Hi everyone!~ I am doing a research on Nissan and 350Z. I will be appreciated if you can share your view on it.

There is no doubt that Nissan is one of the best manufacturer in the world.

What is your impression on Nissan? Do they offer good machines? Do you think Nissan car suit your style?

How do you compare Nissan with other manufacturer in Japan, Europe and other countries? Please give examples with the name of them and in what aspect, such as safety, details, price, handling etc.

Thanks very much for your kindly help!~

 

Your post sounds like you are laying out the requirements for a term paper! How many references do we have to list? LOL



Consumer Reports ( April Issue) indicates Japanese vechicles have substantially better reliability than US or Europe.

The Z has several safety features including LSD, TCS, VDC, and lots of airbags.

No doubt the Zzzz is the most bang for buck in sports cars.

Go to MSN carpoint for comparisons.



http://autos.msn.com/default.aspx?src=404

 

I think Nissan makes good cars. However they way their company is run is another thing. The whole ordeal about them suing the owner of the domain name nissan.com to get it was pretty sorry. You mean to tell me a billion dollar company with hundreds of thousands of employees, not one of them had the presence of mind to go and purchase the domain name before this one guy that just owned a mom and pop computer shop did?

 

Oh NO, not this nissan.com thing AGAIN...

 

I've owned a lot of cars and here is my opinion

All domestic cars that I've rode in, drove, or owned haven't held up as good as the imports that I've owned. Meaning if you sit an a Cadillac with 40K miles it feels like a toyota with 150K miles. They're just not as tight. This is one reason that Most of the time they have a crappy resale.


Honda and Toyota seem to be the best built to me. Toyota needs to spice things up otherwise their going to be the Buick of the Japanese cars (for gray hairs).

Nissan seems to be just a step behind Honda and Toyota in quality but they make up for it in excitement. No car company is putting cars like Nissan is in their price range. Maxima, Altima, 350z, FX45, G35 etc, are all killing other cars in their price range.


Mitsibushi-Seem just as bad or worse then domestics.

Subuaru-Reliable and building some hi-po cars. They all are ugly though.

I don't like any Korean car companies but their cars are becoming more reliable. They are similar to buying a Saturn without the great dealer service. What I mean is that they just build everyday transportation for people that don't care about what they drive.

European cars. I've never owned one but I've test driven a few used ones. Somewhere between American and Japanese quality. I'd say you usually pay about 10-20% more just to have the BMW or Mercedes name but you might get it back when it's time to trade so it's an even swap. Audi's are nice but they are also becoming more and more expensive. They have the best interior IMO. Don't slam me on this one. I've never owned a European car just test drove and rode with friends.




Having said all of this, no car that I've owned (13+) has had major mechinical problems both import or domestic. Domestic cars have also been getting closer to the imports in quality but I wouldn't buy one yet.

 

I'd have to agree w/ buzzdsm. Domestics are getting a lot better, but not quite there.

 

Just a note on the Koreans,

GF has had two hyundai's in last 3 years. The cars are literally the best running cars we have ever owned. I am not kidding! Dealer support has been outstanding, ownership has been 100% trouble free, price cant be beat.


We do not have a price range when buying new cars and trucks, we just get what we like, within reason. I can honestly say that if the 350z was made by Hyundai, I would still have jumped at the chance to buy one!

My .02.

Nissan's record speaks for itself. It is flawless, for the most part.
Eric
Touring, 350z, Nav, Aero, blah blah blah,

 

That's right, 7 Nissans and counting. The only domestic we've owned the past 17 years was a used '82 Chevy Celebrity. My dad sold it for $200. He just wanted to get rid of that damn thing. My older brother has a Ford Escape given to him by his employer. Other than that, we also have a '99 Lexus ES300 and a '94 Toyota Corolla. Yes, we love Nissans and Toyotas. I'm trying to sway everyone in the family to stay away from Honda.

 

I've owned 7 Nissans from the Sentra through 240SX,Quest,Sentra wagon,Maxima(2)and Z.All have been reliable.
Toyota Celica,bulletproof.
Mazda RX4,808,Miata,great cars.
Honda Accord,great interior and fit & finish.
Domestics:
Pontiac Grand Prix,bad tranny,flaking paint.
Fiero,fun car,no problems.
1983,86 & 2000 Cougars,crap times 3.
In summary,japanese rule.

