# GTR failures - how many in the real world?



## New Reg (Jul 22, 2011)

I have had the GTR for around two months now, and it is everything I expected it to be and a whole lot more besides. Fast, brilliant handling, huge road presence, great interior - this car ticks all the right boxes for me. Perhaps one thing that took me slightly by surprise was the amount of attention the car gets. The amount of people expressing an interest in the car and wanting to talk about it did shock me, although it is nice at the same time as they are generally car people themselves and it is nice to have a chat about the finer things in life  Which leads me neatly onto my next point - a reputation the GTR has for being fragile and rather unreliable, plus horrendously expensive to fix when it does go wrong. The main areas that are pointed out will no doubt be familiar to you all - predominantly gearbox failures associated with launch control and other things, some story about a bloke who was quoted 11 grand for bumper damage etc. One chap who comes to my work place (a 911 driver and Porsche fanboy extrodinaire, surprise surprise) said the GTR is a good car but very fragile and started down the usual road of gearbox failures etc. When I told him I thought they were mainly scare stories he then claimed he knew someone whose gearbox had blown up and it was out of warranty due to launch control blah de blah. Now, my question is, how many people on here have actually experienced either a gearbox failure or other significant mechanical failure on their GTR's or do they know of someone who has? If so, was it covered under warranty? I have to say the forum does not seem to be laced with such issues and it seems rather unjust that the GTR is tarred with this brush if it was just a few early examples that have had issues.

Anyway, just curious is all.....


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## CT17 (Mar 25, 2011)

If you apply the same logic, I heard all 911s go round corners backwards due to the engine being in the wrong place. :chuckle:

As usual, people have to justify what car they run.
Yes, he paid more for a slower car.
Got to find a reason, got to find a reason... err.. oh yes, I know loads of gearboxes exploding for no reason at all. 

The gearbox is not as fragile as people seem to think, although I've never had it mentioned to me. If you are going up to about 650bhp it's fine. That's a huge increase over standard and unless you are doing launching on a regular basis it's OK. If you are going to launch a lot or go for 700bhp then they just change a couple of clips. That's all! :thumbsup:

There may have been a few gearboxes go, but they were early cars with a traction control that didn't seem to be officially recognised and the cars were abused IMO. From about 2009/2010 we have an offical launch control that uses lower RPM and is fine.


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## Grimblin Gibbon (Jul 16, 2009)

Had a gearbox replaced under warranty on my 59 GTR. 
(Solenoid issue) Mine stopped working while I was reversing into a parking space! had never been launched and not abused, damn I only did a daily commute with a little motorway in that car!
Have had no problems with my 2011 car at all!


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## CT17 (Mar 25, 2011)

Be aware that if you set the pedestrian protection system off that raises the bonnet it'll cost you about £2500 by the way.


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## Zed Ed (Oct 24, 2007)

New Reg said:


> I have had the GTR for around two months now, and it is everything I expected it to be and a whole lot more besides. Fast, brilliant handling, huge road presence, great interior - this car ticks all the right boxes for me. Perhaps one thing that took me slightly by surprise was the amount of attention the car gets. The amount of people expressing an interest in the car and wanting to talk about it did shock me, although it is nice at the same time as they are generally car people themselves and it is nice to have a chat about the finer things in life  Which leads me neatly onto my next point - a reputation the GTR has for being fragile and rather unreliable, plus horrendously expensive to fix when it does go wrong. The main areas that are pointed out will no doubt be familiar to you all - predominantly gearbox failures associated with launch control and other things, some story about a bloke who was quoted 11 grand for bumper damage etc. One chap who comes to my work place (a 911 driver and Porsche fanboy extrodinaire, surprise surprise) said the GTR is a good car but very fragile and started down the usual road of gearbox failures etc. When I told him I thought they were mainly scare stories he then claimed he knew someone whose gearbox had blown up and it was out of warranty due to launch control blah de blah. Now, my question is, how many people on here have actually experienced either a gearbox failure or other significant mechanical failure on their GTR's or do they know of someone who has? If so, was it covered under warranty? I have to say the forum does not seem to be laced with such issues and it seems rather unjust that the GTR is tarred with this brush if it was just a few early examples that have had issues.
> 
> Anyway, just curious is all.....


GTR is as tough as old boots and issues are very few and far between

btw, the simple retort to your Porsche fanboi is , RMS


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

Zed Ed said:


> GTR is as tough as old boots and issues are very few and far between
> 
> btw, the simple retort to your Porsche fanboi is , RMS


took the words right out of my mouth.


