Steve:
I filed LL and won. Nissan has had plenty of time to fix this problem

 

Interesting - This response to an earlier post from Thaddeus makes me wonder - Does Nissan have different alignment specs for different models of their cars specifically for the supposed driving habits of the buyers of that particular car? For example, is the Enthusiast model set up for harder driving than the Touring? Are Track models set up to be driven faster / more straight line than the Enthusiast? I own a Touring model, driven primarily to / from work, straight line, highway / rush hour speeds. My feathering, like yours, is moderate at worst. I've had my car in to the dealer one time at 12,000 miles for the rotation / alignment. Now at 15,500 miles, the feathering is back, but very slight, and the noise is still at a much reduced level, just barely above normal. Still original tires, but I do run 40 to 43 psi in them all. Rear tires are wearing normally, should last at least another 15k miles. At this rate, I expect the fronts to last another 10k, and it looks like the alignment worked for the most part.

 

I second that statement. I returned to dealer after 3 K miles with noticeable wear on the inside edge of my Michelin Pilot Sports. Once again I heard the story that the tread design is causing the road noise. As you will notice the inside edge of the new RE040 does not have the grooves...so we will probably get a smooth uneven wear on the inside edge

 

Had 4 new Bridgstone Pole Postion tires installed at 13,000 miles along with the latest TSB as of 02/04/04. Roar is back as loud as before with 18,000 miles. It took about 3,000 miles for the roar and wear to become noticeable. Both inside and outside blocks have uneven wear and getting more pronounced every day. THIS SUCKS!

The tires look new from a distance with at least 90% of their tread intact. Sadly, the front tires are again ruined and I hate touching my brakes when under 30 mph. Can't stand all the noise and vibrations

Don't buy a Z unless you can live with this problem.

Other problems:

Loud clicking from rear axles: 7 trips to the dealer for this problem and still driving me insane.

Window lifts: both sides have failed; driver's side 4 times and passenger side 3 times and it is still sounds like a hammer hitting the passenger door everytime I roll the window up or down.

Driver's seat: Still moving around and clicking & now squeeking like a sick bird.

Every time i return to the dealer for a repair they mess somthing else up in their effort to fix my car.

Don't buy a Z unless you want to get to know your local Nissan Sevice Advisor as a close friend!

 

=================================
Your Local Contact is inept.. Please call NNA for help.. The majority
of problems can be addressed...

For Manual Alignment 1/16" Front and 1/16" back seems to be the best.. When I had my "Manual Alignment" done - When I got off the gas - the car kept rolling.. I actually had to use the brakes..

What a difference.. - Yes alignment on this car is "touchy"

Cheers Amy -
at 1/8" Tow in on front.. the out sides tire blocks feather..

 

I got new front tires about 5K miles ago along with the alignment. So far it is wearing even and no roar or feathering. Since I do rotate and balance the tires on my other vehicle every 5K miles and they are not high performance tires I am pleased that these are wearing even. I hope this continues but with the new warranty I know if it doesn't I will get another set of front tires. I find it hard to complain about Nissan with this type of service.

 

I checked my tires this morning and so far the tires are wearing evenly, no tire growl/roar at all. I hope it stays that way.

I had my alignment checked at my first oil change. I will probably make it a habit to have it checked at every other oil change to be on the safe side, as it is much cheaper to perform an alignment then to prematurely replace tires that cost $200 a piece.

I have 9000+ miles on my original OEM tires on 17" factory wheels. My car was built on 10/03, supposedly a "2004.5" model.

 

You are so right Amy. Nearest alternative dealer is almost 2 hours away.

Have called and talked to NNA many times. As far as I am concerned, NNA is no better than my dealer.

At this point in my Nissan ownership experience I can not advise anyone to consider buying a Z unless they like spending all of their spare time dealing with car problems.

I don't know how I will be able to afford the Z when my warranty expires. Parts to fix a window lift are on the order or $500. Replacing them several times a year will become expensive. Tires cost over $200 a pop.

I have a love-hate relationship with my Z. Love the performance and looks. Hate all the problems.

Cheers,

 

I just wanted to go on the record with the following statement for anyone ( hint "Nissan" ) that might read this in the future.

Between myself and my parents we have driven Nissan ( formally Datsun ) motor vehicles for more than 30 years and I have never been so discouraged ( and disregarded ) with a bad vehicle design fault as I have been with my 2003 - 350Z. Nissan just will not fix the front end design faults of this vehicle. I ( like many others ) put my faith in Nissan and pre-order my 350Z, sight unseen, and ended up getting a lemon that Nissan will not fix.

