Gt-r Leather Quality

[Max_ST-R]

The internet is a wonderful place. A couple of complaints on an aussie forum and suddenly all the thousands of owners have been spoken for worldwide and the car is deemed worthless.

Don't worry Birds, the car is awesome.

Finding a defect on my 175k Nissan doesn't hurt as bad as a 450k Lambo owner breaking a cheap plastic dash switch for the first time.

Very true handbrake, even BIG dollar exotics come thru with some nasty faults and some are fairly noticeable. An alarming amount of NEW Ferrari's and Lambo's seem to spontaneously combust (much to my chagrin), i LOVE those cars, but the fact remains a Nissan GT-R is probably going to come ahead of most supercars, actually most cars full stop in overall terms of quality, reliability and longevity. If some dodgy leather quality is the WORST we see on some vehicles, than that's a good thing...

..and Birds, spend a week at a Ford or Holden dealer workshop, that will give you something to think about!!!! pheeeewwwwww! some of the things those guys see!

[Birds]

Been there done that Max, I'm in the business of making money off manufacturer f*** ups. The difference with the Ford/Holden dealer workshops is the average of a $35,000 car vs a $175,000 car. I know if I forked out half a house for a car...regardless of make; Nissan/Holden/Lambo/Whatever...I would expect $175,000 worth of quality. All manufacturers have faults somewhere, no-one is perfect. But atleast in my experiences the local manufacturers that I deal with have had the guts to recognise their mistakes instead of pawning it off on the customers intelligence.

[Max_ST-R]

All manufacturers have faults somewhere, no-one is perfect. But atleast in my experiences the local manufacturers that I deal with have had the guts to recognise their mistakes instead of pawning it off on the customers intelligence.

hmmm, dunno there, Ford ducked and weaved with brake hose failures on Falcon/Territory and are now doing the same with front ball joint problems on Territory. Then there is the issue of radiators that leak fluid into gearboxes (requiring a re-build) on BA Falcon. Ford haven't exactly been forthcoming about that one either despite many complaints. ZC Vectra suffers the same problem (an $8,000 fix!- ouch!)..but the people I know who have had the problem had it fixed under warranty.

My mate had dodgy brakes on his VZ Clubsport. No track work, just home to work and back in peak hour. One day his brake pedal went to the floor, could barely pull the car up, he had the brakes leak fluid onto his garage floor too. Holden response, just to keep machining the brakes, after several threatening letters, HSV agreed FINALLY to replace the faulty brakes. He had other quality issues too, but at the end of the day it is a $35,000 car with a $70,000 price tag. That car was only a few months old when he had the issue.

Like I said, I agree that the leather on that GT-R should be replaced, but it is far from a sign of a poor quality car, when you hear of catestrophic problems of cars of all price ranges if grain separation on the leather of the side bolsters of the front seats on SOME vehicles is the worst of it..then I would consider that a good result whether it cost $7,500 or $750,000

Ask many BMW, Merc and Audi owners out there about the litany of electrical (and sometimes mechanical) problems with their vehicles (esp older ones). My mate had front window regulators crap themselves on his brand new 320 Ci coupe after a few months ($75,000 car). A friend's brother bought an E36 BMW circa 1996 model (318i) and at 10 years old with only about 110,000kms, the battery kept draining, the 'solution' a new instrument cluster for $3,000, the result?..318i keeps draining it's battery!...the list goes on.

My wife's Maxima is a 2001 Ti with 85,000kms and EVERY single electrical component works, CD, heated seats, climate control, power seats , sunroof, cassette player, elec mirros, not one fault to speak of, mechanically it's perfect too, not one drop of oil (unlike my previous VS Commodore!!!) the only problem, split in the 'pleather' side bolster. I can/will fix that..and I can tell you I'm absolutely rapt that this is the only 'problem' I have with her car.

[Birds]

You say that about the VZ Clubsport as if the Euro cars are not $35,000 mutton dressed in $70,000 guise.

I just said that all manufacturers have faults somewhere. Why you need to feed me quality control stories as if I've never heard them for is beyond me. You forgot to mention Holden's LS1 oil problems by the way - something they did recognise and address at immense cost, even on models that were not proven to have the problem. Anyway, if you read my original post you will see I did not mark the R35 a poor quality car. I said "used car", with an anecdote that Nissan's post-sale service sounds akin to that of a used car dealership.

Your wife's "perfect" Maxima is somewhat irrelevant, given you've listed numerous stories of faults from other people. You can't judge Nissan by your personal experience and then call on your friends' stories when you want to bring other manufacturers' quality control issues into it. If you want to go by personal experience, I've owned a VR Commodore that I could not fault in any way...a Holden Calibra which only ever got a timing belt change. Does that speak for the rest of the production though? Absolutely not. I'm not interested in the problems that cars have...I'm interested in how manufacturers respond to the problems. If Nissan are too cheap and full of pride that they would not address $2000 worth of leather in a $175,000 car that walked out the showroom just weeks ago...it speaks volumes about what they would do should something else go wrong with the car. And it is far too early to be judging the mechanical quality of the R35 when most have not even seen 50,000km of driving, so let's not say the magic words "that won't happen".

