2003 Nissan 350Z

PURCHASED 2003 NISSAN 350Z JANUARY 2003. VEHICLE SUFFERS FROM A CHRONIC TIRE CUPPING PROBLEM. TIRES WERE REPLACED BY NISSAN AT ~5,000 MILES. THIS WAS ONLY DONE AT MY INSISTENCE. NISSAN'S PUBLISHED (SEE THEIR TSB) APPROACH IS TO DISMOUNT TIRES AND ROTATE SIDE TO SIDE. NOW AT ~6,000 MILES AND NEW TIRES ARE CUPPING. VEHICLE ALSO SUFFERS FROM A SEVERE PURPOSING (BOUNCE) PROBLEM THAT PARTICULARLY MANIFESTS ITSELF ON CONCRETE ROADWAYS. AT HIGHWAY SPEED IT IS SO SEVERE THAT THE CAR FEELS AS THOUGH IT IS BECOMING AIRBORNE. NISSAN HAS NOT, OF YET, ADDRESSED EITHER OF THESE PROBLEMS WITH A PERMANENT FIX. *JB

FRONT TIRE "FEATHERING." THERE IS A COMMON FRONT END SUSPENSION PROBLEM WITH MANY OF THE FIRST YEAR NISSAN 350Z'S RELEASED THAT CAUSES THE FRONT TIRES TO WEAR UNEVENLY AND PREMATURELY FAIL. IT CAN FIRST BECOME NOTICEABLE AT SEVERAL THOUSAND MILES. THE FRONT TIRES MAKE EXCESSIVE NOISE UNDER BRAKING AT SPEEDS BELOW 40 MPH. I HAVE CONTACTED NISSAN NORTH AMERICA ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS AND HAD MY VEHICLE IN FOR SERVICE AT THE DEALERSHIP, BUT TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, A FIX IS NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. I REPLACED THE ORIGINAL TIRES AT 4000 MILES BECAUSE OF THE NOISE, THEN DISCOVERED AT A CHAT ROOM THAT MANY OTHER 350Z OWNERS WERE HAVING SIMILAR PROBLEMS. ONCE REMOVED, AN INSPECTION SHOWED UNEVEN WEAR ON THE INSIDE EDGE OF THE TIRE THAT I WAS PREVIOUSLY UNAWARE OF. NISSAN HAS AGREED TO REIMBURSE THE COST OF ONE REPLACEMENT SET OF TIRES, BUT MY CONCERN IS THAT THE VEHICLE WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE PREMATURE TIRE WEAR PROBLEMS UNLESS FIXED. I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE, BUT AM CONVINCED THAT A MECHANICAL DEFECT EXISTS, NISSAN IS AWARE OF IT AND A MAJORITY OF EARLY ISSUE CARS ARE EFFECTED. *JB

I AM CONCERNED ABOUT MY NISSAN 350Z SUSPENSION/TIRES. I HAVE BEEN READING A LOT OF BULLETIN BOARD ENTRIES ON WWW.MY350Z.COM AND WWW.ZCAR.COM ABOUT VEHICLES MANUFACTURED BEFORE DEC. OF 2002. I ALSO VISITED THE NISSAN WEBSITE AND SEE THAT THERE IS A TECH BULLETIN POSTED ABOUT THE WEAR ON THE TIRES. THERE APPEARS TO BE AN ISSUE WITH THE SUSPENSION SET UP ON THE 350Z THAT IS RESULTING IN EXCESSIVE WEAR ON THE TIRES OR FEATHERING. THERE ARE A LOT OF PICTURES ON THE WWW.MY350Z.COM WEBSITE OF ACTUAL TIRES. THE FEATHERING SEEMS TO BEGIN ANYWHERE FROM 5000 TO 10000 MILES.*JB

MY NEW NISSAN 2003 350Z WAS DELIVERED OUT OF ALIGNMENT. THIS HAS CAUSED MY TIRE TO BE SEVERELY WORN ON THE IN SIDE EDGE OF TIRE (BOTH FRONT TIRES). NISSAN'S SOLUTION IS TO ROTATE FRONT TIRES SO THAT THE WORN/CUPPED PORTION OF THE TIRE IS ON THE OUTSIDE EDGE OF TIRE. WHAT KIND OF SOLUTION IS THIS? THE LIFE EXPECTANCY OF MY TIRE HAS BEEN GREATLY REDUCED AND HAS JEOPARDIZED MY SAFETY!

THE CAR HAS TERRIBLE FEATHERING ON THE INSIDE EDGES OF THE FRONT TIRES. PROBLEM STARTED AFTER 7,500 MILES. CONTACT PATCHES ON THE INSIDE TIRE TREAD ARE WEARING UNEVENLY. I HAD THE CAR ALIGNED BY NISSAN ON 2-21-03 AND THE PROBLEM HAS GOTTEN WORSE. THIS REALLY SCARES ME AND COULD LEAD TO UNSAFE DRIVING DUE TO POOR DESIGN AND UNEVEN TREAD ON THE TIRES. THE CAR IS A NISSAN 350Z. RECEIVED IN AUGUST 2002. *JB