I was driving the car in a rainy stormy night north bound hwy 101 on january 10th 2004 when my 2003 nissan 350z stopped with a huge clunk in the motor compartment and came to a rolling stop to the side of the road where there was not much shoulder space and poor visibilty that night!apparently this vehicle has been burning oil 1qt pr thousand miles! I didnt know this from getting regular oil changes at aroung the 3k marker! Kept getting oil consumption test but no corrective action was taken by manufacturer until I went to the bbb! Then nissan was forced to replace motor, clutch , tires which ive been having issues long before this ever occured along with the window motors in which the windows kept giving out also! My vehicle broke down again some 1000 miles after the new motor! My car kept stalling at a stop light! I had the vehicle taken to the nissan dealer where I almost had to fight with the sevice rep to get it taken care of under warranty! About 3k miles after the new motor was replaced and installed I had the vehicle taken to get an oil change and the car was almost 3qts low again! Yes the car still keeps burning oil!nissan did not want to do anything about it! I kept calling consumer affairs whom kept passing my file around to one rep and another. I finally broke down 3-4 thousand miles later and have been for over a month with a vehicle that does not run and no assurance from the dealer who fixed my motor less than 7k miles ago. This car has been giving me problems since the first few months ive had it.
2003 Nissan 350Z suspension complaints
Page 2 of 5: complaints 11 to 40 of 110, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My 2003 nissan 350 z continues to "eat" front tires. I have replaced the front tires 4 times and aligned once in under 12 months. My last set lasted a whopping 2 months and two days! I notified nissan of the problem in february-05, july-05 and twice in september-05 and have not received a return call as promised. Nissan said they had "no" recalls or complaints of front tire issues during the first two calls. In august-05, I received a letter from nissan stating they were going to extend the warranty for front end alignment and possible replacing the tires for 03 & 04 350's. But as I was told in two earlier phone conversation, they knew of no problems. Apparently during the month of august they decided to check into the complaints since they knew of none earlier...right! The letter states "nissan is truly dedicated to your satisfaction"! Nissan has not shown any signs of dedicated to 350 z owners. I for one! Looking in this site, I have found over 70 complaints on this problem. It's time to do something.
Nissan 2003 350z - tire cupping, roaring and vibration. Nissan issued a bullitan to replace the original bridgestone front tires and complete an alignment with 7000m due to a factory suspension/alignment problem. The bridgestone replacement tires have 9000m and the problem is reoccuring - tire cupping, roaring and vibration. The car is unstable on curves and braking. Nissan will not replace the front tires a second time and refuses to acknowledge there is a factory defect with the suspension. This defect is noted to have been corrected on the 2004 350z. Nissan dealership is recommending a full tire replacement without any compensation on their part or correction to the suspension problem to see if the four tire replacement will correct the problem. (why would this correct the problem when the problem occured at 7000 tire mileage and again at 9000 tire mileage) I am pursuing every avenue to an equitable resolution to this nissan factory defect. Preferring a permanent fix..
Excessive tire noise was noticed, took to dealer and found inside of front tires had worn away. Dealer re-aligned suspension and replaced front tires. Later, tire noise was noticed again along with pulling to right. Took to dealer and inside edge of front tires had worn away again, tires were replaced again and suspension re-aligned again. Right front suspension "compression rod" replaced due to pull. Tires continue to wear excessively along both inside and outside edges. Tires wear out in less than 10,000 miles. Once tire noise becomes severe, straight-line stability is affected at highway speeds. Tires could fail due to premature wear if vehicle owner does not inspect tires for inside edge wear at abnormally frequent intervals.
Dt: the front end and tire defects. At 7438 miles, car was rumbling at stop speed. Dealer put new front tires and aligned front end. At approximately 10,000 miles dealer installed new front brakes. At 12, 493 miles the car was rumbling at stop speed. Dealer put new front brakes and aligned front end again. Both times tires had cupped, and thread separated. If it did not get fixed it could result in a crash. ( a blow out ).
Front tire feathering every 10-12k miles. The front tires have been replaced 4 times, this last time the tires only lasted 8k miles. Something has to be wrong with the suspension.
