Unhinged rant about my Q60 that has me cynical about the new Z

[takemorepills]

Warning, rant ahead. Those who want to enjoy their new Z, navigate away.
Those wondering why we're still here and thirsty for negativity, read on.....

Been waiting for a Z for years now. Yes, we can all say that. Years.....

Meanwhile, I've been mostly enjoying my 2014 Q60 AWD. However, between the bullshit Nissan has been pulling with the new Z and also my experience with my 9 year old Q60, I've about written-off Nissan altogether.

My Q60 was $44k loaded, AWD, when new. I'm looking at $55k for less seats, less driven wheels, no memory seats, etc... Ok, inflation and all ...

However, my Q60 is fucking falling apart and it ain't right. It's a Nissan thing.
The paint is absolute shit. I'm sending it to the body shop to get parts repainted that the paint just wore off of:

Our 2003 Acura TL with 3x the mileage has no paint issues like this.
Apparently, paint issues and Nissan are a very common problem.
How do we presume a $55k Z won't do the same crap?

What's worse than the paint fading?
Chinese parts.
My car was made in Japan with Japanese parts. Now I know most of us enthusiasts will prefer a Japanese made car. However, Nissan has been moving parts production to China. I'm pissed about that. My main pride with these vehicles is Japanese reliability, because hey, it's not ultimate performance, right?
Lately, Nissan obsoleted the Japan wiper blades, the oil filters are Chinese, and my new OEM struts are from China too....
Chinese parts on a subpar car asking for premium money?

The previously Japanese made wipers that Nissan obsoleted, if you want OEM wipers, they now come from DongFeng Nissan China:

If Nissans are no longer fully Japanese, the paint rubs off, and now it's $55k for a rwd 2 seater rehashed from a 20 year old platform, what's the point?

Where's Dan Passe?!

 

[bpeckham]

I guess I've had better luck with my 2012 G37S. Although, I must say that the rear spoiler on my car has some clear coat issues. I suspect this was a dealer installed option since it has a third brake light, and I also have a disconnected third brake light in the rear window. Otherwise, my G37S has been pretty good. I'm going to miss it. I'm hoping the Z will help me drown my sorrows.

 

[bpeckham]

I'm sending it to the body shop to get parts repainted that the paint just wore off of:

What part is this? I recognize most of the stuff in this photo except the thing on the roof. Is it a rear-view mirror cover?

But yeah, looks like some significant fading there.

Here's my 12-year old rear spoiler.

The rest of the car looks great.

Could this be a "red" issue? Red often has problems with UV light washing it out. But maybe Nissan is worse than others with red.

 

[jdm-rhd]

i hear you on the quality thing. when i compare all the nissans ive owned to my toyotas...there is no comparison.

not saying all toyotas are perfect, but even my 93 and 95 supras seemed better built with no issues...

was thinking nissans sports cars like the gtr and hopefully the new Z would be better. would still live to own an r32 someday

 

[takemorepills]

What part is this? I recognize most of the stuff in this photo except the thing on the roof. Is it a rear-view mirror cover?

But yeah, looks like some significant fading there.

It's the mirror cap. I popped them off because the body shop was complaining that if the clips broke, the bill would go way up. So, I am having the rear bumper, both mirror caps and the 2 a-pillar caps re-painted.

I also have a 16 y/o Nissan Titan. Supposedly, the Titans had garbage paint too. Mine has lived every day of it's 16 years outside, never washed more than 3x/yr and only waxed once. The paint is basically perfect, but other Titan (and Frontier/Pathfinder) owners have had bad issues.

Weird thing, is my Q60 is treated way better than the Titan, waxed every year... and the paint issues persist. This is the SECOND time I've had to deal with the mirror caps.....first time I replaced them, this time I'm having a body shop repaint them. Why the issue only affects plastic parts stumps me too.....

On the positive side....the reliability of this car is stellar. Maintenance is easy too. However, my bitching about Chinese parts is because I believe the car is so reliable due to being "mostly" quality Japanese parts.
No one moves manufacturing to China to improve quality, it gets moved there to improve profit margin.
I worry the reliability of my car will degrade if I can't find OEM Japanese parts....

 

[takemorepills]

i hear you on the quality thing. when i compare all the nissans ive owned to my toyotas...there is no comparison.

not saying all toyotas are perfect, but even my 93 and 95 supras seemed better built with no issues...

was thinking nissans sports cars like the gtr and hopefully the new Z would be better. would still live to own an r32 someday

My wife has a 2020 Corolla HB, which are made in Japan. When I installed some OEM accessories on it, I was pleasantly surprised that all of the parts I saw said "Made in Japan" on them. The accessories were made in USA, which I like too.

Honestly, I'd get a Corolla GR over a Z any day, IF I could find one. I do feel that Toyota is better than Nissan. Love my Titan, but if it were destroyed I'd be looking at a Tundra to replace it. New Titan is poo.....

 

[RicerX]

I understand you're frustrated. But bro. Really. We're splitting hairs on wiper blades? None of them last longer than six months - I don't care where they come from.

I also live in the south.

 

[TheGuverment]

Unhinged you say?

 

[ec15]

I understand you're frustrated. But bro. Really. We're splitting hairs on wiper blades? None of them last longer than six months - I don't care where they come from.

I also live in the south.

He`s the resident forum grump thses days.
First it was bad Nissan engineers and now where Nissan parts come from..
Someone needs to find him a Z and his grey clouds will disappear.
His messages sounds like he doesn't want it but we know how he really feels.

 

[ZDreamer]

What part is this? I recognize most of the stuff in this photo except the thing on the roof. Is it a rear-view mirror cover?

But yeah, looks like some significant fading there.

Here's my 12-year old rear spoiler.

The rest of the car looks great.

...

Could this be a "red" issue? Red often has problems with UV light washing it out. But maybe Nissan is worse than others with red.

If they use the good clear coat w/ high VOC, it can protect the paint regardless of color. The problem w/ waterborne paint is the control of humidity during spraying and curing. Humidity in air line (to feed the spray gun) can screw the high VOC paint up, just as well as the environment (w/o humidity control) can screw up the curing process for waterborne paint.

During rain season (in Houston) between June and November, it's not the best idea to have the car painted unless the spraying booth have curing lights and the space is air conditioned to control humidity.

 

[Blackbeard]

Warning, rant ahead. Those who want to enjoy their new Z, navigate away.
Those wondering why we're still here and thirsty for negativity, read on.....

Been waiting for a Z for years now. Yes, we can all say that. Years.....

Meanwhile, I've been mostly enjoying my 2014 Q60 AWD. However, between the bullshit Nissan has been pulling with the new Z and also my experience with my 9 year old Q60, I've about written-off Nissan altogether.

My Q60 was $44k loaded, AWD, when new. I'm looking at $55k for less seats, less driven wheels, no memory seats, etc... Ok, inflation and all ...

However, my Q60 is fucking falling apart and it ain't right. It's a Nissan thing.
The paint is absolute shit. I'm sending it to the body shop to get parts repainted that the paint just wore off of:

Our 2003 Acura TL with 3x the mileage has no paint issues like this.
Apparently, paint issues and Nissan are a very common problem.
How do we presume a $55k Z won't do the same crap?

What's worse than the paint fading?
Chinese parts.
My car was made in Japan with Japanese parts. Now I know most of us enthusiasts will prefer a Japanese made car. However, Nissan has been moving parts production to China. I'm pissed about that. My main pride with these vehicles is Japanese reliability, because hey, it's not ultimate performance, right?
Lately, Nissan obsoleted the Japan wiper blades, the oil filters are Chinese, and my new OEM struts are from China too....
Chinese parts on a subpar car asking for premium money?

The previously Japanese made wipers that Nissan obsoleted, if you want OEM wipers, they now come from DongFeng Nissan China:

If Nissans are no longer fully Japanese, the paint rubs off, and now it's $55k for a rwd 2 seater rehashed from a 20 year old platform, what's the point?

Where's Dan Passe?!

gez us is that a mirror cap or an old piece of leather lol . first thing that popped into my head

 

[takemorepills]

gez us is that a mirror cap or an old piece of leather lol . first thing that popped into my head

I dropped the car off at the body shop yesterday, my service rep used to work at a Nissan shop, he said that the clear coat is debonding from the base coat. Pretty common on Nissans. Then he pointed to the spoiler on my Q60 and said "that'll be next"

 

[bpeckham]

Then he pointed to the spoiler on my Q60 and said "that'll be next"

Probably. Yours is two years newer than mine, so the timing works out.

I used to work someplace where I parked in a parking garage, and (of course) I garage it at home, so most of its life has been out of the sun. At my recent jobs, I park outside, so a lot more UV exposure.

How are your headlights looking? Mine are pretty good, just starting to yellow a bit. I wonder how the Z's headlights will fare.

 

[West Aussie]

Probably. Yours is two years newer than mine, so the timing works out.

I used to work someplace where I parked in a parking garage, and (of course) I garage it at home, so most of its life has been out of the sun. At my recent jobs, I park outside, so a lot more UV exposure.

How are your headlights looking? Mine are pretty good, just starting to yellow a bit. I wonder how the Z's headlights will fare.

My son has a 20 year old commodore v6
It was his grandfathers and came to him in perfect condition as it was always garaged.
But we only have a 1 car garage so his car stays on the verge.
The bright sparkling red pain faded in less than a year.
When it’s old paint, it doesn’t take much for it to lose its sparkle

 

[takemorepills]

How are your headlights looking? Mine are pretty good, just starting to yellow a bit. I wonder how the Z's headlights will fare.

Mine has the smoked version headlights, they still look ok. A very tiny bit of yellowing occuring at a few edges. Not too worried, I polished the headlights on my Titan 3 years ago and they seem to be holding up, and it was pretty easy.

My car is a 2014 and spends every day outside.