Nissan to cut several models, including the 370Z?

In reply to z31maniac :

Did you even read the whole post? 

Shadeux said:

Klayfish said:

The article says the Z is a decade old, but I think it's even older than that, isn't it?  Seeing how my car (G37) is very heavily related to it, I don't want to knock it too much.  However, when I think Nissan 370Z, I think "ancient".  if it doesn't get a complete redo, I think it's time to put it out to pasture.

If the Versa goes, then what will rental fleets do for economy cars??  Chevy Spark, here we come....

Oh God, I had to rent a Versa with a CVT for a one-way trip. It was offensive in every possible way. I mean, I wanted "cheap and get me there,", but I did not anticipate the hours of hatred it caused.

I had a Versa rental car last year.  Worst car I had ever driven up to that point.  The Aveo I had in Ecuador this year is the current holder of that title.

I can't rent a car anymore without tripping over Frontiers. They are stinkin everywhere in the rental world. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Though I dont disagree with most of your post, you're inaccurate on a few things. 

The armada is no longer based on the titan. Been a couple years already with the Patrol chassis. 

Frontier is currently being updated,  but still selling well so....

GTR has had a lot of updates through the years, and is a different car to drive current to US origional.  Still due for a update. 

Murano is far more upscale than the Rogue.  Totally different market.  Now, if you argued it was redundant compared to the Infiniti version, I'd have agreed with you. 

Maxima is a much nicer car than even the most loaded Altima as well. Would be a great car...if only  the got rid of that GD CVT. 

Shadeux said:

Klayfish said:

The article says the Z is a decade old, but I think it's even older than that, isn't it?  Seeing how my car (G37) is very heavily related to it, I don't want to knock it too much.  However, when I think Nissan 370Z, I think "ancient".  if it doesn't get a complete redo, I think it's time to put it out to pasture.

If the Versa goes, then what will rental fleets do for economy cars??  Chevy Spark, here we come....

Oh God, I had to rent a Versa with a CVT for a one-way trip. It was offensive in every possible way. I mean, I wanted "cheap and get me there,", but I did not anticipate the hours of hatred it caused.

I had one as a rental in February. Is there some special way to drive a CVT car? Because that thing kept lurching whenever I came to a complete stop. 

I drove an early Versa CVT.  It was probably the only CVT I've ever driven that drove exactly how I would expect a CVT to drive.  Want to accelerate?  It would accelerate until the engine got to 5600 or so (peak power) and stay there until you lifted your foot off the floor.  More economical driving was similar except at a more efficient RPM/load target.

I honestly didn't have much of an issue with it.  I wouldn't want to own it, but it was seriously not any worse than many of the automatics available in econo cars at the time.

Nissan seems determined to go the way of Suzuki and Mitsubishi automobiles - complete irrelevance 

I think a lot of people dissing Nissan have not compared the comfort of rear seats, especially in the cheaper cars. Nissan sells cars by connecting with normal people. We're the weird ones. I think they're having a lot more trouble with their enthusiast fan base than with regular people just buying on comfort and convenience. 

In reply to Vigo :

Profits are down 99% and sales are down 15%. We're not the only ones disenchanted with Nissan. Reportedly up to 40% of their sales are fleet. They announced axing like 12,000 jobs today.

In reply to Vigo :

yep until my Versa got shortened by a hit and run driver last Thursday the number one compliment especially from tall people was the rear leg room.  It's the primary reason I bought it and also the $3,800 buy in for a '12 hatch with M/T.  The manual is the number one comment getter but the rear leg-room is greatly appreciated as a lot of UberX cars are dismal in that regard. 

There is one significant upside in their future. David Woodhouse who led the design turnaround at Lincoln, recently quit Ford to become global head of Design at Nissan. The future may or may not have more crap products, but they will look infinitely better!

The last versa I rented had me wishing i was in a 92 Sentra. 
Milquetoast Altima is still topping sales charts because America. 
Maxima is irrelevant and actually smaller than the Altima now. 
Z and GTR are way past their expiration dates. Just get a used one. 
Leaf. I guess they have to make this but it's among the worst EV's. Do they still have uncooled batteries?

