Resale is not going to be good the first few years. I think you will find the Z will hold better value later rather than sooner. It is a car not a house.

 

I use to collect and sell antiques, and the only time resale was an issue is if you plan on selling. I have no intention only selling this car because I don't see replacing it. So resale is not an issue and the value could drop to zero it ain't going nowhere just my 2 cents.

 

Forget selling, get a 4 wheel alignment from your dealer for free and get everything in spec. If the dealer can't do it, find an alignment shop who can and tell NNA what you've done. Or they may suggest another dealer with more expertise. Buy a set of Koni adjustable shocks or KYBs, or other good set of shocks when they come out and don't lower your car yet, until we get final, confirmed settings for the alignment.

Do the alignment anyway. You do not have to replace your tires every 4000 miles, if you are even close to proper alignment. I'm talking about you spending $100s and you're talking about losing over $5000. Do the math and stop being stupid, because you are frustrated, and get it fixed your self, instead of waiting for Nissan. If my dealer couldn't get in spec, I was going to pay $75 to an alignment specialist with state of the art equipment. Selling your Z now is ridiculous.

Boomer--use it or lose it, I don't care.

 

Why don't you people with tire problems just get an alignment? I did it early on , and have had no probs. as for lease vs. buy and renting, I've never paid a car off myself, so leasing forces me to keep a car more than 12-15 months. that being said, I financed the Z, but leased the G. I have resigned myself to the fact that I will always have 3 car payments, as long as they are reasonable, I don't care how long I keep a car. (the Z and G35c quite possibly have broken my habit of new cars every year though, 7 months and no thoughts of another car yet, usually, I plan the next one before signing on the current one)

 

Didn't you used to own a black e46 M3? Just curious...I think you e-mailed me when I was looking to buy.

Sorry to hear about the problems with the Z. What would you rather worry about...having to buy new tires every 4K miles or the possibility of your engine grenading I guess every car has an issue of some sort. So far my M3 has been running like a champ for 30K miles...and, now, I have a 6 yr/100K mile warranty on the engine.

With regards to the suspension/feathering issue - keep plugging away...If there is enough of an uproar, Nissan will have no choice but to react positively....you saw how long it took BMW to respond. Well, they finally did and some are still not happy but, at least, they are doing something about the engine issue specific to certain build dates. What are looking to buy now...STi??? EVO. Damn, if all these car were out a year ago, I may not of bought the M3 and saved some $$.

 

Kmurph its funny you said that with all these cars to pick from you had of not picked the M3 well lets just say stick with that M3, I'm going back to BMW. Yup your right I did have a Carbon Black M3, sold it because I didn't lose a penny on it (thanks to the M3's good resale value) and decided to go with a Z .. well going with the Z cost me as it doesn't have near the resale value and it kept chewing up the front tires. My '03 Mystic Blue M3 will be showing up in about 3 weeks and I can't WAIT, i'm just as excited as the first time!! Drop the Z off today at the BMW dealership and looked back once.. Don't get me wrong, the Z was a fun little car to drive and looks great but NIssan just left a sour taste in my mouth when they shunned me off for tires and the crappy service i recieved from my local dealership(Wichita,KS.).. That STi does look rather tempting, but dam ugly.
Yup you can't beat a 6yr 100k warranty, another reason i'm going back to the M3..

 

Congrats on the new M3...you might want to double check on the warranty..I'm not sure what your car's build date is but I know that the 6YR/100K miles warranty doesn't apply to every new M3....but you'll still have at least 4/50K maintenance and 4/50K warranty.

I'm glad you mentioned resale value...that's one thing a lot of people don't consider when buying a car. I've only owned Honda Products (Acura) & BMWs over that past 9 years so I've been spoiled with good resale value.

I'm currently looking for a car for my wife (who currently drives a Honda Accord V6 Coupe) and have a hard time looking at cars I know will lose so much value when compared to BMW, Honda, Toyota or Mercedes. I really like a lot of the new Nissan products and the attitude of their design/function but still wonder how resale will be. I guess only time will tell.

Has the the G35 coupe had the same issues as the Z with regards to the suspension? I know that G rides on the same chasis (but extended) and suspension isn't exactly the same but was just curious.

As for my front tires..my first set of Pilots lasted 25K miles but I only did one autocross and had no track days...I'm now starting to track and do more autocrosses so we'll see how my new Kumho MXs hold up. One thing you might want to look into when you get the M is adding negative camber to the front suspension if you plan to autocross or track. The factory camber plates are slotted. This will extend the life of the front tires. I haven't added the neg. camber to mine yet but plan to soon.

Good Luck with the M!

 

Sounds like you had your mind made up to buy the M3 in the first instance and the tyre / poor service issues with Nissan just made that decision to get the M3 easier.
The M3 is a great car and hopefully give you no hassles.
How much did you get for the Z by the way? Dis the BMW dealer buy it from you?

