New Owner - My likes and dislikes
 

Hi all first off I want to be honest and say that the Z was not my first choice. I really was looking for a used Cayman S. If you have not test driven one YOU SHOULD. I would have bought one but, it would have mostly depleted my monthly allotment of "fun money" so I started looking around at other cars. For whatever reason I was overlooking the Z. While pining away for my Cayman I ran into an article comparing the 2 cars. Now while the read did favor the Cayman I was thinking, "I can live with those downsides at half the price!"

I started hunting around for used Z using autotrader and other auto search engines and what-do-ya-know there was a used one with low miles right up the road at the dealer. Still not 100% sure this car was for me I figured it would not hurt to do a test drive. Long story short I was impressed! Even the wife said "I like this car" which is high praise for her talking about one of my "toys". Bought it the next day.

I think it has most everything you could get back in 2010. sport option, bose, nav but I am no Z expert.

There are many things I love about this car but I have a few questions/complaints.

1. Space - There is not even a good spot to keep your sunglasses. I suppose if I did not have the nav I would have a extra cubby for storage but geez
2. Backing up - How the heck they sell this car with the rear visibility it has without a rear backup camera standard is mind blowing
3. Road noise - I am hoping I can find a nice grippy tire that is not so loud
4. High Beam light intensity - Good grief it is like a blue laser in my eye!!!
5. All those pretty analog gauges .... then a digital clock?!? :thumbsdown: I add insult to injury most every screen you can go to on the Nav/Audio has a digital clock in the corner. Yea 2 clocks :shakes head:

Other than that I am pretty much in love with the car. Fast, agile and I find the downshift rev matching just dreamy! I know some of you younger drivers wont remember but back in the year 2000 having a motor making over 300 HP stock was impressive. Here it is 14 years later and Hyundai is making V6s with that. I am old....

Do not plan too many mods probably just (intake, cat back, spacers, and a pro tune) because my wife says I "ruined" my 2001 Trans-Am with all my nonsense (long tube headers, 4000 stall, cam, N2O, etc) So even with nitrous off she is scared to drive it. Heck it scares me sometimes but it almost runs low 11's in the quarter. Again... that was impressive 14 years ago. :ugh2:

Anyway... I will probably be asking a few dumb questions in the future but I will be sure to use the search first! :tup:

So here she is my new 2010 Black Cherry 370z. The dealer tags and stickers are coming off TODAY!

It blinded me, too. I took a small piece (~3/8" x 3/8") of static-cling plastic, colored one side with a black marker, then pressed it on the gauge lens. Dims the brights light very well.

Good idea! Thanks

I mostly agree. I've never bought nav intentionally in a car and I awkwardly put my sunglasses in the cubby as you say... It's a lot of space for a pair of sunglasses.

What about in the console, under the lid? That's where I keep my wife's. Or you can always put them in the glovebox.

And the stock tires do get noisy after a few thousand miles...

Also agree on the Cayman. I'd love to have one, but I'm not too sure I'd actually enjoy it more than my Z.

You get used to the blind spots in the Z. Any coupe has them, the Z is not really that much better or worse than any of the coupes I've owned/driven - which is to say, they're all their own special flavor of awful. You can see a hell of a lot more out of the back of the Z than you can, say, the average convertible with the top up. You just get used to checking behind the car before you get in, stay on top of your surroundings, back out slowly, and listening for that sickening plastic and metal crunch. :ugh2:

Yes,I ended up putting the glasses in the console but it has been a long time since I did not have an quick spot to pop my sunglasses in to.

You're right about the coupe and the Trans-Am was poor for sure but it is pretty bad. It is the most stressful part about driving this car. Putting it in reverse and checking your mirrors like a nervous crackhead :rofl2:

Which Cayman S did you test drive the latest model 2014?
Hands down the Porsche could be the better car if you do have a fat wallet!
As I was in that route 2 years ago as I was choosing between the cayman and the Z4M.

Test drove the Z by accident since then Im still loving it. Yes it has many flaws such as the road noise! But heck its a sports car. Change the tires problem is solved those Bridgestone tires are noisier than Metallica!

Im not sure if the 2010 still have the steering lock issue and with the manual the Csc or clutch slave is bound to fail. I think those are the major issues Im concerned about among other minor details with cheap easy fix.

So far the Z has saved me from a potential financial problems if I gotten either of the 2 german shepards! Financially it would have drained me and the family with other fun staff!

Nice Z feel free to pm me if you have any questions with regards to the Z
Welcome to the forum. Enjoy and meet the Z community in your area.:tup:

Have you notice my Avatar? My Z flirting with the Porsche!

Ah thanks Zoren I will look into those potential issues.

No.. I test drove and older one 12 I think. I do not remember the car but I remember the test drive. The steering on those things is SO crisp. I mean the Z is no slouch, by any means, but you can feel the difference of a mid engine design.

Oh why doesn't Nissan put a dual clutch option in the Z???

Well that would have bump the price to the range of 50k probably!
But that would have been fun to have.

IMO the body lines of the Z is far more sexier than the old cayman!
I get a lot of attention and comments " wow nice Porsche" haha i never corrected them.

I would at least think it an option. It is a 7k one for the Cayman.

I actually had some guy flag me down in the parking lot yesterday and tell me "Nice car!" thought it a bit weird but said "thanks"

nice color choice...my fiancé refuses to drive mine because of the rear visibility...my dd is a santé fe sport with navi/rear camera so retraining myself to look around carefully can be a challenge when driving zeus...but it's all worth it

You can also turn off the clock in the NAV so you dont have 2 mismatched clocks. A dial clock definately would have been cooler than a digital one in my opinion.

I highly recommend convex mirrors to eliminate the blind stops. They are absolutely critical for commuting in traffic in So Cal. You can purchase convex mirrors that fit over the whole mirrors or ou can use the smaller stick on mirrors. They have saved my butt several times from drivers who insist on sitting in my blind spot.

If you had also mentioned the rather "harsh" engine noise as the revs climb, you would have hit all the gripes that virtually all of the car mags and reviews complain about the Z. I knew all of those things going in. It's a sports car. I don't expect it to be equipped like a GT. The thing, IMHO, that sunk the Z and resulted in "the lost years", (1997-2002) was their march from true sports car (240Z) to bloated, overweight GT luxo-cruiser (Z32 - the 300ZX). 2+2!? Are you kidding me? In the 370Z, we have the return of an actual sports car. Bravo! I'll reserve my purchase of a Cayman S for the day that Nissan announces a 370Z 2+2 version. Then I'll know that Nissan has lost their way again.



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Welcome and congrats on the new Z.

LOL that I like. Could go for a bit more! Looking/Listening hard on youtube at both the FI and Tanabe right now. I want a bit louder than stock but no pop or drone. I did that with my SRT-4 don't want to go down THAT NOISEY road again :ugh: