saizzz

Update: After several months of procrastinating, I finally went to another dealer and got the top checked out. Even though my rub marks never wore through, the new dealer ordered a top, no questions asked. It took about a month to get the top kit and they had the car for three days for installation. The dealer did the installation -- this was their second one so I felt ok knowing I wasn’t the guinea pig. Everything looked good when I picked the car up but I did not get the chance to do the top up freeway test. Big mistake!

Driving home tonight with the top up, I noticed wind nose coming from the passenger side. It looks like the fabric on the passenger side is not stretched tight. I can pull up on that side of the top fabric near the center of the window and see inside the car. The driver side must be pulled with considerable force; even then you only get a small opening. Well, for those of you getting new tops, heed the advice of a prior posters and check your top for wind noise BEFORE LEAVING THE DEALERSHIP. Damn, I should have known better. In any case, the dealer has been great about this so far so I have no reason to think they won’t care of me.

Come to think of it, they also replaced a window regulator on the passenger side citing something about the auto roll down not creating enough of a gap. I wonder if they thought a faulty window regulator was causing the wind nose. I’ll suggest they take the top to an auto upholstery shop for proper fitment this time around.

SeanG

The Service Manager at my dealer did not even take pictures of the holes in my top. He looked at it for about 5 seconds, then told me he would call Nissan for approval of a new top. The top came in one week later.

I would definately recommend a convertable top shop to do the replacement, if you have that option.

Zcollector

Mine was done through the dealership, but they outsourced it to a local upholstery shop. The new top is tighter, better fitting, darker, and made of a tad bit heavier material. Also, the inside of the top has been redesigned from the original.

Ivey

New top and frame put on by the dealer last week. Had it on the highway this weekend and noticed that it is a bit louder than the original stock top but still quieter than the stock top with holes so it is still an improvement so I will just have to live with it.

I did notice however that the dealer dented my kickplate on the driver's side. I'm guessing during the install someone stood on it and now the raised up 'Z' has a dent. I think it can be easily fixed but will let them look at it first. If any others have had their top replaced make sure you check yours too.

Zeelicious

I have my roadster for about 10 months now and a couple of weeks ago developed a pinhole in the top.I brought it in and they replaced the top without any argument. The hole was on the passenger side towards the rear.I was ready for a battle with them over this issue, but they acknowledged the defect and quickly ordered a new top. The new top is double stiched in places where it was formerly single stitched, and seems to have some slightly different hardware that assists the top when it goes through the folding process. I was very pleased with the way my Nissan dealership treated this , but if I had to bet I think I will be back soon with a top problem within the year.

Ivey

As it turns out, the new top was louder because the driver side tension cord was not connected correctly. You could lift up the top from outside the driver side window and look into the cab.

Took it BACK to the dealer and they fixed it right this time. Now it is as quiet as the original and I am once again thrilled to own my roadster. On another note, they also ordered a new kickplate FOC.

--== Back in Business ==--

maxpowers

iTrader: (3)

I had my new top installed. Everything looks good. I won't be able to put it down until tommorow because I had the windows tinted while it was in.

They only replaced the material though, not the frame. Time will tell if this works.

saizzz

My replacemet top had the same issue--cord was off on the passenger side. They corrected it in about 10 min and all is good.

vladizz

Thanks for all of the info in this thread. Saw a hole in my top the other day. Looked here for known issues today. Found all I needed and more in about 10 minutes. Went to my dealership this afternoon. Here's what happened..........

Service came out and looked at the hole (only have one) for about 10 seconds, never even looked inside the car........ We went back inside, he wrote it up, said the new roof will be there in about a week, and that they would call me to make an appointment to replace it. He made a remark that it was a big job, and that they may need the car for a day or two, but that was it.

I hate to rag on the domestics, but I have owned cars from each of the big 3, and I KNOW they would have fought me to get it fixed for free with a patch, more less to replace the roof.

I'm disappointed to have to have it fixed, but its a mechanical item, and sometimes things go wrong. What a pleasure it was not to have to hassle to get it fixed.

RANDY350Z

I think by now Nissan issued a TSB or memo sent to the service centers that owners will or maybe bringing in their cars with these issues and just decided to fix it right instead of doing it case by case.

thumper90501

I have the dreaded hole in my top.

I took my car in to Universal Nissan and the service mananger told me he would order me a new top. This was about 6-months ago when the hole was pin sized.

The hole is now 5X's bigger.

They suck!

Called my service manager at Torrance Nissan. He knew the exact location of the hole before I told him (passenger side near the seam). He said the new top will arrive in about 1-week.

+1 for Brett Lang at Torrance Nissan

FU to the service department at Universal.

rlw888

iTrader: (5)

I bought my car from Universal and agree that they totally suck. After purchasing my car there, they were so horrible after my purchase that I never took it back there for anything. They are the bottom of the barrel when it comes to customer service and satisfaction. Not just service, but sales, & finance too.

As for the top problem does anyone know if this was corrected in the later models. I have a 2004 ZR that I purchased in Aug 2004, and I can't see any pinholes, so I'm wondering if they corrected this before I purchased my car.

thumper90501

I think the 2004 production models have the "new" double stiched top. If so, you should be OK.

blackz350

thanks for all the info and pics.
I have a 2004 build date 07 04 and freaked out when i started reading these threads. Shure enough i have 5 holes just below the stiching in various areas of the top. I have 5300k miles and have it garage kept rarely driven.
I have the TSB # written on the dealers card and headed there tommorow.
Will keep you posted.
And thanks for all the info.

FloridaBoy

Does anyone know if this problem has been resolved on 2005-06 models?
Anyone have a ZR from those model years with this problem?

LA_Z

2006 ... no problems, no complaints.

Jennifer 2

Hi, just stumbled on to this old thread and it has been most helpful. I’ve had my roadster for almost 6 years now, so it’s long since out of warranty. In all this time the top has worked flawlessly, but after reading this thread I checked inside the top and can see the two commonly mentioned small round abraded areas starting to form. The tiny pinholes of sunlight that show through seem to be coming from one of the internal stitch holes that are now being exposed. All of the adjacent seams and fabric seem to still be in excellent condition. My car is garage kept, with only about 15000 miles (maybe 2000 miles with the top down).

Is there a good method to repair and reinforce the worn areas? I was planning to fill in the tiny abraded spots with a dab of liquid urethane adhesive/filler and after it has cured, cover it over with a self-sticking patch of rip-stop nylon sail repair tape. Since both these items provide soft flexible weather proof protection, I’m thinking they would be able to stop the top’s fabric from rubbing through. However, I first wanted to check here for opinions before doing it.