Spec-v Problems

I OWN A 03 SPEC-V, I AM JUST WONDERING IF ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE HAS HAD AS MANY PROBLEMS AS I HAVE HAD. I HAVE OWNED IT SINCE DECEMBER AND IT HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP CONSTANTLY. APPROX. THREE MONTHS TOTAL. I HAVE LOOKED AT REVIEWS ON DIFFERENT WEBSITES AND IT SEEMS TO HAVE A TREND, EVERYONE SEEMS TO RATE THE SENTRA VERY HIGHLY, BUT WHEN YOU SEE LOW RATINGS THEY ALL HAVE THE FACT THAT THEY ARE SPEC-V'S. IS THIS SOMETHING THAT ANYONE ELSE HAS SEEN OR HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CAR. I FEEL THE FIT AND FINISH OF THIS CAR IS TERRIBLE. THE POWER AND HANDLING ARE GREAT, I HAVE SEVERAL MODS BUT NOTHING THAT HAS CAUSED THE PROBLEMS I SEEM TO KEEP HAVING OCCUR.
ANY INFO?

[Lurker Above]

i've had my '03 spec v for two months this monday, and total down time has been about two hours for a free 1000-mile checkup. the only problem i've had is getting the aftermarket alarm into silent mode, which i accomplished this past week. no mechanical failures, check my oil once a week and is not consuming oil after 2500 miles. after break-in, i take it to redline at least once a week but normally shift around 4k-5k rpm for power shifts, 3k for normal traffic. even the contis are wearing nicely, and have great traction except on metal manhole covers

THE PROBLEMS I HAVE, ARE NOT WITH THE DRIVE TRAIN OR MOTOR, BUT THE INTERIOR AND THE PAINT. MY FRONT BUMPER HAS BEEN TAKEN OFF AT LEAST FOUR TIMES TO BE REPAINTED BECAUSE OF FLAWED PAINT AND/OR BAD WORKMANSHIP. THEOTHER THINGS HAVE BEEN THE MOON ROOF STRUGGLES TO OPEN, STILL WAITING ON REPLACEMENT PARTS(TWO MONTHS), MY ROCKFORD AUDIO-FANATICS PACKAGE DECK DOESN'T LIKE TO PLAY CD'S, BOTH FRONT DOOR PANELS RATTLE, BAD AIR LEAK ON DRIVER'S SIDE REAR DOOR, ETC. ETC. I COULD GO ON, BUT I'LL SPARE ALL THE DETAILS.

[Lurker Above]

geez, that's horrible! i don't have any of those problems, but i do have rattling in the overhead console (i hear that's a common flaw though, might be able to fix it with some sponge tape). i open and close my sunroof daily without problems...i'm sorry to hear that your car is plagued with such annoyances. my car came with the automate paint and fabric protection package, so i don't have any paint problems other than finding some orange peel effect inside the doorframe, very hard to notice. my af package cd player works fine too. i can't believe that two specs one state and four months apart can be so different. if you don't have automate paint protection, ask your dealer about it, they recoat every six months for like three years or something, and with the summer heat of arizona i'd recommend it. i hope your dealer can fix everything to satisfaction soon...

edit: btw, what color is your spec v? mine's cloud white, i wonder if the color of paint can have a difference...

MY CAR IS AZTECH RED, AND THE CAR HAS BEEN TO THE SHOP MORE THAN ENOUGH AND IT HASN'T BEEN FIXED. DRIVEN MORE RENTALS THAN MINE.

[rkeith]

Just giving you the heads up before someone gets pissed...... turn off the caps lock and then begin to type.... just some friendly advice.... Welcome aboard, man!

[Lurker Above]

hee, i'm used to reading caps, i read a lot of veterans sites and some of the old soldiers don't shift (prolly in more ways than just at the keyboard )

well, buehlerbj, it looks like some strongly worded letters to nissan consumer support are in order. this is bordering on a lemon, isn't it? sheesh...it may not be what you want to hear, and depending on where you're at you might not have a choice, but try seeking out a better dealership. in the interim, check nissan's website under 'ownership', they should have info on who to write to about this abysmal situation. as far as the color, in the past it was silver and gold that used to wear like carp, but i hear red has problems in very sunny places too (especially when the paint job is carp to begin with). again, i'm sorry that you've had such bad luck that i haven't, maybe my proximity to gardena has something to do with it but it really shouldn't. this is unacceptable...i hope this gets resolved to your satisfaction soon

I have 5000 miles on my '03, so far so good. It looks like there's a paint flaw on the left fender, but I haven't taken it in to be looked at yet so I'm not certain what it is. Mechanically, it's stout...Hasn't used any oil yet!

