LA-Z

Well, It's been 7K sweet miles and I thought I'd give everyone a little update to give my impressions and problem log. My car is an E Model, vin number UNDER 1000 (first batch build).

Transmission: Flawless. Shifting is great, click and you're in. No grind at all (High RPM or otherwise).
Alignment: Again Flawless. To prove a point driving up to Napa on the 101 with a friend, put the car in middle lane and took hands off the wheel. Stright. For almost a minute. Seriously.
Tire Feathering/Scalloping: None (check the pictures). I think it would've showed by now.
Noises: No dash rattle/squeaks. Do have the low speed *click* that happens in 1st/2nd gear under acceleration/deccelration. Not worried. Took a Nissan Mech. for a ride, didn't seem concerned, neither am I (that's what Warranties are for). Loud rattle @ idle from spinning clutch (?), seems all the Z's do this, again not worried. Buzzing @ 70-80 under constant speed. Now this can be a tad annoying but no fix as of yet. All in all nothing that makes me think the car has serious issues.
Fit & Finish: Orange Peel. This issue must stop. Yes my car has it. So does the 911 TT parked in the Company garage. So does the new M3. So does every Benzo I've seen. Yes I know, some of you don't have it, but every car I have looked at does have it, some colors worse then others (Black for example). Interior is great, although I am getting aftermarket leather. Compared to the G35 Coupe, I do like the doors for the G much better. Anyway any other questions for me post away. I am going to try and dyno the car this or next weekend.

LA-Z

Whole Tire:

LA-Z

Another Tire Pic

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

Appreciate the report. Glad to see guys w/o problems posting.

BrianZ

Informally it seems to be running about 1 in 7 problems versus none.

D'oh

LA-Z, thanks for the update.

I have 6700 miles, so I'll give an update too, if you don't mind.

And if you do....well, ehhh, tough crap!

Transmission: Slight notchiness/clunk on rare occasions going into second when cold or at low RPM (sub 3K shifts). When warm or at high RPM everything seems flawless.

Alignment: Pulls to right, but not too badly. I think it is very sensitive to the angle of the road, but even on flat there is some slight pull. Not going to do anything about it though.

Tire wear: Everything is normal. I drive pretty hard on twisty roads, and have been to two AutoX's, so I've seen wear on the outside edges more than the inside of the tires.

Noises: Buzz in passenger visor, rattle in rear view mirror, and one very slight sound that just started somewhere in the dash. I think I can get the first two fixed easily by just replacing a couple parts, but I'm not sure what to do about the third. Gotta find it first I guess. Also, my right front brake has made a grinding noise three time sinces I've owned the car. All three times were at very low speed (once pulling into my driveway, and twice when braking after reversing out of a parking space). I've never had any performance problems, so I'm not worried at this time.

Fit and Finish: Slight orange peel, but nothing worse than my Ford Ranger, my GF's Dodge Dakota, my friends BMW M3, or a Porsche that is at my office's parking lot. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

Interior: Excellent. I have some wear on my driver's seat outboard lower back bolster because my fat *** can't fit between the steering wheel and the seat when I get in and out of the car. Also, the driver's seat has some play, so I've been talking to the dealer about a replacement seat. Overall, I love the simplicity and direct functionality of the interior. Although, I am waiting for the retractable cup holder to break.

Overall, the car is wonderful. I would say I've had four problems (the three noises and the driver's seat) and three of those will be fixed by the dealer when I finally care enough to do it. If I can find the source of the fourth noise and fix that, then I will be totally happy.

-D'oh!

LA-Z

Sounds great man. I myself had a 94 2+2 & 93TT 300zx's. None of them were perfect in anyway (side seat bolster wear, easy to chip paint, every year had a gang of problems.) but it's funny cause no one really bitched about it, everyone was too busy being blown away but such an amazing looking and driving car. I feel the same way about the new Z.

Flyingscot

Great report, thanks!

Funny, we appear to have identical experiences. Although, I only have 1700miles on the car. All in all, I would say the 350Z is living up to Nissan's high level of fit and finish. Plus, our engines should last a very long time if previous Nissan engines are anything to go by.

Fly

dvlad

I'm the 1055th car built. As for the alignment, it pulls to the right. Dealer doesnt want to realign vehicle(long story).

I have major "tire-feathering". The car is extremely loud when traveling under 40 MPH. Here is a pic of this. You can see the different fade marks on the inside tire.

Dan

LA-Z

You know you can take it to another dealer, no need to stay with the one you bought your car at..

flyz33

my beautiful lemans (just picked up today) has 0% orange peel, I checked everywhere and couldn't find anywhere; its soo gorgeous

WayneTN

Dan,

Sorry about your tire feathering. Would you say you drive more agressively around curves/corners than the average person? Or, would you say that you take it easy almost all of the time? Hopefully these tires don't wear that bad during easy driving!!!