Ongoing alignment / tire feathering issues with nissan 350z I have had my tires swapped side to side several time + replacement tires and many alignments. The 350z will not stay in alignment and eats front tires every 7000-12000 miles. It wears the insides of the tires to the point of replacement with over 80% tread on the rest of the tire. They are now not performing alignments on my car even though their tsbs state that they will and will replace tires up to 30,000 miles. They stopped doing alignments and tire rotations/replacement before 20k miles in my situation. The stock tires are up to $400 a piece, so this is unacceptable. The dealers want $80 for an alignment every 4-6 months + tire purchase. This is a known issue and nissan refuses to issue a real recall, even though every 03 350z has this issue. It was blamed originally on the suspension being stressed during shipment from japan. I have also had dual rear axle replacement, transmission replacement, clutch assmbly replacement, just to name a few. The vehicle become very unstable with the front alignment issue. There are also issues with the rear alignment. It is out of spec everytime it was checked.
My 2003 nissan 350z sports car has a front suspension problem that causes extreme inner tread tire wear in very short periods of time, ie, less than 5000 miles. The problem is pervasive in all 03 models as indicated on the various internet chat rooms. Nissan is aware of the problem and has provided a front end alignment and left to right/right to left tire rotation and/or tire replacement - neither of which cure the problem (indicative of an engineering design problem). The extreme tire wear is evident at approximately 4-5000 miles. Nissan appears to not have found a solution to this problem. Replacing the front tires at unreasonable 5000 mile intervals is required to prevent an extreme road hazard.
I leased my 350z in aug 2003 and on 7/22/2004 with 9128 miles on the vehicle I took it in for service due to loud roaring when braking in the front end.the dealer replaced the front tires and aligned the front at no cost to me.on 2/15/2005 with 13782 miles I have now brought the car in once again with the same growing noise and the dealer once again has stated I need new front tires and another front end alignment.he stated that they would install at no cost to me but the warranty on this would be up after 8/23/2005.it appears that nissan has only a temporary fix on for this problem and I guess I will be responsible for the tires and alignment after the 2 years.
My 2003 nissan 350z has a problem keeping alignment. This causes premature wear on the tires and the additional cost of alignment. This began immediately (2003 at 6,000 miles). Both tires and the alignment were replaced and repaired. However the car continues to lose alignment. A bigger issue is caused in the winter on slick roads. The car will swerve unexpectedly - totally lose control and cross over into on coming lanes. I feel these cars represent a hazard not only to the driver but other innocent people on the road. The only safe remedial action would be a recall and permanent repair of this defect.
My 2003 350z's tires were replaced by the dealer at 16,000 miles. I recognized the problem right before the recall. Now at 27,000 miles I have the same problem with the back tires/alignment. I've been told by the contracted tire dealer which my nissan dealer sends it's work to that the problem is with the alignment on the 2003 model and the problem has since been corrected on the 2004 model. I'm told that to avoid the improper wear on the tires (cupping) that I should have the alignment checked every 3-6 months. I was told that other than the tire noise(which when noticeable means serious improper wear), another way to tell that this cupping is happening is to put the car up on the rack. Also, the car starts to have traction/handling problems. The problem cannot be seen in a visual check when the car is on the ground. I called the nissan headquarters and filed a complaint, but was told there was nothing they could do. At 27,000 miles I got the rear aligned and had to purchase two new rear tires. There is so obviously a problem that nissan is choosing to ignore.
My 2003 nissan 350z has experienced tire/feathering on both front tires. Nissan replaced both @ 17,000 miles at no charge to me. Then @ 12,000 miles on 2nd set, same problem exists. Nissan says they will replace, but the dealer says tires are on back-order till april 2005. They offered no "buy back", or loaner. I could not wait till april 2005, so I traded the 350z. I traded because after my warranty period was to expire @ 36,000 miles, I would have had to pay approximately $600.00 per set to replace at 10,000 to 12,000 miles. The feathering of the tires made for very little traction, especially during rainy conditions. I also took quite a hit (trade-in was $6,000 less than kelly blue book). Nissan should be responsible for selling me a lemon>
My front tires were replaced on my nissan 350z after only after 18000 miles, with a realignment after nissan recommended in the bulletin release released this year. Now after 33000 miles on my vehicle I am having to replace once again the front tires on my vehicle due to improper wear on the tires, the same as what happened at the 18000 mile replacement time. Obviously there is something wrong with 350z front alignment. Is there a class action lawsuit against nissan for defect of the front alignment, as I am not the only one this is happening to, and how to I go about joining the lawsuit?
