.. you could have paid $ 5000 to $ 10,000 over MSRP for a Z car ! As expected, Nissan's on-going cost-cutting campaign didn't spare the Z car. Nothing major YET ( except higher speed vibrations ) but there are far too many quality-related issues right off the bat for such a highly toted, supposed high quality purebred sports car. Complaints are piling up on the Z sites. The Bose system installed in the Z car must be particularly bad. A huge number of complaints about this system. Here's just one sample post from a disgruntled Z owner ( and a response to it from another ) :


No car is free of problems, especially a first gen. Here are the known ones so far:

1. Headlight condensation
2. Poor fit and glued on door sills and spoilers (These may not be done at the factory)
3. Annoying stick shifter vibration.
4. Annoying rear view mirror vibration with stereo bass.
5. BOSE system and speakers suck.
6. Orange peel paint and foreign specs/unknown things in paint.
7. Seat belt rattle.
8. Buzzing noise in passenger side area.
9. Buzzing noise around airbag.
10. Poor flimsy door cover for cars without Nav.
11. Rear strut brace intrusion in line of sight and hatch space.
12. Anyone have any air conditioning noise probs yet like the G35? Infiniti/Nissan are working on a fix. May exist in the 350Z so look for it.

And dealers what to charge HOW MUCH over MSRP? This clearly ain't no $40,000 or $50,000 car. Sure it has performance, looks, maybe a rough firm ride. But it was meant to be a sub 30 to low $30's mass production car. Don't expect the fit and finish and quality to be compared to a Porsche, Audi and others.

( end of post )

Author: LLRDMD (---.mia.bellsouth.net)
Date: Sep 8, 11:07am

Thank you for an *EXCELLENT* recap of some of the problems we actual Z owners are experiencing with the '03.

I think the posters that are upset with your critique are probably children in their teens or early twenties who are so emotionally tied to the car that they take any criticism as a personal insult.

The 350Z is an excllent car with mostly *MINOR* but many *VERY REAL* problems. I'd invite any one on this board to listen the 'upgraded' stereo
and its quality is worse than any rental car stereo I have ever heard (mostly
American cars with factory radios). Some of us are actually *UPSET* for putting down hard earned dollars in to something that is so bad and hard to listen to that it is clearly a design flaw.

Most of the other problems are *WELL DOCUMENTED* on this and other boards and Z350's list is unfortunately *HIGHLY ACCURATE*. His posts are enlightening as far as I'm concerned and are also of course repeats of things that have been posted since new owners have taken delivery.

If you have a Z with NONE of the problems, then best of luck to you-
If you have a Z with one or a few of these problems, attempt to have them corrected at your dealer. I'm sure there will be a few fixes here and there.

If you don't actually own a Z, then shut the #$&*#$*& up because actual *OWNERS* are trying to resolve some real issues - not gripe about a car we mostly love.

By the way, I ripped out the Bose system and speakers this weekend, and replaced them with something that actually plays *MUSIC*. I chose a Sony MP70 stereo, alpine amp / sub amp, and Infinity speakers/sub. I'm listening to XM radio, as well as my CDs, and everything sounds great - the way it should have sounded for an 'upgraded' stereo.

( end of post )

 

Pretty interesting.......it's funny, but when I was pickin up my 03 Max on Tuesday, there were 2 Z's going out the door that same day, and I overheard one of the saleschicks tellin my saleschick that they had dropped off another one earlier in the day. But with all these quality issues comin up, I guess the laughs on them!

 

350Z Transmission problem?
Author: inwaiting (---.ipt.aol.com)
Date: Sep 8, 7:49pm

As I have said before, there were 22 miles on my car when I got it. 6MT Touring, Shifting never seemed smooth like many of you have said you have experienced.In fact my son's Civic is excellent where my Z is sort of, well, lumpy? Now it seems to be held back a little. When I shift from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th, it's like the the transmission has to catch up. You can feel it catch or engage where before it was not like that. Can anyone tell me if this is normal or do I have a problem? I feel this is something I am going to be very upset about! Please help, $37,000.00, 300 miles on the car and I have a major problem on my hands that will more than likely never be right. I mean can they fix this so it is like new and make it work the way it was meant to? Man, I know someone beat this car. I have been following the recommended breakin process but I think it's to late!I baby this car and , well, I'm beside myself over this.

