With it coming on three years now that most of us have had their Preorder Z , how many of you out there with more than 35,000 miles have had no major problems with your Z ( window grease spots don't count as major ) ? No tire feathering , transie , rear end , brake , electrical , engine problems etc. No major problems . Was the PREORDER Z worth preordering ? What's your spin on this three years later ?

FrankieZZ

 

i preordered, and i've had my share of problems, but my dealer had been great (mostly cuz he knows i'm an informed consumer and know my rights, largely thanks to this site), and if i had to do it over again, i wouldn't do much differently. the plusses of my purchase far outweigh the minuses.

 

It will definately be the last time I will ever buy a first year model

 

Coming up on 34K and still love it, actually started a second love affair when I installed the TT, I had the tranny replaced and tire feathering, still plaing around with that one but with car lowered it is tough to know what causes it now.

I would do it over again, the looks and satisfaction of having one of the first 350Z's in the area was priceless and I still get looks, can't se getting rid of it.

 

I would do it again. I picked the car up in august 2002. It was just a blast. Having cars follow you on convoys through the mountains, everyone wanting to talk to you at every stop, it was just amazing how many Z fans there were out there. The minor fixes were just that, pretty minor, never had to leave the car in for more than a day.

 

Would definitely do it all again. My 2003 Brick now has almost 21K miles. The only "major" problem was the feathering. Did the tire swap TSB then when the other side feathered, got new tires (free from Nissan) and now I have my aftermarket tires.

I absolutely love this car!

 

I preordered my Silverstone Touring 6MT in July of 2001. September 4, 2002 I took possession. Replaced my tires before they had a chance to feather and Nissan paid for the new tires when the TSA was implemented. My "original tires" ended up on David Muramoto's (race driver and Motorsport Editor for SZM) 350Z Track where he gave them no mercy. The window grease problem was dealt with in early 2003.

The only on-going complaint I have is the seats. Everytime I drive the Z, my legs begin hurting after 30-50 miles. I've tried all settings and nothing works. Short trips are still a blast, but the Z stays in the garage when I go ripping around the Colorado Rocky Mountains. My Z is nearly 3 years old with about 21,000 miles and selling the Z has crossed my mind more than once. Unbelievable!

GTR ?

Bob

 

I guess you had some serious pull since most of us had to wait until Jan 2002 for the official preorder

 

Well, I actually do have some serious pull, but not that much. (Pure BS and only kidding).

Typo, 2002.

Bob

 

about the seats, i believe the angle of the lateral supports puts too much pressure on the soft tissues, including nerves, of the thighs if you weigh more than around 190 lb. i wonder if the g35 seats would fit in the z. those seats have less lateral support, iirc.

 

I wish I was 190lbs =( Im lucky to break 160lbs on a good day.

190lbs at 10% body fat would be swell =)

 

You can have 20 of my pounds. That would bring me down to around 175!

 

48K on a Jan 02 Preorder. Minor tire feathering, window streaks, window motor, and seat wear. I broke power steering pump . . . my fault but nissan fixed. No other problems thus far. Tranny has been fine (swapped to readline @1500 miles and again at 30K.

Service:

18 oil changes, all other fluids have been changed, 2 alignments, 2 sets of stock pads (before brake swap to brembo), and lots of tires

 

Other than the window streaking & feathering I have not had any problems. 24k miles.
I would do it again in a NY minute.

 

37k and two accidents later (both occurring while i was completely stopped), feathering fixed, window streaks fixed...no other problems!

 

Mine was ordered day one of the pre-order process (I had to tell my dealership what they should do). Mine was driven off the lot the first week of deliveries in Aug of '02.

It took 4 months till I saw another Z on the road (except for meets), and then another month to see a third. The amout of attention, the daily in traffic converstions, and the parking lot discussions were amazing.

I have feathering, had the tranny replaced and the axles re-lubed, but my dealership has made it as painless as possible.

After 30K miles it has been worth it to me, and if I went back in time, I would do it again. But in the future, I probably won't ever buy a first year car again from anyone.

 

It appears to be running pretty close to 50/50 , with and without major problems .How may of you preorders who responded believe that your driving style may have been responsible for some of the major problems you listed ? Be honest , man .


FrankieZZ

 

Almost forgot . On the flip side , how many of you think you didn't have any major problems because of your less aggressive style of driving ?



FrankieZZ

 

140lbs here, 5'8" and in good shape. How is that for a mod to get the best performance out of Z by cutting down the weight?