Boomer

Its news to me that they have fixed the problem, and I and everybody else would like to know how and when it was fixed on the newer cars. We are still waiting to see if they can repair our cars. I/we still don't know if the alignment is the answer to our tire problem or not. Please continue to request more info on this problem for we are not convinced the problem is eliminated. Thanks.

OldZ

I think that someone like me who has not bought yet will carry more weight with NNA and I will continue to hound them before I spend the money and I will also give them an earful about how they seem to be treating their existing customers with a legitimate problem.

Boomer

We appreciate your help, its good to have a prospective owner to speak for us. Thank you. Keith

fotodad

I can't comment on whether the new Zs have fixed the problems many of us are suffering through right now, but if I knew then what I know now I would have NEVER bought a Nissan 350 Z. It truly pains me to say that, and I'm sure I can take some responsibility in making an uninformed decision. I like so much about this car, but, in my humble and layman's opinion, this car has serious design flaws. I was blinded by "Best of" lists and "Car of the Year" awards when I should have been reading this forum. If I were financially able, I'd trade the car in on a car which has a proven reliability record. And the sad thing is Nissan is not going the extra mile for its loyal customers. Best of luck to you. And thanks for helping us current owners out with your calls to Nissan. Every little bit helps!

Michael

corsair

iTrader: (12)

is this thread dead? is Nissan doing anything to address this issue?

Boomer

The dealers are still replacing tires, some are NOT replacing the OE tires, but Nissan has not announced a fix.

keiffer953

I have an 04 and it's not fixed. They replaced my front right compression rod and swap tires from right to left and vice versa. We'll see if the feathering stops or continues.

jelledge

As I stated the TSB for tire swap or replacement and alignment does nothing to fix the feathering problem. Nissan replaced all of my tires with S03's at 6500 miles and aligned the car. Now at 15000 miles it is back and fronts are ruined again.

I am now having my service manager call Nissan product engineering to see what is next. At first Nissan prod engr said to set the front toe to max toe in and install new tires. Well that was done the first time around. So now we see what crap they come up with this time.

Bascially Nissan has known about this problem for almost a year now has not fixed it. So in short they have not stepped up and fixed this problem. Nor have they fixed this problem on the new '04's coming out.

Personally I love this car, but cannot replace tires every 6500 miles. If I don't get a permanent fix then Nissan will be buying back my car. Sad that it has such a major design flaw.

If Nissan is listening, I have owned 5 different Nissans and 3 different Z cars so far. But this one will be the last Nissan I ever own if you do not fix this issue. Nissan's quality has really dropped off over the last few years. For a $35k car I am really dissapointed. And yes I bought this car sight unseen as a pre-order person having faith in you. Never again.

toykilla

iTrader: (1)

count me in.. i have had tired replaced and a few months later.. the feathering is back

Boomer

I have essentially the same issues as you and if my 350Z is not fixed by Nissan, I will never buy another. It is also absolutely unbelievable this problem is appearing on 2004s.

corsair

iTrader: (12)

well my dealer called today and told me my new tires are in. I'm dropping the car off on Thursday. I doubt this will fix the problem but i'm just taking this process one day at a time.

Flyingscot

I'm afraid I have to agree. I too have been a long time Nissan fan. I own an incredibly reliable, over engineered and fun to drive '92 NX2000, a '96 Maxima SE and now a '03 350Z. But with this tire issue and the lack of care from Nissan, I'm seriously looking for alternatives.

My friend, again a huge Nissan fan, bought an '03 Sentra SE-R Spec V. Well, the damn thing kept buring oil at an alarming rate. A TSB was issued that would have addressed the source but not the damage. So he finally dumped the car after less than a year and now swears he'll never buy another Nissan.

I now have two Mazda's in the parking lot. The fit and finish and paint job on my wife's '03 Miata makes me a little envious. And her car only cost $23,000. Plus, my wife has been blown away by the constant stream of gifts she's been receiving from Mazda and the dealership. In the last three months, she's received a Mazda key ring, a nice Mazda Baseball cap, a nice stainless steal travel mug, a bottle of touch up paint, two questionaires and two calls from Mazda to make sure she is still happy with her car and the dealership. I mean, she goes to the front door every day now to see what they've sent her next.

I'm starting to race a Spec-Miata next year and guess what? I qualify for Mazda's S-plan pricing on OEM parts, Mazdaspeed parts and even $2,500 off a new RX8. We went to the dealership to inquire about a new engine. The dealer wanted to sell me a reconditioned engine for over $3,000. With the S-plan, I get a brand new engine for almost half that. Mazda also takes $500 off new cars for repeat customers. You do the math.

