Took my 350Z to my local dealer for a check after several months of noise from my steering column which they have diagnoised as faulty tyres !!

I was asked the question have I smelt a burning smell from the car !!! No was my reply, I was told that my clutch was going to fail within the next 2/3 k.
I was surprised as the car had only covered 11k from new.

Nissan are putting this down to normal wear and tear, I have written to Nissan UK and they will not accept any responsabillity, I smell a cover up on Nissan's behalf. They have a serious problem with the clutch on the 350z that is not fixed by a replacement, I have examples of some drivers getting through 3/4 clutches within 30k.

I want to take action but I need help, who should I contact ? Is there any other UK owners who have been told the same thing from Nissan, I have treated my car a baby since I purchased it in March 2004, there is no way that the clutch should be on the way out after 11k.

Looking forward to some support.

 

hi there mate

go have a look @ www.350zuk.com and do a search. quick though, as the site it shutting down for good. Some good info there. I personally know of more owners who had the same problem.

PS there's a new owner club site opening from 1.1.06 but most of the forum content with be restricted to paying members (which I'm not going to be, after joining the old Uk forum in august 2003 and posting 7000odd times but that's another story) so you might even be better off in here, I foresee an increasing numbers of Uk visitors soon enough

 

To check if ur clutch really is done, go 20 miles an hour in 6th gear and floor it. If your RPM gauge flies to 6k but ur still going 20, ur clutch is due to be replaced. 11K sounds normal if this is the first time you drove an MT car.. or if you drove it pretty hard. From what i understand, you don't get weird smells if ur clutch is failing...it just gradually stops gripping.