And...you have a legal staff that's just sitting around waiting for the next case...

 

Are they putting the same crappy RE040's on? Or are you getting Pilot Sports?

I need to talk to Nissan soon, the noise is starting to get annoying at 7800 miles.

 

Hey, I still think we should protest in front of NNA's headquarters. What else is there to do? They are not hearing anyone of you now are they?

Anyone interested?




anyone???

 

If they move it to Maui then I will come protest.

 

Let me guess - All-Season Michelin Pilot A/S?

Y or WR rated, they have a narrow profile for their stated size and rumble - just look at the tread pattern compared to Toyo's, etc. and you can see why NNA would select it - it's a M+S harder compound tire relative to the RE-040.

Wear problems aside, I am actually very impressed with the performance of the RE-040 - it's a soft, sticky tire with a 140 rating (keep in mind dedicated track tires are usually around 40 for a race-only set). I would not expect much more than 15-20k out of a set when driven aggressively. But we're getting tires wearing badly at down to 3k intervals (mine seems to be 5-6k to become nasty cupped and noisy).

If this isn't what they were offering I would be very interested to know what they did put forth...

Thanks!

 

The RE-040's are not a great all-around tire, and they are soft - a "Summer Radial" - but, they do stick on a track and hold up really well under road course driving. Sure, they wear fast, which contributes to the problem with abnormal wear.

While it's likely the Mich PS is a better all-aroung tire, the Bridgestone isn't that awful. Don't blame the tire for a car problem NNA hasn't addressed. It's a warm weather only tire that I've found is actually pretty dam* good on the track for a stock street tire.

Remember R&T's testing of the Z vs M3, Z06, and 911 - that car wore RE-040's and turned superior laps at Willows over all but the Z06 (amazing what you can do with another hundred plus hp!)

My point is the Michys just prolong the inevitable, does not address any problems directly]

 

Steve, I agree the 040s are great around the track, but not everyone goes to the track. Getting the Michelin A/Ss was a deliberate move on my part. A wear rating of 400 vs. 140; if you are correct about the suspension geometry needs a change, the A/Ss will stave off the wear problem a long time, until Nissan fixes the suspension. They handle very well with the spring/strut mismatch I think we have going with the stock suspension. Who knows, the combination of Koni adjustable struts AND different tires may be the key to better longevity and normal tire wear.

I still think the soft tire tread, non-adjustable, aggressive suspension settings, oversprung/underdamped combination was a recipe for the disaster we have now on the 2003s and early 2004s. If my wear rated 400 A/Ss start cupping at 10-15,000 miles, with Koni struts and w/o any fix from Nissan, then I will be pursuing any and all remedies available. I will go aftermarket to buy my own fix, but I will never own another Nissan, nor will I recommend one to anyone else.

 

I had mine fixed when my car had 12k miles. I now have over 24k and the cupping hasn't returned. I don't know what they did other than realign, but I can find out if you'd like.

My problems now are...

Rear view mirror rattle
Trunk/Trunk lid rattle
Door Panel rattle
3-4 loud clicks on p/s door after window rolled up
Driver's side window works when it wants to


I am this close ->| |<- from filing a suit or trading it in for an S2K.
I think I have give Nissan a chance (after waiting 12k miles to get the cupping fixed)
I would rather lose 10k than let nissan take more of my money from the interest.

 

They offered my 4 new RE04's and for some reason the wrong speed rated tire was sent. I got the service mgr and NNA customer service on a 3- way phone call. Told them that someone is responsible for this mess and I wanted to know who made the mistake. For the next few minutes they accused each other while I listened..... Quite funny I might add.

NNA Rep: " We sent you the tires you ordered"
Service Mgr: " I ordered the correct tires, you (NNA) sent me the wrong ones.
NNA Rep: "No we didn't, we sent what you ordered"

This went on for a little while. I finally spoke up and said regardless of the blame - fix the freaking tires...

 

4 tires right model, wrong speed rating...unbelievable! I could understand if they were Potenza models of another tire, but that's just plain bonehead on someone's part.

Good luck!

 

Well talking to some lady at Nissan was pointless. She just said that the tire swap fixes the problem and have it done at the dealership. I talked to the service guy at the dealership and he said they would swap the tires and adjust the toe in. I told him that this wouldn't fix it, and he said "we've done this on other cars and haven't seen them back in." I guess they're just giving me the run around. I'll take it in on Monday and then probably back in a month later.

 

EXACTLY!!!!

Completely stupid on their part. The only fun part was listening to the NNA rep and the service mgr argue as to who would take the blame....

