Going from a sensible car to a sports car
 

Hey guys and gals,

My parents are planning on getting me a new car within the next month or two and I was hoping you guys could help me make my decision. Obviously, since I'm here, the 370Z is one of my choices (well.. it's my only choice, thus far). I'm planing on getting the Coupe with the Touring package (don't care for any of the other options or accessories) with the 7AT (yeah, yeah, I know the drill... autos are for morons and I already have one person who's planning on hunting me down).

My last two cars were a 1996 Acura 3.2TL and a 2006 Honda Accord EX (I4), both of which are tame compared to the 370Z. I've read a lot of reviewers on the 370Z and nearly every single one says the same few things: it's fast, looks great, and can't be beat for the price.

But what I do want to know is how it fares for those of us who don't race on the streets or tracks, and just want a fun car for when you want to speed by that damn semi who cut you off and decides to go extra slowly...:shakes head:

Some things I'd like your opinions on are:
1. How does it fair as a daily driver? I've read a few of the previous posts on this topic and most of it seems generally positive but... not really reassuring.

I'll be driving to/from school (an hour each way) in the fall when I go back to school for my Masters and most of it will be fairly smooth roads. I know it's not going to comfortable, like my previous cars but is it at least bearable? In my city there are plenty of really bad roads which I'll have to drive through nearly everyday but they're short stretches. I'm only 5'8" and have sat in one already so space isn't an issue.

2. I've read a lot of complaints about road noise. Has that issue been fixed or is it still prevalent?

3. Now... I'm sure this will make some of you cringe but can this be driven during the winter, with the standard all season tires? (*My brother's IS350 has summer/winter tires and that's something I'd rather not put up with.)

My commute will be done in the northern IL area and winters here are pretty bad... and I know that going from two front wheel drive cars to a rear wheel sports car is NOT going to be an easy transition.

4. The paint really that bad? I mean... I sofa-king hate swirls/chips on my cars. I understand it's unavoidable but from "Most Fragile Car I've Ever Owned!", it sounds like the paint just falls off for some of you.

5. To those of you with the 2009 model, is it a fairly reliable car? We've always bought Japanese since they make reliable cars but JD powers gave the 2010 Z a 6/10 rating in terms of reliability. I understand it's only an estimate but still, figured I'd get some of your opinions.

And any other tips/opinions/advise would be well appreciated. If I learned anything from GI Joe, it's that knowing is only half the battle (they never did tell me what the other half was...).

Thanks in advance.

PS - I'm sure a lot of you will think I come from a rich family and I'm a spoiled kid and I can't help that (I'd think that too) but I can assure you we're not rich. I just want a fun car and am not planning on dressing it up or fixing something or another on a daily basis. My parents are just buying me a nice car since my undergrad was basically free due to scholarships/grants...

why are your parents buying you a new car? get your own car. ;)

Hi and welcome to the forums. I don't use mine as a daily driver, but plenty of folk do and find it plenty comfortable. I find the comfort and road noise non-issues. For me and I'm about 5'10 175 lbs I find the seats comfortable for long trips and the road noise is only excessive if there is a bunch of sand or gravel on the roadway.

Winter driving ... I would definitely get snow tires -- there are some very informative threads on here that go over some nice winter setups.

Paint ... People complain about road chips and so forth, but those are gonna happen with almost any cars ...paint ain't what it used to be I guess. That said the color can make a big difference in the amount of upkeep required. The silver and platinum graphite are easy colors to maintain and don't show swirls like the red and black. On the other hand, lots of folk enjoy detailing their cars and would be at a loss if there were no swirls/minor scuffs to buff out with their new PC ;).

Do you have a link to that JD powers survey you reference? I've heard that the Z scored well in quality. Other than a few flakey e-key issues, ecu whining (which I haven't heard much about lately so they must have fixed it for the '10s) and aftermarket oil cooler issues, I haven't really heard of any systematic problems.

That's my $.02, I'm sure you'll hear some other opinions :)

I'm not really sure if the 370Z is the car for you honestly. It's a great daily driver, but it seems like you want a low-maintenance car, which the Z isn't necessarily.

Firstly, being in a state with harsh winters, you can't just throw on all-seasons and call it a day. It's either winter or summer tires, and any compromise would likely result in sub-standard traction. With winter tires, snow is barely an obstacle.

The road noise is ever-present, and furthermore, you'll feel just about every bump and hole in the road. But you could swap out the OEM tires for 'quieter' and cushier tires.

The paint quality, or lack thereof, is an especially salient issue, particularly with the black; swirl marks and scratches abound everywhere. You'll probably have to wash and detail the Z more often than your previous cars.

