How is the reliability/cost of maintenance of 370z's? Thinking of selling my e46 m3

Originally Posted by forgot pw

Pretty funny reading all these newb posts like they've owned the car for 7 yrs or something.

Originally Posted by Jhill

Oh you don't need to tell me man. Like I said I had the benefit to work on all of them and it is shameful how others compare to Japanese. I started as a die hard German fan and German is the only way to go, left the German dealer for independent German when the economy tanked, then left for Japanese for more pay and dealer gets to see more new technologies so I missed that. It was a total eye opener of oh so this is how it should be made. I mean not only are they more reliable but they also are much more planned out on repairs (in general). It's not often the make bolts in accessible without dissembling the entire car just to get to the one bolt you need access to in order to remove whatever failed part you need to replace which the German are notorious for which is truly funny because they are the ones that break at over two times the rate of Japanese. Left Japanese because got bored of service work and brake jobs so I went to USA to do diag and drivability specialist with garanteed hourly pay and no flat rape BS and really enjoyed it until the dealer sold to new owner and they tanked it, put managers with 0 Chevy experience in charge and ex Acura managers thinking it worked for us this way at acura so it will work here too and we don't need an on site warranty clerk will use an outside clerk. Yea genius how much warranty work did you have at acura, not much I know cause I worked for them too. After 1 month and over 2000 still open warranty RO that they didn't know how to close to collect billing, then no follow up calls to customers so there went CSI score went from #1 dealer in the state and like in top 10 in nation to not even being on the list of top 100 and all downhill from there. USA isn't really good either most of them are mix of parts made from all over the world and then thrown together with poor qc and then put out stupid bulletins like this much coolant weep from water pump is acceptable weepage with pictures to illustrate (yea Chevy Cruz looking at you) since when is it ok for a cooling system to leak ever? Only to have to come up with a new pump after enough complaints and people not accepting that answer and making yourself look bad for trying to pass one over, just embarrassing. Now out of the field, too bad cause I do like cars and the work but way too much incompetence in the industry and a terrible pay structure for techs.

But it's funny when you work for German or US and the techs that have only experienced those cars just come to think that is how they all are and its acceptable and when you tell them no man go work in a Japanese dealer for just a year and see how few issues you will see and that the Japanese really did earn their stereotype they just don't break or have electrical issues (again in general).

Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

From one tech to another, I can totally relate when you talk about German and USA manufacturers. I worked for two Mercedes dealers. I must say that the build quality is pretty good. The cars have too many electronics. And as for making things difficult to work on, you're definitely right. To do an alternator on a 222 the front bumper, radiator and a bunch of other crap have to come off. What a joke!

I'm now back at Ford doing Diesel and heavy line again. (I love it) Ford has it's parts made from Africa, Lithuania and everywhere in between. Warranty times are laughable. I seriously sometimes think out getting out of the industry. I do pig tails on these cars all the time since the connectors are garbage.

So yeah OP, buying a Z is definitely going to be wise when it comes to reliability. I had a 2006 g35 coupe and put 0ver 100K on it without any serious issues.

Originally Posted by BimmersFtw

I currently own a 2004 bmw m3 and i'm thinking of selling it and getting a brand new 370z. The cost of maintenance and owning my m3 is getting a bit ridiculous and it's always needing some type of work done on it. I'm somewhat handy with working on my car, I can do brakes, cooling system work, some suspension work and things like that on my own.

Basically what i'm trying to ask is how reliable are these cars and what are the weak points that have to be taken care of? How is the cost of maintenance once warranty is done? Is it a car that you can spend a weekend on wrenching on it yourself? I've already test driven one and I had a lot of fun driving it!

Originally Posted by ChopsZ

Hence why I will never buy American and a bit hesitant about buying German. I made the mistake of buying Italian (2013 Fiat 500 Abarth), and will never do that again. The thing is designed in Italy, engineered in Detroit, and assembled in Mexico. Nope, never again.

Originally Posted by ped

I would have thought so, too, but I got my wife a Fiat 500C (convertible) and three years it's still going strong. Plus they offered us (and we took it) an extended warranty on it. But, unlike most extended warranties, this is a lifetime warranty. The only catch is there's a $100 deductible for repairs outside the initial warranty period. So it's covered for any/everything as long as it remains titled in our names. They had to write something on the contract so they put 999,999 miles and 999 months.

Originally Posted by Jhill

Yea dude do yourself the favor and get out. Industry is a joke now. No pay, tool prices jumping through the roof, times getting cut, benefits packages disappearing (can't even get spouses medical), and working like a dog in hot and cold weather. I make 35k more a year now on paper and work 3/4 as hard, 100% paid benefits too, it's just not interesting work and I feel my brain turning to mush so I am now active on forums to try and "remote diag" to stay somewhat smart. Loved MB electronics and not being sarcastic I truly like that stuff but I think I'm sick.