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Love Hate Relationship


Dave6188

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Bare with me on this, purchased an HR 350z from a dealer in December with full service history which included literally ever receipt for any job big or small that had been done, only 54k miles and in almost mint condition, all of the above attracted me to the car.

 

So a few weeks in I noticed that going into 1st gear was a bit knotchey so decided to change the gearbox & diff oil which cured the problem, still not the best transmission I have come across in a car but I can now live with it, feels much smoother.

 

Another job on cards noticed the exhaust had a slight blow which was annoying me as I am very OCD so off it came and in place went a resonated Cobra, not bad for driving around town but get on a motorway at 70mph it drones horribly and climbing hills makes it worse. I have slowly adjusted to this after driving 3k miles across Europe!

 

So I added some HKS panel filters as the old filters were slightly dirty, thought the car started to feel sluggish & jerky to drive which was annoying but this wasn't down to the filters !!!

 

Read a couple of threads on the forum about gallery gaskets and oil pressure which unfortunately for me, yep oil pressure at 15psi on hot idle and after Europe trip driving 3k miles it was 12psi. So gallery gaskets changed and when I say the old gaskets were blown out I mean blown to a pulp ! New pressure 28psi on hot idle difference night & day no more jerky driving and car pulls much better so happy chappy.

 

Few days later driving along as normal I let the clutch out at low speed and the car jolted forward ! Checked clutch fluid, nothing in the pot (I check this weekly along with all other fluids) so only thing I can pin it to is the CSC, here we go again ! Ordered the Xtreme HR kit from Clark Motorsport, gearbox out and the csc was leaking every time the clutch was pressed but not only that it was spraying onto the friction plate. So out with the old in with the new.

 

So lighter flywheel made the engine rev more free but you get a little bit og chatter at 1500rpm but I can live with that, clutch pedal feels stiffer but my lack of training legs at the gym might be part of this problem who knows !

 

So in 7 months of ownership I reckon I won't have a lot of change out of 3k for everything that has been done to the car ! A lot yes but what else can possibly go wrong ?

 

Luckily have a year's warranty but doesn't cover wear & tear so I'm getting a bit back for some of the above work.

 

Just waiting for the next thing to go wrong.....

 

 

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Bought my Zed and within 3 months had to change clutch, flywheel and cv joints. This is exactly why I shudder when I see people with barely budget to cover buying these cars go in a bit blind, with no slush fund to fix any issues as they are usually expensive!

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I feel your pain. In 1 year of ownership I've needed:

- New clutch cable

- New exhaust system

- New banana arms

- New windscreen

- New tyres

- New W brace

- New suspension

 

I also have a flashing airbag light which after a few hundred quid has still not been fixed. Just trying to ignore it for now and hope it passes the next MOT. Also have a clunk when I turn the wheel at slow speeds. I suspect droplinks therefore also need replaced. Bleugh.

Edited by colesl4w
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I feel your pain. In 1 year of ownership I've needed:

- New clutch cable

- New exhaust system

- New banana arms

- New windscreen

- New tyres

- New W brace

- New suspension

 

I also have a flashing airbag light which after a few hundred quid has still not been fixed. Just trying to ignore it for now and hope it passes the next MOT. Also have a clunk when I turn the wheel at slow speeds. I suspect droplinks therefore also need replaced. Bleugh.

 

Take the bulb out ;)

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I feel your pain. In 1 year of ownership I've needed:

- New clutch cable

- New exhaust system

- New banana arms

- New windscreen

- New tyres

- New W brace

- New suspension

 

I also have a flashing airbag light which after a few hundred quid has still not been fixed. Just trying to ignore it for now and hope it passes the next MOT. Also have a clunk when I turn the wheel at slow speeds. I suspect droplinks therefore also need replaced. Bleugh.

 

Take the bulb out ;)

 

Just out of curiosity, did you try the reset procedure? I think mine started flashing twice in the last year, and this stops the flashing each time.

