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My 350z is rubbish - advice on getting my own back


pubtricks

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Hi guys,

 

I have a 350Z GT from new 2004. It cost £30,000 and here is my list of problems

 

Poor dealer network (franchise in the midlands)

Poor build quality, rattles and dash board replaced

Dealer not adding oil after service

Dealer leaving tools in the foot well

Dealer changing the windscreen and padding it with carpet and not telling me

Inlet manifold gasket failure at 50,000 miles

Exhuast snapped in 2 at 40,000 miles

Air bag failure at 35,000 miles

Power stearing failure at 60,000 miles

2 full sets of wheel due to delamination

Customer services changing mind on good will promise

4 CD players changed

Passenger window motor failure

Driver window motor failure

Clutch worn out at 50,000 miles

Fly wheel damaged by clutch at 50,000 miles

 

Over all I would never buy another Nissan.

 

Any suggestion about how to get my story out to millions of people. It has now reached a stage where I wish to cost them millions in lost sales for not taking my problems seriously.

 

David

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1. Don't go to the dealer

2. Go fit some uprated parts

3. Point out to me a car in that price range or even that price * 2 or actually any car whatsoever which will have nothing at all go wrong with it in 6 years and 70,000 miles.

 

eg. My neighbour spent a little fortune on a decent beemer and has since had to replace the steering column as well as a load of other more minor bits including a window motor.

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Sounds like your dealer has a lot to answer for in regards to your ill feeling toward the brand, not helped with the backtracking you speak of at customer services. Not too disimilar to my experience with another manufacturer.

 

The clutch and flywheel going at 50k is not a great surprise, many change around the 25-35k mile point, surely it must have been shoing signs of wear at 50K :surrender:

 

4CD players changed is not unusual, Ill guess it was the CD skipping problem - an inherent flaw with the bose.

 

The two sets of wheels - did you have to buy them or were they changed under warranty?

 

In regard to geting your experience out to millions, posting here will have helped given our traffic. ;)

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Well uve had the car a while so u cant expect a perfect record with every car, put it down to experience or Write a letter to Nissan including names, Garages and all those probs. Give them an ultimatum and see if they reply.

Had the same thing with my MINI. @*!# car with lots of problems with faults and dealers. But i got rid and bought a Z (touch wood) no more problems. :)

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Seems like you have managed to land all of the "common" problems.

But in 7 years of ownership, things like this are gunna happen.

 

40k miles for an exhaust is pretty good going!

as is 50k for a clutch.

 

As for reaching the millions.

Well, all those issues (except for the inlet maniold gasket) are issues that people on here are already aware of.

 

Customers service are crap like

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6 years on mate you really don't have much you can do. A letter / e-mail to the dealer and letter to Nissan GB won't get you very far apart from upset you further.

 

I really feel for you and I agree its not right but it should have all been sorted out at the time of the problems occuring. I hope you kept the tools? Knowing some dealers though the tools were probably plastic spanners and a plastic hammer and maybe a bob the builder hard hat?

 

The windscreen issue is a joke as is the oil not being put in! Can you expand upon Air bag failure ?

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Feel for you, but the story doesn't add up.

 

You've had all these problems and you still kept going back to the same dealer?! If someone forgot to put new oil in after a service then its kind of a huge hint that your dealing with a bunch of plonkers.

 

7 years is a long time to own a car and although I'm shocked by the scale of issue's you've had there really is nothing you can do about it.

 

As for the exhaust snapping and things like that, it could happen to any car - maybe you drove on some dodgy roads with potholes or something. Clutch life seems about normal as does some other things (again, if you're ragging the nuts off your zed then the components will be subject to more abuse and will break quicker). If this is your driving style, you should go for uprated parts as suggested earlier.

 

I understand where you are coming from but asking a machine to keep itself in peak condition after 7 years is a tall order. You've got normal component wear and tear mixed in with a dodgy garage trying to fix the issues.

 

Try driving a French or Italian car - then you'll know real issues! :p

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I am sorry that you have experienced all these problems but after 6 years of owning the car you cant hate it that much otherwise you would have cut your losses and sold it ages ago. Why keep it so long?

 

I am sure we will sympathise with you about the trouble you have experienced but expecting us to hate Nissan on a Nissan forum - Prehaps its the wrong place for you to expect support!

 

Every product on the market has faults and just because one person has had trouble it wont stop others buying from them. I love my nissan and would be happy spending my money on another. BUT - i wont be using the dealer you went too! Shocking!

 

Unfortunately i dont think Nissan will care that you wont be using them again, They wil survive without you. It sounds harsh, and i hate that the customer service care we receive is horrific in some cases but one person wont be effecting there sales figures.

 

I hope you sell you car and find something less troublesome.