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## vxrcymru (Sep 29, 2009)

I'[ve had this too a 911 owner telling me they were "fragile". The only concerns I told him were that standard break discs were not up to the job for track work for road use the car is very reliable.


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## H20 MRV (Dec 18, 2011)

Sorry for the. Hi jack,

But is it possiblle to disarm the bonnet system?



CT17 said:


> Be aware that if you set the pedestrian protection system off that raises the bonnet it'll cost you about £2500 by the way.


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## SamboGrove (Jun 27, 2010)

H20 MRV said:


> Sorry for the. Hi jack,
> 
> But is it possiblle to disarm the bonnet system?


You can but i'm not sure how. Some smart ar$e around here will know how to do it though! I would personally only consider disabling it for track work though. What if the worst were to happen and you did hit a pedestrian and you had it turned off???


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## diddy_p (Oct 5, 2006)

i dont own an r35, i have a porsche 911 (993) and whenever people start talking on the 911 forums about the GTR being fragile, souless or otherwise expensive to run I do defend the GTR!

will get one at some point, to go with the 911.


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## SamboGrove (Jun 27, 2010)

diddy_p said:


> will get one at some point, to destory the 911.


:thumbsup: :chuckle:


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## manjit (Dec 17, 2009)

This is the life of my previous 2010 model

2 x Trips to the Nurburgring
1 X trip to the GP track
3 x Trip to Bedford
1 x Trip to Spa
Numerous Autobahn trips

No failures on Gearbox, Engine etc.

I also have a friend that has a 997 GT3 which has been in a few times for RMF issues, does this mean all GT3's are fragile? No of course not.

Have fun in your new purchase

The 2011 has yet to experience the abuse.


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## diddy_p (Oct 5, 2006)

SamboGrove said:


> :thumbsup: :chuckle:



LMAO!

Naah they are really like chalk and cheese, completely different animals, the 911 993 non-turbo like mine wouldnt see which way the GTR went! (also my 911 is convertible)

the 993 is quite mechanical in feel compared to the GTR and indeed later 911s, and not to mention is depreciation proof (if anything it will continue to climb in value). 

but the GTR is pretty much at the forefront of technology and miles better value than post-993 911s and i quite like them... i'm a general petrolhead you see not a badge junkie


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## saucyboy (Nov 1, 2009)

diddy_p said:


> i dont own an r35, i have a porsche 911 (993) and whenever people start talking on the 911 forums about the GTR being fragile, souless or otherwise expensive to run I do defend the GTR!
> 
> will get one at some point, to go with the 911.


With you on this one mate ; ) Once my 911 has been serviced on friday she's up for sale. Can't believe I'll finally get one this year, wahoooooo.


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## diddy_p (Oct 5, 2006)

saucyboy said:


> With you on this one mate ; ) Once my 911 has been serviced on friday she's up for sale. Can't believe I'll finally get one this year, wahoooooo.


youre on 911uk.com right?


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## saucyboy (Nov 1, 2009)

diddy_p said:


> youre on 911uk.com right?


Yeah there and Pistonheads. Although the 911Uk boys are a lot nicer.


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## H20 MRV (Dec 18, 2011)

SamboGrove said:


> You can but i'm not sure how. Some smart ar$e around here will know how to do it though! I would personally only consider disabling it for track work though. What if the worst were to happen and you did hit a pedestrian and you had it turned off???


To be honest I am more worried about blowing the bonnet :chuckle:

I have only had the car for a few weeks now but when " pushing on " on a b road here in sunny Scotland the car was getting airborne and using a lot of road, therefore a few funny bumps and thumps, hence my worry of blowing the bonnet....


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## tyndago (Oct 24, 2002)

The "problem" with the trans is its a non-serviceable part. If it were, it wouldn't be too big a deal. However, even the smallest issue, turns into a dealer having to replace - the transmission, transmission control, transfer case, clutches, and rear end. Everything is a single assembly.

Used Nissan GT-R Buyers Guide - 2009 - 2013 | Nissan GT-R : Since 2007


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

tyndago said:


> The "problem" with the trans is its a non-serviceable part. If it were, it wouldn't be too big a deal. However, even the smallest issue, turns into a dealer having to replace - the transmission, transmission control, transfer case, clutches, and rear end. Everything is a single assembly.
> 
> Used Nissan GT-R Buyers Guide - 2009 - 2013 | Nissan GT-R : Since 2007


The majority of the (relatively small number) of blown gearboxes have been replaced under warranty. If out of warranty, then there are people who can fix it for a not astronomical sum and make it tougher at the same time, e.g. Litchfields in the UK.