Thanks,
Wayne

rodH

iTrader: (2)

the feathering is an alignment issue, NOT from aggressive driving.

aggie300zx

Well heck if we are giving reports, I will throw mine in the hat. I received my Z back on Aug 23rd (vin under 1000) and have about 5600 miles to date. Overall the car rocks, no major issues at this point.

Transmission: Early on I felt like I had some griding, but over time it has really smoothed out. So I give it an A.

Alignment: No problems, but I agree it is very sensitive to road changes and uneveness on the highway.

Tire wear: So far, my feathering is very light. Nothing at least for me to panic about. Unless it gets alot worse I'd probably have to replace the tires for normal wear before I do for feathering.

Noises: I have a few here. I have the passenger visor rattle and passenger door rattle which I think was caused by my stereo installation. Things never seem to go back perfectly once you've removed panels. But this is my third Z and they all had their rattles.

Fit and Finish: Although I have some orange peel its not that bad, or at least I can live with it at this point.

Interior: My two biggest complaints which my dealer has unsuccessfully fixed: 1) grease marks on inside of passenger window 2) drivers seat shifts on hard right turns....the seat moving is just getting plain annoying.

Overall, I love this car and although I do have a few gripes, it has not taken away from the experience of owning it. Just my hunch, but I think the Z will be the timeless design out of that and the G35C.

Enjoy!

zxsaint

So thats what they are! I get those on both windows and keep cleaning them off.

Flyingscot

Yes, this is my only gripe too. It is definitely a fly in the ointment and I hope Nissan come's up with their fix real soon.

Fly

VandyZ

iTrader: (2)

Here's another

Vin: 0015x

Mileage: 6800
Tranny: PERFECT!
Alignment: PERFECT!
Tires: Light Feathering (I drive it like it is a Z)
Brakes: PERFECT!
Rattles: Visor (on rough road), Passenger door (on bass hits)
Paint: OP under florescent lighting, tiny chips in bumper (normal wear)
Seat: Almost perfect (minimal wear)

Worst Problem:
Windows: All I can say is: Do you remember Soul-Glo from Coming to America, hehe. Window grease still an issue

Warranty Work:
BCM (Body Control Module) replaced.

Notice to other owners:

Some rattles you may hear are your own fault! I have noticed that my Passport 8500 rattles when the clip is not holding the detector tight against the window. Since the season change I have had to adjust the position as it has changed. I also had this annoying rattle which I found to be a business card I had placed in the useless sunglass holder.

LA-Z

Sweet! Keep the reports coming, good or bad.

Z33Fan

My car is due for the scheduled 7500 mile service next week. So far, here's the good, bad, and potentially ugly...

The Good:
Any transmission problems encountered early on have gone away. I have noticed that on hard acceleration, you really do have to engage the clutch all the way to prevent even a light grind of gears.
Power is fantastic, and was smoothed out by adding a grounding kit. Pulls like crazy, and is exceptionally fun to drive.
Zaino works wonderfully, even on a CS. Makes the paint so much better than it really is.
No other warranty work other than fixing/replacing the visors for rattles.

The Bad:
Still a slight pull to the right. I've asked about it, and keep getting told it's the crowned roads. That was 3 months ago, though, so maybe enough people have complained to make them notice. No feathering of any of the tires, though, which is impressive considering how I drive my car.
Seats (cloth) are slightly fraying at the seams. It may be from my butt being planted into the back of them so often. I may be investing in a spare set of cloth covers.
Brake dust - will this ever end? I hope that my next set of pads creates less dust than the stockers. Even Zaino on the wheels can't keep 'em clean. This too may be caused by my "spirited" driving style.
Floor mats - Why couldn't Nissan spend the extra $.03 and add a heel pad to the floor mat? They did it on the side of the transmission hump, so why not add another piece to the mat? More "le-cost-cutting" from Carlos.
( edit: ) And my windows still streak, too. I think they used LA Looks gel or something, 'cause it's brutal, and makes people think the car is poorly built.

The Ugly:
A nice, pronounced scrape in the front of my bumper cover, caused within 2 weeks of ownership due to misjudgement of distance to an ivy wall with unseen rockery at the bottom. Won't fix it until spring, when I'll have the entire front cover refinished.

I'll let everyone know how things come out. I'm curious to see how fast my wearable parts (brakes, clutch, etc.) have worn out...

Danimsta

iTrader: (3)

JUST LET YOUR

SOUL GLOW!!!!

lol great movie