Bye 370Z...Hello Jeep!
 

Well, I finally got rid of my 370Z. A dealer offered me $25.5K (on BALD tires, 2012 Sport/NAV/Touring/M6) for it while taking $1200 or so off of their asking price for a 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I personally like the WK platform over the WK2 for looks, performance, and the fact that they are cheaper doesn't hurt!

Anyway, it will be my first SUV. I've driven it for about a week, now, and love it so far.

Going from the 370Z to this, my first impression was that it was very high off the ground, and "felt floaty". Part of this is being an SUV, and part of it is the 70K mile old shocks/struts. Bilstein HD's are on the way to fix that, though.

The 357hp/389#tq HEMI + AWD makes this thing FUN! It's certainly no speed demon, but 0-60 in 6.8-7 seconds isn't bad for something that is all-terrain capable and can haul your friends around. The AWD makes the acceleration much more useful than my 370Z was on the street, too. For example, the road joining the main street from my apartment complex always seems to cause my 370Z TC light to come on and KILLS power because it's at a slope + has some gravel on it typically from the gravel drives near my complex. The Jeep has no issues. I can leave much more confidently regarding acceleration. Same for wet weather, etc.

The quality of the vehicle as a whole seems as good/better, regarding the interior, excluding the NAV, which is a bit less useful, but not bad.

I average about 3.5mpg less than my 370Z got on my daily commute...but she takes 87 and 89! On the freeway, I get 18-20mpg. About 4.5 mpg less than my Z got cruising at 80.

All-in-all, I am very happy with my trade, and think this vehicle will do me a solid up in the mountains when it snows. I don't miss the Z in the least.

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Congrats on the Nice Jeep :tup:

Thanks!

A shout out to Richards Honda in Baton Rouge, as well. I did this deal 100% via phone and email photo. When I got there there was zero "last minute negation" and the jeep was 100% as described. B's - free deal.

These 5.7 4x4 WK's are hard to find I discovered during my search.

Nice vehicle! I have a truck too and they can be very useful.

*yawn*

Well, I don't find it too boring. Honestly the hemi makes it reasonably fun, and it's so nice to pile all my gear into this with friends than it was my 370z. Just my sbr, gear belt, and sapi plates and a case of ammo and change of clothes filled my 370. That is actually the first time I seriously realized I needed an suv, when I picked someone and their gear up at the airport in new Orleans in my z. They made love to their pelican case for over an hour because it wouldn't fit anywhere but their lap with seat reclined. Also, I'll be honest. I hated my 370z. Every time it was in the shop I was butthurt to give up the rental once it was repaired. No love lost. But at least I can say I've sampled Japan ' stuff now. I have a list of gripes a mile long about the things shortcomings, but it's best summed up "altima with backseat delete and performance tune".

Heh. I had a Jeep once. It was useful when it wasn't in the shop. In the meantime, guess we won't be seeing you around here anymore, huh? Pity. Best of luck to you.

Wait, are you describing a Z here? At least call it a G37 with backseat delete and tune. Altima's aren't even in the same league/class.

Same way I felt about my 370Z. :inoutroflpuke:

I digress. I'll just say I don't miss my Nissan in the slightest, and it reminded me of an Altima on a diet regarding driving characteristics. I will say, it did look good, though!

Hope you have better luck with your jeep.

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I mean, let's put it this way...I hated my 370Z so much that I can't talk about cars without flaming it and Nissan North America. I don't flame it just because I'm bored or whatever. It pisses me off that I wasted money on it and I'm butthurt over having owned it and it gets me riled to think about it, lol!

Thanks, me, too!

I might well have enjoyed the Z if it didn't have so much down-time and so many issues with quality/durability.

Sorry you didn't get to enjoy your time with the Z. Only down time I get is because of snow. No issues other than thin paint that I can complain here.

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It happens, but Nissan NA was a PITA to deal with and soured everything.

-Brakes at 10K, 17K, 20K, 23K, and 27K miles. 3 sets of rotors and pads. $500 out of pocket at Dealer urging to upgrade to slotted rotors. Dealer then denied this when they warped and I wanted Nissan NA to cover them as Dealer told me to buy them. During this, I went through 1 set of tires, and never had hot-spots on the rotors or abnormal pad-wear. Rotor issues :(
NNA had them datalog my driving, blaming ME for the problem. When they saw that I rarely used the brakes, they then shifted tactics and tried stupid stuff like "we think there is a hole in the brake line" and other BS. I sat there and listened to NNA Tech Hotline on speaker phone in the managers office. They are a bunch of Jiffylube Techs that try to blame the consumer any way they can, from what I heard them saying.

-Power steering moaned and whined. Started at around 7K miles and got worse and worse until it attracted attention every time I pulled into a parking-spot. Dealer said it was abnormal but could find nothing wrong with the system. NNA claimed "Normal for the 370Z".

-Alignment. It was always wearing tires un-evenly. Bad. As in, not even on the wear-bar on one side, but down to the cords on the inside. I had no clue how bad they really were until I traded it in and saw them while driving away. Wow! Aligned twice in 20K miles. Couldn't hold alignment I guess. NEVER had a car do that before, but maybe it's normal?

-NAV: It was glitchy, but not bad. It only "went black" twice while I owned the car, and restarting the car fixed it each time. Meh. No big.

^Those were the issues I had with it until I dumped it at 35.5K miles. Oh, and the Berk CBE I bought for it fit for ****. BERK's CS was non-existent, as well. Call and talk to them and they BS you and never follow through. The CBE was like it wasn't even made for my 370Z, and always fell off the grommets as the hangers had no swell on the end and were sharply angled up. A few bumps and they slipped out of course.