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## GTR ally (May 19, 2008)

My gearbox was replaced on my 09 with 2400 miles on the car, hardly pushed at all. circlip failure and replaced under warranty. Got the car back and decided not to wrap it in cotten wool and have even spen the day thtashing it round Silverstone. No issues at all since and 12K on it now. Now concerns at all for me now and I plan a new model 1st Sept.

Don't worry, enjoy. 

Ally


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## OldBob (Oct 18, 2010)

...and the cylinder 5/6 bore scoring on Cayman engines, 458's catching on fire insert your nice car envy security blanket why you dont have one here etc.
I think it's fashionable to bash the GTR in this respect. Early problems with gearbox were in the US where the dragqueens were hammering the launch with VDC off. There are the pissy circlip and solenoids which can/do go but it is by no means commonplace, I'd have thought the Bell housing looks like the most prevalent common fault (and fix under warranty)...
Re exploding bonnets, again one or two posts around from US and some tracked cars hitting bollards, but very few really unless those that do go wrong don't get posted on forums, which is unlikely too. So all cars have a story and some areas of flakiness, GTR is no different but by far the majority of owners seem to have good experiences. 
We are always interested to hear factual bad experiences otherwise though, gives us all something else to obsess over ;-)


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## petersafc (Jan 18, 2012)

I had a 911 turbo x50 (996) with a manual gearbox and it was the most un reliable car i have ever owned.


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## 7341SR (May 29, 2008)

H20 MRV said:


> To be honest I am more worried about blowing the bonnet :chuckle:
> 
> I have only had the car for a few weeks now but when " pushing on " on a b road here in sunny Scotland the car was getting airborne and using a lot of road, therefore a few funny bumps and thumps, hence my worry of blowing the bonnet....


Major worry on "B" roads in Scotland is the wildlife, badgers(although most of them are shot and dumped by the roadside as road kill, supposedly) then there are the pheasants, the rabbits, Shetland ponies out for a wander, and then the deer, where there is one there are usually at least 2 others. Thankfully so far I have hit only a pheasant in my GTR, no bonnet pop, but considering I have hit all others in various cars and a bike, I reckon time will tell.

No worries on bonnet pop's getting airborne, better to invest in upgraded brakes in case you need to stop suddenly.

Drive carefully!


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

7341SR said:


> Major worry on "B" roads in Scotland is the wildlife, badgers(although most of them are shot and dumped by the roadside as road kill, supposedly) then there are the pheasants, the rabbits, Shetland ponies out for a wander, and then the deer, where there is one there are usually at least 2 others. Thankfully so far I have hit only a pheasant in my GTR, no bonnet pop, but considering I have hit all others in various cars and a bike, I reckon time will tell.
> 
> No worries on bonnet pop's getting airborne, better to invest in upgraded brakes in case you need to stop suddenly.
> 
> Drive carefully!


Jeez, if you hit a shetland pony or deer, I wouldnt worry about bonnet pop ups.


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## CT17 (Mar 25, 2011)

charles charlie said:


> Jeez, if you hit a shetland pony or deer, I wouldnt worry about bonnet pop ups.


... other than the fact it adds £2.5k to the repair bill. :chuckle:


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## tyndago (Oct 24, 2002)

OldBob said:


> Re exploding bonnets, again one or two posts around from US and some tracked cars hitting bollards,
> We are always interested to hear factual bad experiences otherwise though, gives us all something else to obsess over ;-)


US cars don't have the pop up hoods. You can blame your local regulations for that. We do have the drag kings though. Lots of back to back LC1, wheel hopping launches destroyed a couple of gearboxes. However, just takes a couple of loud people to make what seems like a lot of noise.


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## saucyboy (Nov 1, 2009)

petersafc said:


> I had a 911 turbo x50 (996) with a manual gearbox and it was the most un reliable car i have ever owned.


That's a shame mate as mine has been nothing but reliable in 3 years and has to be the cheapest car i have owned over that sort of period. I guess I've been lucky. hopefully the GTR will be the same ; )


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## 7341SR (May 29, 2008)

CT17 said:


> ... other than the fact it adds £2.5k to the repair bill. :chuckle:


That's what you pay insurance for, better a bonnet pop than an unwanted passenger.


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## Anders_R35 (Jul 20, 2011)

tyndago said:


> US cars don't have the pop up hoods. You can blame your local regulations for that. We do have the drag kings though. Lots of back to back LC1, wheel hopping launches destroyed a couple of gearboxes. However, just takes a couple of loud people to make what seems like a lot of noise.