I'm sorry guys, but I never thought I'd be so dissatisfied with Nissan and so happy with Mazda. I know all car companies have skeletons, but, Nissan's 350z is their flagship, their icon, their so called Z DNA. It's a crying shame then to find out their DNA is bloody cancerous.

BTW, I do enjoy how the car looks, handles, brakes and turns. It's very comfortable and has fairly good gas mileage. So I don't yet regret my buying decision. And now that my Toyo T1-S tires are worn, they've eliminated a huge amount of the understeer, especially with the 235/40s up front and the 245/40s in the rear.

I guess I'm more surprised and angry at Nissan as a car company than I am at the car. I wonder how many loyal customers Nissan is prepared to lose over this tire issue?

Fly

Boomer

This is exactly the way I feel, too. That Nissan can put out such a wonderful car, yet are unable or unwilling to fix its fatal flaws just dumfounds me. They are cutting their own company's throat!

Boomer

Grommit

iTrader: (3)

Well, there's a sucker born every minute, right? I'm sure they can con others into their 'quality' cars. I'm going to wait for Nissan to call me back tomorrow with the latest info on this issue and if they do not have a fix for this problem I am walking away on my thousand dollar deposit and won't buy the car. I'm sick of being here in this repair forum day after day and seeing nothing being done.

kawataworks

This Friday 11/14/03 starting at 9am PST many 350Z owners dealing with the cupping issue will be faxing a letter to Nissan in protest to their lack of support regaurding this issue.

If you would like a pdf file of the letter so you can print it out and fax it to Nissan. Send me an email at mindfullivin@yahoo.com


Nissan North America, Inc.
18501 South Figueroa St., Gardena, CA 90248, U.S.A.
Phone: 310-771-3111
Fax: 310-771-3343

Nissan North America, Inc. (Manufacturing)
Nissan Drive, Smyrna, TN 37167, U.S.A.
Phone: 615-459-1400
Fax: 615-459-1554/1555

Nissan Design America Inc.
9800 Campus Point Drive, San Diego, CA 92121 U.S.A.
Phone: 619-457-4400
Fax: 619-450-3332

Nissan Technical Center North America, Inc. (Los Angeles Office)
18455 South Figueroa St. Carson, CA 90248-4504, U.S.A.
Phone: 310-771-3111
Fax: 310-771-5658

Nissan Technical Center North America, Inc. (Arizona Office)
7815 North White and Parker Road, Stanfield, AZ 85272, U.S.A.
Phone: 520-421-4100
Fax: 520-421-4298

Nissan Technical Center North America, Inc. (Cambridge Basic Research)
Four Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, U.S.A.
Phone: 617-374-9650
Fax: 617-374-9697

Nissan Technical Center North America, Inc. (Technical Center)
39001 Sunrise Drive Farmington Hills, MI 48331, U.S.A.
Phone: 248-488-4123
Fax: 248-488-3901

benzz280

iTrader: (2)

count me in, just found out that i too have feathering issues, dont know how my dealer will handle it though, will print out the TSB and bring it to them tomolo.

wish me luck,

benzz280

iTrader: (2)

please add me to the list of the names on the letter to be faxed out to NNA

Benny - T003524

THX!

Z'd

After pleading my case as a safety issue and getting a file number from NNA and a promise that the dealer could replace the tires if they observed the wear I was describing, I contacted the dealership. They searched for tires and couldn't locate any in stock "anywhere" (I wonder why?...) I made arrangements through a local tire dealer to get them supplied with the service dept's approval.
Take the car in today, the tires are sitting there on the parts dept floor and I think I'm all set. An hour later, a service dept rep comes in and informs me that they submitted the request to NNA and it came back: "goodwill is not recommended".
Now we are taking this fight on as a warranty/ safety issue.
I WILL get these tires installed on NNA, but the fight is unbelievable- even more so as a regional rep walks in during the middle of this, listens to the problem, acknowledges it and that they are replacing tires, but will he OK it??-- certainly not while I am already at the dealership today and they have to have the tires off anyway!!!!

mwr

For people that will be using a modem and WinfaxPro or something similar why not fax the complaint letter AND the current contents of this thread. Let thim swim in some paper for a while.....

kawataworks

MWR -

I understand your anger, as I too would love for Nissan to suffer as I have had to suffer this past year dealing with this issue.

However the goal of the fax protest is to get as many people from all over the country to get their letter into Nissan soo that Nissan can see that we are organized and there are many of us Z owners that are tired of their BS.
And that we demand a fix to this issue.

The more people that send their letter in the better it is for ALL of us. Please only fax one letter per location per person iwth a 350Z.

Thank you for your help.

Ian