I saw the tires myself - if it wasn't for the the speed rating - the tires look excatly the same (225/235 17's). What would have made things wrose is if they actually put the tires on my Z. That's pretty much what I told them while on three way - It's your a$$ if something happens to me in this car in direct relation to the tires. I've put together a packet of material just incase and told the wife where it is.

 

What speed rating did they send?

 

225/45YR17 91Y - This was the type tire that was sent. As you can see it's the wrong speed rating and 45 series vs. 50 series.
They went from replacing the front 2 to replacing all 4 and it's now been a week and I haven't heard back. I don't want to call and bug them any more than I have to, but I'm tired of waiting.

 

I think NNA sent the alternative size and speed rating for your car. 225/45 and 235/45/17s Y-rated are considered a reasonable alternative for 50s and W rating. Both W and Y are very high speed ratings. However, you want 50s W rated, and you should get them.

If NNA had taken the time to inform your dealer about the difference, you could have made a decision. It is unfortunate, they seem to have tried to expedite delivery of your tires, but didn't have the courtesy of having the dealer to ask you if an alternative was acceptable.

 

Ugh!

Everyday I come to this forum and I read this thread with hope that one day I will see someone's ecstatic post that nissan finally accepted the fact that there is an issue with the suspension and has a fix for it. A REAL PERMENANT FIX and not a tire swap.

Everyday!

But it's always the same thing, NO FIX! NOTHING!

In about two months my Z comes in and instead of joy and anticipation all I have is regret and hesitation.

I was so excited when I finally saved up all my hard earned money and had enough to buy this car. All the extra pain, sleepless nights, eatting can food, not going out, not buying anything I didn't need, not going on my vacation I needed, etc...

All that work and sacrifice and it's going into a car with so many problems. I even drove a 1991 honda civic for years to save up so one day I could finally buy a nice car for once and when the time finally came it get's ruined.

I should/would walk away from the car but I have a $1,000 non-refundable deposit on the car. I don't know... at this point I might just walk away from the Z and lose the money. I am convinced in the long run it will be worth it in both my peace of mind and money for when I have to either buy an aftermarket suspension, sell/trade in the car and lose thousands, or wate time and deal with the stress of going through the lemon law process. Maybe losing a thousand dollars isn't a bad thing in this case.

Sure, I know I don't even have my Z yet but even the 04's are starting to have the cupping issue. There is NO reason to believe when my car comes in it won't have the issue. Nothing has changed. Nothing will change. I'm sure it's cheaper for nissan to just swap peoples tires for the first 12,500 miles than it is for them to fess up and repair the suspension.

I don't know what Nissan thinks of this whole mess and I don't even know if they would care enough about customers to fix it. I don't care if the Z had twice the amount of issues if nissan actually produced a fix for it. It's been over a year and where the hell is the fix for the suspension?

The only thing that keeps me going is still more hope that perhaps my car will have the euro suspension and that may solve the cupping issue or maybe by the time my Z arrives or shortly there after, Nissan will have a fix. Maybe I'm just worrying too much, but then again, these cars are cupping so maybe I should worry?

I don't know anymore. I just don't know what to do. I'm just frustrated and maybe I'm just too tired.

oh wel...

 

Have you tried to get your deposit back? There is no such thing as a non-refundable deposit. Tell the dealer you want your money back and why. Take a sample of this thread with all the problems and tell them your not buying a flawed car. Show them you have no faith in Nissan after reading about continuing tire wear problems that have gone on for over a year and some 2004s are affected.

No dealer wants negative publicity, but you can promise you'll hang them out dry in the local BBB, newspaper, etc. You are already a dissatisfied buyer, you can and will be a constant pain in the neck unless they refund your money. Take them to small claims court, you haven't received the car yet and don't want it based on all the problems you read about from scores of owners. If you are this upset, I wouldn't take delivery of the car when it comes in because you will be be constantly worried about the car's reliability.

Start by requesting your deposit back and be ready to show why. If they balk, tnen escalate your demands. They will be able to sell your car when it comes in because sales are still hot and say so to them. Be polite, but firm. You may be surprised at the results.

Just be absolutely sure this is what you want.

 

Well, let them know that you can buy but they can go through the trouble of cancelling the contract afterwards since you have three business days after you buy.

 

I have spent the last 5 days reading this entire thread. I am now more confused then when I started. Maybe if enough people die as a result of this issue NISSAN will finally step up and own responsibility.

 

I could be wrong, but I don't think anyone will die from the feathering. That is probably why Nissan is just pushing it a side. They probably spoke to their lawyers who said that it was minimal, so they just let it go. Unlike the recall for the engine sensor, which could kill the engine at highway speeds and possibly cause a major accident.