 

Most every car takes a hit the minute you drive it off the lot (except some exotics, a used Ferrari 360 costs more then what MSRP is). Here is an article that was on MSN today about this topic: Article

 

So, according to the article, vincy lost about $6-8000, depending on model, by trading his Z now. Hey, if you've got the $, you can do what you like. Seems like a lot of money to lose for the price of an alignment and dislike of a shitty dealer. I thought Witchita, KS had more than one Nissan dealership, maybe not. If there is only one, it would make some sense. If there is another, then its really a poor financial decision, but he is entitled to do what he wants w/his cash. I wish him good luck with his 1 BMW dealership in Witchita, Ks.

 

Only 1 Nissan dealership in Wichita, the next closest one to me is in OKC< or Tulsa (both a 2hour drive). I recieved $26,500(no one else would give me more than $25k for my performance with aero package) and they discounted the M3 $1700 off MSRP. My car was already been within NIssan specs since I bought it(according to Wichita) and I was still had the tire feathering problem/bouncy ride and transmission rattle. NIssan of NOrth America would not return my calls, and said they did not warranty the tires or stand behind them because they do not make them. I told them I did not put the Bridgestones on the car and that they should stand behind the products they decide to put on there car. I have 3 written signatures from 3 different bridgestone dealerships telling me that it is a mechanical suspension problem, not a tire defect. NIssan just doesn't care, so they can take there flagship over produced car problems to someone else.. I had an '02 M3 before I had the Z and excited as i was the first time to get it back. I really think that the Z being a 2 seater is going to really hurt it resale value, and obviously there over producing them as well.. Theres 7 Z's here in the Wichita lot, or maybe people are just getting the hint around here that there service sucks.

 

Please do the rest of us a favor. Go to Nissan's main website and e-mail them your description and tell them and send a copy to your so-called dealer. Tell them both you have published the e-mail on my350Z.com, 350frenzy.com and several others. Then call NNA or leave the message exactly as you have written. Tell them where it is posted on my350.com for anyone who's interested can see.

If its too much trouble, just send it to Nissan's main website if you can. Thank you and I hope you enjoy your M3, I also passed on an M3 to buy the Z. I share many of your frustrations with Nissan, but not with the car. It appears to me that Nissan-Renault has abandoned the 2003s and will be focusing all their efforts on the 2004 cars. Their callous disregard of their 2003 350Z buyers is a constant irritant to me. Thank goodness I have a good dealer and I am not far from several others.

Boomer

 

I share in the frustration with the obvious suspension set-up problem that has caused highly visible feathering on the inner side of the front tire tread. I took my car to the dealer and had them perform a front end alignment. I then registered a complaint with NNA, which has been a lesson in futility so far.

See if this recap makes sense to any of you. The dealer told me that they considered the tire wear to be normal (we all know that visible checking or feathering of tires after only 4k miles is BS) and that I would have to file a complaint with NNA if I wanted new front tires. So I called NNA and they promptly assigned me a case number. Today I gave them a follow-up call and asked for an update since it has been about a month since my first call. They told me that they had contacted the dealer and the dealer said the tire wear was normal. At this point in the conversation it takes all my restraint to avoid launching into a venomous diatribe because this woman hasn't seen the tires on my car and she is taking the word of the service department as gospel. WTF. So I calmly asked if the dealership told NNA that the front end was out of alignment from the factory. Miraculously, they had ommitted that piece of information. So now I'm back at square one-with feathered tires and no replacements.

If anyone wants to file a class action lawsuit to get results sign me up because I've gotten no where fast through the normal channels.

-Murry

 

I would suggest setting up a website which is similar to what Jason from Roadfly.org did for the e46 BMW M3 Engine Failures.

http://members.roadfly.org/jason/m3engines.htm

I think this really helped M3 owners in getting the extended warranty and the Service Bulletin. Because of the documentation on the website, a spike of failures could be seen for certain build dates. Eventually the media got wind of it and articles starting popping in magazines like AutoWeek. The last think BMW wanted was a PR nightmare and they finally reacted after months of resisitance........sure enough BMW eventually issued a service action request specific to those engine build dates and an extended 6 year/100K miles warranty on the engine for all others.

If the feathering problem is REAL, then a 350Z owner needs to take the lead and compile some stats that help the argument. No auto company wants a PR nightmare...Like we found with BMW, there will be resistance at first. Hopefully, during this time of resistance, Nissan is doing there own investigation if enough owners have complained. Remember, it is still early. It will take some time for Nissan to validate the problem. If the problem is widespread and Nissan eventually does not react positively then shame on them...that's not the way to do business.

 

Plan a road trip to Kansas City and bring it to Carmax. They are right off of I35 and 67th St. That is probably your best be, if not, Baron BMW is right down the road and you can check the prices out there.

It's not that the dealer is screwing you, but the fact that they have to sell a used car instead of a new one. Take into consideration that you can't get as good of an interest rate on a used one as you can on a new one. If a person has good credit there is only about a $25 or less payment difference per $1000. Of course you are going to lose when you trade in. Look at it this way, would you buy a new one for $500 a month or a used one for $450 a month. That’s why you lose when you buy new, everyone knows that.

Instead, check into the LEMON LAWS of your state to see what you can force Nissan to do.