Need some advise please

ZipNZ370

I am having some serious dilemmas. About a year ago I purchase a 2010 Roadster. After just 2 weeks the steering column lock went out. Fortunately, the dealer agreed to replace that. Last November the steering lock went out again. The car is out of warranty and after reading many of the same issues here on the Forum, and considering that even if I have it replaced, AGAIN, it will likely go out, AGAIN. WTF NISSAN!!! I was not going to pay $1500 to replace a part that was just replaced less than a year ago. So I went to the Forum and researched and found a way around that by pulling the fuse. Have not had issue so far..(knock on wood)

Now with a little over 51k miles, the top decides it wants to go out. Not sure if it’s the hydraulics or motor or cables, who the hell knows. Went to put the top down and it went about a quarter of the way then stopped. The motor was still going like it was trying to complete the process. I stopped tried it again, no movement but the motor was going. So I tried closing it. It went a little bit then again stopped. I pressed the "open" button again then the "closed" button and it finally closed completely.

Now Im freaked out it will fail and get stuck so I dont even want to temp fate. No warrant left obviously, BUT I'm considering purchasing an extended warranty through Nissan...Security+Plus Gold Preferred which will cover the car for an additional 36k miles (with exception of wear/tear items).

Its going to cost over $1500 but with everything that seems to go wrong with these cars I figure its a good investment. I certainly do not have or want to pay $7000+ to replace an entire top. All I know is since the parts cannot be replaced it will cost a small fortune to replace the entire cover….THANKS AGAIN NISSAN!

My best friend has a 2013 Roadster. Same exact problem. The dealer could not figure out what the issue was and kept her car for over 3 weeks. They finally had to have a Nissan mechanic from corporate fly to Vegas to figure it out. She was out of warranty and it was going to cost her $6500 to fix. She threw an absolute fit to Nissan Customer Care and they covered the cost, lucky for her.

Reading through the threads, Im afraid to take it to get fixed since apparently Nissan does not train their techs on this issue so they are dumbfounded when a car is brought to them to fix. If I purchase an extended warranty, then I cant take it to anyplace else except a Nissan (unqualified) dealer.

So my dilemma is, buy the warranty, attempt to have the top fixed, keep the car that I have come to love and weather out the headaches that are sure to come in the future.Or toss in the towel and trade her in?

Either way, Im gonna have to get the top fixed, I know. I just don’t know how much I can take with failing parts. I mean wear and tear is one thing, but only 51k miles and having these kinds of big problems is not what I had in mind when I saw her sitting in on the dealer’s lot.

I’m a woman just wanting to cruise my nice car that I work hard for and work hard to take care of. Always serviced, always premium gasoline, always garaged…..you will never find bird poop on my car! Im not a professional tuner or super car savvy.

Sorry for the long rant. Im just SUPER frustrated. And NISSAN is Zero help to its customers.

Attached Images

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kenchan

do u have a one line version?

ZipNZ370

Ok, I'm a woman so don't hate......what is that? That came out wrong. I know there are many woman that know a ton about cars, I'm just not one of them, sorry

Nizmo.Man

Would definitely recommend looking for a reputable shop around town. I gave up with the dealership when they messed up my alignment.......my ALIGNMENT. A basic shop should know its way around that kind of stuff. Its crap like that, that makes me hate going to the dealer. Ask around your area for a shop that does good work with guarantees or some sort of insurance in case the motor fails again within a certain period.

gbhrps

ZiopNZ370,

Your top issue "may" have been a momentary glitch that may not occur again, then again it could. The extended warranty may be a good move in your case, after all, your ride is 7 years old now.

Read the post I made today in the Roadster section of this forum under the title "Convertible Top Blues ..Help!" concerning the 5th bow bungee cords stretching with age. This may be your issue as well (assuming you were seated in the car when dropping the top, and not watching the 5th bow and the tonneau lid). Its possible your bow jammed on the lid, preventing it closing. Its just a guess, my not being present to witness the event.

Regardless, the dealership can put their scan tool on the car and diagnose if a sail switch was the culprit, or something else in the system, should the bungee cords not be the culprit. Of course, I would do this ...after you purchase the extended warranty should you decide to go that route. Good Luck!

Gene

nis350

I too like convertible, but with the potential expensive top issues with the Z, I would be afraid to own one.

I would just get rid of it and buy a different convertible.

SouthArk370Z

I think that's kenchan's version of TL;DR

If you can't find a shop to work on the top, I'd get rid of it. YMMV. Going by what I've read on this and other 370Z sites, the tops are prone to breaking and are VERY expensive to have fixed at the dealer. I suggest finding an independent shop; try searching the web for "convertible repair yourtown,NV" (eg, convertible repair Reno,NV).

I would not suggest trying to defraud the insurance company. Anybody on the Internet can find this thread with a little Google-fu.

__________________
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ShuuraRG

I would forego the convertible altogether. Trade it for a Z coupe, or the Miata RF!

Duc_Z09

Trade it for one with a roof. No vert-specific issues and they look 1000x better anyway.

__________________
2009 370z #206 (all mods are Home Depot)
2009 Ducati 848 (full Ohlins, Termignoni, etc)
2003 Grand Cherokee (long arms, big tires, 4.56, lockers)

TexasChuck

I had one. The Dealership Service Mgr told me , trouble with the mechanism is when, not if. I traded for a Coupe and like it even more. Black Cherry also.

Louie cat

I did a little research for you, I dont know your exact location, maybe you live nearby this shop.
704 W Sunset Rd Ste A12, Henderson, NV 89011
(702) 558-9611
( the shop is called "petes auto upholstery