2003 Nissan 350Z: tire blowout or tread separation

Filed Jun 3, 2008 · TN

After buying a 2003 350 z nissan, nissan replaced the front tires twice due to bad alignment and tire wear and noise. Now, it appears, the same unusual war of the tires on the inside is back as is the deafening noise while driving. Why would an owner have to replace tires every 20,000 miles? This is a safety problem. I have just about stopped driving my car, parking it in the garage and taking the bus to work. I am afraid to drive on the interstate in fear of a blow out or accident. This car should be recalled. They admitted the alignment problem publicly on the internet, gave me 2 sets of front tires and now it has happened again. I called them today to repeat my concerns and they are referring my file to the regions specialist who "has the power to help me out". They did say there is no recall on my car or tires at this time which essentially means tough. I will let you know the outcome. There is a class action law suit from the law offices of howard a. Gutman currently.

Filed Jun 1, 2005 · Brakes, Suspension · 7,438 miles · CA

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 ).

Filed Mar 30, 2004 · Suspension, Tires · 5,000 miles · PA

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.

Filed Dec 12, 2003 · Suspension · MN

Premature, excessive, asymmetrical front tire wear on 2003 nissan 350z. Tire wear is confined to the inside tread block ring only, circumferentially around the tire. Indications are a raised heel and lowered toe pattern in the direction of the tread. This occurs on all nissan 350z's, and it's only a matter of time before tire failure results in serious injury or loss of life. See zcar.com for more complaints and details. Nissan's tsb solution is to realign the front end, and simply rotate the tire, transferring the abnmormal wear pattern and resultant hazard to the opposite tread block. Realignment does not correct the problem. Nissan has put a dangerous new model on the road with a design flaw that eats tires at an extraordinary rate (5,000-8,000 miles!!!). Unless fixed, the car is likely to become known as the corvair of the 21st century "unsafe at any speed".

Filed Dec 4, 2003 · Tires · VA

Tire feathering and accelerated wear on inside of front tires. This wear pattern first was noticed at around 3k miles, and by 5500 miles the problem was bad. By 7k miles, the tires are nearly unusable. Four issues with this: 1. Some very slight vibration when the problem gets bad 2. Terrible noise from the tires 3. Safety issue due to extreme abnormal wear pattern, could get bad enough to cause a blowout 4. Ridiculous operating expense will be incurred when tires have to be replaced every 5k to 7k miles nissan does not appear to have a fix for this, and simply keeps replacing tires. Currently the oem tires are not available, and dealer says they will not do anything.

Filed Nov 18, 2003 · Suspension · 12,000 miles · NJ

Front suspension problem causing front inner edge of tires to wear unevenly. Possible blow out of front tires, due to accelerated wear on inside edge of front tires.

Filed Nov 11, 2003 · Suspension, Tires · 3,600 miles · TX

I own a 2003 nissan 350z. I purchased the car on july 3rd, 2003. Since that purchase, the front tires have been "feathering" and all nissan will do is pull the tires off and rotate the problem area to the outside of the wheel. Now the inside will start to "feather" thus creating the ride even rougher and more unstable. Not only is this causing excessive wear to the tires, but once rotated, it has increased the chance for a blowout even further. Nissan continues to dodge my request for a suspension adjustment, as this is apparently the problem, by saying that it is not the suspension or the alignment, but the tires themselves (which is just not true.