Yep. Same car. Same color. It's a keeper.

WayneTN

 

I love love love my Z.

However, it was a bit implusive of me to buy it - and in retrospect, I probably shouldn't have as I could be buying a house instead.

So would I do it over again with what I know now? Probably not. It would have been smarter to keep driving my POS Honda and buy a house.

Am I going to beat myself up over it? No, there's no point. And I do love the car, so I might as well make the best of it.

Which, of course, reeeally hard driving this gorgeous car. =)

 

My 350Z Silverstone Touring 6MT sits in the garage. I won't drive it.

Added new SO3's, still won't drive it.

I always feel that the car has a mind of its own and does what it damn well pleases. Safety and enjoyment -- not here pal.

I added one of the best GPS/Audio systems you can buy, but the Z stays in the garage. Sliding around in the rain is dangerous; sliding around in the Colorado snow [even with snows] is dangerous. I have magazines to publish and I can't do that dead.

$50,000 Z and it sits in the garage. Thank goodness for my S8. At least I have one car I can depend on and have fun driving.

Mr. K, we need to talk.

 

If you're not kidding remind me never to read anything that you publish.

 

I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. But I'd buy lower model, upgrade and save money.

 

It should almost be a crime to have the fun I have.

I love this job!

 

I have been thinking about it again this week. I got an enthusist. Love it but I also think the track is a good idea for those wanting to upgrade thier wheels, here is my logic:

Enthusist wheels and tires hardly sell for nothing, maybe $500-700, track wheels go for about $2000. If you sold those wheels upgraded, then you still have the brembos, VDC, spoilers, air duffusers etc so it might work out cost wise if you want those things.

 

Knowing what I know now and have experienced with my 2003 Z, NO, I would not buy one again!

Now, would I buy a 2004? Yes, yes, yes.

The design of the car is truly a work of art, and the performance is remarkable. All of this for around 30K is impressive, too. But the many problems with my 2003 are just too frustrating. Anyone looking to purchase a 2003 should wait until the 2004s are available! I wish I had. I firmly believe the problems folks are experiencing with their Zs are design issues, issues which I'm certain Nissan will remedy in the 2004 models. And for those people who are pleased with their car, I am truly happy for you. I wish I shared that smile on your face.

 

yup no doubt Id get another Z, yeah even seeing the STI, evo, rx8 and the conv Z, Id still get what I have.

I might consider the enthusiast or performance a bit more after seeing the aftermarket leather thats available, as well as bose. but for simplicity sake, bose is fine, and you cant add power seats and heated seats.

so I guess Im happy with my choice. I for one am glad I didnt get the track, as I intended to get.

Thanks gwinett place nissan for only having a black touring 6mt, I love it.

 

What problems are you having that are so severe that you regret buying this years Z?

 

just curious, but what do you expect to be "fixed" in 2004. you think nissan has a book full of problems and solutions laying around, while they sit there smokin cubans sayin "yeah we could fix these all now, but lets go ahead and produce 15000 more problem cars and make the 2004 a good year"

I dont think so....

as for layout design changes, thats what would change by the model year, judging by convertable photos, no such interior changes have occured.

 

I really don't know if I would. I'm right in the middle of one of my righteous indignation spasms, so I'm undecided. Its not the car, its Nissan's lack of support, I'm being subjective here, for the preorders which continues to amaze and anger me.

Their glacial slowness to correct our problems and the gap between dealers and NNA trouble me constantly. Its pretty obvious NNA has lost their grip on dealer practices and NNA has assigned 1 person in Customer Relations to take down our complaints which, according to some, are never addressed. Who to believe, a disembodied owner's post on a website who has defected or a multinational corporation that has come a tremendous distance in a short period of time with diminished personnel and fewer suppliers?

Its hard for me to reconcile the Nissan that exists now, come back from the brink, with the Nissan that was prior to 1994, which was the time when they started to slip and were too slow to respond to globalization. I stand by my first statement.

 

From knowing many people that work for dealers (master tech's, service writers etc.) I know that historically, Nissan has always had solid Engineering and their drivetrains are good. The weak part I commonly hear is that the dealers are hiring untrained Mechanics rather than pay exisiting trained ones good salaries and are not paying to send many mechanics to Nissan for training. San Diego is plagued with this problem. I had one serive writer tell me he would not trust 90% of the mechanics there to change his oil.

I think all of us know cars have flaws and we purchsed a car in its first year which will increase the chances of flaws. Most people I read here are having little problems such as grease on their windows. I have not read of a blown motor yet, one tranny problem to the best of my knowledge. Tire wear seems to be an issue. The bottom line is if they were taking their car to a trained master tech, these problems should easily be fixed but the dealers have hacks working on their cars. A car should never leave a dealer until it is fixed the first time, end of story!

Nissan needs to take Mr K's advise and treat a customer for life of the car well. They use to do it, they better learn to do it again or lose a lot of return customers. Nissan, it is your responsibility to not only make a good car but also make sure your dealers are providing quality repairs. Do not charge us $70 per hour and pay them $8 per hour and futher more, don't make us take our car to you 4 times for a simple repair even if it is under warranty. We paid to get a new car so we do not have problems. If i want problems, i could by a used car.

 

I would for sure, but you need to ask again in 2 years. That will be the true test to see if it holds up with time.

I used to have a 3 year old MR2 Turbo(1993) which I loved dearly, but it was cheating on me with my car dealer for warranty stuff.

RAW

 

I don't care what they're smokin', but damn right I expect them to be sitting around figuring ways to make the car better. Whether they make the improvement as soon as they discover and solve a problem on the next car off the assembly line, or whether they make the improvements with the next model year...I expect them to make improvements and fix the inherent problems many Z owners are experiencing. Don't you? And if they don't have a "...book full of problems..." I'll gladly send them a copy of some of the thread addresses on this forum. Here's what I know, what I've personally experienced:

1. Window grease on both windows and a TSB for it that causes more problems than it fixes.

2. A bouncy ride (no, not a sporty ride).

3. Uneven tire wear at 4,000 miles which was NOT fixed by the TSB.

4. A sound system which doesn't sound as good as me singing in the shower.

5. A paint job only an orange peel can love!

6. Rattles in the front and rear which dealer hasn't been able to locate and fix.

Regarding your comment: "let's go ahead and produce 15000 more problem cars." By the way Nissan is handling some of the problems their customers are having with their product, I wouldn't put it past them TO wait until next year to fix some of these problems.

But on the bright side, I still have a transmission!

Boomer, it's brownie time.

 

Boomer,

BRAVO!
Expertly and eloquently stated!
I am standing and applauding!
I couldn't agree more with your statement even if my wife had made it!

 

Good points!

 

I don't agree with that list of problems. Blose sucks... and that's mostly it. But I suppose some people are less lucky, or more picky. So they do see some problems. So what?

No car is perfect. Especially sports car. No dealer is perfect. No manufacturer is perfect. If you'll go to BMW's or Porsches forums you'll see that Z's problems are nothing serious in comparison.

The question was "would you do it again?" And I'm saying I would. I don't see any below 50 car on the market that could compete with Z. Do you?

 

I totally agree with you, no car under 50K, maybe Vette but not as high quailty built IMHO but then again, I am prejudice against American cars for the most part. I agree to the Bose accessment, thanks to this webpage and you guys, I learned not to buy it among other things....