A&Q about 350Z
Q:
I'm close to buying a new 350Z but I've heard stories (rumors?) about front end problems leading to premature tire wear. The advice was to wait for the '05. Can anyone shed some light on this? Is it a real problem, if so how bad? And is there a fix?
Any comments greatly appreciated. Love the car but hesitate to buy into a problem.
A:
Big Problem.
No real Fix yet.
Zero positive posts from original owners with substantial miles.
Seems most happy campers are in denial, and have not reached the end of their extended warranty.
I have 2 months to go before my extended warranty is over, and my free tire replacement is over.
At 6,000 to 10,000 mile tire replacement frequency, if you can stand it go for it. I cringe every time my track wheels are dismounted, handled by guerillas, and tires dismounted/remounted.
I have initiated BBB buyback process on mine. So Sad Nissan will not issue a real fix. Pleas have been ignored. I think I have their attention now. Nissan has just offered me $1000.00, and a loaner car while a factory 'specialist' examines my car. I view this an an attempt to wiglge out of the arbitration hearing by the BBB, and declined their offer. We all know by now that Nissan knows of no fix.
A:
zcar70
well about the performance for price.. 350Z isnt that great..
I can name atleast 3-4 cars that have overall the same or better performance than the Z for around the same price..
EVO 8 (better overall)
WRX STI (better overall)
S2000 (same performance overall)
GTO (maybe?!?)
2003+ Mustang Cobras (better overall (worse handeling but has the power to make up for it)
But the 350Z looks better than all of the above (except maybe S2000, thats a preference thing).
But the sad thing about the list i gave is most of them have 4 seats and still get around the same performance but better..
I love my Z. Wouldnt trade it for any of the above. But it might not be the best value
another thing. I have had my Z for 9k+ miles with my original wheels and tires.. had no problem.
A:
iwant,
i drove the wrx sti, and quite frankly, was unimpressed. sure, had a nice little boost going up and down the ramps and whatnot, but it was "twitchy" and liked to jump lanes when the wind blew or a truck went by. i find that unacceptable. also, that hood scoop... c'mon. boycar. and the wing... damn that thing is HUGE and probably unnecessary. as for feel on the road, my center of gravity was about 6 inches higher than in the Z. perhaps good for the rally circuit, but not for daily driving. no radio? sheesh. and a functionless backseat may get you the insurance break, but don't try to sit in it. it was, without a doubt, not a very good buy.
i think the problem is that these cars are all aimed at different types of drivers. and when the wrong drivers buy the wrong car, well, apparently they come here and bitch about it all day long when they should be working. =)
my previous 2 cars, an audi S4 with chip and a vw jetta vr6, were junk too. in a year, the audi spent probably 25-30 days in the shop. sometimes for the same things, and sometimes for different things. if it hadn't been so fast, it was a lemon. the vw was a piece of mexican made crap. i ultimately lemoned it and vw took it back.
and finally, your last comment about the ford kind of makes me think for a second. exactly who would want a car that does not handle well, but can go really really fast? evil knevil? think about it for a second.
my .02
2003 350Z LeMans Sunset Track with Nav
No mods
A:
The advise used to be..."wait till 2004".
I'm thinkin' it was a tire problem, or moreso a batch problem.
I had my fronts replaced at about 9,000 miles?(exact mileage in archives). To date my fronts are excellent and the rears are bald at 24,000 miles.
2003 350Z
superblack performance, still waitin' for the supercharge
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings...Oh Lord Yeah!!!