Getting fed up -thinking about selling
 

I've owned my Z for approx 1 year now and I'm not sure I can tolerate this car anymore guys. Besides the rattles that seemingly come from everywhere, it seems like I find a new scratch or chip in the crappy paint on this car every day (just found one on my a-pillar a few hours ago). So far I have chips on the bumper, hood, a-pillar, fender edges, fenders, trunk lid and roof. Now mind you, I keep my car extremely clean and I don't tailgate. I know many will also mention how I should get a clear bra, but half of the chips are in areas where the clear bra wouldn't even be covering.

There are some good deals around my way on the EVO-X and I am very close to just cutting my losses and trading her in. I love everything else about the car, but I don't know that I can deal with these issues. How do you guys deal with this out of curiosity? Are you just chalking it up to regular wear and tear?

my z has a clear bra covering the entire bumper, entire hood, entire a pillars, entire mirrors, fenders and even the rear fenders. ive been daily driving it on the freeway for the last month and not a single issue that i can see. clearbra was probably the best money ive ever spent and i had it on within a week of purchase of the car

wow that's a lot of clear bra! I have my bumper, fenders, hood, mirrors, and headlights done. But the fenders and hood are just passed the edge of the headlights....

Damn you should have just done the whole car with it. lol. But what I am curious about is, why dont they put some of the material in the paint to begin with and make it stronger?

Well, as one forum member once explained to me, it's a performance feature. Thin paint means less weight, which makes the car lighter, and therefore quicker. :rofl2:

oh yea...forgot about the headlights too :rofl2:

You can have your entire Z covered in clear bra material if you want. When I was getting ours done there a family who had several of their cars done this way. Our A-pillars, and the first part of the roof are covered in clear bra materials.

You can probably nail down every rattle if you take the time to hunt them down.

Find a high-end detailer in your area and ask them where you can get all you paint chips taken care, and then cover what areas you want in clear bar.

If you plan on keep the car forever or a really long time or just don't car about the future trade in/ sell value then you can always repaint the car.

If you were going to switch to a porsche, or bmw I would understand. The evo x is probably just as bad paint wise from what I have read, I would fix your issues and then clear bra away. If the creaks are getting to you, lol a nice exhaust will make it ALL BETTER.

It's just normal wear and tear - adds character. :)

It's a tremendously complicated mechanical device. They all make noises. Doesn't bother me.

Nissan's paint blows
my previous 350Z LeMans Sunset looked like somebody unloaded on it with a shotgun by the time I sold it and my wife's 2008 Armada is not much better.

I know we all love our cars but they are still at the end of the day only cars

If rattles are a big issue I'm not sure if the evo would be a right choice for you..

grass is not always greener........ that said, my Z is a KEEPER (like my wife)!

My paint is fine. But then again I drive only in light traffic.

i'v'e got one small chip on front edge of hood. bought touch up paint at dealership problem fixed. as far as rattles, as i knock on wood i don't have any, and im at 13,000 miles.

i daily drive my car and still enjoy every moment.:driving:

Seriously, this is great advice! Also, I found that since I removed all the panels in the trunk and reinstalled them (as part of my fog light install), I experience fewer rattles (and they were BAD before).

Ultimately, you've got to love the car. So get what you want. If you regret the choice, you'll find another Z out there waiting for you (the Z is one loyal biotch!).

in my experience, after you have driven the car for about 2 or 3 years, you will stop caring about the small stuff :)

Hoo-rah

Well Nissan should win all races with their paint.

18k miles - no chips, no clear bra.

12k with no rock chips and nary a rattle. Still hate how the bugs mar the clear coat though.

You get a rep point for either a massive amount of bullsh!t ;) or driving at 1 mph in-and-out of your driveway. Seriously, no rock chips at 18K miles? When I was shopping for a clear bra (and I was one of the first to apply a clear bar a 370Z) there was one installer who told me to take all side streets to his shop as the paint on Nissan Zs sucks and chips easily. There is one large rock chip on our Z and it's just past the clear bra on the left front fender where a rock came down out of the air and hit the fender on the highway (I should have had the full fenders covered).

