Car and Driver's Cars Worth Waiting For: 2016 Z

Caustic

Sorry man, but price is the problem. You are right of course, quality costs money, and that directly affects price. People, reviewers, critics all expect improvements on all fronts when a new car comes out. Nissan provided that, but it also priced them out of sweet spot of sales.

You can look throughout all of the Z history, and most other car lines for that matter, how price (and everything else that goes with it, including quality) affects purchasing. When the Z originally hit the American market, it was essentially today's Toyobaru with an inline six. Cheap car, small revvy engine, great handling. The reason the 300z ended with a hiatus was specifically because it became too expensive. It was more luxurious, it was absolutely more powerful, but it wasn't what the Z was originally about.

Consider this, the Toyobaru twins have a weak 4 banger engine, terrible interior, and few options. But they are flying out of the showrooms. You don't think that has anything to do with price?

That is why you see a lot of people saying the 370z should compete with the Toyobaru twins, because they epitomize what the 240z was. The reality is that time has passed, the Z is a different type of car now, but $42k for a fully optioned Z and $45k for a Nismo, are easily $5k more than they should be.

It doesn't make the Z a bad car, just an expensive one.