I have noticed that the Audio Fanatic CD player is more reluctant to play some discs than the one in my old car (Audi A4), and it seems like all my favorite CDs have scratches I was never aware of. A couple of my favorite mix CDs refuse to play, which is the only real operational difficulty I've had.

Sunroof seems awfully noisy when closed; has anyone else had this problem also?

Yes the sunroof is very noisey also I tend to keep it closed just in case it won't work. my next step is to give nissan a piece of my mind. Thanks for all the advice. No caps lock ha, ha,

well, i just bought my spec V yesterday, and already I am unhappy with it. On test drives, it seemed smooth enough. but now, when driving around highways and city streets, Im constantly bouncing around in the car....its like the car is lowered or something....i hate it. Im already looking for a suspension system that will give me a smoother ride....my color is aztec red also, so i think im going to look into that paint protection plan as well. good luck with ur car.

[Lurker Above]

well, i've found two revealing things today...first, the rf cd player does not play mp3s the second, i've got scars in my front bumper paint finish, prolly from rocks. i thought they were bugs, but when they wouldn't come off i tried rubbing them with a paper towel and lo and behold, my first specks on my spec (pardon the pun). the tiny black spots don't bother me, but one was a greyish scar about two inches long, and when i rubbed it it got darker and smudgier well, i hope i can touch it up...

hi bstheeo, welcome to the spec drivers community! yeah, the spec is improperly dampened, according to mike kojima, resident sentra god. it took some getting used to, coming off a sled-on-rails s14 240sx myself. better shocks will help, and there's quite a lot of discussion about what's a good suspension setup. check nissan performance mag and the sentra net for b14/b15 suspension articles written by mike kojima. also, check your tire pressures, my dealer put both lefts at 30psi and both rights at 40psi so i had funky handling until i fixed it

thanks lurker for the above advice...i will make sure to check the tire pressure....currently, im trying to convince the dealership to trade me out a set of stock sentra springs and shocks, but I am not confident that I will get what I want...one piece of leverage that I DO have is the fact that there is an important survey that nissan sends to all of its new customers...it was mentioned about 4 times to me during the sale that the survey was very important, and that I need to mark excellent so that they could keep their jobs.....guess I will have to hint to the general manager that I will not not be happy unless he makes something happen, and that my feelings will be honestly expressed in the survey

i just did some searching on suspension...what is mike's board name? i also found a post about you being at kadena air station....small world. I was over there on a 6 month tour about 2 yrs ago. anyways, stupid question 4 ya.....what does the b14/b15 numbers mean? Do these refer to the engines or a certain model of car?

I just bought a silver 02 Spec v with 18k miles on it. As a law the dealer has to disclose any work done to the car prior to the sale. Mine has a brand new engine and clutch! I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing?
Actually, they did alot of work to it:
New deck lid and spoiler. To replace the huge rice-boy aluminum wing.
New rear bumper cover. To replace the one that melted from the aftermarket muffler.
New headlight wiring harness. To replace the one that melted from the goofy blue bulbs.
The good thing: They left the custom Katskinz black and silver leather interior and the Progress springs

sounds to me that there seem to be problems with all of our spec-v's, i recently wrote a letter to nissan themselves, of course it was three days ago with no response yet from them. Sounds like a trend with both the dealerships and nissan themselves. No return info when questions are asked. escpecially when it is bad things about their product. We will have to see what happens. i myself am about to start selling all the after market parts and get rid of my spec. but will wait a little longer to see if nissan contacts me back. As for the suspension, if you think the stock is stiff deffinately stay away from most aftermarket set-ups. they are stiffer to help the handling. if you put regular sentra springs and srtuts n your car will then feel like a sponge.