PLee-Z

Hi, I hate my Z. It's a piece of junk. Before you think I'm some ******* who is hating on the car, you have to realize where I'm coming from.

Coming from 8 different old piece of **** cars, I decided to look for a new car after being tired of constantly working on them. My uncle said he would help me out and pay for most of it after a fortunate event that happened to him, after I pay half the down and him the rest, I was happy until he just bailed.

SO... I am paying for the car with two jobs and high school. I work hard for my car, not some spoiled little ****er who's parents buy him everything he wants, no, I work for my car.

So, I picked up a clean 03' Enthusiast Silverstone 6-speed with no dents and no scratches and perfect interior. So... first thing I noticed when I drove it out of the dealer lot was when I braked... front passenger wheel would vibrate violently along with a loud grinding noise. I check outside and shake the wheel. Wheel bearing. What the hell? 8,000 miles and wheel bearings bad? Hopefully it's a factory defect... So the cheap chinese dealership decides to pay for it and get me a new hub assembly which I installed at home.

So a few thousand miles later and still loving the car, I put the car up at work and notice a few odd things along the way. Why is my passenger tail light mis-aligned? Nissan is normally good with matching body lines and the like... oh well, I'll just fix that myself. A few washers and a few different bolts did the trick. Anyway, on the lift I noticed part numbers on the rear subframe and the front lower control arm; the same side the hub bearing was screwed. Oh great... it's been in an accident but still with a clear title... (cash settlement?) So.. after discovering all this... I notice that the car has an open differential trying to spin one of the rear wheels. The wrench marks on the subframe and the LCA hinted it was replaced. This really pissed me off and I later just learned to relax and pretend nothings wrong. Car's clean, straight frame, clean title, and as long as I know, the car's just not put together the best. Who knows? Maybe the bushing on the LCA went bad, maybe Nissan forgot to install the correct differential for the car, and maybe the hub bearing just failed on its own....

Recently, I think around 11,800 miles, I took it to a nearby dealership so they could replace the limited-slip. After all, it IS an enthusiast model and I want to get what I paid for. Customer service was top-notch until I got the car back. Four days later they call and told me they can't install the differential because it doesn't have one. ****ing pissed off this time, I just took the car back and noticed a few things. For one, I doubt a test drive requires over 35 miles. That's about a drive from Fontana, Ca to Glendale, Ca, and second, why is there a chip on my bumper? Paint chip I wouldn't care, but this tore a piece of the bumper off and is not chipping around the paint. I talked to the guy who helped me out at the time, he said he asked everybody in their parts department(smart guys too) who told him my car does NOT come with a limited slip. I call the manager and come in 2 weeks later. I told him everything and he wasn't too pleased. A guy I know in the parts department (he's on here by the way) told me he never got a question about a 350z limited slip, and he checked the VIN which said it's supposed to have one. He also promised to replace the front bumper which I am thankful for.

Today, I've been too busy to take the car to the dealer, but I hope they will keep their word.

However... my car is just feeling like crap now. 12,920 miles, my shifter has some play in gear, my clutch engages differently and feels like crap, also squeaks where the pedal is, getting a lot more metal to metal noise coming from the front of the tranny(I know they make noise normally but it gets progressively worse)... I think it's throwout bearing, my diff makes a LOT of noise above 40... almost like the ring gear needs backlashing or possibly a bad bearing, engine mis-fires at idle when fully warmed, diff also clunks when you put it into gear, and for the little things, my cup holder and ash tray slot on the console broke.



I guess this is just a rant about my car. I am working hard to just keep up with payments for it, and I get all this crap. I wish I could just drive it into a tree and sell it for another old car. Sorry if this is a long read, but please be open about your opinions. Would love some feedback about this car.

fdao

I'm sorry to hear what you're going through .

As you've guessed it, this car most likely had a "Love Tap" with another vehicle(s) or barrier(s). It also appears that this car was "abused" by the previous owner.

If you can get stuff repaired under warranty, then stick with it, as long as you're happy with the car. If not, I would trade it in for another car. It's just not worth it to bust your behinds paying for a car that will likely cost more than it's worth in repairs.

PLee-Z

Thanks for your post fdao.

What I guess I'm trying to say is, I like the car and I like it even more knowing that it's me whose paying for it, but it just kills me to know that I got screwed in all this. The car feels like its worth $7,500. Everything in the car, all the weird noises it makes and how it feels driving just makes it feel like junk.

Rickdogg

iTrader: (234)

Never trust those damn chines dealers. LOL JK. I just thought the bit about the chinese dealer was funny. Anyways, unfortunately cars are hardly ever the same after an accident. Noises arise and what not. Good luck

fdao

You will still love another car or Z, since you'll be paying for it as well, right?

PLee-Z

Sure... I'm just making the point that paying for it is difficult, and if owning it is even worse, then it's a problem. $26,000 for a used Z that's missing what it came with and may have been in an accident or two that I don't know about is kinda screwed up.

