Originally Posted by secondnissan

I've had the z for awhile now, and even though car and driver raved about this transmission in their short take article, I absolutly can't stand the way this car operates in "D". Sure the manual mode shifts fast, but "d" is so horrible. I'm beginning to think my transmission is just broke. Anyone else have the following issues? First, going uphill cruising light throttle....car needs to downshift, but it hesitates, revs go up, then down, then it shifts...takes a second and a half to execute a downshift. Second, full throttle downshift in d floor it...wait wait...revs go up slightly (revmatch?) then shifts down...but it doesn't grab the lowest gear available, no passing power with a downshift that only puts me at 3500 rpms. Most other automatics select the right gear...not this one. Third reason...terrible operation when trans fluid is cold. Jerky shifts, tach bouncing, seems like it misses shifts the first time it tries, then tries again and gets it. Ive had the car shudder and shake going uphill in stop and go traffic. No check engine light. I hate how it doesn't tell you what gear you are in when you are in drive...cmon nissan, you have a special spot in the cluster to tell you what gear you are in in manual mode, but not d? I hate how when you are cruising and put it in manual mode that it selects 5th gear instead of 7th which is the gear you are cruising in. Never buy automatic sports cars. They just aren't as fun, no-matter how people rave about their WOT drag-strip performance.

The list goes on...other quirks about this car I can't stand....headlights dont auto level up and down hills like my vw did....going down hill? Well your headlights are aimed straight into the ground and I cant see. Weird. My 80's mustang didn't have that issue. How does that work? I don't see how auto-level would fix that? Going down a hill is the same as any other road, it's flat and the light shines ahead. Retained accesory power for the radio after you shut off the car until you open the door? Nope not from nissan...you must hit the start button to turn your radio back on.Wow, even my POS Infiniti does that. Oh, then you only get power to the windows for 1 MINUTE after shutting the car off...try that on a 100 degree day.You stay in your car over a minute on a 100* day without it running? Speaking of windows...sometimes the window doesn't roll down that 1/4 of an inch when i open the door, and sometimes it does't go up after I shut the door. Lame I've tried the window reset trick, it didn't help . Taken it to the dealership?

I thought this car was a good buy, but now I can see why so many show up on used lots after the first year of ownership. Nissan cuts so many corners...not acceptable on a car priced like the Z. How about no brake cooling ducts on a sports car. How about insane oil temps without an oil cooler. Unfortunatly you don't notice these things till you own the car.