Since I am rapidly approaching the limit of two year extended warranty period with no action being taken by Nissan to actually rectify this problem I can officially say that I will never purchase another Nissan vehicle and will tell everyone I ever run into that might be considering a new Nissan vehicle what they should except from Nissan as to the lack of service and repairs.

In a few words Nissan has told everyone ( you bought it, its your problem ). That kind of attitude just does not fly in todays automotive market and if Nissan thinks they can stick there head in the sand and wait until it blows over then they are very "sadly" mistaken because the thousands of 03' 350Z owners like myself will not forget and will continue to inform generations to come of the problems we have had and the lack of response from Nissan.

good luck Nissan,

 

Why not hold your breath and stomp your feet?

Never but never but the 1st model year of any auto.

 

A bold and probably reliable sugestion. So what about the second year (2004) issues with the same??

 

Ummm, buy the 3rd year release of the car....I got the 2nd year

 

Good suggestion but it is just after thought now..

Throw more good money after bad, I do not think so. If it smells like sh*t, always was sh*t, then it probably still is sh*t.


Best suggestion.

Never buy sh*t from Nissan again, since Nissan produces, will not stand behind or correct sh*t.

 

boso, I still drive my '94 Nissan Sentra with 158,000 miles on the clock. That thing has never gotten a tuneup at any shop in it's life. I do all the basic maintenance, but have paid to get the alternator, water pump, and clutch replaced. Like you, I'd say that Nissan used to put out some awesome products.

The Z isn't the worse car (reliabilty-wise) that I've owned, but it's not on the top of my list either. With all that said, I'm just suggesting to the potential buyers to wait even longer before buying the Z, and to make sure Nissan follows up with front end changes or what ever it takes to fix this feathering issue. Some people have their heart set on buying the Z, even if it has its problems.

People had alignment and tire wear problems with their NSX's before, so don't buy Honda either?

Best suggestion (if you insist on owning a Z): Wait, and make sure Nissan either fixes the problem, or warrants their tire feathering problem explicitly. Otherwise, you'll end up riding your bicycle around because every car manufacturer will somehow screws you over one time or another. Check the Honda forums...the S2000 might be more reliable. If you need your sports car fix now without the tire feathering headaches, buy that one.

 

I had to make a car payment after the BBB decision that I accpeted. Since I had to make that payment - Nissan was on the hook for paying it back also in a 2nd check....

Well it took 6 weeks after I got my settlement check to receive the $447.74 payment that I was owed for the final payment. Actually Nissan sent me $448.00 - so I sent a letter back with .23 cents taped to it saying: "Here's your change".


Guys/Gals - If you're not happy and have three repairs - then throw down and file a LL claim with your respected state. The NNA rep's just sit there in the hearings and take a beating. Heck, I buried mine in 85 pages of evidence to the point he didn't even put up a fight.

 

Hey guys get some perspective. This thing is cheap, great looking and fun to drive. It has high performance tires and they are not rotated like a normal car is every 5K miles. I already got a new set of tires for the front and if the problem continues which it has not in the last 4K miles I will get another set of front tires before the 2 years are up. This should get me to 20K miles. Now I will then buy better than OEM tires and if I get 10K from the fronts then the Z will cost me say $1200 over my ownership experience more because of this problem. I know that this is a problem for some but when you look at how good looking and fun to drive the Z is well "Big Deal". The older Z's cost $10K more (when they quit making them) then the current Z's and did not look or perform 1/2 as good. Yes I would like a correction, but I'm one that owned a 91 Acura NSX and I was lucky to get 8K miles out of the rear tires. I loved that car and the way it handled. Just considered it a cost of ownership. Just something for perspective. 15K miles out of performance tires on a performace car is "GOOD", so keep your Z aligned and enjoy, or sell it and get a nice 4 door sedan and your tires should last 60-80K miles. JMHO

 

With all due respect, that sounds like the most thorough rationalization to put up with this problem I've heard to date.

The Promise of the Z is an Affordable Sports Car - not something with a hidden, unnecessary added cost of thousands of unexpected $$$ spent on tires due to some inherent problem with the car. $1200 is a lot of coin for no reason, 3-4 months of payments for many people. Thinking of it as a one-time cost of ownership is highly optimistic.

