I had an '03. Common problems that were unexcusable were the 5 trannys, tire feathering and bouncy ride. (for all you new school kids, dont say its because its a "sports car"). It was crap and Nissan had to buy it back!

I am still in love with that damn 350z though, and my '04 accord 6sp + 300zx TT is just the 350z divided into two cars. no bueno!

WHICH PROBLEMS are fixed and on what years. 04? 05? 06?!?!

Any '05 owners need the s-tune fix still? Or how about tranny claims? Please help...

later

ps.

 

my '05 is just now a year old and I have no problems at all. BTW if your previous Z went through 5 tranny's that's not a Nissan problem because there's no way 5 tranny's would fail without SEVERE mistreatment.

 

make sure not to make assertions without prior knowledge. it looks bad. try searching in past posts (2003) for threads that involve the terrible engineering that went into the first batch of trannies. And second batch. It was a common problem...

Which is the whole reason for this post.

 

My 05 is awesome... Not an F-ing single problem.
I'm used to problems because I bought one of the first 2002 Spec V's
It had a lot of issues (including tranny).
I never buy the first or even second year of new models now because of that.
I can tell you this though; I drive pretty hard for a 32 year old...
The car has done nothing but impress me. I’m going to S/C or TT this in a year but chill until then. Find out a little more about it and then F/I here I come.
I say come on back to the Z family.

 

Reliability data above from 350Z owners. Compiled by Consumer Reports.

 

Roberto, Sounds like you had a lemon. I've had minor feathering as my only issue on my 03. If you get an 05 or 06 Id think you would be fine.

Hop back in! The waters fine!

 

There's no amount of posting that could convince me that 5 brand new transmissions failed in a brand new car in that short of a time period under completely normal conditions. Such failure would be unprecedented even in the worst cars produced on the earth.

 

I had a 03 as well with some problems:tire feathering, some suspension problem, but not as much as yours. I had sold it since as I got tired of fixing these problems. I do want to buy a Z again and I think it should be fine now that most problems have been dealt with. Never buy a first year car again

 

04.5 had a crank angle sensor go bad and my axles are clicking.

 

yeah, you know... one would think that. the only additional info is that my best friend and I pre-ordered Z's at the same time. I received mine the day after his. I had #2805 and he had #29XXm (for those of you who remember old skool VIN crap). Also, I would run with another guy in Del Mar who had #3XXX. We ALL had multiple trannies.... and all the other probs mentioned above too.

 

not that it makes a difference, but the "5th" tranny was installed and then i sold the car, so the literal number of trannies broken was 4. The third tranny was broken WHEN THEY PUT IT IN. I got a wopping 10 miles out of it (ie the ride home then back to the dealer). According to your unyielding premise, I apparently executed the most ravaging 10 miles in history on the poor thing.

And, yes, my 350z WAS the worst car ever (mechanically...for me. )

 

Another 2005 here that has been great... Only a clicking rear axle which is soon to be fixed.

I say grab a 2005 at a great price while you still can.

 

2005 Enthuisast AT, 4 months old and 3k miles not one problem yet

 

04 sitting at 18k and the only thing I have done is changed the oil. I did have some tire feathering but they fixed it and it's good now. Camber is still off a bit, but that's cause im lowered.

 

No you should not buy a Z.

Convinced yet?

 

I've actually owned both an '03 and an '05, and I can tell you that all of my concerns were addressed with the '05.

I originally traded in the '03 because of the tranny and the suspension. I never had a problem with the 'ride' of the suspension, it always felt right to me. However I did have squeaky noisy suspension parts that the dealer could not get to stop squeaking. I also had horrible flywheel chatter and lousy synchros, for which they replaced my transmission and clutch, and sure enough 10,000 miles later it was back in full effect. I can tell you that it wasn't from abuse, because all cars I've owned have been manual, and all of those cars have had the original clutch and transmission last in excess of 100k miles. I had other issues such as the cloth was going downhill fast, the body panels seemed poorly aligned to me, and I had tire feathering which I never owned the car long enough to have to address. I had the clicking rear axle which the dealer DID fix.

The '05 has none of these issues. I've only got 9,000 miles on the new one, (and I have to say that I bought the '03 with 12k miles on it, so I didnt get to break it in myself) but the car seams solid. The transmission is great, the clutch feels great (although I'm not partial to the Z clutch anyway, but it's definitely working correctly). You will hear a slight hint of that flywheel chatter every now and then, I think most Z's do that, but by no means is it as pronounced as with the '03.

I would give it another try, I have been nothing but satisfied with my decision. The only thing it has been in the shop for is a faulty speaker wire on the Bose, which is a stupid thing to worry about anyway, and was fixed free of charge.

 

Maybe blame the dealer? Sounds like the dealer may have been trying to save money putting in a tranny that fails that quick or whatever.

I have an 03 and have had the feathering but now its gone, and had axle clicking which they fixed. The car is flawless otherwise, tranny fine at 42k, and im very pleased with my Z

 

 

 

Just bought my brand new 05 two weeks ago. I think I have one of the last 2005 models produced (built 8/11/05).

So obviously, it's too new to say anything yet, but everything seems to be working perfect!