Bottom line of it all: $35,000 car...$175,000 car...please tell me which one you would expect to find the fault in? Now tell me which owner is going to be more pissed off after finding that fault...

[Max_ST-R]

Birds, i think I have said on 2 occaisions that Nissan SHOULD definately fix GT Ricers problem leather, I didn't disagree on that...just making the point that problems occur across ALL price ranges and that if dodgy leather quality is the worst of your problems, then that's quite not such a bad thing.

As for Ford and Holden, I still believe they have a looong way to go in terms of customer service and quality.

Also im not saying I'd lay down and accept it, but alot worse happens out there and if you deal in quality control you'll know that. The BMW problems I have put forward are anecodtel, yes, but I have many more stories, some involving 5 series and another with a 7 series,( but where do you stop). The 7 series was replaced with a new vehicle as was a new 3 series that belonged to my dad's mate. I would regard BMW's level of customer service on faults to be on another level compare to Folden.

BTW a trouble free Calibra wow!!!

[Birds]

And that's the difference between buying a Holden and buying a BMW. Why are you comparing customer service and quality between a manufacturer of family sedans frequenting the 35k price range and a prestige manufacturer with an 80k vehicle average? Afterall, that is where the extra money you pay for a BMW goes right? Customer service and quality of workmanship? Maybe a little bit of badge goodwill which was earned for this? That and the Armani suits for the execs. If Holden were selling a BMW M3 priced car like Nissan are, I would make no exception in expecting top quality and customer service for that particular vehicle. Maybe I'm just a picky person, but the case still stands that we have a cheap to fix, obvious problem with a $175,000 car and Nissan are telling him where to go. THAT is shit customer service no matter which way you look at it. Once again, it is not the problem with the car I am concerned about, it is the manufacturer response to it.

[Max_ST-R]

No comparing BMW CS to Holden/HSV or even Lexus who seem to go that extra mile again, but Holden do have many cars upwards of $60K nowadays. HSV GTS now has starting price of $82,000 (for the Auto) and then there is senator and Grange which are all approaching $90K, even a Calais V V8 is $61K and the wagon up around $64K before on-roads....and lets not forget W427 which is GT-R M3 money.

[Birds]

And if I bought a W427 from Holden I would expect GT-R M3 service. I'm not here to defend Holden's customer service Max, I'm complaining about Nissan and any other manufacturer who wants to pull shenanigans on their customers. If I saw a thread on the trim quality of a W427 I would be supporting the owner and complaining about the manufacturer in much the same way as I have done so here.

[Max_ST-R]

How's this for leather quality? The brand spanking new FPV F6 E. Brilliant performing car I'm sure but what a shocking image of the leather for the front seat. This car is a smidge under $80,000 before on-road costs which puts it into the mid 80'K's. There is just no getting around the humble Falcon roots...

[rehab2010]

How's this for leather quality? The brand spanking new FPV F6 E. Brilliant performing car I'm sure but what a shocking image of the leather for the front seat. This car is a smidge under $80,000 before on-road costs which puts it into the mid 80'K's. There is just no getting around the humble Falcon roots...

Max - the leather in that Falcon is probably the best quality component of the entire car

[hungry6]

The seat in that F6 looks like its been trim with a bull scrotum, to be polite. cars will always have fault, but a $175k car and have a dealership baulk and refuse to fix a fault is simply, how would I say it.. hrmmmmm. "crap" now that's another polite word toward Nissan.

But to be honest here, nissan oz isnt really about selling prestige cars, they sells family cars with the odd rocket thrown in every couple of decade.

BMW, Audis and Merc, wouldnt dare to pull that crap off, dunno what the italians would, would they fix it or send the mafias around.

Edited August 3, 2009 by hungry6

[JustinP]

Unfortunately I have never seen a Japanese car with quality leather, including top end Lexus models. I just dont know why the leather never matches what you get in a lower end BMW or Mercedes. And after a few years leather in Japanese always ends up looking shocking! I don't know how they can engineer cars so well, and build things so well, but always mess up on things like that.

[Max_ST-R]

Unfortunately I have never seen a Japanese car with quality leather, including top end Lexus models. I just dont know why the leather never matches what you get in a lower end BMW or Mercedes. And after a few years leather in Japanese always ends up looking shocking! I don't know how they can engineer cars so well, and build things so well, but always mess up on things like that.

My cousin has a 2008 Lexus RX350 (last of previous gen) and that leather is every bit as good as any car I have ever seen. My former boss has a Lexus GS460 and same thing (current LS's are impeccable too), actually any Lexus from late 90's onwards is very good. The grey import Lexus Sc400's/soarers from the early 90's are very average indeed, agree with that.

