How is the reliability/cost of maintenance of 370z's? Thinking of selling my e46 m3

BimmersFtw

Thanks for the replies and advice everyone! Good chance I'm going to sell my m3 pretty soon, excited to be in something different that won't swallow my wallet whole!

Jhill

Good luck and yea I think you will probably be a convert. Maybe not but if your tired of issues then probably. There are still those that are BMW for life even after going through all the issues (2 friends are that way and one was even a dealer tech). Me as a tech I don't mind working on others cars but I hate when mine has issues and as a previous mb, vw/Audi tech and vw owner I will never ever own one again. The oil leaks never stop! That said my mom is on two BMW and both have been good overall and the BMW's I have seen when at an independent were much better than vw/Audi but still a far cry from Japanese. You'll see after 40k mi and your doing an oil change and the engine is as clean and shiny aluminum as the day you bought it you'll be going how is this possible.

ChopsZ

Hence why I will never buy American and a bit hesitant about buying German. I made the mistake of buying Italian (2013 Fiat 500 Abarth), and will never do that again. The thing is designed in Italy, engineered in Detroit, and assembled in Mexico. Nope, never again.

Heck, I even had a Hyundai once, a 2002 Sonata 2.4L, 5-speed. Not a single issue with that car. I had a custom intake and full exhaust and hammered the crap out of that motor. Never an issue, and that's a Korean car!

I've had 3 Mazda's and now 3 Nissan's. Never ever an issue with any of them. The Z is my third Nissan. most likely won't be my last Nissan either.

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Jhill

Oh you don't need to tell me man. Like I said I had the benefit to work on all of them and it is shameful how others compare to Japanese. I started as a die hard German fan and German is the only way to go, left the German dealer for independent German when the economy tanked, then left for Japanese for more pay and dealer gets to see more new technologies so I missed that. It was a total eye opener of oh so this is how it should be made. I mean not only are they more reliable but they also are much more planned out on repairs (in general). It's not often the make bolts in accessible without dissembling the entire car just to get to the one bolt you need access to in order to remove whatever failed part you need to replace which the German are notorious for which is truly funny because they are the ones that break at over two times the rate of Japanese. Left Japanese because got bored of service work and brake jobs so I went to USA to do diag and drivability specialist with garanteed hourly pay and no flat rape BS and really enjoyed it until the dealer sold to new owner and they tanked it, put managers with 0 Chevy experience in charge and ex Acura managers thinking it worked for us this way at acura so it will work here too and we don't need an on site warranty clerk will use an outside clerk. Yea genius how much warranty work did you have at acura, not much I know cause I worked for them too. After 1 month and over 2000 still open warranty RO that they didn't know how to close to collect billing, then no follow up calls to customers so there went CSI score went from #1 dealer in the state and like in top 10 in nation to not even being on the list of top 100 and all downhill from there. USA isn't really good either most of them are mix of parts made from all over the world and then thrown together with poor qc and then put out stupid bulletins like this much coolant weep from water pump is acceptable weepage with pictures to illustrate (yea Chevy Cruz looking at you) since when is it ok for a cooling system to leak ever? Only to have to come up with a new pump after enough complaints and people not accepting that answer and making yourself look bad for trying to pass one over, just embarrassing. Now out of the field, too bad cause I do like cars and the work but way too much incompetence in the industry and a terrible pay structure for techs.

But it's funny when you work for German or US and the techs that have only experienced those cars just come to think that is how they all are and its acceptable and when you tell them no man go work in a Japanese dealer for just a year and see how few issues you will see and that the Japanese really did earn their stereotype they just don't break or have electrical issues (again in general).

Dreadnaught

From one tech to another, I can totally relate when you talk about German and USA manufacturers. I worked for two Mercedes dealers. I must say that the build quality is pretty good. The cars have too many electronics. And as for making things difficult to work on, you're definitely right. To do an alternator on a 222 the front bumper, radiator and a bunch of other crap have to come off. What a joke!

I'm now back at Ford doing Diesel and heavy line again. (I love it) Ford has it's parts made from Africa, Lithuania and everywhere in between. Warranty times are laughable. I seriously sometimes think out getting out of the industry. I do pig tails on these cars all the time since the connectors are garbage.

So yeah OP, buying a Z is definitely going to be wise when it comes to reliability. I had a 2006 g35 coupe and put 0ver 100K on it without any serious issues.

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Ford Diesel and Heavy Line Technician at your service.

Jhill

Yea dude do yourself the favor and get out. Industry is a joke now. No pay, tool prices jumping through the roof, times getting cut, benefits packages disappearing (can't even get spouses medical), and working like a dog in hot and cold weather. I make 35k more a year now on paper and work 3/4 as hard, 100% paid benefits too, it's just not interesting work and I feel my brain turning to mush so I am now active on forums to try and "remote diag" to stay somewhat smart. Loved MB electronics and not being sarcastic I truly like that stuff but I think I'm sick.

Dreadnaught

Yeah, I thought about applying with General Dynamics Land Systems to work on Abrams tanks since I was an Abrams tank Crew member when I was in the Army. Really tired of working like a dog for nothing sometimes. Plus, I don't want to destroy my body.

Yeah, you're sick since you love MB electronics lol.

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ped

I would have thought so, too, but I got my wife a Fiat 500C (convertible) and three years it's still going strong. Plus they offered us (and we took it) an extended warranty on it. But, unlike most extended warranties, this is a lifetime warranty. The only catch is there's a $100 deductible for repairs outside the initial warranty period. So it's covered for any/everything as long as it remains titled in our names. They had to write something on the contract so they put 999,999 miles and 999 months.

Jhill

Is that warranty through fiat or through the dealer? Not sure about your area but around here dealers aren't lasting more than 4-5 years before they sell and the new owner don't honor previous contracts.

ped

It's through Chrysler/Fiat - I just dug out the contract. At the top it reads:

"Chrysler Group Service Contract Application"

Then in the line item section:

"CHRYSLER SERVICE CONT
999 MOS 999999 MILES"

Darwins Child

I don't think most buyers fully understand that when you pay big bucks for a post-warranty-period Mercedes or BMW, that that money is just the "entry fee" and that the buyer is not buying reliability and low-maintenance. Ironically, most times it's the opposite and this is why owners like yourself are selling their "great" vehicles.

I can say all of this with some authority because my wife and I once bought a used, cosmetically perfect 1988 Mercedes 560SEL, so I speak from painful financial experience. OTOH, if you are a competent automotive DIYr, you can dramatically reduce the cost of maintaining such vehicles, but you'll be "paying" a significant amount of your precious spare time, especially early on in the learning curve, to lower that cost.

Knowing what will come, I will advise what follows only once and say no more. Get the trouble-free auto, especially if you won't go to the track much, or at all, but will commute in stop and go traffic. It's a great compromise for all conditions.

IMO, the OEM backup cam with curving guide lines as you rotate the steering wheel is an especially useful feature in the rear-visibility-limited Z.

Last, but certainly not least, the Z is one fantastically beautiful vehicle. I can't help but smile every time I look at it. I just wish I could stare at it from the outside as I drive it down the road!