My 2003 nissan 350z has an extremely dangerous pattern of tire wear. The inside of the front tires wears rapidly - by 6000 miles it is nearly smooth. Vehicle lost control several times due to this problem, resulting in many near-accidents. Visited dealer who swapped tires from side to side but issue recurred. First noticed at 4000 miles and recurred at 6000 miles. Very unsafe in my opinion. Would not recommend this vehicle and am frustrated by nissan's dilly-dallying tactics extended towards the 80% of z drivers that have this problem.
Complaint received via e-mail."I have so many problems with my car. The tires wore out within 7 months. I took to the dealer to get it fixed. I ended up replacing two tires. That was in june. September I experienced the same problem. Less than a year, my car has had 5 alignments and two sets of tires. I contacted the nissan consumer affair specialist, no one wanted to take care of the problems. The car is believed to have a manufactured defect. The dealership has informed me that lots of problems with this model car has been reported. I can not drive my car anymore because I am scared the tires might blow up.
Experiencing an unresolved tire wear problem with 2003 350z that I purchase new in february 2003. The front tires have been replaced and alignment performed twice on the vehicle. When the tires are examined, they have an irregular wear pattern on the outside edges of the tread. Although nissan has issued tsb ntb04-043 on 4/12/2004 and extended the original warranty to two year / 30k miles, I do not believe there is a long term solution that will result in front tires lasting significantly longer than the current unacceptable 10k to 12k miles. I view this issue as reducing the serviceability / reliability of my 350z and it may also pose a safety concern if the problem remains unresolved. *jb
While driving 20-30 MPH a rumbling noise came from the front. Vehicle was taken to the dealer. Dealer replaced two sets of front tires ,and the front control arm. However, the problem recurred.
I own a 2003 nissan 350z which I purchased new. The cars tires began to make a loud noise, which I noticed around 2500-3000 miles. The noise was gradually increasing in volume as I added miles to the car. I took the car to the dealer at approximately 6500 miles when the noise became unbearable. The dealer re-aligned the front wheels and replaced the tires to address a "known problem" with alignment for which nissan had issued a service bulletin. I now have just under 14,000 miles on the car and have just delivered the car to the dealer to address the problem once again as the issue was not resolved by the alignment and tire replacement. The dealer was unwilling to align or replace the tires and claimed the warranty fix was a one time fix. I contacted nissan consumer affairs, and now I will be provided with an alignment and new set of front tires under an extended coverage nissan is calling "2003 350z front wheel alignment warranty extension". This warranty extension is addressing the same problem that I already asked them to fix under warrantee last year. The problem should be covered under the original warranty because it first appeared during the warranty period and was not fixed by the action taken by the dealer. This is a known problem with many of the 2003 350zs. Nissan is addressing the symptoms rather than fixing the problem in order to buy time. The problem is much more significant than a simple alignment and tire replacement. They are using deceptive practices to skirt around the problem in order to avoid developing and implementing a true fix for the issue. Under the "2003 350z front wheel alignment warranty extension" my extended warranty expires two years from the in-service date of my vehicle. That is october 2004 for me. At that point I will be stuck with a defective car that wears out very expensive tires in a fraction of the normal tire life with no means of recourse.
I have a 2003 nissan 350z with tire feathering and front wheel alignment problems. At 22k miles, nissan replaced my front tires and extended the alignment warranty to two years, but that warranty will expire 12/04.
2003 nissan 350z brought in to showcase nissan in bourne, ma with oil light on and no oil pressure. Technician put car on lift and drained "less than a pint of oil" from vehical. Inside of tail pipes were oily and black. Milage at the time was 14,100. Nissan's solution was to do consumption tests at 500 mile intervals which resulted in oil usage of 1/4 to 1/2 quart per 500 miles which nissan claims is "normal".
Nissan 350z. Lost control of car just changing lanes at 45 MPH. Car spun sideway and when I tried to recover, steering was almost impossible as tires seemed to be just gliding wherever they wanted to go. I am just now connecting this incident to the just became aware of tire and front end problem that nissan seems to be having with this vehicle. I only wish somebody had told me my front end was not aligned and tracking correctly and that my tires were worn away on the inner edges. The failure to notify me placed me in a circumstance that allowed me to think the vehicle I was driving was safe and would respond when I needed it to. My initial thinking of a slick road, which really wasn't present, is now apparent to me to be a front end which can wander and cause abrupt alterations in tracking due to tire wear and improper alignment. Fortunately, the only bruised item was the car. I hope it doesn't lead to a human. *ak *nm the consumers vehicle failed the massachusetts safety inspection because of bad tires.
