Test drive gone bad?
 

I went to test drive a base with sport package last week. There was someone in front of me that test drove it also, so I dont know if that had something to do with the problem I encountered.

I turned out if the dealer parking lot and got on it a little bit in first. Thats when the problem started. As soon as i hit 2500RPM it was like i was hitting a rev limiter. So I let off and shifted into second, same thing. Came to a stop light and started to go, not to hard either. Same thing happened when i got to 2500. I shifted to second, same, and to third and was still limited. Turned onto a side street and parked. Of course the sales person I was with didnt really know what was going on or much about the car. We turned it off and back on and turned the syncro rev match on and off too and it still was limiting me to 2500RPM. We then drove back to the dealer and another sales person took the car out to test out problem. He did not encounter it. The car sat for less than 5 min between when we brought the car back and the other dealer tested that car. Im pretty sure it was sitting longer than that from the guy that test drove it before me.

Anyone else hear of or encounter anything like this?

Sounds like it hit limp mode, did you check the oil temp gauge (far left gauge of the three pods)?

lol, sounds like you had the valet key...or limp mode^

oil temps were good. dont think it was limp mode. cuz i took it out a second time and there was no issue. and it was the same key both times.

was that thing hooked up to a ghetto cobb AP w/ valet mode?

i dont think so, both dealer guys were stumped at the issue. and the second time i took it out i revved it all the way up, so i dont think they would do that for the first drive and not for the second. that would be a dumb sales tactic.

Drive by wire issue maybe?

it felt like it was hitting a limiter. it was bouncing at 2500. but why would it do that at 2500? glitch in the ecu?

Once the oil has overheated and it hits limp mode, it needs to cool down, then get shut off for a few minutes to reset.

the oil temp was normal. 225-240. that was one of the first things i checked.

i wish my car had a special valet FOB that limited it to 2500 RPM. That's not impossible by any means.

I was thinking the guy ahead of you could have got it hot, hit limp mode, drove around slow for 10-15 minutes, temps come back down, it stays in limp mode until you shut it off and reset it. Gets to dealer, you start it before it has reset. Temp is still fine, but still stuck in limp mode. Next time it gets shut off longer, resets, then is working just fine.

Valet key that limits it to 1500RPM would be better.

it wasnt hot enough out that day to get it close to 300 unless the guy before me was holding it at 6k the entire test drive.

I was once shopping for a car, and the salesperson wanted me to take out a twin turbo whereby he could drive it (as he had not been able to get someone to take the car out for test drive who had come into the dealership so he had me drive it off the lot and traded places thereafter). I had some extra time and with some trepidation I agreed. What a mistake—he ran the living piss out of the car that was not even broken-in, and abused it in such a fashion that any prospective owner would never have done.

For the 370Z to go into limp mode owed to a previous test drive is not out of the question.