger to me, but they are the exact same. So no worries.

 

i have a 2005 DB Z. bought it brand new a few weeks ago. i noticed the plastic exterior parts do NOT match the painted metal parts.

in the right light, the gas filler door and front and rear bumpers match each other, but are darker than the rest of the body.


unfortunately, this is a problem with ALL daytona blue Z's.

 

i've done that with previous cars... i think it was my head trying to make excuses to NOT buy the newer version.

 

Well, I'm going to the dealer about the hatch. Its definatly not closing all the way or something.

It definatly is not as tight a fit as it used to be. I think the latch must have shifted

 

My friend just got a brand new TL and compared to my car, her car's quality and everything was a much better quality : money ratio. It cost just about the same too.

 

My gas hatch isnt remotely flush with the body. Not to mention its fricking plastic.

 

i didnt kno the gas door was plastic

 

lol do you own a Z? heh its flimsy as hell and doesnt sit flush. just one of those things though. gotta live with it.

 

mine is flush?

 

No fit problems here. And after 2 years & 20000 miles I have yet to hear a rattle (unless I forget to put the passenger seat belt behind the clip).