Who loves/hates their Z?
 

Lately, I'm seeing a bunch of threads where people are starting to get annoyed/upset with their Z's and, ultimately, with Nissan. I, for one, don't have any complaints about my Z and like everything about it. This being my second Nissan (traded my 07 Z for my 09 Z) and coming from owning 4 Honda vehicles, I thought Nissan did a good job overall, with a few minor omissions:

1. I wish the stock exhaust note on the 370Z was as deep/pronounced as the 350Z.
2. I wish the rear quarter panel window was a big bigger/functional as the 350Z.
3. I wish there was a rear windshield wiper like on the 350Z.
4. I wish there was a trunk release button on the key fob like on the 350Z.

Do I think Nissan could have done a better job? Yes. Do I think there are missing elements that would make the 370Z a bit better? Yes. There's always room for improvement, but nevertheless, IMO, Nissan did a good job.

What I don't understand is why people b*tch and gripe about their cars? If you don't like it, trade it. I didn't go with another Honda vehicle because I wanted to know what torque felt like, so I went with Nissan. The car companies are there to make money - they won't give two sh*ts about your complaints/opinions/threats to buy from another car manufacturer/etc.

Love.

1. Get an FI exhaust.
2. Adjust your mirrors properly
3. Get a JDM or European model.
4. Can't help you there.

I love my Z. Great car. I have not had an issue.

But if this thread was made because I wrote about the Z rumor mill?

Then as stated. I hate the fact the next generation Z may be a downgrade as I was looking to buy another one.
And I hate the fact the rumor mill doesn't promote any excitement or enthusiasm for the next generation car. Instead it makes Nissan as a company look washy washy. Especially with the current lineup of humdrum CVT vehicles

LOVE my Z...Nissan on the other hand :horse:

2. they are, but blind spots and thats where the rear panel window comes into play.
3. the usdm 350Z came with rear wiper.

no bro, this thread wasnt started bc of your comment. its just that ive been seeing quite a few threads/posts related to ppl literally griping about how the Z sucks or doesnt come with enough power or whatever issue they have. :stirthepot: guilty conscience? lol jk

Every car out there has it's own list of problems. Every company could of done a better job at making their cars better. Only thing is when people start to cry about minor problems, it is about that time for a new car for them. Then they can drive that around for a while till they start complaining about the minor problems.

Being in the auto industry as I've been for years..BMW,Mercedes,Honda,Acura...there is NO perfect car. Even the 100K BMW 7 series which is a nice car...will garner complaints. There is going to be something to complain about or make a wish list. Manufactures make all efforts to listen to the consumer, tough to please millions and millions of people for 1 particular model.
Taking the Z for what it is...conforming to affordability, dependability it's hard to beat.. sure you can buy Camaro's, Mustangs and such...but look how early and often the body style changes..and rebates they put on them the week they come out.
Sometimes being on the road is a pain in the ***...I always have trucks creeping on my rear end...i look in my rear view mirror and all I see is grill...it pisses me off to no end.
and parking is always challenging... I park wwwwaaaaay out in the sticks at the mall...and some goon will park next to my Z in a piece of ****..heaven help if I see a ding !
Any way chin up...The Z is one of the highest rated sports cars you can buy...overall dependability is second to none.

And it's sexy !!

This thread reminded me of washing machine sound..

Washa washa washa washa!

Love the Z. Heritage.

I love my Z and will probably get a second 370Z in the near future just because I love it so much. 2016 Subaru BRZ STi is pretty nice but nothing compares to a Z to me.

I only wish the stereo controls were on the right side of the steering wheel. Is there a DIY for that?

I love my Z too but honestly if there's anywhere I'd expect heavy praise and heavy criticisms it'd be a car forum dedicated to the platform... Considering the cost of these cars, imo most of the complaints on this forum are constructive criticism for Nissan as more threads are of the extremely valid than petty whining complaints.

There's minor issues like the one OP mentioned but theres also several long lasting issues that Nissan just seems to refuse to fix. Not liking aspects of your car doesnt mean you dislike it as a whole. I also disagree that the public's opinions dont matter. Especially for the Z which isnt selling remotely as well as Nissan wanted it to. If fixing a major public gripe will lead to more sales and better consumer reviews, it's more likely to get fixed. Nissan isnt going to go out of their way to spend more money and quickly fix issues unless theres a segment of owners holding their feet to the fire via press and public perception. Will they ignore alot of it? Sure. But some of it will also cause positive changes for future models.