That leaves the CUV's. I can't comment because they're invisible to me. 
If FCA's Sergio M was still around, he'd be asking for a date with Nissan 

People like to rag on the 370Z, but go test drive some competitors. ...You know in the segment that most embodies our hobby and almost ceases to exist. I honestly think it drives well, it's nimble, short wheelbase, has some decent power, looks good. Yes the platform is a bit old, but for a fun street car it checks the boxes and I think stands up well. Around here, it's the same money as a base Toyota 86. The 86/BRZ has better steering, but the engine is terrible. I'd take a 370Z all day over a 86/BRZ, although I know that's not a popular position. The FRS/BRZs I've driven also seem to have somewhat snappy oversteer at low limits, although some of the issue has been even lower than OEM grip replacement tires. My old RX-8 with winter tires behaved far better... I was leaning towards getting one, but my biggest issue is that a lack of sensation of speed. It's kind of an unfair complaint, but it's basically not a Miata. I'm leaning towards a FiST now...

I'm not sure what the interior is like in the new 86s, but it was pretty bad in the earlier FRS. Despite being an older design, the base 370Z's interior is much better. I'd say the highest spec BRZ models I've seen are close to the base 370Z's interior. Not that either are great.

I think the 370Z has aged reasonably well and still has a minor halo effect. Yes the FM platform has been around for a while, but the comparison to the fox body platform isn't completely fair. There were other cars in the 80s which had superior chassis/suspension/steering, etc. By the end of the run it was ridiculously out classed, perhaps with the '03-'04 SVT Cobras exempted (trying to be fair, haven't driven).

Last year I drove a Altima with a CVT and didn't mind it - it wasn't terrible.

There's no question Nissan has a brand identity problem and few standout models. I don't have a problem with older designs that have a market niche and might make sense at a price point, but Nissan probably can't rely on it as much as they do and the prices of most seem to be average.

cdeforrest said:

Leaf. I guess they have to make this but it's among the worst EV's. Do they still have uncooled batteries?

The 2nd gen Leaf uses liquid cooling, I believe.

EDIT: THEY DON'T. Inside EVs shows they only have "additional fans".

I think they biffed in not building the IDX.

I was ready to go buy that thing assuming they put a manual gear box in it. 

On Wikipedia, Jay Leno apparently thought it was fun to drive, as did the car magazines. 

While a NISMO version would probably have been a turbo, a nice N/A 2.5 with a 6sp, drop the sound deadening version would've been awesome.  Build a sedan on it (ala the e30s), use the platform for a lighter Z-car with the hot rod v6.

Could've drawn some excitement to the brand.  IMO, anyway...

Agreed on the failure to make the IDX- though now with Ghosn out, it's possible! After all, the thing was ready to go into produciton so it COULD be a kind of stopgap...

In reply to OldGray320i :

IDX could have been their FRS.. it hurts to see that thing. 

Thing is, Toyo86 sales aren't really that great now. Unless it's a hybrid Ev thingie I don't see it getting green lit.  Wait how about a crossover ! :(

Snrub said:

People like to rag on the 370Z, but go test drive some competitors. ...You know in the segment that most embodies our hobby and almost ceases to exist. I honestly think it drives well, it's nimble, short wheelbase, has some decent power, looks good. Yes the platform is a bit old, but for a fun street car it checks the boxes and I think stands up well. Around here, it's the same money as a base Toyota 86.

Really? That's odd to me as 370s seem to have a definite price premium over the twins where I am. There aren't very many of either option near me (5 370s and 2 BRZs) but the cheapest new 370z is a 2019 base model asking over 32k, with a couple over $40k. The BRZs are both high end Limited trim and asking 28k and 29k.

The problem with both of those cars is that there are 18 new Mustang GTs, and 100 total Mustang coupes within the same search radius that are sub $33k. They'll give similar or better performance, fuel economy and functionality (trunk space/back seat) than either the 370 or the twins for the same money (or less).

1988RedT2 said:

I'd be very much okay if they stopped selling all of them.

I was unaware they still made the 370Z.

