First Problem With my 370Z

ImportConvert

My car is a year old and this started at less than 12/12. Factory warranty should cover it.

ImportConvert

Dealership service manager spoke to the area Nissan rep, who then spoke to me. I believe it likely they will reimburse me for again putting Nissan pad/rotors on the car. However, they won't do so until this is fully handled, so as to only open one claim. I fully agree with that logic, and both the area rep, and myself feel like this problem is a bag of snakes at this point. Who knows what in the world is wrong? It's stumping everyone. He hopes the rotors/pads have been changed, and admitted that this made little sense, but it is what he's hoping for. In the mean-time while they do the work and drive the car for a while, I have my Altima. Fine by me.

ImportConvert

Got the car back, it felt smooth as glass so far, and they put about 300 miles on it, averaging about the same MPG as I do, so it looks like they drove it about like I do, as best I can tell. For some reason, the brakes don't look like what came on it initially. I don't know why, they just don't. I want to compare them to other '12 new models still on the lot tomorrow. I cannot describe it, they just look "off" (but really good, not complaining) compared to what I recall at delivery. Anyone know if there was a quiet re-design?

Chuck33079

Glad to hear its better so far. Hope it holds up. I don't think anything was changed mid year. Just throwing it out there, but maybe yours were FUBAR from day one and this is what it should have felt like? It'll be interesting to see what you find when you look at the others on the lot.

What exactly did they change out?

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2011 MB Touring-Sport-6sp-Nav/GTM TT/FI TT TDX/JTran/Kosmic/Eibach/Hotchkis/SPC/CSF/RPS/SoThatsWhereAllMyMoneyWent

ImportConvert

Rotors and pads. To me, it looks like the swept surface of the rotors have little ridges in them (normal, not a defect), and I don't remember them being like that when my car was new (I detailed the rims with Rejex first thing, and I know I looked at those 14" rotors!)

Also, my new rotors have black paint EVERYWHERE on them EXCEPT the swept area. That's new, too. My rear rotors don't seem to have that, and I recall the "vanes" in the edges of my old rotors being rusty.

Maybe I'm just not remembering because I wasn't so stressed over the darn things when I bought the car and now I'm going over minutia, but those aspects seem different. I have about 300 miles on the car, including what the dealer put on it, and so far, so good, and those ridges are still there on the rotor. Pretty sure it looked like glass when I bought the car. I think it's there to help it break in right, so I'm trying to go super super easy on them. Most of the time when I get home, I can literally grab the rotor and hold it right after stepping out of the car. I'm going to keep driving it like a grandma until those ridges wear out and it looks like glass, then I will drive it like a normal sports car like I did previously.

My regional Nissan rep called today. I told him I had neglected to follow up with either him or the dealership at this point, because I wanted to put a few weeks of miles on the car before jumping to some conclusion about it. He felt that was wise, and will call me back Monday next week. They are deciding whether or not to reimburse me for my money paid fixing this. I think they are going to, and I think they should. You should not have to go through 3 sets of rotors/pads having only gone through 1.25 sets of ultra high performance compound tires, never having tracked the car.

DLSTR

Import I hope this is all settled for you. I have followed this closely. All the best! For sure Nissan needs to fully re-imburse you as well. No excuse not too. This was NOT your fault at all.

ImportConvert

500 miles on the car and so far I can't tell if there is a tiny bit of shake, or just our crappy roads. I think its okay so far. I'll find some good clean pavement in the morning and see. I hope this is settled. Nissan is waiting to open a reimbursement case until I feel its settled, and I agree with that concept.

After the service manager drove the car and almost lost control (brakes shook the wheel badly when he applied them during a corner and he wasn't ready for it), Nissan made **** happen and got with the program.

Chuck33079

Glad to hear its working right so far. I'm just baffled as to how a new set of pads and rotors fixed the issue. You've tried that several times already. What was done differently this time?

