Just bought my z...might have to return it.
 

Good afternoon fellow Z owners,

I recently (3 weeks ago) purchased a beautiful 2011 370z Coupe (11,500miles). I owned a 1995 240sx(220,000miles) prior, and I love Nissan products. I love my new Z but it has issues. I cannot take it through a car wash without having to take it to the dealership afterwards to reset my ECU. The first time I turned off the car immediately after coming out of the car wash because everything electrical was freaking out.Then it would not start. When I got it towed to the Nissan dealership they said they could not replicate the issue and it was not throwing any codes. They said it might have just been a glitch. I accepted this for fact and I went on my way. I went to get my second car wash in it today and shame on me. I come out of the car wash and make sure to not turn my car off. I thought everything looked fine this time, but then I looked down and all my accessories and gauges were gone. I drove straight to the dealership and put it into the service department. The passenger floor board was soaked and I had water coming out of the rear hatch when I opened it. They told me it would take about three days to figure it out. They said I might need to claim Lemon Law, as I live in Dallas, TX. Now the car did have a custom stereo installed before I purchased the car, so not sure if their wiring is somehow glitching everything out when it gets wet. I was just wondering if anyone had any similar issues. I do not want to get rid of my Z but I am not sure what else I can do.

Thanks Z Community,

Z057

If they will take it back return it. Lots of them out there.

Gosh. Sorry about your troubles. :shakes head:

:iagree:

I may be wrong, but I don't think you can lemon law a used car

Why would you go to a car wash with a Z?

These cars, personally, I would wash by hand. Car wash machines will scratch the crap out of the paint and you'll be even more upset over that fact.

I would suggest you to wash the car by hand and see if the problem persists.

PS - I came from a 95 240sx as well. Awesome upgrade! :tup:

Actually you can as long as it's still under the manufacturer warranty (not the extended warranty).

I totally agree about how to wash the car but if it's leaking like that, it's a seriously bad sign. What happens the first time he gets caught in a bad storm?

Exactly ^^

I would take it back till they fix it and if it means you need to take it back every time you wash it? so be it

But you could do some investigatory on your own to see where it's leaking from so you could point them in the right direction.

I would make sure that both windows are completely up, And make sure it's not coming from a breach on the firewall those are probably

the only two places that will let water in.

You might be right about that, still looking into it...

Thanks everyone...just glad to see Z lovers care. I will get this figured out. I will hear back in a few days from the dealership and then I should know more.

From what I can tell I have two issue:

*Water is leaking into the front, or up into front of the car and messing with ecu and leaking into passenger side floor board.

*Water is leaking into rear hatch somewhere and not draining.

The service manager assured me they would get to the bottom of it. I also asked several times about other 370Z's coming in with ECU or water leaks and he stood firm that mine was a one of a kind issue. Who knows...

I will post anything I find out. Might help someone else out later. Thanks.

I use a touchless car wash---no scratching there. It's fine when it's chilly. although the rest of the time I hand wash to assure clean water. But the touchless won't hurt anything and any car that get's fouled up by same needs to be returned. Nothing but a harbinger of endlees, future electrical problems---the worst kind of car problems in my opinion.

:ugh2: I personaly would not want a car that is leaking like that....another thing to think about: it wil start to mildew pretty quickly then it wil smell.
Good Luck guy!! whatever you decide...:tup:

why can't you go into a car wash? I see $90k Mercedes in them all the time...

If it was a vert I'd say roof drains or seals but a coupe? If you can get a buy back go for it. No way of knowing how many times the electrical system has been soaked.

If not, then the windshield would be my first suspect. Not sure if you can tell if the glass has been replaced. They usually have a rain machine at the dealer but the pressure is not the same as a car wash.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

Take it back to dealer! And auto car washes are a no no!

Wow. I would just tell them to get you another Z. It sounds like the last owner screwed that Z up. Dump it on them and get another. Good luck and stay away from the car wash if you get a new one

Thanks for everyone's input. They are dismantling the dash and removing all the carpet and soundproofing Monday. They will run it through several washes to see what they can find. Last night I had a thought...it has an aftermarket stereo installed by the previous owner. I think that the firewall was drilled through and hit the bundle of wires connected to the ECU. Don't know why I didn't think of it before. And if the hole is in the wrong spot it would get into that passenger side floor board. Anyways, Nissan will confirm with me this week. Either way the dealership that I bought it through said they will make it right. They said they will cover any non warranty repairs or I can take it back to them and they will search their inventory for another car. I purchased this 2011 370Z will 11,500 on the odometer. I am thinking I should demand a 2012 with that kind of mileage. That was one of the reasons I bought the car, low mileage...and the other being I love that 2011 look. What would you demand in my situation??? Thanks Z Community!! I will know for sure what is going to happen by Wednesday.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Hello everyone,

So I got my car back from the Nissan dealership today. They replaced the carpet and said the problem is fixed. Initially I thought maybe it was a stereo install gone bad, but in fact they said the stereo install was done well. They say that there is an A/C hose on the passenger side floor board that goes through the firewall of the vehicle. There is a grommet that goes around that hose. He said that the car wash undercarriage wash knocked that grommet loose? letting water in the floor board and shorting out electrical components.? They also told me that Nissan does not recommend automatic car washes and in the future to hand wash it. I have several things to think about now that I have it back...should I even chance keeping the car? I will speak to them tomorrow and see if by chance they have another 370z in their inventory. I will update the story as it unfolds. Thanks everyone...

The electrical system would now be my biggest concern. I would return it and find another. Your leak may now be solved but electrical is the biggest headache at this point. To think that your system has shorted out and now its fine? I just can't imagine it being that simple. Somethings bound to show up later down the road whether its a week later or a few years later. Still a higher risk then one that has never had an issue.

Water coming out of the rear hatch is normal when you open it after washing. Mine does the same. But by chance do you a sounds system in the trunk installed by you or by the previous owner? If not sure about the previous owner look in the trunk and look for sub wires. Also could have been wired and previous owner removed wiring so not seeing them doesnt rule that out.

But speaking on first hand experience, since mine was pouring water through the dash like a waterfall, you need to pull the cover off the battery and then the cowling that goes up to the windshield. What can happen is more than likely if a system was wired in, they used the rubber grommet that seals around you main dash harness that goes into the engine bay to run the power wire. If they did like mine, they caused the huge rubber groumet to come loose from clamp that holds it down against the hole. Mine was completely free hanging. Douchbags probablet fought with the groumet and gave up and just closed everything back and didnt tell the owner. Took me like an hour to form that thing around the clamp and wedge it back in like it should be. They did poke the power wire throught the groumet but it sealed fairly well against the new hole that was poked.