I replaced mine with hancook venus 104s and Nissan reimbursed me. I'd send the guys a nast note, maybe have an attorney friend send it under his letterhead.

 

I have a 2004 Track 350Z and was wondering if anyone has had the tire feathering problem with the Track model?

 

Tire feathering is not dependent on the model nor year of make. Although it remains to be seen if the 2005's have it.

 

I've read several forums on this and can't remember which forum had a post saying that the NISMO suspension seemed to fix the problem. Can anyone verify that. I ask because I spun my Z yesterday and ended up on a curb and amazingly did little damage to the exterior(scuffed lower left front bumber, scuffed side of left front tire and 1" scuff you can't see standing up on the two left rims.) It still drives straight, but the steering wheel is cocked about 10 degrees to drive straight so I need a new alignment and possibly some control arms. Wondering if I should just get the NISMO suspension now, does that include arms or just springs and shocks?

 

ouch! sorry to hear it.

 

My kit came with springs and shocks. No arms.

 

Anyone know if this affects the 2005 models or just all 350zs?

 

I just got off the phone with 1-800-NISSAN1. I’ve called them 11 times since Nov 9th and today was the first time someone called me back. For those of you who have not read my past posts, I took my car every 3750 miles to my Nissan dealership and at 14729 miles they told me that my front tires were worn to the belt and that I needed an alignment which is 2229 miles past the point were the warranty would cover my issue.

So in the phone call from the supervisor at Nissan North America they accept no responsibility for my tires and feel that the dealership should cover the issue. Well at 14729 when the dealership discovered the issue they would not even give me a free alignment (yes I asked for one) so why now would they agree to give me a free set of tires and an alignment??? The person from 1-800-NISSAN1 said that my dealership checked my alignment each time from 3780 miles on and each time it was in alignment. So how did my tires wear down to the belt in only 14729 miles??? I’ve been told by a Firestone dealer that people get 30-60,000 miles from the Bridgestone Potenza REO40’s yet at 9000 miles mine started the road roar and at 14729 I was told not to exceed speeds of 60 MPH until I could get new tires. The person from 1-800-NISSAN1 also told me that there is nothing different from a ‘03 and ‘04 350Z except the way they were tied down on the boat when they were shipped over here to the US.

My question to people who have unloaded their Z’s, do I have enough info to move forward with the BBB or a lawyer and make Nissan North America buy back my Z???? I live in North Carolina and under my states section of the 2004 warranty book it says that I am not entitled to repurchase until my Nissan dealer has had a ‘reasonable number of repair attempts’. I’m really confused and need someone who went through the process to give me some guidance/advice because after 71 days of dealing with this issue I feel that I haven’t moved forward.

My email is kirkmountain@yahoo.com. Thanks for any help/stories/advice in advance.

 

IMHO, you've defintely got enough for a BBB complaint, but don't hold out high hopes for favorable results. The BBB is funded by the Retailers. It's sad, but they really don't have your best interest in mind.

 

I am ditching my Z at 14500miles. Tired of Nissan BS. I will never buy a Nissan again and will buy either an S2000 or a mustang GT.

 

I have a 2005 350z raodster, and I was wondering if anyone has had the ailgnment problem on 05 models. please let me know.

 

Hi guys,

I got my Z back from the dealer on Friday. I had to replace two bent rims from hitting the curb. The rythmic droning noise above 50 mph that developed after the incident was much better after putting on the new rims and getting the alignment redone. Front left and right wheels came into specs very nicely and uniformly side to side, however the rear wheels toe specs are outside of limits. The left wheel came in at 0.11(range is .01 - .09) not too bad, but the right side(the wheel that should have had the least impact) is way out at negative .12(it's supposed to be positive 0.1 - 0.9).

I still have the droning noise although it is much less pronounced and shows up above 65 mph. The dealer claimed the new tires I put on(bought rims and tires on ebay for $500, only had 1000 miles on rims and tires) had some feathering and that caused the noise, but the feathering on these weren't as bad as the ones on my car. Well until the accident I had no tire noise at all, and I only had 3000 miles on them. So I don't think it's a feathering issue.

My car also wants to turn to the right(does a complete lane change is 4 - 7 seconds usually). If I understand the numbers correctly, the left rear wheel is pointed slightly outwards( to the left) and the right rear is pointed inward(towards the left), which means the back end is going to try to go left making the front end go right. I am wondering if this could be causing the noise as well as the turning tendancy, and what can be done to correct the right rear wheel since the toe can't be adjusted?

Thanks

 

guys...now that i have saved up enough money o put down on the Z...i see this thread and i am having 2nd thoughts...
some guys respond with serious problems..and some are more laid back about this...agreeing with some posts i do not want 2 pay for alignment every time i change my oil and go through crap with NISSAN when asking for free alignment...how serious is this..and would the Z be worth this recall...i know this is outta topic...does the g35 experience the same issue?

 

one more thing....has the issue been fixed on the 05 models...

