I got so pissed off at my Z yesterday, that I took it in and traded it in tonight. I have put up with the tire wear, no answers from Nissan, noisy AC compressors, soft paint, clucky seat, nappy fabric, and greasy windows. This thing has literally spent 5 times as much time in the service department in the last year as my Ford F-150 with 150,000 miles has spent in it's entire life. The last straw was the synchro failing when I shifted into 5th gear. Enough is enough. $32,000 cars with this high of a cost of ownership, and with only 15,000 miles DON'T shred trannys. This is rediculous.

Good news is my dealer treated me really fairly. Trade-in value equal to what I owe, plus a good price on my new vehicle, a fully loaded X-Terra. I was really pleased with the result. I had a year of fun, and I loved my car, but enough of this stress. I was starting to feel like I couldn't drive the stupid thing for worrying about tearing it up.

If Nissan ever gets their act together on the Z, I may buy another one. For now, I have never been so glad to dump a car.

 

Wow. I 'm glad that this hasn't been my experience. I'd sell too. What do you plan to buy?

 

Well, the advice is to never buy a car in the first model year because that's when they are working out all the unanticipated problems. Any car. Your Ford F-150, I am sure, was not a completely brand new design when you bought it.

I'm not saying your gripes aren't legitimate, but to lay the blame at the feet of the Z is to be a little short-sighted. Lots of cars in their first model year have a higher number of service problems than later years. From all manufacturers.

If you aren't prepared to accept that, then wait until the following year comes around.

 

congrats on the new x-terra. but 1 question? when you know nna has treated you like they have why go for another nissan? no flame here just wondering.


buub i know it wasn't directed at me. but for me it's all about support. i can deal with as many things as the car can throw at me as long as nissan acknowledges that there is a problem. i can even accept a bandaid as long as they tell me something is in the works. this is not the case with nna. my 93 rx7 was riddled with probs but mazda support was imo exceptional. in turn i would buy another mazda. but like the question above i have second thoughts about nissan.

 

its pretty wierd how your name is sean..ive had back luck with this car ever since i got it..no engine problems yet..actually not really car problems...but porblems directly related to it

and i spell my name the same way....spooky

 

wow man all cars have issues their first year....tire wear gets fixed with new tires, grease gets fixed at the dealership, nappy fabric can be replaced for leather for 500$. Your synchros was more then likely your problem not nissans....even though they did cover it...hope you have fun with the exterra though
nick

 

Ok. You guys got an ear full of my vent, so let me answer the questions.

1. I bought another Nissan because the dealer is a good one, they were willing to give me the best trade value, and the X-Terra is a mature design.

2. The Synchro is not my fault. Read the multitude of postings with the same problem. Many guys are on their third or even fourth tranny. I grew up driving sticks, and I know how to double clutch and drive.

3. My Ford truck was a new model vehicle from the first 3 months of production. Trucks are simpler, but these Z problems are sloppiness. Just so you know, I've got a couple of Engineering degrees and have been a Senior Project Engineering Manager at a major automotive OEM. I know intimately the issues with new vehicle launch and quality problems. These Z issues are significant design flaws. More likely the result of a rushed testing schedule than normal manufacturing tolerance issues.

4. It is unreasonable for Nissan to expect us to pay $32K for a car, and deal with these kinds of problems at under 15K miles. Trust me, heads are rolling at Nissan Japan. They are just not admitting the issues to the public for fear of damaging vehicle value. I have no doubt that the cars will improve, but given that the '03's haven't been repaired, that tells me that the '04's are not any better. Model year improvements come from previous years defects that are analyzed, root-caused, and corrected. Improvements don't happen in a vacuum. Engineers are not that smart.

Again, I loved my car, the aggravations just got to be too much. Unless a better car is introduced by another company, I may well buy another Z in a year or two. Trust me, the '03's are dogs and will soon be notorious.

Just my two cents.

Sean

 

Sean sucks to be you man but for every one of you there are 200 perfect Z's with happy owners. Out of 15 different vehicles I have yet to have one without any problem of some sort. I totally give the extra few the Z has to the 1st year syndrome. No big deal. Nissan has always taken care of me for anything I needed. I also have a 03 Ford Ranger that has not had any issues at all. I have had it one week longer than the Z. I got them both in Feb 03. The Z has 5000 miles (long road trips) and the Ranger has 17000. All I have done to the Ranger is change the oil. But you know what? It is a Ranger. No technology, few electronics, pretty much just metal bolted together. Crank windows, manual this manual that. Design is centuries old. I would expect no problems for the truck. Another thing is I drive the crap out of it. There may be a couple things wrong with it that I don't see because I don't care about it and am not **** about it like I am something like the Z. Anyways, I am not sure if you care. Enjoy your Xterra, they are neat little grocery getters if you grocery store is in the mud.

