hey guys,

I'm very interested in a new 03-04 Z, i'm located in long island so i'd appreciate it if you could point me out to the best dealers that you've dealt with. My Gf currently has a G35 and I fell in love with the quality/performance of it i'll be trading my WRX in for the Z, so i'd appreciate a place that won't rape me too bad with tradeins, i was thinking of dealing with Habberstad nissan in Huntington, how are they?

any suggestions(dealerships) are welcomed

 

everyone loves dan zeigler at smithtown nissan

 

just called him, he's away at the sema show thanks!...anymore suggestions?

 

That is the only place I would recommend. He is a great guy and he can hook you up with everything. The dealership is also Mod Friendly. They aren't a$$es about people putting on cold air intakes or exhausts. Plus he won't rip you off. I would HIGHLY recommend him. Plus he knows his Nissans. The first time I called a dealership looking for info on the new Z they didn't know jack. But Dan Z knew everything there was to know. He isn't just a salesman but an enthusiast just like us. Trust me just wait for him to get back to Smithtown and he will make you a happy person.

 

I bought my Z from Smithtown Nissan and had the worst experience ever. I am still (since August) fighting the issues I've had. This was the only place I would have purchased my Z prior to my experience. I would not send my worst enemy there now. And if you do for some reason go and buy your car there, whatever you do, don't let the guy in the body shop on the premises go anywhere near it. He screwed up my car so badly and the owner of the dealership (as well as Dan) has been dodging me for over a month as I drive around with a tainted Z that I can't even put a coat of wax on for the winter because there's paintspray all over the body and rims. This is just the tip of the iceburg. If anyone is interested in the entire story (which will be quite the novel), PM me. I have also contacted Nissan Consumer Affairs, but it doesn't seem as though they can reach the owner either. Looks like a job for small claims court!!!

 

ouch sorry man!
I did buy my car from them as well and haven't had a problem. It was a good experience, for me, buying from Smithtown Nissan, but if you are speaking of that body shop next door, yeah they are bad news. I had big problems with them many years ago.

 

This is the only bad thing I've heard thus far about Smithtown Nissan. The other 100 reviews have all been positive....nothing is ever perfect. Having said that, I would also recommend Dan at Smithtown Nissan. He went out of his way for me when I got my Z and did a few things that normally wouldn't have been done.

Wait til he gets back, man.

 

I will agree about their positive reputation...hence the reason I purchased mine there. However, once my name was on that binding contract, I was treated like a redheaded orphan stepchild and ignored. I practically have to stalk them to get a call back or an answer. I understand that not everything is perfect, but the degree to which they screwed and are still screwing me, and the indifference they're showing is deplorable and unacceptable. Dan went out of his way to get my my Z too, but after handing over that check, I have had nothing but problems. I understand that I'm not buying a Mercedes or Ferrari, but they do not practice good business, let alone common courtesy, oftentimes. This is the first public mention I've made of this, but due to the degree to which I've been screwed and ignored, it's time that people know the truth. Also, as I mentioned, what I divulged in my last post was the tip of the iceburg of what really happened.

FYI, Nissan Consumer affairs has also been unsuccessful at contacting the owner, Gary Rubio. Sounds like I'm going to have to take extreme measures. They are just hoping that I will go away or forget that they screwed me, eventually. They refuse to just do the right thing and correct the problems they caused. They're in for the fight of their lives because I won't leave them alone until I get what I'm due. This has caused me more stress than I can describe. At one point I told Dan, "I don't even want this thing anymore."

All that said, find somewhere else to spend your money, man. I hear Habberstad treats their customers right and has an excellent service department.

 

Got mine at 112 Nissan..no complaints by and large, adn they got me my 04 qucikly and with the exact color and options I wanted......

 

I'm really suprised you are having such troubles with Smithtown Nissan and Dan, I really had nothing but a good experience with them. I hope it all works out for you in the end.

 

Me too. I went there specifically (there are many more dealers closer to me) because of the level of service and expertise I thought I would get. You wouldn't believe the laundry list of problems my brand new Z came back with after that body shop was done with it...and it took them a month to put on my Nismo wing, patch the bumper holes that were drilled erroneously, and fix a ding and paint bubble in a quarter panel. In that month's time, they didn't even find ONE HOUR that it takes to put in my Injen CAI (which has been sitting in my kitchen ever since), nor did they fix my alarm that doesn't even go off if I shake the entire car quite vigorously and goes off if I pop the hatch w/o disarming.

Quite the disappointment....

 

unfortunately you just have bad luck

your story is similar to mine but it had nothign to do with the car itself or the dealer...some custom shop drilled the wrong holes for my backup sensors

lets just say i went through 2 months of headaches and no driving

i know how annoying it is

 

I am not claiming that it had anything to do with the car, but it absolutely had something to do with the dealer and the competance of the body shop. The dealer would not return my phone calls and I had to stalk him to get answers as to what was going on with my car. And usually those answers were just to shut me up and turned out not to be truthful most of the time.

Furthermore, I've had body work done several times before and any competant shop that has half as much equipment and supposed expertise as this one claimed to have would not have gotten paintspray all over the entire exterior of the car including the rims. Not only that, but there is a huge scuff mark in my sideview mirror, acid mark on the back hatch lid, clearcoat runoff at the bottom of the wing, scratches in the metal inside door handle, scratches on the rear strut bar, masking tape left all over the place (some places I can't remove), something loose inside my passenger door, etc. Is that bad luck? No. That's incompetance pure and simple.

 

Like you said though, isn't that the body shop's fault instead of the dealer?

 

not if the dealer owns the body shop.....

I was there today...had to wait an hour and ahalf for an oil change...last time for me, guess I'll jsut do them myself

 

your gonna laugh but i get my oil changed at walmart on 347, they use fram filters, i don't know how you feel about that, but they also use mobil1. $28 and you can watch them do it through the glass and no waiting.

 

I've got no issue with Fram at all....I use on on my other Z (has around 600 hp) as well as most of my other cars I have had. Not a fan of the Mobil 1 myself, but I am sure they carry a bunch of different brands anyway.

 

wow. sorry about the mishap with the body shop. i always see Zs with the full nismo kit out in front of smithtown, and often stop in to take a look. never looked closely enough to see if anything was not done properly. guess i'll think twice about asking for the nismo kit when i'm ready to buy my Z.

as far as body shops go...i would highly recommend "3rd Generation Auto Body II" on 347, just across the highway from the Cadillac dealer. certain members of my family are, shall we say 'accident-prone', and we've always brought our cars to that shop for repairs. our cars always look like new when they come out of there. i'd probably have them install any kit that i put on my car.

just my $0.02...

 

my coworker had a bad experience with dan ziegler. He wanted 1000 over MSRP for a roadster 5AT, disappointed since i recommended him, he went to amity nissan and got the roadster for MSRP. I mean, i recommended dan based on the positive reviews that everyone else gave him, but my coworker wasn't happy with the price quote dan gave him.

 

Guys-more bad news about Dan Ziegler. See BullishZ's post about Dan in the Off Topic section.