After 5 years of Owning a 370Z, I'm Swearing Off Nissan

[Scribe]

This probably won't be a popular post, but I thought I'd share my experiences with owning a 370Z from the the day it went on sale and the reason I will never buy another Nissan product again. I hope that most have had a better experience and continue to have good experiences with your Z. Despite all my issues, the dealership employees were all very helpful, and I've actually only ever been happy with the dealerships themselves. It's Nissan USA that has let me down repeatedly.

Since purchasing the car Jan 8, 2009 I've had nearly nothing but bad experiences with owning a Z and more importantly dealing with Nissan USA. I realize I own an early production car, and expect that there may be some issues. I hoped that the nearly two years of the G37 being out would have helped work out the problems. I'm actually OK with taking my car in for recalls, because that is how it should be when a manufacturer finds a flaw or issue post production. However, when something goes wrong and Nissan doesn't do right by their customers, I have a big issue.

Once I bought my car, it was only a few months before the Texas heat and traffic would put my car in limp mode. Nissan milked some of us early Z owners for more money, but when Nissan declined to help with the cost, I went aftermarket and got a GTM cooler. It's a great product and I highly recommend GTM for their good products and great service. (EDIT: Some people have brought to my attention that in the five years since, GTM hasn't held up to the level I experienced way back. That is unfortunate and I maintain that, to my point, service and standing behind your product matters, whether you are Nissan, GTM, GM, BMW or LG).

At ~12,000 miles my transmission went (bad syncros). I had it replaced under warranty. Not much Nissan could do to get out of this one, luckily. This one would come back to haunt me, though.

Over the next few years, I didn't have many problems. I did have the power door lock servo fail as soon as I wasn't under warranty, and I've always had the issue where the hatch won't pop properly, but these were minor compared to the next two issues.

A few years ago, my car wouldn't start. Turns out it was the steering wheel lock issue. Nissan hadn't issued a recall at this point. This cost me over $1,200 to get towed, get fixed, and get a rental. I did have it fixed at a Nissan dealership, so they have record of this.

Recently, my transmission went because the CSC failed. This is a common problem with these cars. When I mentioned to the service person helping me that I had so many issues with the car, I mentioned the steering wheel lock. He immediately told me about the recall. Once again, the dearlership employees have always been awesome. Nissan however, had record of this and never contacted me about the recall. I have since contacted them and they are going to reimburse me because it was done under recall and they can't get out of it (though they would if they could, I'm sure).

I went back through my records, and I can't find evidence that the CSC was replaced when the transmission was replaced, as the factory service manual says they are not to be reused. Nissan won't entertain covering even part of the cost of my current repair, which is ~$1500 because my car isn't under warranty. To me, it's no different than if they installed the flywheel backwards at 59,999 miles and then declined to cover the failure at 60,001 miles. They fixed it wrong and won't cover it. I find it even more frustrating that I have almost exactly 60,000 miles since the repair as well.

Here was an opportunity for Nissan to do right by me, and once again they failed. The consumer affairs people handling the case were very unhelpful, as always. Nissan truely does not understand the concept of brand ambassadors. I have helped many people purchase dozens of cars in the past, and am the go to person for people buying cars in my family, friend and work circles. In the past week I've steered my mother away from Infiniti, and my wife, who is buying a car when we get back from vaction will not be looking at a Nissan product either.

Worse than that, or perhaps thankfully, I have done very well for myself and was just starting to look at trading into a GT-R when this latest ordeal happened. That will most definitely not be happening now.

Sorry if that came across as a rant, but if you've read this far along, you probably are either sympathetic or at least curious and forewarned. This is probably my last thread. I've not been real active, but I've enjoyed my time with the community.

Thanks,

Justin

[kenchan]

bye!

/thread

[Mitco39]

We have another one of these threads.

I bet if you asked Nissan they would be happy you decided not to buy the GTR.

[DEpointfive0]

^lol, that both Kenchan and Mitco are dismissive just because you're not... Me... Lol (I have more hate/bash Nissan threads than anyone else.)