 

DOmestic cars are for the most part crap...my fiancee has a 96 Grand Am...oh lord does that car suck. I used to drive an import, but after somebody hit it badly in a prking lot, while my car was parked, i had to sell it. 192,000 on it and it was the mnost reliable car of anyone i know. Now i have a 99Dodge Dakota R/T which is heavily modded. Domestic trucks are much better than the compact cars are. My next car will be the 350z regardless... but my Dakota is very reliable....no troubles at all

 

My experience:have owned about 15 cars since 1970:
Fiat was a rust bucket disaster,Chev Monte Carlo(72) was a nice performance car but mechanically mediocre..Oldsmobile fell apart after 6 months(new car).
Toyotas have had rock solid reliability,Nissans perhaps less so.
Renault has rejuvenated Nissan a lot but I am concerned about long term durability due to cost -cutting with their parts suppliers.
My opinion is that I don,t think the Japanese makes are so superb rather that the domestics are so much below in quality and style(in the majority of models).
For the price we pay for new cars the Japanese make them the way they should be made.
Just my $.02.....

 

My rating for overall quality in descending order:
Lexus/Toyota,
Honda/Acura,
Nissan/Infinity,
Mazda
Subaru
BMW
Mercedes
Audi/Volkswgn
Ford
Chrysler/Mitsu
GM

Korean cars haven't been out as long as others so difficult to place yet

 

My impression of Nissan:

1. Excellent engine and drivetrain (both in performance and reliability).
2. OK Interior - Will not be as tight as other japanese cars (with 14,000 miles, my Z is already a rattle trap)
3. EXCITEMENT #1- In my opinion, Nissan has consistently had some of the most fun cars on the road. I'd put Mazda next, then Honda, and finally Toyota.
4. Excellent Value

I don't have any problem with domestic cars, but most of them are just not cool. Although there are some very nice upcoming products from the Big 2.5

I've owned an '84 Nissan Pickup and a '95 Ford Ranger. Both were excellent with very few problems. I sold the Ranger (65,000 miles) to get the Z.

-D'oh!

 

What surprised me was that in some consumer/magazine survey, high end cars like BMW and Mercedes...had lower ratings in #of problems per car than their japanese counterparts.

 

in terms of reliability mercedes is like the honda of german cars

reliability meredes > bmw .....by far

 

I have owned 2 Oldsmobiles Cutlass Cierras, 1 Pontiac Bonneville, and 1 Nissan Xterra. During that same time my wife owned a honda civic and Volkswagen Passat.

Heres how I rate them

Honda Civic # 1
resale value and duriabilty (7accidents and it went for 150,000 miles)

Volkswagen Passat #1
in pure driving pleasure, spoiled rotten by sweet interior and all the litte goodies.

Xterra #1
in worry free transportation, never ever broke down in 50,000 miles and I have only replaced a tail light bulb, brakes and tires

2 Olds and 1 Pontiac
all three left me on the side of road now and agian, but where worth it when maniac drivers totaled them and I walked away each time with out a scratch

Hope that helps

 

ummm is that why they are below the average in problems, or why the Mclass is considered to be one of the least reliable cars made today, so bad that it brought mercedes under the average all by itself.

or perhaps because my moms C320 has been in the shop once a month on average, typicaly for the same problem of blown lights, but also for blown tranny, AC, and window motor.

mercedes sucks, my moms been trying to sell it for a losing price for almost 4 months, 2 people have called.

not the point tho, I like nissan, they make good cars, they are all appealing to certain groups, not always my group, but a company wouldnt do real good if they only targeted ~20yo people. my mom wants the new maxima, so its appealing to someone.

nissan gets a bad rep occasionally about interior quality, but thats because its cars get compared to other cars that dont really match, the M45 is compared to 5series and Eclass, great, its interior isnt the same, but the price is only even close if you compare the small engines. makes it near impossible to really compare cars, for a closer price match the m45 should be compared to C class and 3 series, which it has a nicer interior and blows them away performance wise. but its size is closer to the larger sedans. how do you compare all that?

 

And the M3 that is so nice burns oil like 76 Pinto. I think it was C&D that said they would go through a quart every 3K miles.

 

And you have personal experience with a product from each company?

If you see a Pinto these days, you might try stepping to it just to see what will happen. You may be in for a surprise because a lot of the remaining ones are getting scooped up by hot rodders.

 

Since you asked about Nissan as a company, I'll comment on Nissan Motor Acceptance* (the people to whom I've signed my life away to).

*I wanna it's actually Nissan Motor Car Acceptance, but I can't remember.

Anyway, I've had several problems so far with bills (all due to the postal service and *not* Nissan) and the customer service reps I've spoken to have all been super nice, helpful and understanding. I was really afraid that they were going to lay the smack down on me but they've been super - to the point that at this point, I'd be happy to have my car loan through them again.

My dealership and salesman, well, that's another story.

I love the car tho =)

Background:
My last new car was a Honda Civic. I liked my Honda (I didn't learn to love cars and love driving them until I got my Z), but their 2003's just did nothing for me. Before my Civic, I had beaters not worth mentioning (other than most riding lawn mowers probably had more pep).