( end of post )

 

The Z never claimed to be a high quality sports car. It always has been and always will be an affordable (read: cheap) sports car. It never pretended to be anything else. The original 240Z had many many problems too. But most people who buy it don't care, they just wanna go fast. Which is the one thing the Z does well.

 

There is no way in hell I'd ever pay ANYTHING over MSRP on that new Z... this is how I felt even before I began reading this post about these quality issues.

No car is worth having it THAT instant that we can't wait a few months until some more are on the lot and the initial buzz about the car is over....

If I was paying 5,000 to 10,000 over MSRP.... it better be because I'm getting one of only 600 of Steve Saleen's latest creation, or one of 1000 of Mr. Langhanfelter's latest twin turbo C5's.... Whatever... w/ the price of the Z, and the performance it offers for the price... it'll be as commonplace to see them on the road in the summers as Camaros... Acura TL's.. and hell, Nissan Maxima's... the quality issue will be resolved in '04 for sure.. maybe even midline through the '03 year... people will love the car, and magazines will continue to rave about it.

my $0.02

 

Author: LLRDMD (---.mia.bellsouth.net)
Date: Sep 12, 8:37am

This letter was sent to NNA's customer service department to their California address. For what good it will do, I don't know. Personally, I don't think NISSAN cares whether we enjoy the car or not. I don't believe they care whether we blew an extra $1000 bucks on a stereo system that doesn't work. Big companies only care about bottom line profits, and the few customer service reps who might care aren't empowered to do anything about it. If they do write back, it'll likely be to say "screw you", or here's a two hundred dollar certificate for a few oil changes. If someone out there disagrees, let me know. If you need the address that this was sent to, check out nissandriven.com Thanks

September 6, 2002


Nissan of North America
ATT: Customer Service

I am writing with disappointment about the BOSE 240W stereo system that was provided with my 350Z. This is considered an ‘upgraded’ stereo from your base trim and it is completely unacceptable and of poor audio quality.

I am seeking a refund for the cost of the stereo (relative to the total MSRP). I have removed each of the speakers which are incompatible with any aftermarket stereo products, placed them in a cardboard box, and will return them to NNA upon request. I will return the Bose stereo head unit as well when Nissan can provide me with a cosmetic face or some other solution to close the hole that will inevitably be left in the dash.

I am not an audiophile, and as you will see from the attached internet bulletin board postings that this is a wide-spread problem of Nissan customer dissatisfaction with an otherwise wonderful vehicle.

Enjoyment of music is intrinsic to enjoyment of the 350Z – and exasperated with my dealer’s inability to help me, I have taken measures to replace a stereo which:

1) has muddy sound at low, medium, and high volumes and is generally distorted

2) has absolutely no clarity when playing CDs or listening to FM

3) changes volume at inappropriate times regardless of vehicle velocity
or ambient noise in the vehicle and has a sub-woofer which makes listening unbearable

4) sounds worse than the radio in ANY rental car, foreign or domestic,
that I have ever driven and is unfit for distribution with the 350Z.

Please see the attached internet bulletin board complaints about the sound system. My dealer has refused to address the problem and insists that I direct my complaints to Nissan of North America.

I would prefer to settle this matter amicably. I am not interested in flooding influential car magazines and trade periodicals with editorials on the 350Z’s flawed audio design. I am not interested in organizing a class action or attempting to invoke my state’s lemon law regarding the vehicle. I have replaced the system at my own expense with something suitable for basic use.

I am a very time constrained businessman, and do not have the ability to bring the car to a local dealer for repeated adjustments, component replacements, or additional work to replace this defect in the car. I think in all fairness, a refund of the cost of this ‘upgraded’ stereo will satisfy my complaint and any funds remitted will be applied to the cost of the replacement which I have provided at my own expense.

Please feel free to contact me once you have had a chance to review this letter and the attached materials.

Sincerely,