__________________
2011 MB Touring-Sport-6sp-Nav/GTM TT/FI TT TDX/JTran/Kosmic/Eibach/Hotchkis/SPC/CSF/RPS/SoThatsWhereAllMyMoneyWent

ImportConvert

Not sure if it's fixed. I got a slight shake on the freeway this morning. I'm not sure if it was bad pavement, or the beginning of the same issue. This is how it happened last time. I've been driving it gently, never getting the rotors too hot to touch for at LEAST a few seconds right after getting out of the car. The "break in texture ridges (like a freznal lens)" are still very present on the new rotors. I'll know in another few hundred miles, I think. It's not enough to notice if I weren't hypersensetive to it, but this is how it started every time before, being unure if shake, or just road surface, but it only does it when brakes are applied and I'm hoping it's just the wheel reacting to more weight up front with a bit of brake on uneven road, but that sounds wishful.

I'll give it a few hundred more before I contact the dealer again (spoke with them for follow-up and thanks for their hard work and going to bat for me at 300 miles, they think the issue will happen again as does Nissan's area rep from what they told me. I'm hoping not, but...)

ImportConvert

700 miles. I can't say I honestly think anything is wrong yet. Nissan is working to pay me the $340 back for the rotors/pads. The service manager I have been dealing with is..."no longer with us *hung head*"

I don't know what's up with that, but they did something wrong as best I can understand it. Screw cute blonde the service writer? Steal? Do free work after hours using shop materials? I have no clue. Maybe a pill habit. Who knows? I hope none of the above, but it seemed that the person I spoke with had nothing good to say, but was professional enough to say nothing. Body language was bad.

Chuck33079

Ok, so if replacing the rotors and pads again works, what do we think happened? I know you've spoken well about the techs there, but are you sure they were being installed properly? Did you see them doing the work, or are you just going by what the service department told you?

__________________
2011 MB Touring-Sport-6sp-Nav/GTM TT/FI TT TDX/JTran/Kosmic/Eibach/Hotchkis/SPC/CSF/RPS/SoThatsWhereAllMyMoneyWent

ImportConvert

No, I sleep all day. I didn't watch them, but multiple dealerships collaborated. Both gtr techs in the area made it their pet project and measured everything with tq wrenches and micrometers and feelers. I was told. Did they lie? Possible, but I did not detect it.

Nissan is cutting me a check for the pads and rotors.

At freeway speeds I am now getting some wheel shake, although minor, I can see the wheel dance from gentle 70mph stops. That is how it began last time. I'm done.

Dealer will turn the rotors on their dime when its an issue and ill trade out of the piece of **** in another 10k miles or so when the '15 brz drops.

Oh, Nissan slashed msrp of the 2014 touring models by over $2500. Thanks Nissan. Your piece of **** is now devalued from multiple angles.

First and last Nissan. Ever. **** this noise, I've got much more fun things to burn my time and money on. It is an expensive lesson in how shitty Nissan is about retaining value, though.

DLSTR

Actually you got a lemon. Every maker has a few. First world problem. Value and production line cars are not to be used together in a sentence.

You have a warranty and are using it. Thats how it works. In another car you could have larger issues. My 12 GTi shat a motor at 13000 miles.

Mt Tam I am

MYTH # 6 - The brake fluid reservoir should be topped up during routine service.In most modern passenger cars, the brake fluid reservoir is designed with a specific volume and is equipped with an internal float. The volume corresponds to the amount of fluid that will be displaced when the pads have worn to the point of replacement plus a generous reserve. When the replacement point is reached, the descending float completes an electrical circuit and a light appears on the dash warning the driver that the pads should be replaced.
If the brake fluid is topped up the first warning of warn out pads will be the screech of steel backing plate against iron disc. This will be both annoying and expensive.


If I don't top off my brake fluid, the VDC turns itself off.

__________________
Nissan Motorsports 34R Oil Cooler. Stillen CBE. Hotchkis Sport Sway Bars. KW Variant 3 Coilover System. Stillen Gen3 CAI. Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Stillen Brake Ducts. Carbotech™ XP10/XP8 Pads. Z1 Front Rotors. Z1 Stainless Brake Lines. Two degrees of camber

Mt Tam I am

What I can not believe is that it has been an entire year for you dealing with brakes. And it sounds like it still needs to be fixed.

You seem unlucky when it comes to cars.

Good luck from here on out.

__________________
Nissan Motorsports 34R Oil Cooler. Stillen CBE. Hotchkis Sport Sway Bars. KW Variant 3 Coilover System. Stillen Gen3 CAI. Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Stillen Brake Ducts. Carbotech™ XP10/XP8 Pads. Z1 Front Rotors. Z1 Stainless Brake Lines. Two degrees of camber