If you check out BM's and Mercs between 5-10 years old, the leather doesn't stand up any better than a Lexus IMO, although I reckon Porsches look very good years after. If you have seen a lower end BMW or Merc with good looking leather, most likely it isn't leather at all!, Mercedes Artico 'man made leather' is actually vinyl and this vinyl is used is a few models that often exceed the $100K mark. The 320i also has a pleather/cloth combination as std. Pleather/Vinyl/Artico doesn't feel great, but holds up better than real leather in the long run.

My suprise with that FPV F6E is that it is a press image...you'd think they'd use a car in better condition that that!

[John D]

The seat in that F6 looks like its been trim with a bull scrotum, to be polite. cars will always have fault, but a $175k car and have a dealership baulk and refuse to fix a fault is simply, how would I say it.. hrmmmmm. "crap" now that's another polite word toward Nissan.

But to be honest here, nissan oz isnt really about selling prestige cars, they sells family cars with the odd rocket thrown in every couple of decade.

BMW, Audis and Merc, wouldnt dare to pull that crap off, dunno what the italians would, would they fix it or send the mafias around.

It's not the dealership that has the final say it's Nissan,the dealership doesn't warrant or build the car Nissan does, and I think you'll find that this issue is in the process of being resolved !!!!!

[JDM-35]

Unfortunately I have never seen a Japanese car with quality leather, including top end Lexus models. I just dont know why the leather never matches what you get in a lower end BMW or Mercedes. And after a few years leather in Japanese always ends up looking shocking! I don't know how they can engineer cars so well, and build things so well, but always mess up on things like that.

From my experience , the leather in current 2006+ Lexus IS250 is much much better quality than the equivalent Mercedes C-Class and BMW 3 Series cars

[rehab2010]

hmmm, dunno there, Ford ducked and weaved with brake hose failures on Falcon/Territory and are now doing the same with front ball joint problems on Territory. Then there is the issue of radiators that leak fluid into gearboxes (requiring a re-build) on BA Falcon. Ford haven't exactly been forthcoming about that one either despite many complaints. ZC Vectra suffers the same problem (an $8,000 fix!- ouch!)..but the people I know who have had the problem had it fixed under warranty.

My mate had dodgy brakes on his VZ Clubsport. No track work, just home to work and back in peak hour. One day his brake pedal went to the floor, could barely pull the car up, he had the brakes leak fluid onto his garage floor too. Holden response, just to keep machining the brakes, after several threatening letters, HSV agreed FINALLY to replace the faulty brakes. He had other quality issues too, but at the end of the day it is a $35,000 car with a $70,000 price tag. That car was only a few months old when he had the issue.

Like I said, I agree that the leather on that GT-R should be replaced, but it is far from a sign of a poor quality car, when you hear of catestrophic problems of cars of all price ranges if grain separation on the leather of the side bolsters of the front seats on SOME vehicles is the worst of it..then I would consider that a good result whether it cost $7,500 or $750,000

Ask many BMW, Merc and Audi owners out there about the litany of electrical (and sometimes mechanical) problems with their vehicles (esp older ones). My mate had front window regulators crap themselves on his brand new 320 Ci coupe after a few months ($75,000 car). A friend's brother bought an E36 BMW circa 1996 model (318i) and at 10 years old with only about 110,000kms, the battery kept draining, the 'solution' a new instrument cluster for $3,000, the result?..318i keeps draining it's battery!...the list goes on.

My wife's Maxima is a 2001 Ti with 85,000kms and EVERY single electrical component works, CD, heated seats, climate control, power seats , sunroof, cassette player, elec mirros, not one fault to speak of, mechanically it's perfect too, not one drop of oil (unlike my previous VS Commodore!!!) the only problem, split in the 'pleather' side bolster. I can/will fix that..and I can tell you I'm absolutely rapt that this is the only 'problem' I have with her car.

Mate almost killed himself the other day in his VE - brake to the floor issue as well - master cylinder just died, no warning whatsoever. Hmmm, gimme dodgy looking leather any day and not this brake issue.

[GT-Ricer]

Mate almost killed himself the other day in his VE - brake to the floor issue as well - master cylinder just died, no warning whatsoever. Hmmm, gimme dodgy looking leather any day and not this brake issue.

Hmmm, he probobably s...t himself when his foot hit the fire wall...I am sure he wished he was sitting on top quality leather seats when that happened....

[krayzie32]

Did this get resolved GT-Ricer?

[domino_z]

*cough* it's actually vinyl

the seats, dash, doors, a-pillar trim is all vinyl with a foam backing

the only leather part of the seats is the perforated insert that follows the seat edging

[boiracer]

cheap vinyl / leather = Weight saving technique?