Poeple bitch allot, its an amazing sports car... But the gripe that does hold water is it needs more power to keep being competitive. The gen maro is kill the bang for crown off the 5.0... These were thr Z's direct compitition... Its just fallen behind on power. But i realized the grass isnt greener on thr other side. This is thr car for me

couldn't agree more. as i have said, there's always room for improvement for any car company.

i have no tolerance for tailgaters - there's no reason for it. so i make sure that they are even later to wherever they need to go.

parking is a challenge. it's funny how that happens, where you park in no man's land and some douche always decides to park next to you.

if you are a major company, like nissan, chances are, the public's opinion will not matter, and if it does, it does not carry as much weight as you think. for a major company, profit > public opinion. you even stated that they will ignore alot of it, if not all of it.

public gripe doesn't mean sh*t to car companies because even if you don't buy it, there will always be that audience that will. take a look at ford - ABSOLUTE GARBAGE, yet people buy them.

also, if you actually read the threads that contain the complaints, it's more of a venting fest, rather than constructive criticism. there are some that are legit complaints, though.

yes, i do agree that the Z has fallen in ranks in terms of its competition. however, keep this in mind. the 370Z came out in late 2008, with no engine refresh/updates and still uses the same engine. for what it is, it was on top when it first debuted. for example, take a look at a 2009 ford mustang and how many refreshes/engine upgrades did it receive from then to now?

Love my Z! I cant wait to see it / drive it everytime I approach her...I was always facinated with the look of Porsche as a kid growing up, and the Z fits that look i love! its my poor mans Porsche! :driving:

Love mine.

Love that it's rare and there aren't too many like the mustang or camero

If the next Z is sub par I don't care I still have this one

If I get to where I need more power, FI will be getting another customer.

Did I mention I love mine? Drive on

I love my 2012 Z my 3rd Z had an 05 350z aniversary edition and an HR 07 solar orange color which is the only thing I miss.

i am a brand new member and I love my Z. i had 2010 Camaro SS before my Z. i loved that car too. More hp and torque than the Z but Z hangs with it and handles way better. For me Z is way more fun to drive. I want more hp/tq but I wanted more hp/tq for my Camaro and my Mustang and for my Celica etc... if i had 750hp I would probably want more. :)

Z
 

I've owned mine 10 months now.
Yeah, I wish the exhaust note was a bit louder but I won't buy an AF exhaust.
My biggest gripe is still the left side rearview mirror blocking left turns, but
that' s about all I can come up with.
Yeah, the gas mileage could be better but if it was it would be a slug. Half of what makes me love it is the power on tap.
I love that you never see any of them around. either.
Simply put, I love it more now than I ever have. At one point I even gave thought to putting it up for sale for the h*** of it, but I don't think that's going to happen now. I love it more every day.

104

I love driving mine, but HATE the mileage going up, who ever thought of the odometer is an A$$. that is all.

It did come out and was on top for a while, but why hasnt nissan refreshed the performance? Idk... Almost every car gets a bump in power at some point. I dont mind it anymore because ive been in faster cars, so i have figured out exactly what i want out of a performance car. This car makes me happy on so many levels. Its my all in one. Yea ford nailed it though with the coyote motor...

Obviously profit is the priority but if you dont think public opinion/perception can directly affect profit and therefore Nissan's decision making I think you're kidding yourself. Look a the low sales numbers. The 370z isnt a car that Nissan can just throw out at the public and ignore all feedback because it'll get sold regardless. Public opinion definitely matters when it comes to a niche car like the 370z. Even more so BECAUSE the target demo isnt very large. Its already been shown that public gripes and perceptions have led to changes. Ill just name a few. You think Nissan added an oil cooler out of the kindness of their heart or because it was an absolute necessity? You think 15+ Nismos took away the wing and made the ride a little softer just because? How about the price decrease? Because Nissan wanted to help us out? Auto option for 15+ Nismos?

These changes came about due to public opinion, owner's continued gripes, and/or major publication auto reviews that shaped perception and therefore possibly future sales. These changes cost money and wouldnt likely happen unless Nissan felt it'd lead to more prospective buyers and sales. Continued oil temp gripes from owners and reviewers. Constant rear visibility and public opinion(not necessarily core demo opinion) that the wing was annoyingly ostentatious or boy tunerish. Constant criticism of the Nismo harsh ride. Nissan actually took AWAY performance to get more in line with the majority opinion and away from hardcore loyalist desires. Reviewers/owners/prospective buyers began to lament the decrease in "bang for buck" value the Z had been known for and the public opinion spoke with its wallets by not buying the Z to a point that Nissan lowered the price...

Like a said, Nissan might ignore a bit but some it wont and changes will come. Unfortunately the largest voice they seem to hear is the "car costs more than what it's worth" so I think instead of increasing all around performance and stats, they might change their target demo next time around and therefore possibly the nature of the car as we presently know it in an attempt to increase sales for the model.

nah man, porsche is the rich man's nissan ;)

i can vouch for your car and yes, your car is awesome! i just wish the sales dude budged to 24k OTD when i was looking at it :shakes head:

i had an 07 HR as well but black and my neighbor had a solar orange. that color sticks out like a MOFO and sometimes i felt like i needed sunglasses to even look at it lol.

damn dude, write novels much?

public opinion doesn't matter to companies. look at ford and their sh*t quality cars - they're still selling. honda and the notorious 3rd gear grind have been around for how many years? guess what? still grinding and still selling.

the low sale numbers you speak of, well, considering the 370Z debuted in 2008 and it's still the same, minus a few cosmetic changes, it's no wonder that 370Z sales are declining, not because nissan is/isn't paying attention to public opinion.

the examples you speak of are valid, however, keep in mind, nissan only did that to either save themselves from a potential lawsuit or if they can make a bit more money off of you. believe you me, they, and most major companies, don't give a sh*t about you. if you knew how a publicly-traded business operated, you would know that they put profits before people, bc they have shareholders to keep happy, not you. and btw, regarding the price decrease, fyi, the base doesn't even come with LED sidemarkers and the base auto doesn't even come with paddle shifters. so if price goes down, it's not nissan losing anything, but YOU.

okay, i stopped reading about a quarter way through. bottom line, if you think nissan or any other company is on your side or is looking out for your best interest, then YOU are kidding YOURSELF and mistaken.:tiphat:

Oh man that's been since 2010. It all started when two well respected forum members started complaining about the Z and bought 5.0's. Then half the forum followed on a c*ck-riding mission. Then Z complaining became this forums culture.

