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These are the " little " things that bother me about my Z

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Old 01-06-2010, 10:17 AM
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geddy lee
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Default These are the " little " things that bother me about my Z

2003 base model. Bought at 30K, presently at 120K. Overall I am very happy with the car. Its just the little things like

- The 32 used plastic gift cards that I have over the years had to bend and cut up and use as rattle stoppers up in the front of the dash, below the little speakers up by the vent in the doors, back in the plastic piece surrounding the strut bar and various other locations

-The permanent 5 speed shift pattern I have branded into my palm from grabbing the shifter after my car had been sitting in the 95 degree sun all day last year.

- The wet noodle oil dip stick that seems to want to go anywhere but back in that little hole, even with the guide piece

- The location of the emergency flasher button which I seem to turn on with my elbow once or twice a week

- I have often turned the headlights off when using the left turn signal

- The rear metal gasket from the pipe to the muffler which needs replacing every 6 months ( This time I just let it leak, doesn't sound bad either )

- Neck pains from trying to look back into the center console to get something out

- The automatic opening cup holder which went to hell at about 75K. ( I have since designed my own that fits up under the plastic on the passenger side at a lower height and enables me to make a 60 mph turn with a 16 ouncer in there and no loss of liquid )

- The complete blind spot caused by the driver side mirror when making a left hand turn from a high road to a lower road.

- The rear hatch struts (when they go ) that transfer the rear hatch into a 2000 lb. slab of metal that takes 2 people to lift

Its still worth the little aggravation I encounter
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Old 01-06-2010, 10:56 AM
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Spork
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Originally Posted by geddy lee
2003 base model. Bought at 30K, presently at 120K. Overall I am very happy with the car. Its just the little things like

- The 32 used plastic gift cards that I have over the years had to bend and cut up and use as rattle stoppers up in the front of the dash, below the little speakers up by the vent in the doors, back in the plastic piece surrounding the strut bar and various other locations

-The permanent 5 speed shift pattern I have branded into my palm from grabbing the shifter after my car had been sitting in the 95 degree sun all day last year.

- The wet noodle oil dip stick that seems to want to go anywhere but back in that little hole, even with the guide piece

- The location of the emergency flasher button which I seem to turn on with my elbow once or twice a week

- I have often turned the headlights off when using the left turn signal

- The rear metal gasket from the pipe to the muffler which needs replacing every 6 months ( This time I just let it leak, doesn't sound bad either )

- Neck pains from trying to look back into the center console to get something out

- The automatic opening cup holder which went to hell at about 75K. ( I have since designed my own that fits up under the plastic on the passenger side at a lower height and enables me to make a 60 mph turn with a 16 ouncer in there and no loss of liquid )

- The complete blind spot caused by the driver side mirror when making a left hand turn from a high road to a lower road.

- The rear hatch struts (when they go ) that transfer the rear hatch into a 2000 lb. slab of metal that takes 2 people to lift

Its still worth the little aggravation I encounter
I didn't know the Z was sold with a 5-speed manual transmission.


I share some of these same things, but I managed to fix them or get used to them. I did a fix for the cup holder, btw.
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Old 01-06-2010, 11:10 AM
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Boostedtrack350
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Originally Posted by geddy lee
2003 base model. Bought at 30K, presently at 120K. Overall I am very happy with the car. Its just the little things like

- The 32 used plastic gift cards that I have over the years had to bend and cut up and use as rattle stoppers up in the front of the dash, below the little speakers up by the vent in the doors, back in the plastic piece surrounding the strut bar and various other locations

-The permanent 5 speed shift pattern I have branded into my palm from grabbing the shifter after my car had been sitting in the 95 degree sun all day last year.

- The wet noodle oil dip stick that seems to want to go anywhere but back in that little hole, even with the guide piece

- The location of the emergency flasher button which I seem to turn on with my elbow once or twice a week

- I have often turned the headlights off when using the left turn signal

- The rear metal gasket from the pipe to the muffler which needs replacing every 6 months ( This time I just let it leak, doesn't sound bad either )

- Neck pains from trying to look back into the center console to get something out

- The automatic opening cup holder which went to hell at about 75K. ( I have since designed my own that fits up under the plastic on the passenger side at a lower height and enables me to make a 60 mph turn with a 16 ouncer in there and no loss of liquid )

- The complete blind spot caused by the driver side mirror when making a left hand turn from a high road to a lower road.

- The rear hatch struts (when they go ) that transfer the rear hatch into a 2000 lb. slab of metal that takes 2 people to lift

Its still worth the little aggravation I encounter
So what do you like?