Along with all of those factors, you'll have to regularly check your oil and various other normal car maintenance procedures. Do all of the above and you probably won't run into any reliability issues.

I don't have a direct link, just what I read on USNews.
2010 Nissan 370Z Reliability - Best Cars & Trucks - U.S. News Rankings and Reviews


It's not that I want a low maintenance car, it's just that I don't know how different the maintenance is from a regular sedan to a sports. I understand how to check all the fluids, can change my own oil (though I probably wouldn't risk it on the Z), and I clay/wax my car twice a year (and polish every other year).

But obviously, there are somethings simple detailing and under-the-hood checking won't take care of. That's what I was more interested about.

im in Canada, snow isnt an issue WITH snow tires. not stupid enough to try without and crash my lovely z. start in second gear, dont drive with a lead foot, all that jazz. lots of tips from various places on how to drive in snow.

road noise isnt that bad if you get into the mindset that its a sports car not a lexus. same with comfort.

other than that i would find its pretty low maintenance as opposed to what a few posts above suggested. not much to do. drive it, change the tires for winter, check/change oil once in a while.

There are lots of threads about each of your questions.. its almost like you already knew this and just want people to confirm what you've already read, bizarre..

:iagree: :shakes head:

My suggestion: do fun and practical. For Z money, you can climb into a Mazdaspeed3, a VW GTi, or a Subaru WRX. All will fare better in the snow.

Even then, I don't have a gauge on maintenance cost for those, but I'm assuming they're a little easier, since you can't rotate a Z's tires due to size difference. All of these cars listed suck down premium fuel, so you may want something without a turbo...

Just sayin'.

Oh, and about road noise... Yes, it's loud. The Z is a sports car. I like my sports cars loud. I want to hear the engine and tires and feel many bumps along the way. It's immersion. Just my opinion.

The 6 is a made up value by US News. The actual JD powers predicted reliability is 3 of 5. This is an "average" rating. It's really just a guess though since the predicted reliability is supposed to be based on historical trends for a vehicle or manufacturer. Since the Z has only been out for a little over a year and a half the bulk of the predication must come from general Nissan reliability.

JDPower.com | 370Z

The "Initial Quality" or IQ ratings are based on how many "issues" are reported by consumers for that vehicle type during the first 90 days of ownership. It's only based on whatever strange reason a person may bring their car to the dealership (you've seen the threads on this forum...), and doesn't account for any by-design behavior or if there is a true defect. Also, I don't believe there is any weight to severity. The hatch spring issue a lot of people had was incredibly minor, and would impact reliability ratings just as much as melting electronics.

"predicted reliability" is different than initial quality. I agree the "initial quality" rating are rather arbitrary since someone may give a low rating because they don't like where the stereo controls are ... In any event initial quality wasn't what I was referring to -- the Z got 4 out of 5 on that anyway ...

"Predicted Reliability: Derived from historical trending for a vehicle and/or manufacturer in our Initial Quality and Vehicle Dependability Studies, Predicted Reliability is a forecast of how reliable a newer vehicle might be over time."

:ugh2:

I did my fair share of research, but the main issue here is that I've never driven a sports car (my brother's IS350 is the closest thing I have driven but that's more of a luxury car) so I was hoping for responses from those with both, to try and see if this was something I could live with.

I'm sure what I've asked is probably nothing more than redundancy to most of you but you guys are seasoned with Zs. I'm not.

And they won't let me test drive the Z at my local dealership... not sure why but I'm guessing age is a factor. They let me ride in it but riding in a car and driving it are two different things.

Also, to those of you who have answered my questions and/or voiced their opinions: thank you, you're help is appreciated.

Buy my Mazdaspeed3.
It even comes with a set of winter wheels! :driving:

The Mazdaspeed3 is quick and practical at the same time. I used it as a daily driver and other than me wearing out the tires, the only maintenance it required was regular oil changes.
My wife and I drove it from PA to FL non-stop and it was comfortable, fun and all of our toys fit in it with room to spare.

Click the link in my sig.

NO comments on this topic... But :iagree:

Even with snow tire's I wouldn't drive the Z in the snow. Bad things will happen. Even if you don't crash it, it will look like it's been through WW3 because of the crappy paint.

I would either buy a beater for the winter and drive this in the Spring / Summer or end up buying a different car.

Just my advice

Ummm ... I'm not sure whether you are agreeing with me or disagreeing...
Yes, predicted reliability is derived from their initial quality studies and historical data. Nevertheless they are different categories in the JD Power report -- obviously since the Z got a 4 for initial quality and a 3 for predicted reliability.