 

Mr. Potato Head, 1 in 200 is .5%, and if you read this board much more than .5% are having problems.

As somebody stated, I bought a first year car, and know I will have some issues, but expect the company to stand by the product and fix them.

Or, if 1st year products are so bad, then why did we pay full price?? If we expect to get bugs on 1st year, then maybe we all should get a 1st year discount...

I think they have had all the time in the world to do something about the tire feathering and tranny issues. Grease on the windows never bothered me much, and even the BOSE I put up with, but the tranny, come on... And they KNOW because from day one they just replace them outright, so they KNOW....

I am sorry to say I don't enjoy driving it as much lately. I am wating on new front tires from my dealer (over 6 weeks now, waiting on two tires, give me a break!) and it is hard to shift into 2nd and third... 10K miles.

 

I don't want to start a war over any of this. I really do want to say that I loved my Z. It just simply started to drive me nuts so much that the fun factor was out-weighed by the high cost of ownership (future tires, insurance, payments...). I dumped it before I got so sour on it that I regretted buying it. As it is, I had a lot of fun for a year, and now I might actually consider another one in a year or two after they hopefully get everything fixed. My honest, reasonably educated opinion on the '03's is that they have significant, not insurmountable, but significant design flaws.

I hope the rest of you continue enjoying your cars.

 

i'm sellin too!

 

Well, I love my 350Z and have had it since Apr, 03 with 5500 miles. No serious problems. A few minor bugs that can be worked out. The Bose is not at all what I expected, but as of Oct 1st Nissan has finally issued a TBA to All it's US dealers to fix that problem, so again I feel Nissan is trying to take care of any and all issues. I have had a 1986.5 Nissan Hardbody Truck that now has 187000 miles and purrs like it did the day I got it. I have friends that have American Trucks that have long since been dead and burried. My Dealer has put Mods on for me such as Borla Duel exhaust, Nismo cold air and still honors the warrenty.
New cars have new issues and we are a want it now generation I feel as such Nissan North America and my local Dealer are doing a good job of manageing my expectations.

 

I sold mine last week. Best thing I ever did. I've had the transmission replaced twice. Had the tires replaced once. Had window streaks, a jiggly drivers seat, and would get CEL from the gas cap. All with less then 10k miles.



Besides after driving a real performance car like the STI I just couldn't look at the Z in the same way.

 

Sure the Z has problems, but that's what a warranty is for. Streaks on windows is a pretty minor issue, as is the Bose system. The seat click has not been fixed by Nissan, but there's an easy DIY fix. A/C compressor loud? It's no different than other vehicles. The tranny is a major problem, and Nissan seems to just be sweeping the dust under the rug. I have NOT been impressed with Nissan's warranty service, as it has been downright ****-poor.

A real performance car doesn't have the lock-to-lock of a school bus (like the STi does). I drove on at SP in June, and while it's fast in a straight line, I was unimpressed with the handling feel.

 

smcgee1970:

I have had the problems our former Z owner here as described and then some. While it was a hassle and very time consuming, Nissan did everything they could do and have fixed all my problems, some of which took several attempts. And I don't think it's just first year cars that have problems. I too had a Ranger but it had many problems including something wrong with the the emmision control that Ford flat lied to me about. 1 weeks after I got rid of the POS Ford recalled that year Ranger for a problem with the emmision control. Believe it or not, I have also owned a Tacoma that had alot of problems, and Toyota lied to my face about it as well.

In fact, only two out of 5 things you list are real PROBLEMS(greasy windows and clucky seat)

Although my new Nissan has had problems, they are all fixed now(all under warranty, no questions asked) and really enjoy driving it my Z. You just have to be firm and persistant and things will get done.

FYI, the problems I have had over the last 6 months are:

window streaking(2 attempts, fixed)
front end alignment(X3)
right front suspension popping(3 attempts, fixed)
window creaking(3 attempts, fixed)
gas cap crappy-ness(fixed)


Enjoy your new Xterra

 

well i just bought and 04 track and hope i wont have issues but i tell u my chevy truckthat i have is a peice of junk since the day i got it it always has something wrong and you would think chevywould have no design flaws but they do ..my 2 cents

 

I have had several problems with my Z, tire cupping starting at 1600 miles, replaced w/Michelin A/Ss and aligned, it was outrageously out on toe. Had a fix on the BOSE, NO HELP. Several rattles fixed, window grease, afraid they won't work properly if I take it in, not fixed. Suspension impossibly stiff where I drive. If I get the tire cupping again, the car will be sold and my plans to buy a G35 Sedan will be changed and Nissan will never get my business again.

