Hey guys..I plan on purchasing a Nissan 350z enthusiast with automatic tranny within the next few months..

anywho.. I plan on driving back and forth from Los Angeles to San Francisco for school 4-5 times out of the year

this is roughly 800 miles each time back and forth..

I wanted to know if anyone has had experience with long road trips with the Z.. is it reliable.. can it handle this abuse and still provide me with fun for years to come? has anyone had problems with the Z on long trips?

thanks guys

 

I can sit in my Z all day long and enjoy it, but my gf complains Z isn't too comfy for passenger on long trips...

 

I goto school + work + cruising also (the white Z), I make trips everyday (alot of hard miles on it) and the car runs perfect. I plan on keeping this car so I bought the Nissan Extended Warranty. A lot a guys will say no, but its good peace of mind.

 

I have not seen any posts indicating reliability issues from excessive mileage. There are many owners here who have already racked up major mileage with no ill effects. Personally, I've put over 25,000 on mine in 16 months through all kinds of conditions and have not experienced anything that should give you pause.

As for long road trips, I drove 4100 miles on a road trip over the course of five days (over 800 miles a day for 5 days in a row) and experienced nothing worse than a few leg cramps (I refuse to use cruise control). This car is actually great for extended trips because with the 20 gallon tank and decent highway mileage (~27 mpg or so) the cruising range between fillups is awesome.

I doubt you'll have any problems at all...in fact, I think the car will improve the more you drive it!

 

Yes it's reliable. And it will make the trip SO MUCH BETTER

 

I dont think there is a car made today that Id have the least bit of concern of doing a 800mile trip 5times a year. almost any car you buy will take 100,000 miles like it was brand new.

especially when your talking about a 30,000$ car. driven nicely as a daily driver, you can probably put 300k on the clock before needing major repairs.

 

300 to 400 mile trips and all went well. Regarding comfort, my wife is able to sleep while we drive the freeways. Keep in mind her daily vehicle is a larg SUV.

We both enjoy this vehicle for long and short trips.

 

My friend is a Nissan engineer and he said the car was good and designed to go 200,000 miles and he said thats very good since the designers took into consideration the way a lot of people would "drive" (abuse) the car. If you modify it heavily though who knows.

 

Any way you can ask your friend the main differences in designing a car for 200k vs. 100k (or whatever mileage everyone else designs cars for)?

 

Actually most manufacturer's design a car for "long-life" but few actually state "200,000 miles." Its just more impressive when they still hold this standard for ***** out performance models. I also think the "200,000 miles knowing the abuse it will take" is pretty impressive. This isnt a Honda Accord. When you start off with a reliable engine such as the VQ, it only need be tweaked. They didnt have to reinvent the wheel with this one. He said it helps when its almost the same powerplant in the Quest, Murano, Maxima & Altima which are all super reliable. No need to think the engine in the Z wouldnt be as well. It has not been turbo'd or SC'd or anything extreme. Reliability for this car is not an issue.

 

Why would you want an auto?

 

yea thanks for the input guys.. it sounds good.. we'll see how everything goes in the next few months.

as for the whole automatic/stick debate.... I prefer an automatic tranny..lets leave it at that.

any more input, opinions?

 

I've had my Z for a year and have 16.6k on it. NO PROBLEMS and its a lot of fun to drive, long or short trips. It is a sports car and smaller and much stiffer than a typical mid sized sedan. The driving experience is a lot different, but it depends on what you want. Except for the space limitations, it would be alot more fun to drive a Z on an 800 mile trip than most sedans, trucks, SUVS and minivans IMO. I got a MT after 30 years without one. Sometimes wish I had a AT, but not very often.

 

Right after breakin my Z drove over 1400 miles in less than 22 hours (with only stops for gas). Not a single problem. Consumer Reports recently gave the Z a very favorable reliability rating. Don't be discouraged from what you may see on forums, the Z is a good reliable car. It's no LS400...but thank god it doesn't drive like one either! :-P

NzZ

 

Correct me if I`m wrong, but "mlam002" said he planned on buying a enthusiast model with an automatic tranny. Isn`t the auto tranny only available on the touring model? Would an "enthusiast" buy a car with an automatic transmission?

On another topic, here in Canada, the base model Z is not even being sold. Only touring, enthusiast and performance models available.

 

Yep, automatics are available in both Enthusiast and Touring. I got the enthusiast automatic with 15k miles, awesome so far.

 

My "complaints/concerns" are not with the reliability of the Zcar. They are with the way Nissan has handled,or more correctly mishandled, them through poor communication with its customers.
The car has given me no problems in regards to reliability isssues to date.