The tires began to feather and wear unevenly within the first 5000 miles of owning the car. The tires began to cup. The car now has extremely loud road noise. It is loader than any normal sports car should be and is horrible to drive. It is very nerve racking. The tire wear could be dangerous and result in a flat or blow out. The tire wear is probably due to a suspension issue with the car. Nissan has service records issued. Nissan told the dealer to swap my two front wheels, but this did nothing.
Brought my car in twice to complain about a loud growling noise from the front end at 6000 miles. I told him that the noise is really bad when I brake at speeds below 50 MPH. Erin from the dealership told me that nissan does have a bulletin out and their quick fix is: to rotate my tires from side to side and do a front alignment. He told me my tires were wearing unevenly. I brought the car back again to complain that the noise got worse and they told me that it may take 1000-2000 miles for the noise to go away. I told him that was crazy. Eric told me just to turn my radio up and I wouldn't hear the noise. He also told me that nissan will only rotate the tires once and then after that I will need to do it more offen. He told me that I will need to replace my tires soon. I told him it just has 6000 miles on it. I also had my car back for the loud break noise and they said it was normal. After finding this website I realized I'm not the only one that is this complaint. I cannot believe that nissan is not doing anything about this severe problem that could become dangeous for driving when the tires are wearing unevenly.
Tire cupping and feathering due to faulty suspension on 2003 nissan 350z causing car to veer to the right.
I have a feathering problem with my front tires due to a front end suspension defect. My efforts with nissan corporation and the dealer (ed napleton nissan in north palm beach, florida) have been fruitless. The service department threatened to not service my car when I brought up the lemon law. The dealer then admitted to the problem (once I provided information that others reported this problem) and said they would try to get reimbursement for the tires. Then the dealer then only offered tires at dealer cost (which was higher than a local repair shop who did install replacements). Nissan corporation (yanique, customer service person) in california was both condescending and argumentative with me. The nissan representative advised that tire reimbursement is on a case by case basis. When I purchased this vehicle the dealer was advised that I would drive a significant number of miles commuting to work. Thus, my vehicle first experienced this problem immediately following my 15k miles service. The dealer switched the front end tires and immediately afterward, I could hear the noise relating to the alignment problem. Although I was advised by another nissan 350z owner that he experienced uneven tire wear, it didn't register with me until the tires were switched at 15k that there was a problem. I believe the dealer was buying time knowing that I will continue to place significant miles on this car and didn't reimburse me for these tires based on the same reasoning. The dealer states that they didn't manufacture the car or the tires and thus, they are not responsible. Nissan is aware of this problem and have tried to keep the issue secret from the public. Apparently there is not fix and a recent auto magazine article has identified 39,000 vehicles with this problem. I would hope that this complaint receives sufficient attention, since this problem is both costly to the consumer and could pose a safety problem due to poor traction of the front end tires.
Front end suspension problems is causing front tires to wear improperly(feathering) only after 4000 miles!
Excessive tire wear and feathering on front tires resulting in excessive noise, reduced traction, and requiring premature replacement.
The suspension problem is reoccurring, and mis-diagnosed a. Roar from front suspension under 40 MPH. First attempted repair @ 7,279 miles. Changed brake pads and turned rotors. Attempt failed, roar remained. B. Roar & pulls to the right at highway speed. Second attempted repair @ 7,720 miles. Changed right side compression rod. Pull to right corrected, roar remained. C. Roar severe,visual damage{feathering} on inside edge of front tires. Third attempted repair @ 11,077 miles. Rotated front tires side to side, off rims {directional tires} also did four wheel alignment. Roars less, but still very noisy. At 12,000 miles noise increasing, new feathering now appearing on inside of front tires. This suspension problem not corrected
Tire feathering, on front end seems to be non-correctable resulting in repetitive premature replacement of tires. I was told by service mgn. That caster adjustment is at full, and can not correct for the towin causing the tire wear.
Noiced growl and rumbling noise around front end of 2003 nissan 350z. Dealer performed no diagnostics, nor checked service bulletins. Claimed could not duplicate the problem. Third trip in, dealer admitted to hearing the now loud noise. Millage at 7500 - 10,200. Diagnosed feathering (cupping) front tires.
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