NeoZ

I've noticed from reading the mileage thread that there are quite a few people on the board who aren't afraid to put some miles on their new Z. Having said that, I am wondering if the Z makes a good daily driver. It would seem to be the case since it shares its engine with a few other Nissan vehicles and the same level of reliability should apply to the Z.

My question is how many of you do use your Z as a daily driver and how is it holding up?

toykilla

iTrader: (1)

i drive mine everyday.. it is my only car....

i think the question is what are your requirements... if you plan on hauling alot of stuff around, then no...

the only downside i see to the car is a lack of storage space... i dont carry anything anywhere so that is fine with me

i dont think reliability is an issue .. unless you put a supercharger on as some of the forum members are now finding out

bixby

iTrader: (2)

Yes, I use my Z (Z31) as a daily driver and it has held up exceptionally! I just rolled over 372,000 miles on it. It uses less than a qt of oil between changes (4,000 mi), no leaks, no smoke and still runs great. My 350 is being driven twice a week and is an exceptional daily driver but I just hate putting it in harms way for rock chips & such. I've had it almost 4 mos & have 3500 miles on it (only 1 rock chip which covered nicely with touch up paint).

350zroadster

iTrader: (1)

you can't be a soccer mom and drive the Z, that's for sure.

(thank god)

Aggro_Al

I use my Z as a daily driver and no problems yet. It was originally going to be an occassional driver but I like driving it so much that it became the car I use all the time. The other car only comes out when I need to haul people or things.

kgatesman

Oh YEAH, every day! Most days, I drive a few extra miles on the way to work.

marhot

I believe the Z would be an exceptional daily driver. It is not my daily driver because I want to keep my annual mileage low and expect to keep it for a long, long time. The only time I can see the Z not being practical as a daily driver would be in the winter. Though I haven’t had mine in the winter yet, I can imagine it would be a nightmare in bad weather (snow). And I definitely won’t be driving this winter except on dry, sunny days!
(But since you're in California I assume that's not an issue for you
)

Agreed, the VQ engine is a great engine. It has proven very reliability in other Nissans and there is no reason to expect otherwise in the Z. It is very reliability, giving great performance, and reasonable gas mileage.

ajk4

my z is a daily driver and i havent had a problem yet (crossing fingers). i drove it at last winter, but only when the roads were clear (fortunately we dont get much snow in east tenn). the most i haul around is a golf bag or two so storage space isnt really an issue for me. the only trouble i have is in heavy rain. it seems like the z hydroplanes easily due to its light weight.

5ilver5tone

yep 9k miles in 3 months

Montez

Daily driver and a good one we have 10,900 on it purchased it in Jan., the only thing we hate about it and the Max is the low grade paint especially the front ends of both.

NeoZ

Absolutely. My car is getting about 21MPG city and 27MPG highway which is just about the same as my previous car (2000 Honda Prelude) but now I have much better performance. At first I was concerned about making my Z a daily driver, but it has proven itself as a realiable car. I'm planning on doing about 7,500 miles a year and getting a used civic on about a year and a half for any longer trips.

Zsilverstone13

I am not quite sure what define "good daily driver", but I sure have a lot of fun driving my Z to work, shopping..etc every day.

MonkeyBoy

I think you can get one or two soccer ***** in the hatch area ... barely.

AndyB

My Z will be my daily driver.

My current car is a Dodge Durango with a 5.9 liter V8. That was fine when my commute was 12 minutes. Now my commute is about an hour. The poor mileage and bulky handling of the Durango makes a long commute a drag. So I am getting a Z.

(Ironic, to me the Z is actually an econmical and environmental choice!)

I own a home and need a practical hauling vehicle so I am also keeping my SUV for home depot runs and vacations.

Having a good hauler available as a backup will make the Z plenty good for a daily driver.

If, on the other hand, I could have only ONE car in the family I don't think I could live with a Z. I do home repairs, woodworking, and even have a full suit of armor I need to transport. None of those things would work with a Z.

Also, if the Z was my ONLY car I would need a good set of studded snow tires. We get some nasty icey snow here in Connecticut (melt and refreeze) and the sporty stock tires on the Z would not get anywhere some days.

As others have said.... It just depends on your needs.

350zluvr

The 350Z is my only car, but even in the winter time I shouldn't have too many problems since I live in Texas and our winters are like a normal state's summers.

D'oh

The Z is my daily driver (about 80 miles per day round trip).

I don't think reliability will be a problem, but there are a couple things to think about:

1. Stiff suspension - depending on the roads, especially crappy highways, this can be annoying over long distances

2. Road Noise - This can be annoying on long trips, but it depends quite a bit on the kind of road.

Since I drive on mainly curvy roads, I don't mind the suspension at all. The noise can be annoying, but I like driving with the window down and that adds so much wind noise that the road noise often does not bother me.

-D'oh!

fred_richmond

It used to be my daily driver. My 4 month old Z has spent 2 of the last 3 weeks at the dealer. I kept having the car drop into "failsafe" mode, where full throttle is just 2k RPM. First time in they replaced the throttle assembly. I had it for a week, and failsafe mode again. Brought it back last week and now they say I need a new Electronic Control Unit. Unfortunately the defect in the ECU that is causing the problem has yet to be resolved, so there are no replacement ECUs available and no ETA. The car could sit there for weeks. According to the dealer a recall is probably in the works.

Nothing but good things to say about the dealer though. They provided me a rental car at their expense (not Nissan's). And I didn't even buy the car there.

longbowe

My Z is my only car, and this is the only time in my life when I've wished I had a longer commute. Not just because it's so much fun to drive; but also because a 2-mile 1-way commute is killing my fuel economy.

mb27

My Z has been my daily driver since Feb and I've put alomst 16,000 miles on it. The only issue I have is the paint. Because of the low profile of the z, everything on the highway hits it, nicks it. I have the clear bra, and that has white nicks in it, though the paint underneath is protected. I wash my car ~ 3 times a week and it never looks clean. One trip to work and back and it is filthy.

Mechanically it is great! The ride is not bumpy, at least to me. I had the pulling to the right issue, but the dealer did the TSB about 10,000 miles ago and it has been fine since.

DEADHEDZ

It's great as my daily driver. I put about 70 miles a day round trip driving into Manhatan. Its a car--Drive it and enjoy it. I never mind driving into the city in this car. I'm smiling all the way.

I did keep my Mini Van for the snow tho

Paul