Im going to have to agree with socal on this one If true I think you are the first person to accomplish this on any car ever

To those saying that they have no chips and no clearbra - let me go over your car with a fine-toothed comb. They are definitely there, trust me....

haha. they must have perfect roads where they live.

:iagree: I had two rather noticeable chips within the first 1500 miles it does not take long at all

So lets say you get this Evo. You think that'll stop you from getting all the chips,dings, scratch, etc? Cant blame your Z for those natural causes....

My friend has an Evo X and believe me, the front of the thing is full of rock chips. Also, the Evo is a really cheap car with race seats and a great engine and drivetrain. I think you'd be disappointed with most of the rest of the car after have a 370Z. Also, the GSR version is only a 5-speed and it's incredibly short-geared.

i dont get rock chips either luckily, but during the summer my front end becomes a bug battering ram

[QUOTE=Endgame;847454]grass is not always greener........ that said, my Z is :iagree:

i have 0 rock chips.... but i have a full hood/fenders/bumper/mirrors/side skirts clear bra :tup:

I thought I was getting a little tired of my car. Then it got banged up last week and I'm without it for three weeks. New hood and front bumper coming, so I'll get my second chance to clear bra them before the chips happen this time around.

Let me tell you this. If you think you're tired of your car, go park it in storage and drive a rental car for a week. The $150 you spend on the rental will 1) show you just how much you love your Z and 2) save you a lot more than $150 if you don't decide to change cars.

I don't hear any rattle with my F.I. CBE. :D



:bowrofl: :roflpuke2: :bowrofl: :roflpuke2:

Rock chips come from crap thrown out from the car in front of you. I don't drive behind other people. I stay way back, or change lanes...hopefully both. I also tend to be the car in front, not the car in back. Some of that has to do with how I drive, and some with when I drive.

I don't ever have to drive during rush hour, I don't normally take the highways, I don't drive the Z in wet weather. I live in a rich area, where they are always repaving roads that don't need it. There are few rocks around here to kick up to begin with.

My beater has some paint chips, but I drive it completely differently. If I drove my Z like I drive my beater, yeah, it would have a lot of chipping going on. But I don't. Sometimes I'll pull over and answer emails or smoke a cig instead of following a line of cars that won't get out of my way. I like to take less traveled roads instead of the main streets, and I've lived here for 34yrs, so I know them all. Sometimes I'll sit at a stop sign or a green light (if nobody is behind me) so that I can be in front of other cars instead of in back. I like to drive fast, but I don't really care how fast I get where I'm going...so it works for me.

Staying out from behind other cars is no harder than playing dodge the pothole where I live. And no, I don't live on a farm. There's more than half a million people in Johnson County, KS...I just don't drive behind them.

I parked my Z a month ago or so, and now I drive a Toyota Echo every day.

I sure miss driving my Z!

Sure there are little things that bug me like when I look at the cheap paint, but for me I did not get the clear bra with no intention of trying to protect the crap paint. I knew this before I bought the car, with full intention of repainting the car in a few years.

My car is absolutley squeek free, and I love that.

The paint is definatley cheap, and it's loud inside. All cars have their strong and weak points. You take the good with the bad.

The evo was my other consideration when I bought this car, high tech and high performance, but it was even more expensive, and I just can't handle driving something that fugly and with useless back seats (I have a Saturn Outlook for hauling children), plus the cheap arse interior....just doesn't feel as rich as a $40k car should. You pick and choose what matters to you.

If you're going to lose money you'd better be upgrading and not downgrading. From the issues you listed, the Evo X would be worse. A friend of mine previously owned a 2010 Evo X and after 1k miles, he already had some rattling going on. Everyone complains about the Evo X's interior and how cheap it is. Just for fun, Google "Evo X gas pedal break." :bowrofl: If you really want the Evo X, then go for it. Get a car you want, not a car you're "stuck with."

Well said.

I envy you guys. My little CRX squeaks like crazy. Every bump and turn is like an orchestra of noise. It doesn't help that its a 20 year old car and I have zero sound deadening in the back with a massive 2.5 inch [big for my lil honda] exhaust pipe running to a 3 inch Hayame exhaust.

So yeah, I doubt I'll complain one bit about the Z.