What is wheel hop? People on NAGTROC talk about it destroying diffs, I've seen the pics. I get wheel spin when I launch on normal roads.

Anders


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## sw20GTS (Jul 29, 2010)

7341SR said:


> That's what you pay insurance for, better a bonnet pop than an unwanted passenger.


That's true and I 100% agree but on the other side insurance is really cruel on cars like the GTR. If you do claim, expect massive premiums and difficulty obtaining quotes from most insurers...


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## tyndago (Oct 24, 2002)

Anders_R35 said:


> What is wheel hop? People on NAGTROC talk about it destroying diffs, I've seen the pics. I get wheel spin when I launch on normal roads.Anders


Wheel hop, is just as it sounds. When accelerating, the spinning wheel shudders enough to "hop". It feels like a big shudder though the driveline. At times it can be very violent. 

It loads and unloads the driveline, and that process is like hitting everything with a 4000 lb sledgehammer.


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## Zed Ed (Oct 24, 2007)

tyndago said:


> Wheel hop, is just as it sounds. When accelerating, the spinning wheel shudders enough to "hop". It feels like a big shudder though the driveline. At times it can be very violent.
> 
> It loads and unloads the driveline, and that process is like hitting everything with a 4000 lb sledgehammer.


0.50 s onward

early Edmunds on line video showing LC1 jdm gtr


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## 7341SR (May 29, 2008)

Ever claimed, tried protected no claims bonus?

I am no expert but insurance costs are spread across the industry and the cost of your car repair pales into insignificance compared with the human costs, therefore I would doubt that a couple of thousand pounds of costs would have a significant bearing on your future insurance costs.

Trying to be realistic.


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## Anders_R35 (Jul 20, 2011)

tyndago said:


> Wheel hop, is just as it sounds. When accelerating, the spinning wheel shudders enough to "hop". It feels like a big shudder though the driveline. At times it can be very violent.
> 
> It loads and unloads the driveline, and that process is like hitting everything with a 4000 lb sledgehammer.


That vid shows it well, never had that launching my car. May be I'll get some wheel hop if I take it to Santapod strip in the summer.


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## enshiu (Aug 20, 2010)

LC4 on old type cars (CBA models).
















Clutch failure (keeps shifting up and down ):


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## B'have (Dec 28, 2011)

Where is the famous failure?


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## fozi.g (Sep 3, 2007)

Just to continue on about the reliability of the Porsche vs GTR. I had a 997s a little while back which ended up with engine failure. I didnt track the car or drive like a dick in it. There was no tell tell signs of it about to happen. Just all of a sudden i lost total power in the car after a little drive. After doing some research about it I found that it was a common fault in the early 997's from 04-08 even with cars with 10-15k I heard horror stories about engines seizing up. Anyway I was in that boat and Porsche didn't want to do anything about it. Even though my car had a full main dealer history and under 30'000 miles. I was absolutely appalled with them. I wrote a letter of complaint to them but to no avail. It seems that Porsche owners had to like it or lump it. I ended up having to get the car repaired myself and footing the bill....circa 6k. 

The moral of the story.....well for me anyway is [email protected]#K Porsche I'll stick with my GTR.


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## enshiu (Aug 20, 2010)

B'have said:


> Where is the famous failure?


look how the gearbox reacts when driven normally. And also when he tried to get away the box just shifts but, no speed. This was a lemon car.



fozi.g said:


> Just to continue on about the reliability of the Porsche vs GTR. I had a 997s a little while back which ended up with engine failure. I didnt track the car or drive like a dick in it. There was no tell tell signs of it about to happen. Just all of a sudden i lost total power in the car after a little drive. After doing some research about it I found that it was a common fault in the early 997's from 04-08 even with cars with 10-15k I heard horror stories about engines seizing up. Anyway I was in that boat and Porsche didn't want to do anything about it. Even though my car had a full main dealer history and under 30'000 miles. I was absolutely appalled with them. I wrote a letter of complaint to them but to no avail. It seems that Porsche owners had to like it or lump it. I ended up having to get the car repaired myself and footing the bill....circa 6k.
> 
> The moral of the story.....well for me anyway is [email protected]#K Porsche I'll stick with my GTR.


