Nissan Consumer Affairs Oil Cooler Response

rmorrow

To prevail with any claim that a product is defective, you must prove that a product did not conform to an "ordinary" buyer's expectation, and/or that the product was not fit for a buyers specific use. Under Common Law, you must prove a breach in either Merchantability (former), or Fitness For a Particular Purpose (latter).
I can state definitively that Nissan would have a big problem on their hands if the 370Z has oil temperature problems when driven in everyday conditions, in a manner that a reasonable, prudent person would drive it. Reasonable and prudent does not include tracking the car, with extreme speeds for prolonged periods of time in a manner that would not be expected by most owners. There is a significant difference between "spirited" driving on public roadways and dogging the hell out of the Z in track conditions. Most of us are not going to run our Z's at 75 mph in 4th or 5th gear for prolonged periods of time, or rev the engine to 6,000 rpms or higher for long periods of time or frequently. Nissan has never represented that the car can or should be driven on a racetrack. The fact that certain organizations have had access to a modified Z (oil coolers) on test tracks does not infer that a consumer can take their car and put it through the same operating conditions at the track. I do not see any indication that Nissan is guilty of unfair or deceptive trade practices. I only have about 700 miles on my 2010 370Z, so I am still in break-in mode, keeping the RPM's under 4,000 just as indicated in the Owners Manual. I drove my car for over an hour in Houston's heat last week...96 degrees and high humidity, and I had stop and go traffic and some wide open driving on the freeway where I got the car up to about 85 mph for a short period of time. The highest oil temp I hit was about 230 degrees. I will say that the engine gets really hot...hotter than any engine that I have ever seen, even after short periods of driving. This has not translated to oil temps over 230, and certainly not anywhere close to limp mode. If there is an oil temp problem that would be actionable with Nissan, it would have to result from a widespread problem during normal operating conditions. This is a sports car...this is not a race car. My 2 cents worth.