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Pretty sure you can limit your experiences to that particular garage not Nissan as a whole. Those problems are pretty obvious if you do your research before buying a car i.e window motors, clutch and exhaust. The oil an windscreen sounds dodgy, as does the wheels. :thumbdown:

 

Join a car forum before you purchase the car and you should be in a better position when these problems occur, i know coming on here first prepared me for a few things.

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Join a car forum before you purchase the car and you should be in a better position when these problems occur, i know coming on here first prepared me for a few things.

 

I was on the first waiting list for the car, so there was no history. My lesson is never buy a car that is generation #1 from new. Buy a used car that is generation #2 or #3. I think a Cayman revised model is the sensible thing to buy next.

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persoanlly ive not had any problems yet, but i would be majorly pi##ed off if i had paid £30k for it, especially considering how crap/cheap and plasticy the centre console flap for the satnav is, for £30k i would have puched the dealer in the face and gone and bought a porche...

was most of your list done within the warranty period or did you have to pay for it, if you bought it new it may be worth extending the warranty if you feel your car is prone to problems if thats possible?, lol.... or trade it in for a 370z lol (dam there ugly lol)

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A few guys have said 7 years is a long time to own a car. If you bought a ford focus would you expect the air bag to need replacing within the first 4 years? The 350Z air bag is a £600 part. I would expect the air bag to last until it explodes in a crash :) May be my standards are high, but the dealers are low and that has not been a good mix for me.

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persoanlly ive not had any problems yet, but i would be majorly pi##ed off if i had paid £30k for it, especially considering how crap/cheap and plasticy the centre console flap for the satnav is, for £30k i would have puched the dealer in the face and gone and bought a porche...

was most of your list done within the warranty period or did you have to pay for it, if you bought it new it may be worth extending the warranty if you feel your car is prone to problems if thats possible?, lol.... or trade it in for a 370z lol (dam there ugly lol)

 

About 50/50. The big ticket items that were out of warranty:

 

Exhaust

Inlet manifold gaskets

Driver window motor

Passenger air bag

Power steering pump

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Join a car forum before you purchase the car and you should be in a better position when these problems occur, i know coming on here first prepared me for a few things.

 

I was on the first waiting list for the car, so there was no history. My lesson is never buy a car that is generation #1 from new. Buy a used car that is generation #2 or #3. I think a Cayman revised model is the sensible thing to buy next.

 

I thought the car was released in 2002? But fair enough if it wasnt.

 

Probably not worth pursuing in front of the delearship as they might take legal action, and from the list you give i would say a lot of that stuff is pretty standard. Still sympathise though.

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well it sounds to me like your biggest grievance is with the dealer, not the car. It's not the cars fault that you've been treated badly by them.

I dare say if they had been good with you, you may have a different take on it all.

 

at the end of the day, a 350z is not a bog standard car so the running cost and replacements can't be compared to a focus or such like,

you could expect higher maintenance costs for a 350z, it's a more premium car. If you get into owning a Porsche you'll really be crying though

because they are a premium to maintain.

 

not saying you don't have some sort of argument in there somewhere but personally i would have found another dealer once i realised they

hadn't changed the oil on a service etc.

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I would expect the air bag to last until it explodes in a crash :) .

I beleive airbags have a shelf live of around 10yrs. After then the explosives they use to fire them can become unreliable and they are meant to be checked and replaced. Certainly should last more than yours did though.

 

Seems you have been unfortunate in getting all of the common issues in one car, but you arent going to find any vengence on this site, unfortunately you were one of the first to get one and got unlucky :thumbdown:

 

On the flip side, I've got a 53 plate with nigh on 90k on the clock, which going by the reg and what people said on here, its one of the older UK cars and I've had no real problems touch wood. I blew the BCM which caused the lights to go mad (and replaced under extended warranty), clutch replaced at 76k miles, the usual tyres and brakes, but nothing more has gone wrong or worn out - oh other than the crappy Nissan leather!

 

Did they give you the option of the extended warranty to cover some of the latter problems?

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It is a shame you've had what you perceive to be such a bad experience with such a beautiful car :shrug: especially when you bought it brand new.

The only thing out of the ordinary I can see is your airbag failure though - I sincerely hope I get 50k out of my cutch ;)

Why on earth didn't you move dealer for servicing though? Gone are the days where your warranty is tied into servicing etc.

If they're that bad please add them to this thread viewtopic.php?f=64&t=6668

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Apart from the airbag & manifold I would say the rest are normal wear & tear. If the car has carried you 70,000 miles I don't think it has performed to badly. What I think it really highlights is how important customer after care is. It does sound like you have been unfortunate in the garage you have been using. If you had joined this forum 2 or 3 years ago I think your enjoyment of the car would have been greatly increased. So much advice on solving your problems would have been forthcoming.

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