My 2004 was built on October 6, 2003, making it a 2004, not a 2004 1/2. I'm wondering if I can expect the same tire wear problems that the 2003 people have had. Was the problem fixed for my car? What has Nissan done to correct this? I've read about how they changed the suspension for the 2004 1/2 cars. Will they change it for free for the other 2004 models?

 

only time will tell. Only some not all 2003 owners experienced
tire feathering. a few 04's not many.

I dont have any issues on my august built 04 TRACK after 3200 miles.

Run a search for big threads on 04 and issues. In fact one big one is on this page

 

El Diablo,

Did you notice that your tires were loud from day one? Even when slowing down from about 35MPH?

I have 3,000 miles on my 04 Track and so far no visible signs of feathering.

 

nope. no problems at all. So far

 

I highly recommend getting your alignment checked - new car or not. Nissan puts these things out without doing it. My new 2004 was WAY off at 500 miles (thought I'd get it checked). The toe should be set at .04 & mine was between .36 & .47 all away around - WAY, WAY off. My dealer it did the alignment at no charge (warranty) because it was so far off. Haven't seen any problems at this point, Being that I'm getting ready to put $960 worth of tires on Nismo rims tomorrow morning (Eagle F1 GS-D3's), I've decided to have the alignment checked at each oil change - just to keep it honest.

Just my opinion............

 

fblue,

Check your VIN. If it is 60,001+ then it is a 2004.5. Cars with these numbers were produced starting in October.

 

Thanks. Unfortunately, mine is in the 50,000 range. Does that mean I do not have the tire problem corrected? Do I have the bad suspension?

 

I've got a 2004 model I bought in Jan. 2004 and have had this problem. Had it in for the alignment and they swapped the tires. After the fact I noticed uneven wear on my tires, which is now on the outside after they swapped them. The noice is driving me crazy. I went in today and trying to get them to replace my tires. Have an appointment tomorrow so we'll see.

 

I would venture to say that most Zs period have this problem. I've seen very few owners that haven't encountered it by 5-10k, and some of those who claim they don't have feathering are simply in denial. That said, there are probably a few lucky guys w/o this problem (if only we could figure out how).

Just plan on budgeting for front tires on a regular basis.

NzZ

 

I'm sure Nissan will extend their TSB to the 2004's as well. It will just take more and more 2004 owners complaining. The 2004's are a year newer so it will take more time for enough owners to come forward and cause a stink. If you buy tires on your own, just make sure you save the receipts.

 

well, just got back from the dealer and guess what -gave me the customer service # after an hour or more
wait to inform me that the premature tire wear (feathering of front tires) is just related to 03'and not the 04' and that nissan would not cover the warranty on the lighnment or the replacement of the tires. called the glory number and was given a case number and they would call me within 4 buss. days.. i see this is a cut and take my loss deal..

 

I did not experience tire feathering until 13000 miles, so be careful all. I was adament that I was one of the lucky ones....but the dealership I kep taking my car to was not telling me the whole story every time I took it in.

 

I am sure this will come as a shock to most of you, because it damn sure shocked me.

I have an 04 Enthusiast (mfg date of 02/04). At appx 8000 miles i began to notice a little road noise but honestly didn't expect to have the problem, since i waited for an 04 AND bought the Enthusiast with smaller wheels. Well last week I hit 10,000 miles and happened to notice how loud the road noise was from the front tires (yea....I finally turned down the radio). The noise was horrendous, so I called my local dealer and made an appt for them to look at it. Now, like most of you, I was expecting to get the run around and had already prepared a letter to NNA and BBB.

Well this morning I took my Z in and I just got a call from the dealer....they've ordered my tires. No arguing, no pleading...they just did it. Of course he did say something to the effect of it was hard to get it through because I didn't buy the car there and yadda yadda yadda, but the point is they are going to cover it!! I might even consider buying from this dealership next time because of this!

Anyway....for you '04 owners, there is hope because apparently there are some dealers that will put it through.

The real question now is....will they do the alignment right and is it going to solve the problem? I guess we'll know in about 10,000 miles (about 5 months for me).

 

Same for me!! 2004.5 Touring Model

 

My 2004 track has a 7/03 build date and at 7500 miles my tire noise got so bad I could not stand it any more. Dealer change the tires and did the alignment for free but did not mention the TSB. The replacement tires are the same Bridgestone's but with a different tread pattern. Based on all I have read about this problem I think everyone is going to have this problem until Nissan comes up with a fix.

 

Hi
I'm from South Africa and have same problem on 2004 350Z.

notified Nissan South Africa and Dealer after 4000+ Kilometers.