STM317 said:

Really? That's odd to me as 370s seem to have a definite price premium over the twins where I am. There aren't very many of either option near me (5 370s and 2 BRZs) but the cheapest new 370z is a 2019 base model asking over 32k, with a couple over $40k. The BRZs are both high end Limited trim and asking 28k and 29k.

The problem with both of those cars is that there are 18 new Mustang GTs, and 100 total Mustang coupes within the same search radius that are sub $33k. They'll give similar or better performance, fuel economy and functionality (trunk space/back seat) than either the 370 or the twins for the same money (or less).

I'm in Canada, but the price difference is not radically different in the US. 370Z MSRP is $31k in the US, they the same in CDN, which is ~$23,500 US. Toyota 86's MSRP is $28k, so they are still competitors on price. You can pickup a couple year old, low mile 370z up here for ~$17500-18500 US within 1-2 hours of the boarder. I'd definitely take a 370Z over an ecoboost mustang. The 370Z splits the MSRP of the ecoboost and GT, but I see your point.

Adrian_Thompson said:

There is one significant upside in their future. David Woodhouse who led the design turnaround at Lincoln, recently quit Ford to become global head of Design at Nissan. The future may or may not have more crap products, but they will look infinitely better!

With all due respect, Adrain, what in the world did he do for Lincoln?  I see no real change in the product, and sales still suck.

TGMF said:

In reply to Tony Sestito :

 

Though I dont disagree with most of your post, you're inaccurate on a few things. 

The armada is no longer based on the titan. Been a couple years already with the Patrol chassis. 

Frontier is currently being updated,  but still selling well so....

GTR has had a lot of updates through the years, and is a different car to drive current to US origional.  Still due for a update. 

 

Murano is far more upscale than the Rogue.  Totally different market.  Now, if you argued it was redundant compared to the Infiniti version, I'd have agreed with you. 

Maxima is a much nicer car than even the most loaded Altima as well. Would be a great car...if only  the got rid of that GD CVT. 

 

Ok, you got me on the Armada; I forgot they changed over to the Patrol chassis a few years back. Still, I don't get why the thing costs $47,000 to start. That thing should really be the Pathfinder. Hell, wasn't it called the Pathfinder Armada at one point? Ditch the CVT killer that is the current Pathfinder and bring glory back to the name!

On the Maxima and Murano, are they really that much different than a loaded Altima/Rogue to warrant their existence in a saturated lineup fielded by a financially troubled company? Size-wise, they are nearly the same. Only difference is that they have a V6. You could get the Altima with a V6 until this newest refresh, and they changed that out for a turbo 4. I've done time in all of those cars, and the top tier models are not that much different inside.

On the Maxima specifically, I remember back around 2000-01 when the rumor mill started churning about the next Maxima. I owned a '89 SE at the time and was really excited to see if the new car was going to continue the tradition of offering a performance sport sedan bargain. People thought it was going to end up with a FR drivetrain and ditch the FWD architecture for RWD and optional AWD. Even some of the dealers got info indicating that was going to happen. Instead, Infiniti got that car (the G35) and we ended up with the "Skunk Stripe" Maxima instead. They had been doing so well, but this thing marked the beginning of the end of their glory days.

The Frontier has "been getting an update" for the past 10 years. Hopefully, this time it's for real. For the record, I actually LIKE the current one. I hope the next one is good. It really needs to be.

And on the GTR, yes, if they expect people to actually buy them (and I don't think they really do at this point), they need to update the thing. There are a lot of other cars that offer a better value at this point. Hell, you could almost buy TWO of the new mid-engined Corvettes for the MSRP of one aged GTR. Or a Hellcat, or a Shelby Mustang, or a ZR1, or....

They need to get back to basics. I think that the only hope is if they can get their release from Renault and reinvent themselves. Look at Mazda as an example. They have been on a tear since their departure from Ford! I hope Nissan can do the same.

bmw88rider said:

I can't rent a car anymore without tripping over Frontiers. They are stinkin everywhere in the rental world. 

I just got one for a Indy to Harrisburg drive, yikes!

I saw this on my way home yesterday lol