z0ner

Very good call indeed. I've got a total of 8 also, near the canvas seam as well. I'll be doing the flashlight trick tonight to check for actual holes.

If this is indicitive of all Roadsters I'm sure we'll be seeing a TSB very soon.

saizzz

Hey,

New Roadster owner here. I've been lurking on the board for the past few weeks but just found the roadster-specific section. After reading this thread, I ran out to the garage, turned off the lights and started poking around with a flashlight! No holes yet but this baby is less than a month old with 1150 miles on it. My build date was 7/03. I'll keep an eye out.

Great board!

jgraeb01

Hi all! Just wanted to see if there was any update on this as of yet ... I'm considering a Roadster ...

350zRoadster04

I wish I had news to share, but first Nissan told me they'd shipped my new top, then I was told that they hadn't, then I was told that they had...now the top arrived at the dealer today after almost a month of waiting.

My appointment is scheduled for this Thursday.

I just realized today that I need to confirm that they shipped the right color, I'll be pissed if it is not blue like my original top. Will check on that tomorrow.

I'll definitely post an update as soon as I get the ZR back Thursday at 5pm.

thumper90501

My ZR is 34 days old and just noticed that I have the pinholes. I'm going to email pics to my dealer.

Another problem I've noticed is some type of buckling in the driver side head rest. I recline the seat as far back as it goes and I think that the pressure has caused this problem. I'll post pics later.

Anyone else notice this problem?

thumper90501

Pic of bulge in headrest...

thumper90501

passenger side is normal because seat is not max reclined

thumper90501

have these on both the driver's and passenger sides

saizzz

They are not holes yet but I have six wear spots inside the top now. I am sure two will progress to full blown holes in a few weeks. The wear must be due to rubbing that occours when the top is stowed because:

1) The holes do not line up with any friction points when the top is up

2) My top has been stowed 99% of the time

Guess I could drive with the top up for a while to prevent further damage but I don't see that happening! Calling the dealer tomorrow.....

350zRoadster04

After a long-*** wait, my new top was finally installed today. Only bad thing is that I couldn't drive the car home tonight. Apparently the only way to get the plastic covers off of the rollbars is to break them (according to the dealership), so they had new plastic covers overnighted to the dealer. If anyone knows why the rollbar covers had to be removed, let me know, I still don't understand what they had to do with the top install. They will receive them tomorrow afternoon and I should be back in my Roadster again. I took a look at the new top and there is no noticable difference in the build or quality. The service tech who worked on my car told me that he drove it and there was no wind noise or leaks, so we'll see. The main thing is that I don't have any holes in the new top. It also surprised me how deep and dark the blue is on a new top. My old top had faded a little from the sun, so I'm going to use protectant on it before I expose it to the elements.

After seeing the rollbars without the covers, I was surprised at how thin they are. They seemed to be about as thin as frame on a mountain bike. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me, probably would have been the first photos of the naked rollbars online. The plastic covers are really misleading. They are also painted the color of your car, so they actually don't look too bad without the plastic.

The tonneau cover issue is my next battle. Nissan Corp. asked the dealer to email some digital photos of the problem so that they can decide how to deal with it. I mentioned earlier in this thread that my tonneau cover is not level on both sides (right side higher than the left). I'll post photos when I get the car back. Let me know if you notice the same problem...

On a side note, just out of curiosity, I asked how much it would cost to add the factory nav system to my car while I was there. The parts guy looked it up and said that it costs about $4,400.00. What a rip-off. If you are planning to buy a Z and want the factory nav, get it factory installed or just buy a nice aftermarket unit.

wmchew

Nissan knows about the top problem. They have a new one out. You can tell the new ones by the stiching that runs from the front to the back. The new ones have double stich. A engineer from NNA told me about it this past weekend...

Warren

Intrepid175

First, glad you finally got your top replaced. I can only imagine how frustrating this process has been and I hope the replacement holds up. Also, good luck on the tonneau cover issue. Let us know how it works out.

As for doing a factory nav conversion on a car that didn't come with it, $4,400 is better than I would have guessed. Buying these kinds of parts from a dealer is "always" prohibitively (read, bend over) expensive. I'd also be willing to bet that the parts guy only checked the major components. I'd bet there are a number of smaller parts involved in the installation that he's not even aware of. As much as I like the integrated installation of the factory nav units, I've not really been that impressed with the detail of the maps they provide, at least on the versions I've had a chance to play with. The DVD based systems cover more detail nation wide but I've found them lacking in a lot of local areas. I've got an original Garmin StreetPilot (monochrome). It doesn't have the overall nation wide coverage that the factory DVD systems do but I can download local mapping that gives me full street level details that are "way" better than the DVD systems (at least those that I've seen) provide in my area. It's really a trade off but for me, I can spend half or less for something like the new Garmin StreetPilot III and get near equal functionality with, in many cases, much better mapping details. What you really loose is the built in, intigrated look. For the money savings, it's worth it to me but that's just me.

FWIW,
Drive Safe,
Steve R.

z461

Wow.. that sucks guys.. Do the right thing and sell the vertible and get yourselves a coupe.. Your eyes will thank you :-) ...Or get a Boxster S, they're 4 years into the model and have excellent build quality by now.

z0ner

I will NEVER get rid of my Roadster. If there's an endemic top problem, one day of repair is EASILY worth my time. I've only had my Z for three weeks, and here in SoCal I'm driving with the top down 90% of the time.

Besides, coupes are a dime a dozen

saizzz

Sounds like another coupe owner trying to make himself feel better...about not owning "the hottest Z"!

Poor guy, lives in SoCal and doesn't even have a sun roof.

Chasw1269

Ok, you guys had me nervous after reading these items! I just checked my top (no pin holes) and my tonneau cover (the fit is even on both sides). My manufacture date was also 6/03. I've put the top up & down so many times in the last two months (took delivery 8/7/03), I'm surprised I haven't worn out the hydraulics! Knock on wood, I don't have any of these issues...yet.

04 PPW Touring auto, frost leather, JWT pop charger, Crawford Z plenum & replacement cross bar on order.

Chasw1269

I think your right saizzz! z461 can hang his head out the window, but it's just not the same as our roadsters!

z0ner, I agree...coupes are everywhere. It's a great car too, but who wants to be the same as everyone else?!

z461, Boxsters are great...if your a girl! I wouldn't trade this Z Roadster for anything (except a Ferrari driven by Halle Berry!)

350zRoadster04

The new top is on and the fit is excellent. I took a look at the paperwork when I picked up the car and the cost to replace the top, had I paid for it, would have been $4,265.45 !

The new top is definitely a step above the old one. The padding around the support bars is different. There is also double-stitching on the outside. I wish I'd taken a better photo of the old one now to compare, but they obviously did some redesign work to correct the problem that caused the pinholes in my early model.

The top also seems to close easier now. On my original, I couldn't lock the top just by grabbing the handle in the middle and pulling down. Sometimes I had to reach out of the window and pull down a little to get it to close properly. This has been corrected.

I'll post photos tomorrow of the tonneau cover.

DeZigner

350Z Roadster04,

I'd appreciate it if you could take a few photos of the roof...both up and partcularly down were we might see some of the differences (as compared to photos available on sites like this one).

Thanks!

AndyB

It would be great to know how to tell the new design from the old one. (said the guy who will be getting his roadster THIS month).

That way people with the pre-corrected tops will know to keep an eye on them.

AndyB