IMHO the pre-order process went pretty well.
The following are some observations;
1. The inabilty of most pre-order customers to get close/in to the cars to date.
2. The news black out on info surrounding the cars. (until July3 '02)
3. The inabilty of dealers and customers alike to get more rapid updates on status of cars
4. The lack of co-ordination between Consumer affairs and Regional offices (for purposes of clarifying updated info).
5. General frustrations of pre-order customers being handled in a haphazard manner.
6. A lack of clear communication between many dealers and their customers.
I know that ZISME and yelogto tried to deal with the many "brush fires" that popped up but in many cases their hands were tied. There were situations of frustration (see Marczzz post) that could easily have been handled better. Maybe once we have our cars we will forget the bad experiences.
Just "One Man's Opinion"

 

Proof there is no horse too dead to beat!

BLUF: Maybe, depends on your point of view.

The lack of information on delivery status is not limited to the pre-order process of the Z. According to my dealer, the lack of info is not out of the ordinary for Nissan. For me, the specific problem is the lack of internet based customer delivery information. And even after many of us have made these suggestions here on this forum, nothing has changed. I've had better customer feedback buying software from small companies. Doesn't give me a warm comfy feeling about ordering another vehicle from Nissan.

I've been thinking about this. If the question I was asked was: Based on your 350Z experience, would you buy another Nissan product?

My answer would be depends. I bought the 350Z because the Z is unique. Nissan would need another truly unique product. I'm in the market for an SUV. There is nothing truly unique about the Xterra or the Pathfinder. For me it depends on if I can order exactly what I want, the price (including financing), the quality and customer service. All other things being equal, the lack of customer service is enough to steer me elsewhere.

So was it a success? Partially, just one more step and it could have been fully successful. That's what gets me, it's so easy to do. If Chrysler can do it...

Will I forget about it when my Z comes? For the Z yes, but I will remember when I go to buy an SUV. Customer service is very important to me, as much before I buy the product as after. I do allow for mistakes and growth. If Nissan were to change, I would change my opinion.

As of July 29th, my dealer still shows Aug 02 delivery, no order number, no VIN, no date and he is getting tired of me asking about it (three emails for the months of June and July and he's already tired of me asking). It's hard to believe, but either Nissan doesn't know or doesn't care enough to do someting about the dealers attitudes and the concern it causes us.

Now that's from my point oif view. Unless this gets plastered all over leading industry magazines (not likely), this message is truly impotent. So I really don't think it will hurt Nissan at all. Which is why we haven't seen any changes. And looking at the pre-order numbers ranging anywhere from 7800-10000, Nissan would have to call this an unmitigated success.


Enforcer

P.S. What happened to the mythical end of July 3rd mailing?

 

I don't have a:

1. confirmation letter from Nissan on my pre-order, due to a marketing mix-up
2. Z

...yet. The horse isn't dead yet, Jim.

Based only on specs and looks... yes. The real decision, however, cannot be made until I actually get the Z.

Todd

 

there really was a lack of communication between nissan and it's dealers. I called five dealers and got five different explinations. One told me I could not pre-order, but could put my name on a waiting list and they would try to trade around for a car close to my specifications once the Z's started to be delivered. This was well into the pre-order process, like in april/may.

If I could make one suggestion it would be to have your order when taken placed in a que. This means that the cars would be delivered according to the time the order was placed. I hated going to five different dealers to find one that gave me the best time frame of delivery. Also because of the ambiguity involved I have no idea of if my dealer was straight shooting when he told me September, or just shoveling BS to ge me to sign on the line that is dotted. Also I have heard of people placing more than one order so they could take the one that arrives first, this would not be necessary if it were a first come first served system.

 

in my opinion, most of the communications breakdown was from the leadership at the dealership to the salespeople. Nissan gave all of the dealerships the same information, what they chose to do with that information was up to them. We have seen several dealerships where the staff was well informed and up to date on everything, some that just needed a little prodding from the customer, and a whole lot that just don't care, but thats the nature of the franchise type business.

The only thing I would have changed, If I were Nissan, would to have a web tracker for the customers. It could have been nothing more than steps like:
order received
order in process
car complete, awaiting shipment
car shipped, eta ____