My point in my earlier post was about how they are determining this because the 370 hasn't been around for very long. I posted to your post because your post seemed to be all abut the initial quality ratings which do not use historical data and, as I agreed with you, are mostly about the customer's subjective impression of the quality of their vehicle.

I think that, other than our choice of words, we are in irreconcilable violent agreement :)

Maintenance is pretty much the same, except you'll have to be a bit more vigilant on checking the oil as the engine will go through its share. Changing the oil yourself is pretty straight forward on this car, and AK has a great DIY guide in the DIY section of this forum.

But ultimately the reason I believe you want a low maintenance car is because you expressed unwillingness to change out your tires from summers to winters. If you want to drive it during the winter, through snow and sleet, snow tires are your only choice; compromising with all-seasons would be disastrous. As for potential paint damage from winter driving, a good waxing before the season and a good detail in immediate post-snow period will suffice, but again, if it's black, you'll be putting in more work. Also, you'll probably have to do some rust assessment after the snow season, but that's pretty simple, too.

I guess that does sound lazy of me... but no, I'll definitely get snow tires since it definitely sounds like doing so otherwise would be idiotic. I have no plans to drive it when the roads are covered in snow. And I guess I better keep a few extra quarts of oil around, just in case.

Thanks.

..

I think the MB and white are the colors with the least paint problems. I don't have any complaints about my MB color.

The Z is my daily driver. It is ok for me because I don't normally need much cargo room (which it does not have), mainly only have to drive it on fairly smooth roads. No dirt roads, extremely rough roads, etc. The advantage I have is that even though it is my daily driver I don't drive it to work. My dad has a work truck, a 1994 nissan pick-up, and an '08 Titan. He practically drives his work truck all the time, So I use his titan while I'm working.

The Z is so much fun to drive that the road noise doesn't bother me much, besides that all it takes is a little radio (minimal volume) to get rid of almost all road noise.

Anyways you should just go test drive one so you'll get an idea of how stiff it is, road noise, etc.

I drove a clio and megane coupe before my 370 so I went from pretty sensible cars to a sports car.

But the one thing I will tell you, go sport + nav I think the 370 looks alot worse without even just the fricking spoiler

1. I use it as a daily, I never regretted it. Sure it isn't a BMW or mercedes but its pretty comfy, seats are great and plenty of room. I had a 2009 megane coupe and this is more comfy for some reason. Yes you will feel the road but its the good kind of feeling. I personally love the feeling of the steering wheel since its not very light and you can feel the road through it.

2. Yes you hear quite abit of road noise from the back especially if you get some fine rocks in the wheel arches. But you get used to it after a while and strangely it is kinda relaxing because you hear the exhaust more and the road. unless you drive on a broken road with alot of loose pebbles :rofl2: then it turns into some sort of music.

3. Depends on how bad the winters are. if you really drive in alot of snow I advise good winter tires since it IS a RWD so going sideways will happen.

4. I personally don't hate the paint sure I got quite a bit of small dents on the bumper because of the broken roads but my megane had the same problem. Hell I actually accidently rubbed my right side against a truck while trying to get through a small road because some old woman in a BMW couldn't wait :shakes head: There was some kind of white stuff on the paint but I rubbed it off, not even a scratch.

5. My 370 has about 14.000 miles, no problems except for my alarm apparently freaking out. I think its pretty reliable.

I would never drive the 370z in icy conditions. If you have an hour commute and have to drive in winter like conditions you are out of your mind to use a 370z to do it. Sorry man it is what it is. Get a four wheel drive vehicle if you want to stay alive to enjoy your masters degree.

Thanks for all the honest answers guys.

I've decided not to get the 370Z. While I'm sure it would be just fine for most of the year, it's clear that it wouldn't fare well during the winter, even with snow tries.

I'll be getting a G37x instead. I honestly didn't think the G37 would be a good option, thinking it would be fairly similar to the Z but decided to try it since just to be sure and wow, it's definitely a completely different car. And we were shocked at the offer we received on a G37x with no options/accessories (have a choice of 4 different colors)... it's a huge dealership and they have nearly 30 coupes in stock, all X. It actually costs less than the 370Z touring, believe it or not, and they also have a financing offer which works out nicely for us.

I think people overplay the RWD in snow/ice danger. But I also realize a lot of people don't know how to drive in abnormal conditions. Or normal for that matter..

Anyway, enjoy the G37!

Good choice! G37's are plush Z's, and the AWD should do well in the snow. Rock on.

good choice the z is not for everyone.
daily driver yes
road noise it's a sports car with 19's yes. but not that much
it does ride and handle better than most in its class
i never get tired of looking at the car inside or out and i still turn around
and check it out as i'm walking away. i know sounds crazy.