Remember when the 2003 was the year to avoid because of reliability problems? Not anymore. New data shows the 2004 as the most problematic.

 

05 brake trouble?

 

wait until the 07 drivers get some mileage on. They'll keep going down. It's about the same as the 05s.

 

There could be some confusion as my understanding is the changes from the original 2003 model happened with the 2004.5 model. The questionnaire had no way to differentiate between the two.

Value in consumer reports like this is mostly for comparison with other cars in it's class.

I hadn't read much here about brakes causing problems. I wonder what they are referring to.

 

Yeap, unfortunately, CU doesn't know about or make the distinction between 03-04 and 04.5. A lot of early issues were fixed with the 04.5 cars.

 

2007s are superior, sorry to dissapoint you. Go buy an 08 and quite whining because you have an early model

 

Riiiiight. Since they moved production to that new super-secret plant that makes perfect cars, all past problems have been resolved.

 

aww dont be mad, just buy the 07-08 thats all.

 

There is a difference between perfect and superior to other model years. Maybe you didnt realize the meaning of those words.

 

 

Gee, you wouldn't be touting the "superiority" of the 07 models just because you're trying to sell yours already, would you?

 

here you go, I fixed the '06(with the problems I had):

 

I have a 2004 350Z with 55,000 miles on it.

Transmission Major - I've had my transmission replaced with CD008. It's grinding again.
Suspension - Tire feathering, of course. Nissan refunded me for every tire I bought due to this. Ever since it has been realigned, I've never had a problem.
Brakes - No, I've never noticed any brake problems. Has anyone else?
Paint/Trim - Paint chips.
Speaks/Rattles - Cheap interior panels constantly popping out of place.
Audio System - The rear left speaker has been replaced and a CD is stuck in the player right now.

 

The brake pedal on my 05 is a bit long, but that's typical of all Nissans.

 

I'm sorry, but the '06 engines being rated as "better" is laughable at best. Can you say "massive oil consumption" ?

And here I am with my '03 north of 60k miles and not a single trans or suspension problem. Guess I got lucky

 

agreed

 

Looks like the consumer report is inaccurate after all.

 

Thanks but I will wait until the numbers are in on the 2007.

 

Where can I get a subscription to “Mid117 Reports?”

 

A thing to keep in mind is that reliability data is a game of numbers. While it's true that Nissan addressed the suspension problems halfway through the 2004 model year, what this data is simply telling you is that a lot more Zs were purchased in the first half of the 04 model year than in the second, hence their reliability problems were enough to overwhelm those sold in the second half.

And logically, that makes sense too. Introductry year for the Z33 had many reports of "market adjustments" etc on top of the MSRP, plus consumers usually wait 'til the second year of a new car's production anyway before jumping in. Finally, sales in second half of any production year are always slower than the first, since the next year's model is closer to introduction and consumers prefer having the "newest thing".

With all those things considered, it wouldn't suprise me if people bought the 04 Z in droves at the beginning of the year and sales slowed down a bit for the second half. And therefore, more 04s with problems were out there than those without, resulting in the CR data in this report.