Nissan, Please fix these on the 400Z that were fails on the 350-370
 

Anything I missed?

Epic fail #1

The NAV system. Does anyone disagree? Completely useless. Give me the ability to option out if you're going to make it suck again. Had to get it because it came along with the other options that I did want.


#Epic Fail #2:

The steering column lock that gets stuck and leaves you stranded. On top of having to pay for a tow, you replace/repair it with the same shitty part that will fail again. And charge way too much damn money for it. So like I and many others did, we pull the fuse on it so it won't happen again. Just leave it off and lower the overall price of the car if you're not going to fix it.


Fail #3

The trunk latch actuator that is made with plastic gears inside. Ok, yeah, you screwed up, had the opportunity to make a better part once you knew the issue, but you didn't. Still had to replace with a new failure prone part for hundreds of dollars. Really? That much for a little plastic piece of ****, and you don't fix it when you realize so many people are having a problem with it?

Fail #4
Trunk that won't open because of a shitty piece of plastic spring. Nuff said. Had the issue within six months. People on youtube putting pennnies in there. So how does that inspire me to have confidence in your engineering? A couple ******* pennies can fix it, but you can't? lol.

Fail #5

That plastic trim under the engine making it a pain in the *** to change the oil. For **** sake, at least make it aluminum, and don't use plastic ******* screws to keep it on. Some 10mm bolts would be nice for that application, in there are any mechanical engineers working for you, they'd know what I'm talking about.

Did I miss anything? Feel free to add on. Overall I'm happy with my 2011 370, but this **** here feels like something from Fisher Price, not a well engineered machine.

Have you tried driving one on the track? That will make that Fisher Price feeling go away. Btw, the Z hasn't had an ESCL since 2012.

Yeah, after driving on the track was the first time the trunk latch actuator went out. Had to drive home 90 miles with the trunk not latched. At least the got the ESCL out of the way. But really, they know these were an issue for years, and didn't improve them is lame. And also that they mike it very expense for the customer to get something repaired that shouldn't have broken if well designed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the Z, but things that don't get fixed for years is lame.

A little late on making wish list for Z35....Z35 is in production ready form.....

A little late on complaining about the Z34.....beating a dead horse here....

Not just that, he is including issues (that have since been fixed in newer model years) from his 2011 Z.

For a wish list like this, you would use the outgoing 2020 as your baseline, not a freaking 2011.

Fair enough, have these all been addressed in the 2020?

I'll head to the dealership tomorrow to see if how much they want to bend me over to address each of the issues. No, no I won't. And yeah, it's a 2011, but the problem existed and persisted beyond that, starting with the 350z, so why would I have any confidence it had been addressed?

So they have the aluminum plate underneath now, instead of the plastic BS?

And the springs that lift the hatch, and the actuator that lets it stay closed, has been addressed?

Sorry for not knowing, but these things I found out how to fix from the 350z forums, and I have a 370, so they do in fact not fix stupid easy **** between models.

Still love the Z though. Saved money from every paycheck since 1984 to buy a Z, and was finally able to in 2011. So yeah, I'm still a fan, but stupid plastic **** that breaks, and they want an arm and half a leg to fix still pissed me off.

Also, the headlamp covers are starting to get cloudy, despite being housed in the garage when not driving. lol. I know, I just said your baby is ugly to your face lol, but it's really not. But some easy things should be fixed, for their existing customers even. Without costing 10x more than what they are worth.

And for the love of God, please tell me the NAV system has been addressed? That was like a 1999 Garmin, with a $$ upgrade with a DVD each year. WTF? And still can't find it's *** with both hands. Unless you know exactly where you're going, in which case, WTF do you need a NAV system for? Had a nice touch screen.... That I wanted to smash with a hammer so many times.

OP, have you shopped/lived with any other recent cars? If not, I've got some really bad news for you.

My previous car was a 2016 GTI SE DSG+PP. In my 3 yr lease it needed a new DSG trans, the sunroof assembly replaced, the evap system repaired...oh and on day 1 of owning it the CEL came on 15 minutes from when I left the dealer.
According to other Mk7 GTI owners, the fancy corner-following headlights could glitch and so could the ESCL.

I bought my wife a 2020 Toyota Corolla HB. It uses fancy LED headlights. She hit a mattress on the freeway with it, and that's how I found out that the LED headlights are $1200 EACH. Should you need to replace BOTH headlights for ANY reason, it will cost you $2400 on a car that I paid $20,750 for. That's over 11% of the cost of the car just for the darn headlights.

I'm definitely not dismissing your complaints, I totally agree that manufacturers are adding things that put long-term ownership into question, make it more expensive. However, Nissan could just tell you to "don't let the door hit you in the a5s on your way out, have fun finding a more reliable car in 2022!!!"

I have both OEM plastic shield and aftermarket aluminum ones. I’ll take the plastic one personally.

The OEM plastic shield has a crease toward the back, meant to fold down for easy oil change access. But for me, I like taking the entire thing down, it’s quick and easy imo.

I agree, sometimes plastic is better as a 'sacrificial' part.
I think some people who get the metal plates are confused thinking its like some sort of SUV skid plate. In fact a metal one will likely cause more damage to the car. For example, if someone goes over a curb stop, when he backs out the plastic may just tear away, while a metal one is strong enough to pull on the hard points its attached to and actually cause damage to the irreplaceable frame of the vehicle. In the event of hitting a driveway for example, the plastic underliner would actually have a tiny bit of shock absorbtion capability, while the thin aluminum sheet metal which has zero compression ability would transmit 100% of the hit and shock to the frame above it...not good.

Case in point, in my Mazda I once ran over something that tore off the OEM mud guard. It was a typical black ABS plastic mud guard that I replaced the same day from the dealership parts department.