 

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It will hopefully settle down, my first year was expensive then had a few years of low costs. She dont do many miles now though and the Mrs drives her and she's 7 stone lighter than me. Lucky girl!! :)

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We all feel for you, most of us have been there... I bought mine with less than 16K miles ...practically a new car... yet I've been through more arms, bushes, joints, drop links than I can think of, I get all the good luck with them. Right from early mileage up to very recently. Also around 35K odds (can't actually remember) or somewhere....lowish miles anyway... the back box developed a hole....sorry not a hole, it just detached from the pipe,so that was an excuse for the scorpion/cobra set up. It eats tyres with the amount of miles I do, I end up having nearly 2 services in the space of a year... moneypit. However, take it on a nice sunsetting road into the countryside or valleys and its wonderful. You'll get used to them, even the hefty and akward clutch when slow moving in traffic. Wouldn't change it for a thing..... btw did I mention I really want an XKR auto?? :lol:

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Owned my 2006 DE for 1yr 3weeks 3days.

Aside from normal service items, I've only spent out on the Exhaust because it was rusty. Daily driver and bullet proof.

 

When I see a car advertising "loads of receipts!" I automatically think unreliable wallet raider, and steer clear. I don't see how people can think any different, but they do, and they go and buy those wallet raiders :)

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I've only had mine 3 months and already had to put on a brand new exhaust as the old one split off the centre pipe, and also got virtually new Rays to replace the bubbling ones and punctured tyre I had, so that is over 1k spent already :lol: let alone what I've spent on cosmetics and non-essentials.

 

It's just something you have to accept may happen on a car like this I guess!

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The 350z has been the cheapest for me only spent on upgrades that weren't actually needed suspension,wheel,exhaust. Only thing I have to get done now is change bushes and replace brake lines. Been cheap so far that's for sure in the "need department"

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You think Zeds are bad try a Maserati 3200 GT !

I did and luckily escaped just about solvent !

It was my actual car the they did up on Wheeler Dealers about 2 years after I sold it and it still had most of the faults I couldn't afford to fix !

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Zed has been cheap for me... The exhaust did go and the banana arm bushes but ive had it 5 years and thats all. I dont count brakes, tyres etc. as they're consumables and will go on any car.

 

My Golf that i had before cost me a small fortune as the alternator, battery, top mounts, shocks, MAF sensor and countless head/ tail light bulbs went all within 2 years of ownership.

 

Some cars are good some are bad, everything with moving parts will break eventually i guess

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Seems like it's the vast majority of owners that have experienced the good/bad like myself. It's ashame because I feel it's kind of tainted the experience of ownership slightly, well let's put it this way if I knew I would have had all the issues I've had I wouldn't have bothered buying a Z.

 

Never for a moment thought it would be cheap to run and I always keep money to one side incase things go wrong but almost 3k in 7-8 months of ownership! Could have bought a decent little car for that !

 

Next owner will be laughing their tits off when they buy mine because I've literally done all of the expensive work for them. Sods law.

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Seems like it's the vast majority of owners that have experienced the good/bad like myself. It's ashame because I feel it's kind of tainted the experience of ownership slightly, well let's put it this way if I knew I would have had all the issues I've had I wouldn't have bothered buying a Z.

 

Never for a moment thought it would be cheap to run and I always keep money to one side incase things go wrong but almost 3k in 7-8 months of ownership! Could have bought a decent little car for that !

 

Next owner will be laughing their tits off when they buy mine because I've literally done all of the expensive work for them. Sods law.

 

Hahah I know that feeling. The more I fix on it, the longer I think I need to keep it to justify the expense.

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Well not too bad, I got a cheque from car warranty company and they covered £600 worth of parts & labour, better than a kick in the balls I suppose. Car feels soooo much better now the work has been done, just need to find an exhaust that doesn't drone and I will be happy with it.

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I had alot of teething problems too when I got my zed.

And that was new from the dealers.

Rattling boot from a loose bolt securing the Nismo wing.

Clicky rear axle.

O2 sensors throwing the EML light on.

Boot struts failing.

Then O2 sensors AGAIN.

Then clicky axels AGAIN.

 

Literally all throughout the warranty period I was popping back between services.

Did my head in.

Thankfully since warranty expired in 2008 and going to an independent for servicing all I've had regarding repairs was a brake light switch I replaced myself and a steering wheel clock spring sensor to stop flashing airbag light.

She's my daily driver but I only now do 3-4k/yr.

11 years old on 49k now.

Amazingly the garage says there is very little corrosion underneath compared to many younger zeds they sservice.

Even my original exhaust flange and W brace are holding up well.

Probably due to me regularly jewashing the undercarriage.

I reckon bushes etc need doing soon as I am starting to hear some creaks and groans over speed bumps.

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