Quote:
Originally Posted by Slynky
So, is it just me remembering how things used to be or is it now expected cars come off the assembly line with too many defects and incomplete design/component testiing?
To wit, a brief review of the various threads I've read:
Hatch problem (Nissan won't fix and the "coin repair");
Oil heat problems;
Paint defects;
High pitch whine / ECU noise;
Engine oil leaks (and at least one engine replaced);
Shifting problems (1-->2) and shifting/clunking noises (differential?).
(and maybe other problems I haven't even seen yet)
[snippage]
Having said all this, a couple of questions:
Is this number of problems with a new car to be expected these days? What happened to all that quality I learned to expect from Japanese cars? For those with multiple problems, would you buy again? Should some of these problems be fixed in 2010 (or do you think Nissan will just continue to pass them along as long as sales are doing as well as they want)?
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If these issues were rampant, you might be right to worry. Frankly, however, you are making a mountain out of a molehill. These are great cars, and most people have few, if any problems.
My own experience: I've never had any of the problems you list.
* No hatch issues
* oil temps were higher before break-in, took it autocrossing and never broke 260; did have a bit of fuel starvation in right-hand turns until I filled the tank. Never had any oil temp issues all summer on hottest days, stop & go driving, nada
* no paint defects
* no ECU noise. Not even very noisy on trips, except on badly surfaced roads. But it is remarkably civilized for a sports car (vs. GT, like the Infiniti G37)
* no shifting problems. I originally disabled the rev-matching feature, but came to love it at the autocross when I was focused on my line & braking points, having the perfect rev-match really helped my times.
* no other problems
But it is not very exciting to post, "well, no problems again today!" Not surprising that you see only problems on the boards. But if you look at some of the third party services that track repair frequency & costs, you'll see that our cars rank among the very best. I think you are getting the wrong impression by reading the boards. Not a bad thing to do, when checking out a potential major purchase. But you need to think about frequency & magnitude of issues as well.
And if you look at the magnitude of the problems, where's the beef? I remember the first year of the Porsche Boxster, where the CEL light was referred to as the "Change Engine Light" Here, we are obsessing about barely visible paint chips at the edges of the bumper... High oil temps that almost no one observes after break-in, especially in everyday driving (unless you track your car). Huge difference in size/pain of issues! This is all minor crap, except for the terminally obsessed.
These cars perform exceptionally well, especially at this price point. They seem to be screwed together well. They maximize driver involvement and rewards. And they seem to be durable and reliable. What else is this quality that you are looking to buy?