Had Alignment checked at 4800Km. Everything exactly according to spec.

BUT tyres were unevenly worn on inner edge.

Alignment Specialist suggested that, as 350Z is RWD, due to power of car, it pushes front wheels out, resulting in tyre "feathering".

Adjusted alignment slightly - will take car back at 7500Km to check condition of tyres and alignment.

Dealer claimed it was due to heavy braking.

 

I have a 04.5 with 5200 miles and no feathering or abnormal road noise.

 

Spider, since there doesn't seem to be the level of complaints on the 04's like there is on the 03's, it's possible you won't see the problem, keep your fingers crossed. What is the build date for your car?


UPDATE:
I want to fill everyone in as to what happened when I went to pick up my car from the dealer yesterday. As I said in my earlier post, Nissan agreed to replace the tires and the dealer has ordered them.

So I get there and talk to the tech guy and he shows me how far out of alignment it was....overall it was 8.0. I know very little about alignment but I gather from what i've read that number is pretty bad. In addition they measured the tires and said it was the worst they've seen to date. So I go to the payment office to pick-up my key which was being held by the lady that does the warranty paperwork. As soon as I indentified myself, she jumps my case....and the first thing out of her mouth, in the rudest fashion, was "You need to keep an eye on your alignment!!" I was like WTF?? So I asked what she meant, she continued in a rude manner, saying it was basically my fault for not keeping the car aligned. She also said that Nissan didn't want to replace the tires, since the problem had been fixed for the 04's AND because I didn't buy my car from that dealer. However, she convinced them to do it out of courtesy for the dealer. She also told me that Nissan would not replace anymore tires on my car, it was a one time deal.

I then inquired as to how it could have gotten that far out of alignment after just 10,000 (mostly highway) miles? She replied that it's a sports car, they are more sensitive to road hazards and it was my responsibility to get it aligned to prevent tire damage. Please keep in mind this woman maintained her rude attitude the entire time.

I didn't say much back to her since I wanted to get my car fixed. I didn't want to **** them off....yet!

To finish....after telling me it was my fault the car was out of alignment, she actually had the nerve to ask that when I get the survey from Nissan, I remember how the dealer got Nissan to replace my tires out of dealership courtesy, even though I didn't buy the car there.

Ok....so if I've got this straight what she's telling me is...

1) After you buy a $33K+ car, the first thing you should do is go get it aligned.

2) Since it only has 10,000 miles and it was so far out of alignment, a single alignment won't take care of the problem. Therefore, you should continue to have the car aligned on a regular basis, more frequently so than having the oil changed.

3) Nissan is not replacing tires based on a KNOWN design flaw unless you take it to the dealership you bough it from OR the dealer requests Nissan do it as a courtesy for that dealer.

4) After being fed this BS, treated rudely, and personally blamed for damage which was in fact caused by said known defect, The car owner should be grateful and rate the dealer high on the Nissan survey for customer service.

Sounds like legitimate to me....(sense the sarcasm here?)

So from what I see....it looks as though Nissan has set aside a slush fund to deal with problems such as this. Nissan determines their course of action based on which is cheaper:
A) the cost of putting a band-aid on the problem (until the car is out of warranty)
B) doing a recall and fixing the problem

The unfortunate part here is that while monetarily in the short term they may be saving money, long term they are going to lose customers over issues such as this. The majority of American car buyers buy Japanese cars because they got tired of poor quality and treatment like this from domestic manufacturers.

 

I have a 2004.5 with 6200 miles, and for the past 2-300 miles i've been hearing the horrible tire noise my cousin's 03 Z had when it was said to have tire feathering. It happens when i pass 40mph and when braking from 40-20. I'm going to set up an appointment for two weeks from now when my second oil change is due.

You guys think I should take it directly to the dealer I bought it from? (40 minutes away with stop and go traffic) or you think that the dealer 2 minutes from my house would take car of it?

 

I was getting the run-around from the dealer where I bought my car, so I took it into a dealer close to work. The dealer where I bought my car kept making me schedule appointments to do a 5 minute inspection, and when they would check, they kept telling me that the tread depth was ok, eventhough there was evidence of feathering.

I called the other dealership and they asked for the year of my car. As soon as I told them, they said bring it down and we'll check right now. I ran down there at lunch and within 5 minutes I had new tires ordered. No hassles.

I have blown off the dealership where I bought my car. Hell, the other dealership even replaced my steering wheel (damn thing costs $700!!!) because the leather was deteriorating on the left side.