What about this article. Seems porsche owners are biased and don't want to admit their PDK boxes failed to save face?!

http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/2009/01/2009-nissan-gt-r-godzilla-vs-pdk.html

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/porsche-cayman-s/580597-has-anyone-had-a-2010-pdk-failure.html


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## GTRmallorca (Dec 8, 2010)

Hi,
I live in Spain but Ive had a sensor malfunction at two months which took a month to fix! Transmission failure at 18th months which at first wasn't covered by warranty but was finally fixed through excessive legal pressure. I wasn't offered a substitute car and had to hire a ford fiesta for three months whilst the transmission arrived from Japan. And just recently, at 28 months, I have electrical issues with my central locking/windows and starting up the car, so the cars back at the garage.. Aparantly it's something to do with the Cobra alarm, so not really to fault..


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## Karls (Jul 12, 2010)

B'have said:


> Where is the famous failure?


Exactly my thoughts! I wasted a few minutes of my life watching that shite. Why the [email protected] post that?!


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## New Reg (Jul 22, 2011)

Thanks for the replies chaps - interesting to see the feedback and as I suspected, far less failures than certain sections of the community would have us believe. However, the irony of posting this thread was not lost on me at around 10:20pm last night, as I watched my pride and joy being placed on a low loader and taken away to Nissan Cambridge to investigate an issue which prevented the car from starting.

Oh well... :chuckle:


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## paul__k (Dec 8, 2007)

Whats up with it?


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## New Reg (Jul 22, 2011)

Well it refused to start last night and a yellow key sign light appeared on the right of the intrument cluster. Thought it may have been the battery in the key fob, but changed it and still no joy. Then tried inserting the fob in the emergency start hole under the steering wheel - still no joy. No ignition, even though the fob operated the central locking. In the end I had to phone the recovery service phone line - the low-loader arrived at 9:30pm to take the car from my workplace and I finally managed to get home at 10:30.

Am waiting on a report from Marshall's in Cambridge as we speak.....


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## Mark_Paul (Jan 5, 2012)

New Reg said:


> Thanks for the replies chaps - interesting to see the feedback and as I suspected, far less failures than certain sections of the community would have us believe. However, the irony of posting this thread was not lost on me at around 10:20pm last night, as I watched my pride and joy being placed on a low loader and taken away to Nissan Cambridge to investigate an issue which prevented the car from starting.
> 
> Oh well... :chuckle:


Funny chap Life isnt he! Im sure he waits round corners for moments like these...

Hope you get the car sorted pal.

Remind me not to buy a spanish car too


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## diddy_p (Oct 5, 2006)

oh dear.... this is not a windup thread to be cited in the future by the 911 lot and other naysayers?


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## robsm (Jul 22, 2008)

enshiu said:


> look how the gearbox reacts when driven normally. And also when he tried to get away the box just shifts but, no speed. This was a lemon car.


Those video's show absolutely nothing, just that the idiot hasn't learnt how to drive the car.


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## New Reg (Jul 22, 2011)

diddy_p said:


> oh dear.... this is not a windup thread to be cited in the future by the 911 lot and other naysayers?


Nope, although I can understand how the sheer level of coincidence may lead to it being perceived that way. I can assure you that the last car I would be trying to prop up is the 911 - I can't stand them. I have not heard back from Marshalls yet but I cannot imagine that this constitutes a major mechanical failure anyway, which is what this thread was all about.


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## paul__k (Dec 8, 2007)

Sounds like the steering lock.


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## New Reg (Jul 22, 2011)

paul__k said:


> Sounds like the steering lock.


Yep, just called Marshalls (as they never got back to me yesterday) and it is indeed the steering lock. I asked what the situation is now and the bloke just said it may be 'some time', whatever that means.


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## CT17 (Mar 25, 2011)

New Reg said:


> Yep, just called Marshalls (as they never got back to me yesterday) and it is indeed the steering lock. I asked what the situation is now and the bloke just said it may be 'some time', whatever that means.


You need to ask for the GT-R guy in my opinion.
If it needs parts they don't have it will probably be between two weeks and a month.


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## paul__k (Dec 8, 2007)

Was a significant problem on US (early) GTRs but has also occured on 370Z, Murano and Infiniti that use the same part.

Extensive info here:

Car won't start - Steering Lock Failure - nissansportz


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## enshiu (Aug 20, 2010)

paul__k said:


> Was a significant problem on US (early) GTRs but has also occured on 370Z, Murano and Infiniti that use the same part.
> 
> Extensive info here:
> 
> Car won't start - Steering Lock Failure - nissansportz


Also with early JDM ones. I bypassed mine removing one relay and a fuse. Steering lock never locked anymore.






blow up lol


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