And we're here. Yeah Nissan ****** up the whole Z progression. Yes Nissan as a company has gone soft.

The GTR is still King and the Z is still unique/niche.... For now.

At the time I bought my Z. I had a 40k budget and I was looking for the purest handling car on the road with enough get up and go to get my d*ck hard. Nothing was touching the Z. Sure the Z quarter was .4 seconds slower than a stang... But the stang had zero feedback, a horrendous seating position and not as much thrust as say a camaro. The camaro was too big. My only complaint about the Z at purchase was COG wasn't low enough still and the God awful stereo!!!

While some of what you said makes sense, some does not, if they listened, the CSC would have been fixed with the 350, however they did do a recall on the SL...

Forum has been like this far longer than that.

I'm still trying to figure out how Nissan designed such a beautiful car inside and out, and still left such glaring oversights after the first year model was released and the issues in the dash became apparent.

1. The ill-fitting fuel/gauge display to the left of the tach.
2. The more or less useless applications for the three gauges over the center column: Oil temp, battery charge (really?!), and digital clock (that can't even be adjusted to military time...weak).

Speaking of the latter of those points, does anyone make a good DIY or swap out for those gauges? For the boosters out there, it would seem a great place for PSI indicators, and for the rest of us, I'm sure that we could find something more fitting. Heck, my old '84 300zx had a digital compass that I used WAY more than I'll ever use that battery charge display.

Everything is a trade off... No cars are perfect, I love my Z it's my 3rd one.

http://www.the370z.com/exterior-inte...oem-gauge.html

the search feature holds the answer to all your questions.

the Z car represents a small slice of the nissan's profit. moreover, we as a group enthusiasts, who know about the CSC "weakness" are an even smaller portion of that pie. (i.e. I don't think the problem is effecting nissan's sales).

as a percent of cars sold (350z & 370z). how many have had CSC failures? in manufacturing you will always tolerate a certain defect rate. i would assume the CSC failure didn't surpass their threshold. nissan is a company interested in making money. if 98% of the time the CSC doesn't fail under warranty, why would would they care?

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overall i feel fortunate that nissan has even bothered to continue with the Z all these years, while other japanese brands dropped their sports cars or made sad attempts/compromises to make sporty cars. our cup is more than half full as Z enthusiasts.

don't like the sound? change the exhaust
not enough power? turbo/supercharge it
don't like the gauges? rip them out and throw something that works for you
your CSC busted? get your *** under there and change it out for something stronger or throw a Z1 elimination kit on there.
***built will always be better than bought.***

what sports car under $100K has everything you want from factory? go to any car forum and you will find guys complaining about something that the factory didn't get right. hell, i'd argue that there are things i'd want to change about ANY car, regardless of price. then again, i am just that type of guy.

I love love love my z. and I’ve owned 2 porsches, a bimmer and a turbo supra. Sure no car is perfect. No one will ever make a car to please everyone or even totally please one person. But fun-wise I love it.

Wait, why would you *not* want an oil temp gauge? :confused:

:iagree:

I love my car, I will never get ride of it. However it is a mass produced "budget" sports car that I wish some things could have been done better from the start so I wouldn't have to invest more into it after I bought it. First, paint, never seen such thin paint on a car. You need to get a clear bra or you needed to be saving up the paint the front end years down the road. Second, poor fuel tank design. I never had any car where I had to start to plan to get gas at a half tank because half is actually 1/4 or 1/3 of a tank. Finally, even though I personally have not had this problem yet (knock on wood), the clutch system could be improved.

Final thoughts, the oil cooler system be it the oil to water system or the one on the review test model should have been there from the start. And the audio system or "upgraded" Bose system are just travesties. The stock audio system is so out dated and poor quality they would be better off with a hole in the dash.

Oh almost forgot about the steering lock issue, that was just pure fail on Nissan part, they should just have issued a TSB or pull the fuse and be done with it.

to prevent unnecessary anxiety? :icon17:

No complaints here, i love my Z flaws and all :)

really? i hate my z flaws but like the rest of the car.

The Z is a great infiniti parts bin sports car. Well made but Nissan overlooked some things and there are some gaps in performance quality for this caliber car in the price range. That said. No car in the price range still compares. It's attributes outweigh its flaws

Agreed, that dumb humungous AM PM clock, bloody LOLzzz. :rofl2:

Clock should have been oil pressure to compliment other two dials.