I love my 03. My cup holder works just fine. I also fix rattles rather than sticking plastic cards in place as a band aid. Spend more time fixing these LITTLE things rather than making a post about it
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Old 01-06-2010, 11:27 AM
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PerfZ
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Originally Posted by geddy lee
2003 base model. Bought at 30K, presently at 120K. Overall I am very happy with the car. Its just the little things like

-The permanent 5 speed shift pattern I have branded into my palm from grabbing the shifter after my car had been sitting in the 95 degree sun all day last year.

- The wet noodle oil dip stick that seems to want to go anywhere but back in that little hole, even with the guide piece

- I have often turned the headlights off when using the left turn signal

- Neck pains from trying to look back into the center console to get something out

- The automatic opening cup holder which went to hell at about 75K. ( I have since designed my own that fits up under the plastic on the passenger side at a lower height and enables me to make a 60 mph turn with a 16 ouncer in there and no loss of liquid )

- The rear hatch struts (when they go ) that transfer the rear hatch into a 2000 lb. slab of metal that takes 2 people to lift
6 speed, not 5. I've learned to grip it around the side and not across the top.
Headlights - I've done that at least 100 times.
Neck pains - I don't even attempt to reach back there while seated.
Cup holder - mine just got stuck in the stowed-away position. Don't see anything broken, just need to play with it to see if I can get it to release. It is worthless for many sizes of cups though
Struts - replaced 2 years ago with some heavier duty ones from a group buy over at Tech. No issues since, still harder to close now than the OEM were brand new.
'03 with almost 90,000.
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Old 01-06-2010, 11:32 AM
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looks like it is time for you to sell the Z and buy yourself a civic
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Old 01-06-2010, 12:05 PM
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beezee
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Good thing they are just "little things". For a lot of cars it would be "big" things at that mileage.
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Old 01-06-2010, 01:12 PM
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would love to see the cup holder mods you guys have done
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Old 01-06-2010, 01:25 PM
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Dsmashin
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What do you like? Did you buy that car salvage? I have a 04 with 70k on it and only real problem i have is with the stupid window motor but thats nothing autozone and a lifetime warranty couldnt fix. Alot of the problems you are talking about should ve been realized before you purchased it.....cmon you are complaining about blindspots and lack of storage. Its a sports car, its not supposed to have great visiblility and a plethora of creature comforts( which i think they couldve scaled back some but im not complaining). Sounds like you didnt know what you really wanted when you purchased it. Trade er in and get a Civic SI. Problem solved
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Old 01-06-2010, 01:38 PM
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DavesZ#3
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Do we need another one of these threads? Not really, there's already one that addresses this very question...

https://my350z.com/forum/2003-2008-n...your-350z.html
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Old 01-06-2010, 01:58 PM
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Originally Posted by geddy lee
- The 32 used plastic gift cards that I have over the years had to bend and cut up and use as rattle stoppers up in the front of the dash, below the little speakers up by the vent in the doors, back in the plastic piece surrounding the strut bar and various other locations
I had no problems with rattles until I took my dash apart a couple times doing stereo work and even now I think it stopped.

Originally Posted by geddy lee
The permanent 5 speed shift pattern I have branded into my palm from grabbing the shifter after my car had been sitting in the 95 degree sun all day last year.
Since the '5-speed' comment was already addressed, just put something over the shifter when you leave the car.

Originally Posted by geddy lee
The wet noodle oil dip stick that seems to want to go anywhere but back in that little hole, even with the guide piece
Yeah that was a design flaw that was eventually fixed.

Originally Posted by geddy lee
The location of the emergency flasher button which I seem to turn on with my elbow once or twice a week
I think I bumped it once in the four+ years I owned the car.

Originally Posted by geddy lee
I have often turned the headlights off when using the left turn signal
Never done this.

Originally Posted by geddy lee
The rear metal gasket from the pipe to the muffler which needs replacing every 6 months ( This time I just let it leak, doesn't sound bad either )
Never had a problem with this...

Originally Posted by geddy lee
Neck pains from trying to look back into the center console to get something out
Lol you getting pulled over a lot you need to constantly reach back there?

Originally Posted by geddy lee
The automatic opening cup holder which went to hell at about 75K. ( I have since designed my own that fits up under the plastic on the passenger side at a lower height and enables me to make a 60 mph turn with a 16 ouncer in there and no loss of liquid )
You shouldn't drink and drive anyway.

Originally Posted by geddy lee
The complete blind spot caused by the driver side mirror when making a left hand turn from a high road to a lower road.
[QUOTE=geddy lee;8039137]The rear hatch struts (when they go ) that transfer the rear hatch into a 2000 lb. slab of metal that takes 2 people to lift

Originally Posted by geddy lee
Its still worth the little aggravation I encounter
Lol I dunno, you sound pretty aggravated by it all.
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