I don't think "regret" is the right word, but if I had it to do over again, I would not purchase the Z.
This was my first sports car and I'm not a huge car enthusiast. I did a lot of research and I consider myself a fairly educated buyer. So, I have no one to blame but myself as there were a number of warning signs I chose to ignore and quite a lot of negative press about the Z. But, I bought one because the car was just so freaking sexy.
From a performance perspective, it's a fun car to drive. It is rough and noisy, but I knew that from the test drive going into it. As for over steer that some people talk of, I just see that as a car that is fairly high end performance wise and I just had to get used to driving a road hugging sports car.
But, there have been a fair number of negatives I have encountered with the Z that would have seem me purchase something else had I known in advance. One thing of note, most if not all of them are fixable, but I am less than impressed with Nissan's approach to known issues. So much so, I do not believe I would ever buy another Nissan again.
First Off - Paint. Everyone knows these cars have terrible paint issues. Unfortunately, the test drive doesn't sort that out and if you order a car like I did, especially late in the model year when selection is poor, you get what you get. When mine was delivered, there was a slight run in the paint on the rear quarter. I had a choice to make, refuse delivery or live with it. No one knows it's there except me and the dealer wasn't fixing an "acceptable factory flaw". Since then, the ease of chips in the paint from road debris is very annoying.
Oil Cooling problem. Known, they don't care and I find Nissan's approach to that unacceptable.
Steering Lock - Known and although recalled, the damage was done for me. Again, a huge reluctance to own up to a known defect by Nissan.
The interior of the car has really worn on me too. My own fault for not driving the car at night but I hate the dashboard and interior lighting. Also, the hands free phone connection is unusable for me. Again, a known fault and reported by a lot of people. "Too bad, so sad" is the response from dealers along with "yeah, we know it's bad in that car". Seriously? hands free bluetooth technology in 2013 and you can't get a decent one in a car. Shameful Nissan! Throw in a few errant rattles and I feel the interior of the car is cheap.
Now, I add that all up with other sports cars I have ridden in or driven since getting the Z. All too often I go "oh wow, what a nice ride and drive", much nicer than the Z.
So, do I regret it? No. I still love her. She's one sexy car. Would I buy her (or another Nissan again), no I wouldn't. Car aside, Nissan has not impressed me as a company and they do not deserve my business.
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