Justin, I feel your pain and I'm right there with you.
I hope you got your $1200 back from the steering lock though


I've gotten recent insight into Nissan (especially Nissan's made in the US) from a recent former employee that Nissan costs big time, and god forbid you buy a Nissan made in the US. The only things that the US can (barely) make to JDM standards is engines.
That's why Infiniti is 4 out of 33 in initial quality, and Nissan is 4th from bottom. This then leads to Carlos Ghossen or whatever his name is to not increase quality, but to reduce payouts for warranty claims, and/or making it harder for dealers to file for warranty claims

[Chuck33079]

So- other than the tranny which failed under warranty, you experienced the standard 370z failures? Oil temp, steering lock and CSC?

And even if they had replaced the CSC when they replaced the tranny, it very well could have failed again 60k miles later.

[Chuck33079]

Originally Posted by DEpointfive0

I hope you got your $1200 back from the steering lock though

I thought they were reimbursing owners who had to pay out of pocket?

[DavidZ370]

Mehh not a huge fan of Nissan either besides the Z and the GT-R. I find the cars to be ugly and rather un finished. Sorry about your misfortune however, hopefully you can get something better after all.

[kenchan]

after 5yrs of ownership, i still luv my car like day one and the car still looks brand new.


that one's for DE.

[Bauran]

Originally Posted by Mitco39

We have another one of these threads.

I bet if you asked Nissan they would be happy you decided not to buy the GTR.

I think it's sad that we can't appreciate these negative posts about our car as much as a positive post. Any site that brow beats a person for bringing up a products flaws is living in a fantasy world.

I LOVE my Z but if tomorrow it started acting like a lemon I'd call it as I saw it, I think these are as helpful...if not more helpful than those that blow smoke up our butt about how awesome the Z is.

If all we want to hear it about is the positive what’s the point...we purchased the car and know it’s awesome, who needs corroboration after that. It’s good to at least hear about the “could happens” out there to.

[DLSTR]

Not the worst 1st year production story Ive heard. Id still get the GTR. I can see NOT getting another Z though. Best of luck but its a car. They break and you had good support from your dealer. Not a bad situation to be in.

Frankly I would leverage your experience with the Z and contact Nissan about a nice discount on the GT-R. They are not selling at sticker to begin with. Drive what you like. If you like the GT-R get it. There is no perfect maker of cars.

[MacCool]

OK, as long as we're relating anecdotal evidence, I'm on my 4th year with a Z, no problems whatsoever. My wife is on her 3rd Murano, only issue was a problematic TPMS sensor, easily remedied. No other problems over 9 years of Murano ownership. My daughter had an Altima for 5 years, almost 100,000 miles with no issues. She's owned her current Cube for 3 years, 35,000 miles and hasn't had any maintenance problems.

So, I dunno....as far as I can tell based on my experience, Nissan is good to go. Better reliability record for me than any GMC pickup that I've had since 1999, better than the Toyota Camrys that my wife drove before her first Murano, and certainly better than the Jeep Cherokee that my daughter had before the Altima.

[DavidZ370]

Originally Posted by kenchan

after 5yrs of ownership, i still luv my car like day one and the car still looks brand new.


that one's for DE.

But its still silver

[Mt Tam I am]

Justin, at least you did not need a new engine like me and some other 2009 owners, which I thought for sure would have been one of the mishaps.

Nissan USA put me through some hell for this one, but this is in the past now.
I bought the extended warranty as it was a first year car as you noted.

[Mitco39]

Originally Posted by Bauran

I think it's sad that we can't appreciate these negative posts about our car as much as a positive post. Any site that brow beats a person for bringing up a products flaws is living in a fantasy world.

I LOVE my Z but if tomorrow it started acting like a lemon I'd call it as I saw it, I think these are as helpful...if not more helpful than those that blow smoke up our butt about how awesome the Z is.

If all we want to hear it about is the positive what’s the point...we purchased the car and know it’s awesome, who needs corroboration after that. It’s good to at least hear about the “could happens” out there to.

It wasnt so much that his post was negative towards the car, it was that I felt that Nissan was standing up to their side of the situation. If I was in that position I dont think I would have had any issues with Nissan and branded their company as such.

Now I could see if he was having issues like some other guys (DE for example) had. But reading through that it seems like Nissan really did nothing wrong. I think the issues DE has had are warranted and other than bugging him about it never said he was out of line.

I will say that the post was probably a bit harsh and should have clarified like I did here. But thats just how I feel.

[wanker]

Sorry for your frustration. If you want to feel better read the BMW and Porsche forums. There are issues with all high performance cars, but at least you didn't spend over $75,000 for your car.