I just went out and looked at the body panels.... sure enought, there is a gap on the door frame where ...the body panels that meet 3/4 way down.... But mine aren't...spaced about 3/4" apart and leave a large gap. The driver's door is 2/16" and the passengers door is 3/16".

Okay, let's see, checked my bumpers... hmm, align okay.

Paint? Took the car out of the garage into the sunlight....hmm, okay.
I must confess though, I haven't had a vision check in two years. I might have missed something. I don't know, that Silverstone looks mighty fine to me.

Rattles? Not yet.

Fuel lid alignment? Check, okay.

Window grease. Not yet.

Anything else I need to check? I guess I'm just lucky...

You want to talk about QC, you should see my cousin's $50,000 plus 2003 Yukon XL Denali ....

Peace

 

Just an FYI. The splash guards are port installed options and not factory installed. At least that was the case for those of us who preordered the car.

 

I just came out of a lease on a '99 Boxster and I was on the Boxster board as well. There were a whole lot more problems with the Boxster. I Personally had a few problems with quality on my Boxster, both cosmetic and mechanical. From what I have seen here there has not been anyone complaining about bad engine seals, oil leaks ect... Yes there was even orange peel on the Boxsters as well.

As it has been said, all new cars are going to have these things, it has nothing to do with QA. Some of these things don't show up right away, and would not be seen at the factory.


Jimbo

Will pick up my 350Z on Monday

______

SuperBlack/Charcoal 6MT Touring Fully loaded - No Nav

 

Overall, I'm happy with my Z33 but I must agree with the initial post in this thread.

Yes, for the cash, this is one hell of a car. However, I'm not exactly rich and this is the most expensive thing I've ever purchased in my life. With that said, I have to admit that I am not pleased with the rather obvious gaps between some of the body panels. It's just way too noticeable; way too inconsistent.

My other issue is the paint: not so much the orange peel (which is also fairly noticeable) but my big gripe is the paint chipping. My daily driver is a 1988 4WD Turbo Celica. The Celica still has it's original paint with 173,000 miles on the clock. My $35,000 Z33 with 1,643 miles has far more paint chips on the front bumper. What the hell gives? My old Toyota's front bumper is almost perfect... I don't get it... I'm scared to death of what my 350 will look like in a couple of years. It's almost as if Nissan has chosen to use water color paint for these cars-it's way too soft and inexcusable.

I'm only stating the facts here...

 

Everyone that bought a Z wants the car they read about that received car of the year in “Automobile” magazine. They want this awesome machine and to be blown away with the car. The expectations are just too high. The car industry is one of the most profitable and competitive industries on the planet and they can make or break a countries GDP. They are trying to move cars fast and increase sales all the time. If you compare the automotive industry to other major industries look and see the QC issues.

The oil industry? We don’t know and probably don’t want to know.
The computer industry? Hardware? About 30% return rate.
The computer industry? Software? I don’t even have to talk about that.
Major appliances? CR has mentioned 20 % major problems in new models.
Home building? Talk about broken shi@ and misaligned everything and this is a huge personal investment.
Electronics? Have you seen the return line at your local store, say Best Buy, as long as the check out lines. So say 50/50.
Passenger airliners? Then engines and wings work very well, thank god. But the inside!!!

And as far as Nissan. I have owned two Hondas and have not been impressed at all. I even recommended a Honda to a friend because of the high resale value and they have been upset at me ever since. The cars drive poorly and you talk about rattles the thing is a tin box and no panels are aligned. But the cars start at 12K. That is what you get for 12K. When people talk about Honda they talk about engine and drive train. Most of your Honda owners don’t even know what misalignment is as a concept.

The last encounter I had with a Toyota. Was a friends Solara that was a subject of the lemon laws and was purchased back by the dealer for being in the shop 9 months straight for the first year of ownership.

The best vehicle that I have ever owned was a Ford pickup. Never broken. Side panels misalignment who cares they are obscured by the dents. Noise and rattle everything all the time. But, it started every time. Yes. Well over 200,000 miles. Don’t know for sure the odometer does not work. Had to put a few exhaust systems in but that was not much.
It might run forever. It always turned over. Totally satisfied with vehicle. But low expectation.

And I have many friends that own Mercedes-Benz and they think the car is a money pit and ***** all the time. Another friend with 355 Ferrari loves the car. $160,000. At 10K miles needed complete valve job, big bucks.

So to quote a common expression on the website my 0.02 worth.