Should I get a Warranty -- How many issues have you had?
 

I'm looking at used 370Z's and one question I have is should I spend $1400 on an extended warranty?
It seems like a bet, or like guess work.
The main question is how many issues have you had with your Z?

Zero issues? 1-2 issues that would have made a warranty a smart idea?

i didn't get one... i think if something were to happen they would claim it's not covered somehow. i like to believe the 3 years that come with it is enough. if something will go bad, it will go bad within those 3 years... but that's just me :D

i've had a trans replaced under my factory warranty. so 1 issue

I have had at least 5k of stuff replaced. I plan on having another 10k of stuff replaced in the next 2 years

When I had my 2006 G35 6MT that I brought used, I purchased and extended warranty from an Infiniti dealer. It paid for itself a few times over.

I think its a good move to get an extended warranty from a Nissan dealer. If you have an engine issue or tranny problems, they can eat a hole in your wallet.

The price for the warranty is also negotiable.

Invest the money. Why buy an insurance policy you may never need?

that's what i thought too... but seeing a couple people say they had problems that cost thousands, maybe i should have gotten it :D

I think its a smart idea. I had a used 2008 Honda Civic, and had a punctured hole through the condenser. They don't usually warranty condenser damage such as rocks and etc, but since I had the extended warranty, saved me about $1,200. The condenser alone is like $800-900. $0's out the door

I have a 2009 bought with 11K on it, and so far no issues.
Guys who really romp on it have quite a few issues, so if you're one of those drivers, then by all means get a "Nissan" extended warranty, I wouldn't touch any of the shyster fly by night warranty companies.

if it is used and they are offering a warranty, get it. never know who owned it before and how their driving style is

Get it. $1300 is nothing compared to potential thousands.

I had coil packs, plugs, valve cover, ECM , short block, ac condenser. Some of that was covered under powertrain warranty but easily at least 7 grand.

I'm no expert, but I were going used Manual Trans, I would really think about the extended warranty.

Otherwise, if you can afford to get yourself a new car should yours blow up (minus anything insurance would cover), then you can likely skip the extended warranty and invest the money elsewhere, depending of course on your acceptable level of personal risk. :)

(In other words, it all depends on you. You could skip it and be one of the 5% with huge issues that make you wish you hadn't gotten it. Or part of the 30% who have zero issues and consider it a waste. Or part of the masses that have a few small things that may or may not cover the cost of the warranty in the first place... It's unpredictable.)

A little more detail please. You mentioned used, what model year and how many miles? How many miles & long is the warranty for after Nissan's 3 year bumper to bumper?

I have not had a single thing go wrong since the factory warranty expired and the Nissan aftermarket $100 deductible warranty kicked in. Living in Florida, we have to pay whatever retail is for the extended warranty, so I purchased mine from Santa Rosa Nissan in California for less than 1/3 the cost of the local dealer quote.
If you can afford it and need peace of mind do it.

Bear in mind that mods will effect the warranty. If you install an aftermarket exhaust system, you can probably forget about the engine being under warranty.

Exhaust messing with engine is a huge stretch.

Either way, keep your OEM items in case your engine does go bang

No. Save your $$$. Most of those are written so the normal wear items aren't covered or they are reasons why not to cover it.

Don't get a Z, its a POS

Ext Warranty
 

Lots of thing to consider here. #1 - who is the warranty with. Nissan, or the dealership, or a third party. Third party I say no. Nissan, yes for $1400. BUT, These prices CAN be negotiated !! I just bought a 2014 new, and the Nissan dealer went from $2520 to $1495 really quick. 3 additional years Nissan.
Also, the previous Z, (2012) purchased from a Nissan dealer used, came with a "Certified Warranty" from Nissan for a period of 84 months from the original date of sale. This was a big plus on buying the car. And I read these warranties carefully, and they are okay. I have never read any good reviews on third party warranties.
Just my 2 cents.

The wear and tear items are the cheapest though...

i don't see why an exhaust would void a warranty?

You can do whatever you want behind the cats and keep your warranty. If you alter the manifolds or catalytic converters, then your powertrain warranty will be voided.

Long version (and maybe a little overly stated):
When you modify an exhaust or intake to be less restrictive, you cause the engine to run leaner (and hotter). The wide band O2 sensors will adjust the ECU to accommodate for this a little but a retune really is needed or you could ruin an engine. The dealer and factory rep is going to look for a reason to deny any "big ticket" warranty repairs.

Not speaking of Nissan but my personal experience with Harley-Davidson: If a bike comes in for an oil change or whatever and the mechanic notices a non Harley modification, the dealer can "flag" the bikes VIN and it can be denied specific warranty repairs in the future. Now the Magnuson-Moss warranty act does protect you because it requires the modification to be directly associated with the problem.

