2003 NISSAN 350Z Complaints

MY 2003 NISSAN 350 Z CONTINUES TO "EAT" FRONT TIRES. I HAVE REPLACED THE FRONT TIRES 4 TIMES AND ALIGNED ONCE IN UNDER 12 MONTHS. MY LAST SET LASTED A WHOPPING 2 MONTHS AND TWO DAYS! I NOTIFIED NISSAN OF THE PROBLEM IN FEBRUARY-05, JULY-05 AND TWICE IN SEPTEMBER-05 AND HAVE NOT RECEIVED A RETURN CALL AS PROMISED. NISSAN SAID THEY HAD "NO" RECALLS OR COMPLAINTS OF FRONT TIRE ISSUES DURING THE FIRST TWO CALLS. IN AUGUST-05, I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM NISSAN STATING THEY WERE GOING TO EXTEND THE WARRANTY FOR FRONT END ALIGNMENT AND POSSIBLE REPLACING THE TIRES FOR 03 & 04 350'S. BUT AS I WAS TOLD IN TWO EARLIER PHONE CONVERSATION, THEY KNEW OF NO PROBLEMS. APPARENTLY DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST THEY DECIDED TO CHECK INTO THE COMPLAINTS SINCE THEY KNEW OF NONE EARLIER...RIGHT! THE LETTER STATES "NISSAN IS TRULY DEDICATED TO YOUR SATISFACTION"! NISSAN HAS NOT SHOWN ANY SIGNS OF DEDICATED TO 350 Z OWNERS. I FOR ONE! LOOKING IN THIS SITE, I HAVE FOUND OVER 70 COMPLAINTS ON THIS PROBLEM. IT'S TIME TO DO SOMETHING.*JB

TIRE REPLACEMENT... ALL 4 TIRES HAD TO BE REPLACE BECAUSE OF WEAR. CAR HAS 41000 MILES ON IT . WAS TOLD TIRES ONLY GOOD FOR 25000 MILES. NOTHING IN OWNERS MANUAL OR TECH BULLETIN ABOUT LIFE OF TIRE OR LIFE 2500 MILES. ONLY RECEIVED 8-29-05 BULLETIN /TIRES SO WORN IT WAS LIFE THREATENING!!! BECAUSE WEAR WAS 2.? NO RE COVERAGE FROM YOUR COMPANY. MY POINT NO PULLING, NO WEAR TO SEE , ALL WAS INSIDE UNDER THE CAR. TIRES SO WORN METAL SHOWS. CALLED DEALERSHIP TO BE TOLD. TIRES ONLY GOOD FOR 25000 MILES.. HOW AM I TO KNOW THIS??? I BROUGHT IN TO GOODYEAR BECAUSE WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE A NAIL OR SOMETHING THAT MADE MY F.D. SIDE HAVE A SLOW LEAK... BILL TO REPLACE TIRE AND DO AN ALIGNMENT OVER $1000.00. PLEASE HELP I TRULY BELIEVE I WAS AT NO FAULT. WHAT EVER TIRES ON THE CAR .WAS WHAT EVER TYPE NISSAN PUT ON BULTIN STATES 17 INCH P225/50R17&P235/50R17 REAR.

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THIS INCIDENT HAPPENS TO THIS CAR. 1ST TIME 9/23/04 DRIVING ALONG AND ENGINE STOPPED RUNNING, IT WOULD START BUT RAN ROUGH AND WOULD STOP RUNNING AGAIN AND AGAIN. HAD IT TOWED TO GWINNETT PLACE NISSAN IN DULUTH GA (THE CLOSET DEALERSHIP TO MY HOME)- THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH MY CAR - SO I WAS STUCK WITH WRECKER FEE. 2ND TIME-- 8/16/05 HAD TO SLOW DOWN DUE TO TRAFFIC, AND WHEN I SHIFTED INTO 3RD GEAR TO SPEED UP AGAIN ENGINE STOPPED RUNNING. I SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL AND STARTED IT AGAIN, ONCE PLACED INTO GEAR IT STOPPED RUNNING. I PULLED OVER AND TRIED IDLING BETWEEN 3000 RPM AND NOTICED THAT ENGINE SURGED B'TWEEN 2500 AND 3000 RPM. AND RAN ROUGH. IF I RELEASED ACCELERATOR ENGINE WOULD IDLE VERY LOW AND STOP RUNNING. STARTED IT ONE LAST TIME TO SEE IF I COULD GET GOING BUT WHEN I PLACED IT IN GEAR AND RELEASED CLUTCH IT STOPPED RUNNING. I CALLED GWINNETT PLACE NISSAN AND HAD VEHICLE TOWED THERE. I INFORMED THE SERVICE TECH THAT IN NISSAN'S WEB SITE THERE WAS A RECALL FOR 350Z FOR A "CRANK POSITION SENSOR" AND THE VIN# IN MY CAR WAS WITHIN THAT GROUP. HE LOOKED AT THEIR DATABASE AND SAID THERE WERE NO OUTSTANDING CODES FOR MY CAR. THEY FOUND NOTHING WRONG WITH MY CAR THE SECOND TIME AROUND NEITHER. BOTH OCCURRANCES, DEALERSHIP STATED THERE ARE NO STORED CODES IN ECU AND NO PENDING CODES FOR THIS VEHICLE. I CALLED NISSAN NORTH AMERICA NATIONAL CONSUMER AFFAIRS AT 888-737-2647 AND THEY STATED THAT THERE WAS A RECALL FOR MY CAR AND THE VIN # WAS WITHIN THE RANGE STATED BY NISSAN - AND GAVE ME A FILE # 5039832 AND ARE STILL CHECKING TO SEE IF THEY CAN HELP ME.