35oZephyR

iTrader: (4)

Your Z sounds like its been through more than an accident.

Almost sounds like it was a race car in it's previous life and put back together as a trade in.

Sad to read but I hope you get everything squared.
There are ways to get yourself another Z but I'm not going to mention that for legal reasons.

328skidpad

3 months ago I got rid of my z because I also realized what a piece of junk the car is. Excellent design but horrible engineering. After owning 3 bmws and two hondas, I realized that I will think twice about buying a nissan product.


I hate flaming cars but nissan definitely rushed into producing a car that has major flaws, so think twice before buying a 03-04 Z.

I loved my z, but had too many glitches to counter the happiness of driving an awesome sports car.

I still visit this board daily to only hope they will fix the glitches some day....

Peter_in_Atl

Let me get this straight. You're a mechanic who bought a used car and didn't take it back to the shop to put it up on the lift BEFORE you purchased it? Seems that all of these things you noticed right away would have told you not to buy.

In addition, you are on your 9th car and are still in high school? Some things just don't add up.

ivanito

i guess some of us are not just lucky with this Z's

only issue i ran into my car is the window streaks which is still there right now... too lazy to take it to the dealership...

but what suprised me is that open diff thingy? i know the enthus model came with a lsd...

can somebody shed some light on this

Dr Bonz

iTrader: (1)

I was thinking the same thing. If you are a competant mechanic WHY on earth would you buy ANY used car without a thorough checkup?

onii

iTrader: (1)

anyway he can lemlaw some money back? seems like th dealer tried to pull one on him.

br1060

All things aside... what are you paying monthly being in HS with a $26,000 burden?? I'm still in the process of looking at Z's to choose the right one for the right price.. But after reading your 'thread' i'm a little more hesitant.. Who on here has had issues with the 03' Z.. I don't want to invest $26,000 into a car that has even one of the issues aforementioned? Then I wouldn't have time to add anything if all it does is sit in the shop getting repaired, or worse yet, me spending more money per month just to make it operable...

Who has had issues with the 03' Z?

PLee-Z

A few things why I didn't check it out before I drove it off.

1) I was too happy like anybody else would be. Being excited is also in the California Lemon Law regulations.

2) He repeated many times if ANY problems occur, he will get it "taken care of."

3) He would not let me inspect the car on his facility/I was too excited with the Z I was going to buy with 8,000 miles on it assuming nothing is wrong with the car.

4) Clean title.



I think this is my eighth car; all my previous cars were worth under $950 ranging from a 90' 240sx to 85' Corolla GTS.

Peter_in_Atl

Wouldn't let you inspect it??????


DANGER Will Robinson!!! At that point, you RUN away.

teh215

iTrader: (8)

I looks like you don't have an open diff in the pic in your sig!?!

PLee-Z

Me driving my friends car. Oh well... I guess I will research more on the lemon law see what I can do about this?

dchengmd

Here's where you made your mistakes:

1. You 'assumed' something. Bad idea when buying used.

2. You were excited. You should have checked your emotions at the door when dealing for the car. If you don't have the discipline to walk away when something doesn't look/sound right, then you're not ready to buy a car. Period.

3. He wouldn't let you inspect the car on his facility. BIG red flag there. This combined with #1 and #2 above is bad, bad news.

Sorry, but you're partially at fault for the situation you're in.

obd

jeez man, that might be just the worst 350z horror story I have yet heard, and I have heard lots.............

Why the hell is it that people withWRX Sti's using a highly boosted turbo 4 are going 100K and more with absolutely no problems at all and driving like bats out of hell all the time including weekend track days while the 350z, which is uppossed to be a lower maintanance naturally aspirated car always in the freakin shop???

Hmm, interesting but maybe technology has turned conventional wisdom on its head.........

I just took my dads Volvo S80 out and it has a turbo..........and its been great!!!! No problems at all.

Man, seems like reality hasnt caught up with most used 350z buyers........I hear the Z has such great resale value.........but it must be lots of morons buying them with low mileage and lots of severely pissed off Z owners dumping thier problem child on others............

Looks like one simple rule applies for anyone who has not bought thier Z yet: Avoid 03 models like the plague!!!! Sure there are perfectly sound 03's out there.........but with the shear number of them with massive engineering issues........well its just a smarter decision to go with an 04......

DrVolkl

People normally only chime in when there's a problem. So of the thousands of 03's out there, if 50 people say something's wrong, it seems like a lot, when in reality it's a very small %.

Sounds like his car was in a bad accident. Clean title means NOTHING, just means the car wasn't totalled. You can do 15k worth of damage and not total the car, and it will have a clean title. Carfax doesn't even pick up all accidents. I know, I did 9k of damage to my 2k2 maxima and it didn't show up on anything.

I bought a used '03 with 11k miles on it and I have no issues whatsoever. Just the streak on the glass which I'm too lazy to fix..oh and the tire feathering which I did get fixed (and new tires).

How many STI's have over 100k miles on them??