Hey all, i have heard of some issues with "Feathering" (whatever that is) on the 03's. Is there any other overwhelming issues with the 03's that I should know about? The price on a low mileage 03 is quite good right now, is this because of poor quality build or simply depreciation? Thanks for any insight.

 

I bought a 2003 PPW 18" Touring 350Z..........................No problems at all!

 

The 03 depreciated faster than the rest because it was the first build year for this car. The difference between that and an 04 or up is that there is a higher chance of having problems. Do a search and you'll see some of them. There is the tire feathering, window motor problems, transmission, etc. I have an 03 with 32K miles and the only problem I've ever had was window motors, but it's only stuck twice and it's gone up later both times.

 

I have an 03. And I've had about three problems - nothing major (window motor, rear axle click and feathering). Nissan has fixed everything under warranty. Try to buy a car under warranty. If you can't, look at the vehicle service history which you can probably get from Nissan USA or a Nissan dealer to see if the work has already been done.

 

I posted Consumer Reports reliability data a dozen times. Please search.

 

Im only guessing but I would say its a 50/50 chance of getting a lemon 03'... You feelin lucky?

 

wow, Bull2****Z....20,000 (TWEEEEENTY THOUSAAAAAND) out of 40,000(FOURRRRRRRTY THOUSSSSSSSSAND) are lemons?

 

what exactly is feathering anyways, i did a search and got no luck

 

I bought my 03 brand new and the only major issue I had was tire feathering. I bought new tires and had a professional alignment done and the tire feathering issue is gone.
I'm very happy with my 03.
And to say that 50% of the 03's are lemons is dead wrong.

 

+ a million on that

 

on the 03 you can certainly count on front tire feathering issues....power window motors/regulators gone bad besides death and taxes.

 

Probably over 95% of the peeps that have driven an 03 for 3+ years now had the feathering issue fixed. Like I said, new tires and alignment and I have had zero tire feathering since then, at about 56K. Also, not a bit of trouble with my window motors.
It's a shame fellow Z owners want to talk smack on the 03. Don't forget.....the 03 is where the new generation Z all began.

 

i've got one with 35000 and have the axel click and transmission grind. i would say that the tranny is prob the most important thing to check out. really test drive it well and shift it quickly and make sure it doesn't feel too notchy or grind AT ALL! other than that and the things previously mentioned, build quality is great. no worse than any other Z on the road, despite the year.

p.s. and for the trans. reason alone definitely try to get one with some warranty left

 

I'd highly recommend refraining from an 03. I think many people who have "no problems" either haven't noticed the problems or haven't accrued enough mileage. Aside from the transmission grinds, none of the 03 issues are major...but if for a few k more you can avoid them, why wouldn't you? Especially now as 03s are nearing the end of their bumper to bumper. You get what you pay for.
NzZ

 

Personaly I would not buy a 03' unless it was an automatic. The 03' MT6 pretty much sucked if you drive semi-aggressive... Atleast thats the conclusion that I get from reading the various 350z forums with the amount of poeple who have had to get there Manual Transmission replaced. This was also a problem with the first year G35 manual transmissions also since they use the same tranmissions as the 350z

From what I can tell the tire feathering issue seems to be fixed.

If you pick up a consumer reports you will see that they give the 03' 350z quite a few poor ratings because of the tire feathering and transmission problems, the 04' and later models got a lot better ratings. If you search the forums someone has posted the overall scores...

Whatever you do best of luck...

 

no problems on my 03 except window grease

 

Ok, I might exgerated that a bit, but bottom line is buying a 03' 350z can be risky (mostly because of the transmisison problems) especialy since most of the 03's factory warrenties have ran out or are about to.

He asked for peoples advice and im giving it, for a $20k plus used car the 03' 350z is not a good risk, your better off spending few thousand more for a 04' model.

Just my opinion.....

 

That advice would make perfect sense IF the feathering and tranny problems did not carry over to the 04 model year, which they did.
If you can't afford an 05 or 06, I really don't see the risk difference between purchasing an 03 or 04.

 

+1

 

more can be found here...
Google is your friend - Nissan 350z Tire Problems