I RECEIVED A NOTICE IN THE MAIL FROM NISSAN IN THE SPRING OF 2004 CONCERNING A TOE OUT CONDITION THAT COULD CAUSE IRREGULAR TIRE WEAR ON THE INNER EDGE OF THE FRONT TIRES. I TOOK MY CAR IN ON 7/29/04 TO THE NISSAN DEALER & ASKED IF THIS WAS GOING TO BE AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH THE Z & WAS TOLD,"NO, ONCE IT IS ADJUSTED, IT WILL REPAIR THE PROBLEM". SUPPOSEDLY FIXED, WITH NEW FRONT TIRES AND 1 YEAR LATER, I RETURNED TO NISSAN WITH THE SAME ISSUE. I QUESTIONED THEM ABOUT THE PREVIOUS YEAR SERVICE & WAS TOLD "I PROBABLY HIT A POT HOLE AND THAT I NEEDED AN ALIGNMENT,WHICH I WAS CHARGED FOR, BUT MY CONCERNS ABOUT THE TIRE FEATHERING WERE IGNORED. AFTER SOME RESEARCH I FOUND THAT THE "03 Z WAS MANUFACTURED WITH THIS FACTORY DEFECT WHICH THE NEWER MODELS DON'T HAVE. THIS TELLS ME THAT THIS IS FIXABLE. BEING A SEVERE SAFETY ISSUE, THE FACTORY SETTING OF THE TOE ADJUSTMENTWHICH CAUSES FEATHERING ON THE INSIDE FRONT TIRES & THEIR YEARLY NEEDED REPLACEMENT IS CLEARLY THE LIABILITY OF THE MANUFACTURER, NOT THE CONSUMER! WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THIS? *JB

DT: CONSUMER OWNED A NISSAN 350Z TRACK VERSION 2003. HE TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALER FOR RECALL REPAIR ABOUT A YEAR AGO. CONSUMER STATED IT WAS A RECALL, HOWEVER, COULD NOT FIND RECALL ON NHTSA WEB SITE. NTB03-046 WAS THE NUMBER IDENTIFYING THE RECALL THAT CONSUMER HAD. REPAIR WORK WAS DONE ON 6-11-04. THEN, ON JULY 19, 2005 CONSUMER TOOK VEHICLE TO GARDENA NISSAN IN CALIFORNIA, AND THEY TOLD HIM THAT THE PROBLEM INVOLVED FRONT TIRES WEARING OUT ON THE INSIDE DURING REPAIR WORK THEY REPLACED THE RIGHT FRONT COMPRESSION ROD. CONSUMER CONTACTED NISSAN, AND THEY TOLD HIM THAT AFTER RECALL AND WARRANTY REPAIR WORK WAS ONLY GOOD FOR 10,000 MILES. CONSUMER BELIEVED THAT RECALL REPAIRS DID NOT FIX PROBLEM, PER GARDENA NISSAN. SIX MONTHS AFTER CONSUMER BOUGHT VEHICLE WHEN SHIFTING UP OR DOWN AT ANY SPEED PERIODICALLY IT WILL NOT GO INTO GEAR. NISSAN WAS AWARE OF THE SITUATION, AND THEY DID NOT WANT TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.*AK

