Any first model year problems found?

Jan 4th, 2003, 12:17 AM

My brother and I recently went halves on a 2003 Spec V. After we came home with the lil badass I immedietely started lurking on these boards and was glad to find that we apparently saved ourselves from some problems found on the '02 that have been (hopefully) solved by Nissan for the '03 model year.

As much as I love my new Spec V I am seriously debating getting a Z. My question is are there any problems or nuances that have been found in the new '03 Z that suggest waiting for the '04 model year?

Jan 20th, 2003, 09:00 PM

I too would like to know of any problems. I finally went for a test drive today and I think I have to have one. My biggest worry is the auto trans. I currently own a manual wrx and with all the tranny problems with the subaru, I am switching to auto.
Thanks
Ron

Jan 26th, 2003, 01:37 PM

I just bought a 2003 touring and have put 4000 miles on it without any problems I have the auto and by far the best auto stick i have ever drivin hope this helps
Dave

Jan 26th, 2003, 08:16 PM

Thanks a lot for your info Dave.

Ron

Jan 27th, 2003, 03:18 PM

No problem By the way its the best car i have ever had the pleasue to drive

**Slurppie** · Jan 28th, 2003, 07:31 AM

I have noticed that several people are complaing about alignment problems and the trouble to have it corrected.

Jan 31st, 2003, 09:42 PM

Picked her up 8 days ago and love it. (Performance model) Trying to break her in right, but sometimes it's hard not to just flick the VDC off and spin those wheels and do donuts.

ricer · Feb 24th, 2003, 10:51 PM

Beautiful Car.

Feb 26th, 2003, 04:00 PM

Fist of all its a great car and I love it, had it now for 4 months and enjoyed every second except for a few.

The problem I have encountered applies only to the manual gearbox. For the record I have been driving manual my entire life or the 7 years I have had a driving license, so it's not an issue of learn to shift...LOL Well could be but then there is something different with the way you are suppose to shift.

Ok, let me stop rambling and get to the point. The problem is that usually when putting pressure on the car, using the 4000-6500 rpm scale the stick get stuck and you can't get in the next gear. So one has to go to "neutral" and release the "clutch" and then try again. Also sometimes when releasing the clucth you hear this sharp popping sound from the transmission like you tried to force the gear (But the gear is at this time in neutral) or like if you release the clutch to fast.

Also it happens very rarly when driving in normal circomstances, but this is very rare.

I don't know what it is but never had this problem with any other car I have owned or driven.

I do remember that somebody told me that the transmission is electronic even with the manual box. And what I'm thinking is that it can't keep up as good when you fast shift at high rpm's. Also a friend has the same car and he has experianced the problem too, so it's not just me.

I tried to get a contact at nissan to give me an explanation, to why it's doing this and if I'm doing anything wrong....but not easy finding a customer feedback email or number. So if anybody of you might know how to get in contact with some technical people I would be happy.

But even having this problem the car in general is worth the buck, it is as I said a great car.

Mar 7th, 2003, 12:30 PM

a friend of mine got a brand new z in sept. they had to replace the transmission because a problem very similar to what you are talking about.

Mar 7th, 2003, 01:44 PM

RE:
"a friend of mine got a brand new z in sept. they had to replace the transmission because a problem very similar to what you are talking about."

Thats very interesting, because my problem has escalated and I hear the grinding noise shifting almost every day now.

I'm going in on service next week Wednesday to check it out so if I could get more info about what Nissan dealer did this job I can always refere my people to them.

I'm positive that I have a serious transmission problem but could you ask your friend if after changing the transmission it never came back?

Also another thing I found and you can ask your friend if he felt a differance is when changing gear there is a huge resistance. The gear goes in but one feels it's too much of a resistance shifting, it's not a fluid movement. So please ask him if he saw a differance in shifting ease I guess you could call it.

Or if you like you can contact me through MSN Messenger, my email is cmaras@hotmail.com but you can't email me as I have it at highest spam control. Also if you use ICQ you can message me at 7182202.

Would really want to get as much info about this before Wednesday 12 March 2003.

Mar 7th, 2003, 02:28 PM

Just read my fist post again and I ddin't mention the grinding noise I get when shifting.

At the time this was not big issue but now it is even worse, what happens is that when shifting from 3rd to 5th the gear goes in but at the same time you hear a loud grinding noise as you forced in the gear without using the clutch.

This only happened at very high RPM's at first but now it happens as low as 2500-3000 RPM's which is normal driving. And atleast 1-2 times a day.

Mar 7th, 2003, 07:42 PM

what happened is that the dealer noticed that problem when they were driving the car off the truck and around the lot. they new before my friend picked it up.

so, they immediately sent for a new transmission, and once it was installed, no more problems.

what you described is the same as what he was going thru. i belive he couldn't shift into 5th, but if he could get it up there, he had no problems getting it to a lower hear. and yah, it was making some nasty noises.

here's the dealer info:

Vision Nissan
1092 Riverside Dr.
Timmins, ON
P4R 1A2
(705) 264-1600

i think you better take care of this asap

Mar 9th, 2003, 09:00 PM

Thnx for teh info, sounds like exact same problem except when driving normally I can get gears in but 5th now makes noise 8 out of 10 times, even in normal shifting conditions.

But thank you for the dealer info it helps alot because I will just tell them to call this dealer for more info if they make a fuss.

Unfortunatly here on Hawaii I have received a weak customer service....people here don't expect you to complain...LOL

Thnx again...

Mar 11th, 2003, 07:43 PM

My girlfriend just got the new Z. The car rides great, no problems yet but thanks for the info.
my Brother is shopping around right now, I don't want him to buy a problem.