Hey guys im new here and figured i might as well ask a few questions as i will be picking up a Daytona Blue 350 come spring. Im no stranger the Z's, having owned a 300zx for 3 1/2 years, but feel its time to try a diff proj. I have been trying to find things to watch for and years of the 350 to stay away from. So far all i have really come up with is that 03's have trans problems and thats about it...

This has lead me to the decision of an 04 or 05, because i wasnt sure if the turbonetics single turbo system worked well with the the VQ35HR of the newer ones(but i wont get ahead of my self here talking about what my plans are). Would this be a correct determination on my part, or am I way off in left field?

and just as a side note i was originally pulling a rhd mark 4 supra over, and took a 350 for a test drive and immediately changed my mind, im just too much of a nissan freak to change

 

the 03's also had tire feathering problems. the 1st owner probibly took care of it though. IMO i wouldnt buy the 1st year of anything. the first is always the one to have the problems, the second most the kinks are all out, and the 3rd is probibly gunna end up being the best year. than again i own a 2004.5 with no problems, so who knows.

 

lol oh yah i forgot tire feathering, everytime i popped over to the 350 board on zcar there would be 20 new threads with people bitching on tire feathering

 

I own a '05 DB Z and got 40,000 miles out of my stock tires (in other words, I had no feathering problems, lol).

 

i have an 03 with no tranny or tire problems but then again some get lucky. i just couldnt afford anything newer. the newer u go the better is my advice

 

Objective reliability data? Ever heard of Consumer Reports?

 

LOL.

Consumer Reports is about the least objective place to look for auto information.

Epinions is more useful.


I've had my 2003 for a couple weeks, enjoying the hell out of it, and not a thing wrong with the tranny. Been triple-checked, and it works fine and drives fantastic.

 

OK, the search function doesn't work very well when there are tons of threads all related to "Feathering" -- so sorry if this has already been asked, but I couldn't find my specific question anywhere.

Is any of this, related to feathering issues, covered by the OEM warranty? Items such as correcting the allignment (since it was a factory mistake), tire damage related to this, etc.?

Has anyone NOT had to pay (while still covered by the original warranty) to get anything related feathering repaired/replaced?

 

Another "which year Z is best?" thread...Get the 05 and be done with it.

 

I have an '05 and I have feathering. The first dealer I took it to wanted to charge $359 for an allignment and also tried to get $300+ for EACH front tire. When I asked if this was a warranty issue, the dealer said that it was normal use -- which is not covered. When I then said that feathering is a known problem with the Z (and that there should be multiple TSB on it), he said that it is just not covered.

I am checking with other dealers at the moment.

 

I took my 2003 to a private alignment shop that I used to work at, so I could specify the specs I wanted to make sure I fixed the tire feathering issues. cost me a whopping 50 bucks. People make a much bigger deal out of it than it is....mainly bc they trust their dealers.

 

Agree, I also have an '03 with no tire or trans issues (62k on it so far) so you could get lucky with a first year model. But unless your budget limits you to one, I would go with an 04 or 05.

 

WTF? Consumer Reports car reliability ratings come from the owners of the vehicles, not from their testers, writers or editors. I get their questionaire every year. I, the actual Z owner, reports on the Z. What could be more objective than that?

 

The TSB's and warranty extensions were applied to the 2003 and 2004 Z's. They were never extended beyond that. If you can't talk them into warrantying it, pay a shop $50-$75 to get it aligned and buy your own tires. Unfortunately, you'll probably still pay $250 per tire if you stick with the Potenzas. I'd be willing to bet you your front toe setting is way out of spec - hence the feathering.

 

40k?

You must be very gentle.

I think I got 13k out of my rears.