NISSAN 2003 350Z - TIRE CUPPING, ROARING AND VIBRATION. NISSAN ISSUED A BULLITAN TO REPLACE THE ORIGINAL BRIDGESTONE FRONT TIRES AND COMPLETE AN ALIGNMENT WITH 7000M DUE TO A FACTORY SUSPENSION/ALIGNMENT PROBLEM. THE BRIDGESTONE REPLACEMENT TIRES HAVE 9000M AND THE PROBLEM IS REOCCURING - TIRE CUPPING, ROARING AND VIBRATION. THE CAR IS UNSTABLE ON CURVES AND BRAKING. NISSAN WILL NOT REPLACE THE FRONT TIRES A SECOND TIME AND REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THERE IS A FACTORY DEFECT WITH THE SUSPENSION. THIS DEFECT IS NOTED TO HAVE BEEN CORRECTED ON THE 2004 350Z. NISSAN DEALERSHIP IS RECOMMENDING A FULL TIRE REPLACEMENT WITHOUT ANY COMPENSATION ON THEIR PART OR CORRECTION TO THE SUSPENSION PROBLEM TO SEE IF THE FOUR TIRE REPLACEMENT WILL CORRECT THE PROBLEM. (WHY WOULD THIS CORRECT THE PROBLEM WHEN THE PROBLEM OCCURED AT 7000 TIRE MILEAGE AND AGAIN AT 9000 TIRE MILEAGE) I AM PURSUING EVERY AVENUE TO AN EQUITABLE RESOLUTION TO THIS NISSAN FACTORY DEFECT. PREFERRING A PERMANENT FIX..

EXCESSIVE TIRE NOISE WAS NOTICED, TOOK TO DEALER AND FOUND INSIDE OF FRONT TIRES HAD WORN AWAY. DEALER RE-ALIGNED SUSPENSION AND REPLACED FRONT TIRES. LATER, TIRE NOISE WAS NOTICED AGAIN ALONG WITH PULLING TO RIGHT. TOOK TO DEALER AND INSIDE EDGE OF FRONT TIRES HAD WORN AWAY AGAIN, TIRES WERE REPLACED AGAIN AND SUSPENSION RE-ALIGNED AGAIN. RIGHT FRONT SUSPENSION "COMPRESSION ROD" REPLACED DUE TO PULL. TIRES CONTINUE TO WEAR EXCESSIVELY ALONG BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE EDGES. TIRES WEAR OUT IN LESS THAN 10,000 MILES. ONCE TIRE NOISE BECOMES SEVERE, STRAIGHT-LINE STABILITY IS AFFECTED AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. TIRES COULD FAIL DUE TO PREMATURE WEAR IF VEHICLE OWNER DOES NOT INSPECT TIRES FOR INSIDE EDGE WEAR AT ABNORMALLY FREQUENT INTERVALS.

VARIOUS GAUGE FAILURES, USUALLY INVOLVING THE FUEL GAUGE AND/OR THE OIL PRESSURE GAUGE AND CORRESPONDING LOW PRESSURE WARNING LAMP. VEHICLE RENDERED NON-DRIVABLE DUE TO INABILITY TO MONITOR ENGINE OIL PRESSURE. 3 GAUGE CLUSTERS HAVE BEEN REPLACED, 1 UNIFIED METER COMPUTER, 1 FUEL PUMP/LEVEL SENSOR ASSEMBLY. PROBLEM CONTINUALLY RE-OCCURS.

DT: THE FRONT END AND TIRE DEFECTS. AT 7438 MILES, CAR WAS RUMBLING AT STOP SPEED. DEALER PUT NEW FRONT TIRES AND ALIGNED FRONT END. AT APPROXIMATELY 10,000 MILES DEALER INSTALLED NEW FRONT BRAKES. AT 12, 493 MILES THE CAR WAS RUMBLING AT STOP SPEED. DEALER PUT NEW FRONT BRAKES AND ALIGNED FRONT END AGAIN. BOTH TIMES TIRES HAD CUPPED, AND THREAD SEPARATED. IF IT DID NOT GET FIXED IT COULD RESULT IN A CRASH. ( A BLOW OUT ). *AK

FRONT TIRES ARE WEARING EXCESSIVELY ON THE INSIDE. THE CAR IS VERY HARD TO DRIVE AS IT PULLS TO THE RIGHT ONCE THE TIRES START TO WEAR. I FEEL THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE. IT RAINS ALMOST DAILY, AND THE CAR IS EVEN WORSE ON SLIPPERY ROADS. I HAVE ALREADY REPLACED FRONT TIRES TWICE AND REAR TIRES ONCE. I HAVE ALSO HAD TO REPLACE THE BREAKS TWICE. THE BRAKES STILL SQUEAL AND SQUEAK BUT THE DEALER SAYS THE BRAKES ARE FINE. ONCE IT WAS ALIGNED THE SQUEAKING STOPPED FOR A FEW DAYS, THEN STARTED AGAIN.