 

I'm new here, so sorry for the rehash, but could someone summarize if the '04 has the same tire issues as the '03's?
If so, is there a TSB for the '04 model, or are we at the mercy of the dealership and our checking the alignment every 3k or so?
Is it that the car goes out of alignment easily why we have to check it so frequently? or is it poor geometrics/design in the suspension from the factory?

Or is the real problem is nobody really knows and we are getting the runaround from Nissan/Dealers?

Just bought an '04 and am concerned. Appreciate any help.

 

It is my understanding that the front end suspension on the 2005 350z is the same as my 2003 Z (no part number changes on any of the front end parts from what I have read).

It is too soon to tell if anyone has feathering problems with the 2005 model.

I do love my car, but I hate Nissan's denial of this WELL know and documented problem.

 

zownz:
My 2 cents: I have an '04 and replaced the front tires at 11k, but was free from the dealership, as well as a free alignment.
I've owned everything from Porsche's to Mercedes and this is the first time I've experienced such a problem with tires. My car is 100% stock and I really do not know the reason (geometrics of the front end, poor car-tire combination, poor tires, ?), but I do love the 350Z. The tire problem is something I wish was not there, but I have no intentions on trading my car because of it (I may try a different brand of tire as my next attempt). Maybe I'm lucky, but my dealership came and picked up my car, did the work and brought it back to me. Mine was bought as a second car and a toy to use at leisure. I guess you'll have to make up your own mind about the purchase. With my Porsche, trust me, these tires are cheap compared to some of the other documented problems that car had. A buddy of mine just bought the RX8, but he is also experiencing loud roar from tires. So who knows. Check out edmunds.com for a full review of this car.
Also note, I've seen many posts on tirerack about the tires being horrible in snow. These are not snow tires and are listed as summer tires.
Good luck.

 

I think ztastic hit the nail right on the head. Those of us who bought the Z as a second car for fun seem to be a lot less upset by the whole tire/alignment issue. It's not a good situation and the response from Nissan and their dealers seem to be inconsistent at best, unethical at worst.

If I was young and saved up my money for my first new cool car, I would be very upset with the situation.

However, my expectations going into my purchase where lower than a lot of folks. Why? Because I did my research.

There are things you need to know before going into this purchase. All of these points can be found in published articles.

*This is a new model car. From the ground up. Prudent buyers always wait a couple years to let the manufacturer get the kinks out. This is not unique to Nissan. Even Toyota has had a few clunkers.

*In order to make the car affordable to people like you and me, Nissan controlled costs in a number of ways. They used an existing engine, interior kinda cheap, etc. It looks like the tires were another area they cut costs. I mean really, who sells a car with 'summer' tires.

*'Affordable' means different things to different people. The 350Z is a bargain compared to a Porsche, but if you can't afford a new set of quality all season tires when your baby soft summer tires need to be replaced, then maybe this is not the car for you.

*The sight lines for the roadster with the top up are horrendous. I've already spent several hundred dollars repairing a scrape on my rear bumper, because I couldn't see. I eventually installed supplemental mirrors.

*Dings that you live with on your regular car become unacceptable on your beautiful sports car. I have a door ding on the left rear quarter. Cost to repair? $500. Why? Because the way the Z is designed, the body shop can't easily get behind the ding and push/pull it out. Will I pay it? Probably, eventually.

*Premium gas is required.

*Trunk space in the ZR is extremely limited. Even if you are willing to brave the risk of door dings at the grocery store, there is not a lot of space for groceries. Unless I was a single, childless person who never went to Home Depot, I don't see how this can be your only car.

With all this, I still went ahead and bought my ZR last year. I went into it with eyes wide open. Even with the problems, it is the most fun car I've ever owned. I don't regret it.

In the 1970's I heard of a guy with a Jaguar that had a bumper sticker that said "The parts falling off this car are of the finest British manufacture."

Maybe we need a bumper sticker that says. "Don't panic! That noise you hear is just my tires disintegrating."

I think what upsets people the most is that with the Z it looked like a performance car could be affordable. But alas, we should have known better. Sports cars are and always will be luxuries. And often expensive ones at that.

Good luck on your decision.

 

Great post. Many of your points are consistent with my thoughts before I bought a Z. I knew tires were expensive and needed to be replaced often, and I knew repairs are expensive. I was apprehensive about buying the first year fo a new model, and I knew I would obsess greatly over who woudl touch it and where I would park it.



I waited three years to buy a sports car because I wanted it as a second vehicle and I wanted a house with a garage to keep it in. I was going to get an S2000 because they were somewhat "exclusive" and had been out for a few years.

But the Z came out and I changed my mind. I remember driving it home from the dealer thinking to my self, " Ahh, this is perfect", then I thought, " Hmmm, I wonder what problems I will have".

Well, one and a half years later, I've learned more about alignment, suspension mods, and tire wear than I thought I would ever know. I'm frustrated with it but I'm not bitter about it. I expected something to crop up.

Does this excuse Nissan for poor customer relations, poor service, and denial of a problem? No. Does it excuse dealers from giving poor service? No. But several Z owners bought a high performance sports car for the price of a sedan. And they thought they could drive and maintain it like a sedan.