Burning through tires at the rate you describe is first, optimistic - I did not get more than 6,000 miles from my OEM tires w/o this problem. At 10 k they were essentially used up. The last thing I would do is go buy Michelin Pilot Sports at $1000-1200 a set and think I'm going to get 20k miles instead. At 7000 miles I see nothing other than Normal Wear on my Infiniti - which tells me if Nissan can produce a V35/G35/JDM Skyline Coupe (take your pick) that isn't showing this issue, they can fix the Z. My driving is the same or perhaps even harder than I drove the Z. My routes are the same, my miles are the same.

I already have a 4-dr sedan - a 1995 Altima I still use and enjoy as an example of Nissan Reliability and Value done right - 10 years and 116,000 miles later the car is mint. Nissan has and still makes great cars.
My Altima

For the price of a Track 350Z I bought the Infiniti - which despite Marketing statements dyno'd same as my Z stock for the baseline hp and torque. It is a good car w/o problem at 10 months in.

IMHO the people who run into this issue have several options:
1. Work with NNA until resolved or go LL and make them buy back the car.
2. Bail on the car if you can, either through LL or any means when you have a sure sign of the problem.
3. Deal with the problem by throwing money at it - new tires other than OEM, suspension mods, which BTW if you read the TSB's ANY change from Stock other than NISMO, Nissan does not have to do jack for your tires until you return the car to OEM status. Just accept it as cost of the car (now not a $30k sports car any more). And give me a break, Honda S2000's are no comparison to a Z or G - please.

For me I did not have the time (=$$$) to wait on NNA given their performance to date. BUT I do not take that as a blanket condemnation of all Nissan Products - no one gets everything right all the time. NNA has a huge challenge with their growth in sales and management of their operations - that is what we are seeing in how they handle problems (not too well IMHO). This is also a year two problem.

I respect Pit Bull's opinion and choice and it may work well for him, best wishes. I don't accept most owners should just accept frequent visits for alignments and new tires once or twice a year (or more) as reasonable, nor does it live up to the promise of the new Z - an "affordable" sports car.

 

No way. I don't buy that story in many ways. Nissan still makes great cars. Honda NSX issues have nothing to do with 99% of the rest of their line - where the FM platform is used everywhere in Nissan. Warranties? Ask people who have gone LL how they feel about warranty protection as a solution. Buy an S2000? Reliable? There are so few S2000's out there compared to more than 70,000 Z's you cannot even think to claim better reliability. Performance is another level - lower.

Second, don't wait for the problem to go away - I've not seen a single case with this problem actually fixed with an OEM configuration through all the TSB's.

All auto manufacturers will "screw" you??? I don't feel Nissan "screwed" me on my 350Z. I just felt IMHO they were not going to resolve the problem in the near future (as of December 2003) and already LL cases were winning buy-backs - not a good sign.

That's why my decision was to go across the road to the "other" Nissan and ask them what they could do for me. I walked out with my "2+2 Z" , having had the pleasure to drive my Z for the cost of 14 prior months of payments, no significant loss on the 350Z (less than $1k). My brakes are awesome, the synchros don't sound like they have gravel in them, the BOSE system actually is decent with the sub in the spare tire well. My Z? It needed more like $2k in shop work at only 11k miles.

If I felt screwed by Nissan I'd do the same thing I've done in the past - never buy another. That's why there are no Fords in my garage, but that's another story
http://homepage.mac.com/stracy01/g35snarl.jpg

 

Man, I wish mine went that way. The rep at my hearing was determined to win it for Nissan no matter what lies he had to tell. I guess the real problem there however is getting an arbitrator that knows enough to dismiss all the ******** Nissan spews.

On the bright side of things though...the outcome of my hearing was that Nissan had to fix my car again. Well, I only have about 400 miles on this new set of tires now, and the noise and heel-toe wear pattern are already starting to show up. They're the "new" design re040 too. Guess I'll be reporting back to the BBB that the problem didn't get fixed. If I don't get satisfaction from them, then its off to court.

 

BTW, this redesigned tire that Nissan is putting on these cars is another ploy to get out of fixing these cars. Check the TSB from April, which outlines a method to check the amount of 'feathering' as they call it. Their method requires it to be checked at the innermost edge of the outer tread blocks.

Now, I don't have picture of the redesigned tire, but someone posted one on here at some point I'm sure. The outer tread blocks on the tire have been changed such that the lateral grooves don't go all the way from the outer edge to the inner edge of those tread blocks. Theres about .5 inch of each tread block connected to the adjacent blocks, essentially making it impossible to get a measureable amount of 'feathering' on the part of the tread that they specify to check in the TSB. That's no coincidence folks.