Because the mudguard was plastic it tore right off leaving zero damage to the body and paint. Had the mudguard been made of metal, instead of cleanly tearing off, it would have caused significant body damage.

Negative on the ESCL or SLU repair/replacement on the 2012 and beyond -

See link to a member's post on this
2012 SLU Failure


Hope this helps in alerting more of us to the issue...

I guess my arms are too long and hands too big to use the "secret" flap to change the oil. I can barely reach it with the cover completely off.

My 2012 didn't have a steering lock. IIRC, it was removed midyear. :twocents:

If we’re gonna talk about 370 shortcomings that need/should be addressed for the z35, how about

Oil cooler that actually works so you can do more than one or two laps w/o overheating

A fuel pickup in the tank that won’t fuel starve at almost a full tank when on r comps, (yes, that happens, somehow Nissan seems to have defied physics but they did).

Real performance seats that do a better job. New nismo is an improvement but still could be better

Diff cooler

A metal csc for fvck’s sake

Brake cooling/improved calipers, rotors and pads

I’m sure there’s more, but that’s the short list.

"since 2012" would imply it was still around in 2012. Not sure what your link is for :icon14:

It was during the 2012 model year that Nissan discontinued the ESCL on the Z. Some 2012 models have it and some do not. If you're referring to the recall that was issued, it was only applicable to ESCL Revisions A, B, and C. During the 2011 model year Nissan switched over to Rev D. Rev E followed in 2012 before it was discontinued altogether. Rev D and E are not included in the recall. My 2011 has an ESCL Rev D with the fuse removed for 10 years now.

Looks to have the latest and greatest, Android Auto / Apple Car Play will keep the headunit "fresh" for a while I feel.

They flat out pulled this out back in 2013

Yeah, I don't think they fixed this.....willing to bet this will be a straight up carry over part.

See #3

See #3

I was hoping for more storage on the inside ala 350Z, looks like it's a carry over from the 370Z. There's going to be a hell of a lot of "Carry Over" I fear.

VR30 doesn't have the cooling issues the shoehorned VQ37 did

Carry over

Seats are going to stay comfortable for GenPop, Nismo will have the seats we're looking for

A metal CSC, I hope like hell they are listening but realistically it'll be another carry over part...hell we need to be thankful we got a stick to go with that plastic CSC

Dunno about cooling, Akebonos are the "base" calipers now and Brembos are the upgrade
- Dunno if GenPop is ready for how rotor hungry Akebonos are

First CSC lasted for 11 years. 2nd - about 9 months.

I stranded myself off of circular interstate onramps 3 times before I learned to jerk it hard enough to slosh gas when the engine sputters. So ******* stupid to worry about running out of gas when you have GALLONS of fuel.

How do I know I have gallons of fuel? My gas gauge hasn't read right for about 7 years now so I fill up every 200 miles. My 91 Ford Bronco's gas gauge has never been wrong.

This is my 4th Z and I love her but **** there have been days.

Cjm road race fuel pump is the fuel starve answer, we ran it in our last two nismos. Shouldn’t have to but at least there’s a good aftermarket solution.

My wish list:

- fix CSC
- fix fuel starvation on long, right-hand sweepers
- oil pressure gauge

Everything else is fine IMO. Even the oil cooler is a reasonable expense for track prep. Having to refill the tank after every session, or getting stranded due to a PLASTIC CSC WITH KNOWN MITIGATION SOLUTIONS is bonkers.

When i had my 2011 it didn't have a steering lock and it was a mid year production that rolled off the line in June of 2011

Install a ZSpeed Performance CMAK and you don't have to worry about the weak CSC going kaput at the worst possible moment. Sheesh!

My 2011 didn't have it either.

Really warming up to the new Z. Still seriously considering a C8, but I really miss the Z community. Best car group - Z, MINI, Mercedes, and Audi - that I've ever been associated with. Still stay in touch with a few folks. Haven't seen Mr. JARblue since COTA a couple of years ago. Hope you are doing well James!

Hey Mike!! Nice to see you pop in here. Hope you and yours are well :tiphat:

I'm waiting for the first post of "400Z" fuel starve on long LEFT hand turns. Seriously though you guys actually wanting this car is sad IMHO. It's a FUGLY disastrous vomit retro look on a 370Z chassis with a smaller motor with a couple snails. I seriously doubt it will out perform the 370Z with equal mods. In the end larger displacement wins with everything else being equal. It is just ugly, my wife and I cringe whenever we see pictures of it. We all know how cheap nissan is and we all know in our heart of hearts a lot of these issues are going to carry over to this iteration. Had they fixed it, it would have been a major highlight in their reveal.

1. Looks are subjective, but I'd say majority of people actually like what they have done with the new Z and how they were able to incorporate the retro design.
2. Yes, we all know it's a parts bin car. There isn't anything necessarily wrong with that, but we'd hope they fix the major things that have already been mentioned.
3. Dude, have you looked or cross shopped anything else on the current or future market?? There's really nothing else that compares.
4. Just be thankful we actually have a decent option when it comes to a JDM, reliable, manual, fast/fun car that IMO looks great.

Sounds like someone needs a midol.

I usually respect everyone’s opinion on this forum, unless it happens to be derogatory or contains false statements. Then it’s credibility lost.

Agreed, my current M2 is a parts bin car, with some upgraded internals and body mods to fit wider tires. But it handles/drives better and faster than the rest of the BMW 2 series.

IMO, anything manufactured, can be made better or better looking. Is the new Z absolutely perfect in the looks department? Of course not, there are area which could use improvement. But, “FUGLY disastrous vomit retro look”, is something I would definitely not call it.