All-in-all, I can deal with "Oh, crap, that broke? Let's fix it!" but the incessant "Mr. *******, we don't know what's wrong with your car, but we can keep it another few days..." and "Well, I know we said it sounds bad and we will fix it, but NNA say's that groaning sound is normal when you turn at low speeds in a 370Z, bring it back if it gets worse". just got OLD!!!

I respect that things can break, but just like with my G20 that was a pile (and people told me not to judge the 370 by my G20...it was a PERFECT! mirror of what owning the 370 was like!), even the dealership didn't know how to fix the vehicle. So, I digress. It had issues that money and the manufacturer couldn't or wouldn't fix.

Congrats on the new ride! Jeeps are great vehicles.

Gz!

Let it go. You don't even own the car anymore. You got a lemon and had a terrible dealer. We've all read your walls of text bitching about the car. Do you think that, maybe since the car is gone and you've moved on, you could stop? Your time has to be better spent doing anything besides coming on to a forum for enthusiasts of a car you hate and don't own anymore and complaining about the lemon you got. And don't try to spin it as "warning potential future buyers". Yours was a lemon, and your problems are not shared by the vast majority of Zs.

Looks like it's a beautiful day outside! Lots of sunshine :)

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I am in for more on how the Jeep compares to the 370. You say the Jeep has a "floaty" and "high off the ground" feel in comparison. So how would one fix this to make the Jeep feel more like the 370? If I put on coilovers and dropped it do you think that it would handle better or would I still have that "floaty" feel?

something like this?
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import- you amaze me with your ambition for continuous challenges in life. GL! :tup:

:iagree: I think its time to leave now. :tiphat:

Now that is what I envision a handling machine to look like! And it looks like you can just go to the website posted on the back window and order everything you need to make it track grocery store/home depot ready.

I'm with you. Just butthurt over the ! 3$ k! Nissan screwed all pre '14 owners for still. If not for that I'd be much happier. I agree though. Done is done!

Just doing Bilsteins. It will be fine. Oem shocks and struts are this vehicles weak point. Luckiky they are a cheap fix. Oems die at about 20 k regarding how they feel.

Wet(frozen/slushy) and 26*F out today. I think this thing would stomp any kind of sports car out there that is RWD from a light until it hooked up. It was a lot easier to get out of my apartment complex in it than my 370Z. Not a knock on the Z, that, any 2WD vehicle spins leaving my complex in any sort of hurry. It's the crappy design of the "main" road being at the top of a steeper juncture with the one through my complex. You accelerate onto it, and the weight shifts off of the rear-tires, just like it shifts off of the front, when you "break" the crest onto the road. hard to explain, but just suffice it to say in any vehicle with TC, you feel like a sitting duck if you're trying to get out during rush hour when it kicks in for 2-3 seconds and people loom in the mirror.

I will own other vehicles, I'm sure, but little stuff like this is making AWD super appealing. I truly did not know what I was missing.

If you like that, go test drive something AWD that's built for performance. You could have a lot of fun with a beater WRX.

I'd wrote those off, but now? I'm honestly not sure. I think my next sports car will be AWD. I'm waiting to see how my former roommate's BRZ experience turns out. Or, I might just buy a SRT8 Jeep once I've paid this one off. I'm really liking the cargo space and other benefits of a larger vehicle with nice sound deadening for road trips, etc.

For 99% of the driving any of us will ever do, a WRX or STI hatch is pretty much the perfect vehicle. Fun to drive, useable in all elements and has plenty of cargo space. The only thing that disqualifies it is ground clearance.

This is why I did not consider it. Ground clearance is a huge issue where I'm going, as many people have S2 on their drive-ways bordering the paved road. At times, aside from being a semi-loose traction surface, the S2 can sink below road-level if not maintained perfectly. AWD and more than 5-6" ground-clearance make pulling onto the road in a hurry (or at all) VERY easy compared to not. The full-time AWD in the Jeep will be a godsend even in fair-weather, as I discovered last time I took my 370Z up there and encountered what I described. The drive-way to my land is currently S2 and has seen better days. My 370Z did not do well.

Congrats on the truck. I too traded in my 370z for a Jeep Grand Cherokee. (2014) However, I miss the **** out of my Z and trying to compare the two is like forcefully trying to convince yourself you made a good buy. Also, the more you drive your truck, the worse the MPG will be. I averaged 21mpg when I first got my truck. But, after getting comfortable while driving and realizing its not "that" slow makes you hit the gas pedal harder and harder.

Well, I honestly don't miss the 370. If I had to pick a car that I missed, it would be my Z06. It had its foibles, but breaking often and handling like an Altima wasn't one of them! The 370 was just a big mistake for me and I'm glad it's in the past.

One thing you are dead-right about, though is the mileage! It does seem to go down a bit, lol. Part of the reason I got the '10 is that its significantly quicker than the 2011-2013, but the '14 edges it out with the 8-speed transmission. However, my goal was also D/I reduction, and I wanted something that even when I take a paycut due to Obamacare (later this year I will get hit with a paycut totaling an amount equal to my rent, my carnote, and auto-insurance combined.), will exist at a note within 12% of my gross income or less, so as not to affect my purchasing power with a house. A 2014 Overland or Limited would have put me outside of that 12% monthly D/I. The 370Z would have likely been about the max for that, and I was upside down in it a couple thousand + the '14 GJC's with V8 and QD2 are about $50K. It wouldn't have worked, as nice as they are!