2009 Nissan 370Z Touring: Transmission Replaced

Another expensive Nissan to maintain if it's going to require new pads and rotors every 4K miles.

I might consider needing new pads at rotors at 4k miles evidence of abnormal abuse.

@esoterica: Especially so if the transmission proves as durable...

I love the Z but I really hope this is an isolated incident... there are very few excuses for a tranny to go at 4k.

wait...how does the car have only 3900 miles when earlier posts report over 9000 miles?

Nissan's reliability rating by JD Power shows to be very low, lower than the industry average, which is 170 problems per 100 vehicles as opposed to Nissan's 199. Look at the graph at http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2009043
Nissan is rated lower than Hyundai. Nissan's reliability rating is in line with Dodge, which is 202 problems per 100 vehicles. Nissan gets away with good reliability image in public just because it's a Japanese brand.

@mentally

Truedelta actually shows Nissan vehicles rank average to above average- the current gen Altima, Rogue, and Murano all doing exceptionally well. Actually, the current-gen Altima ranks higher than both its foreign and domestic counterparts at the moment at something like 25 problems per 100 vehicles compared to ~30 for the Accord and ~50 for the Fusion.

The Versa and Sentra not so much.

I'm still alarmed at the transmission failure. There really isn't an excuse for that. I hope for Nissan's sake its an isolated incident, because its completely turned off any interest I may have had in this vehicle.

have to agree with compliance,

"There was no charge as there was no evidence of abnormal abuse. It is a sports car, remember."

"a new set of front brake pads and rotors to replace our worn and scarred ones"

"@ 3,944 miles"

even if it has 9k miles, new pads AND rotors?

I know Nissan's can have their problems, but my wife's '04 Xterra SE has had very few problems. 3 warranty repairs in 54K miles, and 2 were caused by rodents chewing through hoses! (they're all over her office building, which is surrounded by a creek).

@ asdf9036 - Haven't you heard? You enter the shop with a broken transmission and leave with the square root of your original mileage and bank account and a new transmission. It's a hidden clause in the Cash for Clunkers stimulus.

Nissan gets reliability ratings from me because of two 94 and 96 Pathfinders I had, one with 190,000 miles and another with 400,000 that I used to drive from South Dakota to Colorado and back. My current vehicle is an 02 Frontier with 107,894 miles on it, and other then a little rust (cause I don't wash it), its been great! I would still trust getting a new one in a heartbeat unless I personally had something like this happen to me. I willing to bet this is isolated, but I have heard of people having their problems with Nissan, so to each their own.

Killing the brakes was our fault as we've explained earlier.

The transmission sticking in gear was the car's fault.

--J. Kavanagh, Engineering Editor

jkavanagh--found the story where you explained the cooked brakes: http://blogs.edmunds.com/roadtests/2009/03/2009-nissan-370z-touring-track-tested.html

I would guess they are just missing a 1 in front of the 3,944.

I continue to love all the negative comments from those who don't drive a z. Please tell us how good the vehicle you drive performs and the repair history.

I've 12 cars over the last 30 years and never had a transmission go. Of course I've owned a Nissan but maybe someday.

Hmmm ... either need an edit feature or I need to proof read better.

Make that...

I've had 12 cars over the last 30 years and never had a transmission go. Of course I've never owned a Nissan but maybe someday. ;)

@s197gt
@esoterica
@compliance
ceramic brake pads on new cars nowadays can be finished in just 1 track day. S2000, G35, G37, in my experience at least, sometimes they couldn't even last the whole track day sessions.

@ mentally
I never trust JD Power rating because they don't categorize the problems between mechanical(major) or interior(minor). This is just not a good enough comparison index for the reliability of a car. If all your interior trim bits fell off, your car can still run, but if just your Crank Position Sensor fell off, your car is hopeless.

@actual370owner-

I had a 80 Fiat X1/9 that I raced in autocross and the brakes lasted 20K miles and the transmission went 68K miles before I tore out the 2nd gear syncro and needed rebuilding, but at least I could double clutch and still drive the car.

Currently own a G8GT that has 15K miles and has not needed a transmission or brake replacement.

$264.04 for PADS AND ROTORS!?!?!

sign me up! i'll slap those rotors on my Z32!
thats the cheapest big brake upgrade ever!

hey kingfish, not trying to be an sob, just trying to make a point that all things break sooner or later. Just look up transmission repair shops in the phone book.....lots of them. Now, I will grant you that no matter what the Edmund guys say, this is an abused car. I broke mine in well, actually still am as I have had it 4 or 5 months and only have about 12k miles. No scoring of my brakes and tranny working well. BUT, I am following the manual and have not had it over 4000 revs yet. Plus, I change oil every 1000k. Your note brought back memories...my 3rd and 4th cars were Fiat Spiders...both 1970 models with the 1438 cc engine. Fun cars. first one met an untimely death, yes I was young and alcohol was involved. The second taught me how to rebuild engines as I blew a headgasket on an epic late nite run from Phoenix to Flagstaff in 1972! Damn, I'm getting old but we could run back then before traffic cameras and radar guns!