I am saying this because I have lost faith with Nissan as a reputable car manufacturer. This is my 5th Nissan and I am appalled at their cavalier treatment of all the Z's problems. Their top prority should have been to correct all the problems and many Z owners are still waiting for repairs to their cars for several months after purchase. I will go to Acura and/or Lexus for my next car. This is a long time coming, but I have read about and experienced too many flaws not repaired to care any longer.

 

Geez guys it sounds like you want immediate results for mostly minor issues, some attributable to the fact that it is a sports car. This is better than any Chevy, Ford, VW, etc that I have previously owned. Nissan has taken better care of me than any other manufacturer. You guys want sports car handling and with that comes camber, etc and increased wear on tires and parts. You buy a sports car and drive it like one and are surprised when you wear out the transmissions? Let me tell you something, the Z comes with a 6 speed. 6 speeds are street transmissions not race trans'. There is a reason the EVO, for instance, comes with a 5 speed. They are tougher, for one thing. You can't tell me you baby your trannies. Anyways, if you want to have a car with life and a personality (no Acura or Lexus has that not REALLY - no history either) of a true legend of a sports car and the reliability of anything out there, then go drop 100K on a 911 or something. Don't cry to me when you have to eat sandwiches for all your meals. For 30K you aren't getting any more than a Z. I think the babies who can't understand that this is a 30K dollar car and it has 30K dollar problems. It is not that expensive and I think that everyone who sees it and says, oh nice Porsche has gotten into your heads and now you think you have a Porsche. Well you don't. It's a NISSAN. Since when has anyone associated Nissan with class leading reliability? Sure it is pretty good. Since when has Nissan been associated with class leading performance? Sure it is pretty good. The Z is a historic, timeless piece of artwork that has ties to motorsports history all over the place and is a great performer as well. It does give you more for your money around corners and on the top end. The only place an STi or EVO outshines is from a stop. Big deal. They look like poop, too. If you bought the Z as a primary driver, an ultra reliable/problem free vehicle, or some sort of end all be all performance street/racing machine, you bought the wrong vehicle. You need to go out to your nearest Porsche dealership and trade in your house for something on that lot. For 30K you don't got that, my man. If you think that an STi or EVO have no problems man, you need to check out THOSE forums. They have at least as many as us. There is no such thing as a 30K dollar supercar. Stop dreaming. Nissan is not lying to us about problems and they are trying to fix them. It may take more time and the solution may not be as obvious to them as it is to you. Welcome to corporate America and beauracracies. Man, I work for one and it is a b!tch sometimes just trying to help a customer. There is a lot of crap and red tape sometimes involved in trying to get **** done and it takes a long time and sometimes the result is quite dumbed down compared to what REALLY needs to be done. 30 grand baby. Don't expect the world.

 

PH, my first Nissan was a DATSUN 240Z w/73,000 miles and I drove it for 70,000 miles and 7 years. I had an 89,92 and have presently a 99 Maxima, the last non-Renault Nissan. The Z has 5 times the problems my other Nissans have had, but the real issue is they're making money hand over fist out of the Z's image and won't fix the problems it has. Some of those problems are appearing on 2004s. Inexecusable to me. I won't ever recommend a Nissan again, they have alienated me because they are lying to their dealers, customers and to the press. They've done a poor job on their icon and don't care because its still selling. If they want my business, and the business of 1000s of other owners, they better fix this car. I was planning to buy a G35 Sedan, I won't if I keep reading about the problems that continue to exist on this car.

I have no reason to trust them any longer. They've given up their reputation for quality cars to pad the bottom line. I bought Nissans before because they were almost trouble-free. This not the case any longer. I still have the window streaks, but am afraid to try their fix because it has been botched by so many dealerships. Brilliant ideas and poor execution will catch up with Nissan eventually. I am fedup with their mistakes and lies. I don't know how many Nissans you've had, PH, but they were always good cars w/minimal problems that were fixed immediately in earlier days. My 14 years of ownership experience is proof to that statement and bureaucracy excuses are b.s., I worked in a bureaucracy for 23 years, the rot starts at the top, not bottom.

Boomer--my opinion, take it or leave it, I really don't care anymore.

 

Interesting to hear about the tranny probs. Just had mine replaced for a bad synchro @ 5k miles. Nissan replaced without a hassle. my real problem though is now the battery is draining for no apparent reason. Ive had to charge the battery numerous times, and jump start it several times as well. Twice i brought it in and they told me nothing was wrong. Anyone else had trouble in this area?