[jinxxycat]

Autoweek: Car News

Z tire wear prompts lawsuit
Not content with Nissan’s tire-wear warranty extension on 2003 350Zs (AW, April 26), a Texas attorney has filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of owners of 2003 and 2004 model 350Zs, seeking damages and costs of up to $74,500 per owner. Attorney Mikal Watts called Nissan’s warranty offer “a Band-Aid fix” for a much more serious problem, according to a report in the Alice (Texas) Echo-News Journal. Nissan stands by its offer to fix front-end alignment problems that it says caused tire wear in 2003 350Zs.

 

[cedusett]

74,500 per owner? Jesus that's a lot of money! Although I think that's a bit ludicrous to ask of Nissan, I woudln't mind taking it and putting it towards a new 2005 edition, complete with Greddy TT, and other goodies

 

[smoothz]

My 'born on' date is 11/02. I have had Nissan fix the noise by switching the tires to opposite sides. Since I am the second owner of this fairly new car (13k miles now), I wonder if I will get an official letter from Nissan? That would be nice.

 

[nismokid]

Wow, $75k per owner seems a bit high to me. I don't get it why some lawyers do this (for the money, sigh...). My car did drift to the right, but that was fixed under warranty and my tires are a bit loud, but they're performance tires! I haven't had the feathering issue, but I've only had 5,300 miles on my car. I don't think this guy stands a chance. Nissan has already offered (letter in the mail with your car's VIN) free tires for anyone with the problem...

 

[DiRN]

That's insane!! How can they justify asking twice the MSRP of the car??

 

[jinxxycat]

Actually not free tires for EVERYONE with the problem. You have to meet the criteria that they have given you in the letter. Aftermarket wheels? No dice, SOL. Too many miles? They make you pay a percentage. I didn't read it in DEPTH but there are a few examples.

 

[cedusett]

Yeah totally. I think asking 70+K for the problem is a bit much, but I definately don't think Nissan is in the clear on this. All they've done is extend the warranty on the suspension (for a select stock group of people)... and even in that case, eventually the warranty will run out.

It's a band-aid solution, but no matter what, eventually you'll run out of time, and Nissan still hasn't come up with a FIX for it. Basically, they're giving you a little more time to enjoy the Z before it's 'not their problem' anymore. Once that happens, you'll still have feathering, they'll still have no fix, and unfortunately they think that's ok.

 

[lionkiller]

Smooth- The TSB phases out tire reimbursement per mileage, even with the extended wty.

My (ex) dealer warranteed the tires (by 'mistake')...I bought a car with 21k onb the clock...Then the dealer called us & said 'we made a mistake...that'll be $425 for the tires...come in & pay. (the tires are <$200 ea. @ Tire Rack)

Well, I'm lookin at a receipt that says 'warranteed' for the tire replacement, so I'm not inclined to hop in the car & go see the folks who dissed my wife, lied about how long the job would take,etc... After telling us the car would be ready the evening of the day we brought it in, they had my car three full days to do the alignment, mount & balance 2 tires, replace a broken (cheezy) footrest...didn't bother to call & tell us either...just let us hang.

Get your ride in & make sure they prorate the tire replacement to when you bought the car, since this is a known problem.

We just filled out our Nissan service survey 'real nice'

....& if they want the rest a the $$, they can s#ck on my footrest.

MAybe a class action will put the fear of bog into Nissan...this is a serious problem, which I don't think has been adequately addressed.

 

[gdojr]

I got new tires at no charge, but was told I would not get them again...

 

[smoothz]

Lionkiller, you think I should talk to my dealer about the tire issue? Even though I'm the second owner and bought it from them? I bought the car at 9500 miles, and they switched the tires. I don't want to press it, and I don't seem to have the problem right now. Is there a way to check if we qualify based on the VIN? I seem to remember somebody posting that...

Thanks in advance.

 

[DiRN]

I don't know that the VIN range is posted on here anywhere. Maybe someone with the letter could do that

 

[JTS2005]

so basically what does this mean for us owners that have a 2003 model?

 

[nismokid]

I'm looking at my letter right now and it's for "Model Year 2003 350Z vehicles." It says that tires with less than 21,001 miles will be replaced free of charge, but tires "between 21,001 and 30,000 miles will be prorated and Nissan will pay for a percentage of tire replacement cost." I guess our tires are suppose to last 30,000 miles because our car warranty is 36,000 miles and I guess they aren't responsible for anything after 36k miles.

Edit: They have a list for what needs to be present for the tires to be replaced. They won't replace anyone's tires. The tires have show an irregular wear pattern and it will cause "tire roar" or "tire growl." You can't have aftermarket rims or tires. They have to be OE tires with either the factory rims, Nismo rims, or Nismo s-tune.

 

[smoothz]

Guess I had better jack up the car and turn the steering wheel to see if I have any uneven wear. My basic argument, if it comes to that, is that everything I have on the Z is from the factory. If there is a problem, the warranty should cover it, no matter who the owner is.

 

[DiRN]

No need to jack it up, just run your hand over the top of the tire on the inside, if you feel it wearing unevenly, then you have a problem

 

[smoothz]

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately for my hands, I'm a visual kind of guy...hey, wrong forum - oops!

 

[Richard 350z]

The only one who ever benefits from a class action lawsuit is the plaintiffs' lawyer. Don't believe any of this BS.

 

[cedusett]

That's not true. Obviously he will benefit the MOST, but we'll get something for it.

I had a crappy AIWA cd changer a while back that sucked and kept breaking. Eventually I paid about 100 bucks to have it fixed, and it broke again. About a year later I was contacted about a class action law suit saying they'd fix it, give you 100 bucks or so, or if you had already had it fixed they'd reimburse you... unfortunately I didn't keep my receipt.

 

[lionkiller]

Smooth -sorry not to get back to a brutha.....

After reading the TSB, I looked up under my car & saw, felt the feathering wear. I noticed the road noise as well, but didn't get to drive the car much at 1st, as Mrs. K had pressing roadwork.

I'd definitely talk to the dealer. They sold the car, knowing feathering/ alignment is an issue...& imho, should own up. But you know how it goes with opinions.

I expect those f#cks will mail me a bill any day now...

 

[James]

Hey,

I just bought my Z a couple weeks ago and love it! I bought it even after studying some about this tire issue. I found this site exremely informative and mature as one man's story of dealing with the problem

http://www.lasercannon.com/Newz/feathering.htm

Last time I looked, his problem still was not solved, he seemed to reach a conclusion that the problem ultimately is not curable by adjustment, but is in fact a design flaw. I dunno. I think th lawsuit at it's heart is less about the money and more about making Nissan take their dicks in their hands and own up to the problem and take some serious measures to actually help people. There's no way they'll pay the exorbitant amount that this scheister is asking, but it could help shine a more public spotlight on the issue?

When did you guys start to notice your prblems? I've only got about 1000k on my car which is still factory from head to toe. She seems loud at some times, but I can't tell if it's a problem yet or just the nature of the car.