Thanks for the quick educational lesson, didn't know that :D and of course the dealer would try to find the smallest thing so they don't have to pay, bastards... i already have my exhaust on now and getting the intake put on this weekend and i wasn't thinking of getting it retuned, but i guess i need to now lol

If, after the exhaust and intake mods, everything seems to run okay, there is a cheap way to tell if you're running too lean. Warm up the car, Run it hard for about a mile, shut it down & coast to a safe stop, immediately remove a spark plug and check its' insulator color. Black is too rich, white is too lean, and tan is what you want to see. If it's white, get it tuned immediately.

For what it's worth
Not to justify the cost of a tune but it involves a lot more than just getting the air/fuel ratio to a stoich AFR(about 12.7 AFR for 91+ octane fuel in a naturally aspirated engine). It also involves timing, spark knock retarding, cold cranking enrichment, acceleration enrichment, and deceleration enleanment to name a few. The AFR is adjusted for each cell in a table of throttle positions against engine RPM's. This is done for each cylinder too. The dyno technician really needs to know his stuff and will still take over a dozen wide open throttle runs even with todays computer assisted tuning software. Also, get a copy of the tune or "map" on a thumb drive & keep it. It'll save you some money if you ever need to reflash your ECU.

i'll be going to z1 motorsports, everyone seems to agree they are well trusted, but i will ask for that when i go and see them.

is this the general rule for every car or just the Z's? i had a rsx-s before with some bolt on and never did a tune on it or anything and it went fine for the time i had it.

Just general for ECU controlled gas engines. Older carbureted engines were adjusted with modifications to the carb jets.

More worthless info
Most all water cooled engines (cars and bikes) have wide band O2 sensors and they do a decent job of telling the ECU to up the fuel with minor exhaust and intake mods. (A water cooled engine has a narrow band of engine temperature and can use a wide band O2 sensor.) They still need adjustments to their "map" (or tune) for timing, etc. to get the maximum horsepower. ("map" should not be confused with "MAP" or "Manifold Absolute Pressure" which is another factor the dyno tech has to deal with.)
Air cooled motorcycle engines have a very broad band of operating temperature and most use a narrow band O2 sensor. A tune is almost always needed with even small air flow mods. I've closely followed Harley Davidsons' transition to water cooled engines on their touring bikes and believe it was an inevitable move by HD. With stricter EPA restrictions looming, it was the only route.

This is false. An exhaust doesn't blow an engine. They would lose in court. They may give you **** about it, but if you stick to your guns I would say its not a problem generally. I know a lot of people with STis (my previous car) that have had an engine blow with an exhaust and it was covered.

Also, a tune is much more likely to get you claim denied than an exhaust.

I only have 6,800 miles on my Z and it's at Nissan getting a new engine dropped in so...

Not because of exhaust btw. It's because of an 'oil consumption problem'. My Z is a fattiboombah.

I had the same issue with my 2006 G35 6MT, I purchased the extended warranty which covered all the non-sense related to the oil consumption problem.

I appreciate your input but let's get this back on track. I've attached a picture of piston damage done by a lean engine. This is the engine failure I'm referring to, not blowing an engine.

I would drop the $$$$ on the Xtended warranty if u don't work on the Z urself.
For the following reasons:
1) oil consumption
2) oil overheating
3) plastik CSC failing
4) rear diff silicone bushing tearing
5) I could go on, but I refrain....
The Z is a cost-cutted POS, but w/the right mods and time dropped into it...it can become a fun reliable daily. :D

I guess I shouldn't speak in generalities. Not all of them were blown engines. there were other types of engine failure from ringlands to piston failure. Pretty much everyone of these experience i've seen where the person had a tune the warranty claim was denied.

can someone explain what osiris does? it's not a tune?

I'll make an uneducated attempt at it.

Edit:
I just did a little research and it appears that it is specifically for Nissans & Infinitys and consists of an interface cable and software. As I understand it, you can make adjustments to your factory ECU on the fly. Perhaps someone with more knowledge will come along and confirm this.

hopefully it will be worth the $300 then

Ive had the steering lock replaced on my 09. My Navi headunit controls for AC and Radio wont work when you turn the nobs, my clutch switch has gone bad so now I push in the clutch and the car wont start.

BUY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY! Sadly, I bought mine used so no chance on getting it extended. Costs me out of pocket for the last 2 issues.

Are we talking an extended "Nissan Factory Warranty" or are we talking one of those after-market warranties a Nissan dealer might try and sell you?

Mike