Aright guys and gals... I found this touring 03 with 19,000 miles on it for 21k. Being an active member of this site, I have heard of some of the problems the 03 has. I took a good look at the tires on this car, and they seem to be the original tires. Here is the problem the inside seems to be alittle more worn than the outside (not to much). I DO NOT want a headache. I believe they are the original tires because the outside of the tires arnt too chuncky, they look like they have 19k miles on them. Now here is my question, if the owner never did anything with the tires, is it normal to have alittle more wear on the inside due to lack of rotation? I have heard nightmare stories with the 03, and then again i have heard of ppl haveing no problems. So basically again my question is, if the tires were not touched for 19k miles, is it normal to have alittle wear on the inside. It seems like those tires could be rotated and you could easly get another 10k miles out of them. Any input would be great, thankyou! On a side note the fronts were the one to seem to have alittle wear on the inside.

 

2003 tire feathering issue, just get a good shop to do a realignment of the front suspension with the new updated TSB service bulletin specs, then your fine; thats the least of your worries with a 2003 model...ugh, check the Repairs forum sections haha

 

Photos would be helpfull but feathering is a common 350Z problem. If the front tires growl, rotating will not help (yes I did it with my tires). No one can promise that an alignment will fix the problem.

If you are a performance sports car enthusiast, buy it. If you are searching for reliability there are choices other than a performance sports car.

 

ask if the transmission was replaced also

 

i bought the EXACT same car used 03 touring w/ 18000 miles for 21K...no real problems since i bought it last month....only prob was my drivers side window had a short, so it would roll down all the time. Other than that PERFECT!!! you will love it and its a great deal(assuming its a clean car).

 

I bought an 03 with 30000 miles a few monthes ago. No problems here and I love my car............its a touring model by the way. Just remember to take care of the fuel line recall from Nissan.

 

I would just go buy some cheap Nitto 555's instead of rotating the used tires on the car. The stock tires are crap and they wear really quickly/easily.

FWIW, I only got 18k miles on my brand new stock Ford Escape tires. So I figure if I can out-do that with my Z then I'm doing well. Just figure that you'll need to buy new tires soon and factor that into your "cost of ownership". Or ask the seller if he'll drop the price by $500 to offset you having to buy new tires.

And don't be fearful of 03's....mine is running like a champ without any serious issues.

 

I got my 03 touring last Sept with 17,000 miles and I had problems with the tranny but they re lubed the driveshaft and I had no problem since with the tranny. My front brakes went after 5000 miles and I replaced it with Hawk Hps which wasn't bad for me because it took away all the brake dust from the old pads that came with. My air bag sensor went bad which made the air bag light come up, and they replaced it free with warrenty. Sometimes the driver side window doesn't go up with the one touch and the trunk takes about 2 or 3 trys to get it unlached. And the last problem is with the rattling of the dash while driving under 35mph, which I haven't got fixed yet.

But aside from all the problems, I still love the car, it's stiff, good power.

My advice is if your going to spend that much money on a Z than midas well get a 06' base for around 28K.

 

Depending on the date this car was originally sold it may still be under the factory 3 year warranty. If so, you can purchase new Goodyear or Michlin tires and Nissan USA will reimburse you for the cost of replacing the front tires. They'll also pay for mounting and re-alignment. Since these tires have nearly 20k miles on them anyway this is a good way to get four new tires for the cost of two.

However, you will have to take the car to a Nissan dealer first for an inspection of the current tires. They will tell you if the tires qualify for replacement.

 

Alright guys... Im so happy I bought the car. The car is real clean, still smells brand new a matter of fact. So where do I get the specs in order to tell the alignment people. I bought a 100k mile warrantee through Nissan, so is an alignment covered in that warrantee? What is the best way to go about this? The tires are not too bad, but I can see if I dont get it fixed and put some miles, I could run into problems. Thank you everybody.

 

Oh man im going to take a ride, too bad its raining. Thanks all for your input

 

no, alignment is not covered by warranty. there was a TSB a while back that allowed for alignment coverage on 03 Z's for up to 2 yrs from the date of purchase in response to the tire feathering issue, however that should be expired on all 03's by now. any certified alignment shop/dealer should have the most up to date alignment specs as advised by nissan.

 

I bought my 03 w/ 16K on it about a year and a half ago (when they were still pretty new and rare here in IN). I paid 26K and they were asking 32K, . So, that sounds like a good deal to me. Damn, I should have waited another year, haha. Oh yeah, no problems except once my passenger side window wouldn't roll up. I shut off the car and restarted it and it went up.

 

Congrats on the car.

You can probably find the tire info here somewhere: http://www.nissanhelp.com/Bulletins/350Z/2003/1.htm

(Don't let all of the info scare you. )

As for the alignment issue (i.e., feathering), there is a TSB at the above link that they will fix under warranty. They adjust the camber for that TSB but they won't do an alignment for free.

 

bought an 03' with 7xxx miles on it i'm not on my 3rd tranny 3rd clutch counting the factory one and one being a nismo clutch and a voided warentee for my last tranny replacement for no apparent reason what so ever... other than that best car ive ever had its so much fun i wish i could sleep in the thing

 

Definitely check the initial title date to ensure the car is still under warranty. If it is take it to the dealer and let them fix the problem and also make sure they replace the front tires with the new tread block pattern. You should eliminate/significantly reduce the feathering and eliminate the tire noise once they become more worn later on. I've put 11,000 miles on my front tires since Nissan fixed the feathering and they still seem okay.