Nissan Stops Sale of Automatic Z Cars

• The Nissan stop-sale on automatic-equipped Z cars won't affect manual-equipped models.

• The situation appears similar to the current recall on nine-speed-equipped Nissan Frontier and Nissan Titan trucks.

• Nissan doesn't have a solution to the automatic's problem at this time.

Nissan’s new Z might be the most exciting car the company has brought to the table since its predecessor launched in 2008. This turbocharged sports coupe is available with both manual and automatic transmissions, but the folks at Nissan are stopping sale of the automatic-equipped Nissan Z.

This stoppage is limited to the Jatco nine-speed transmission-equipped cars. This stop-sale follows a similar issue found on Titan and Frontier trucks, which also use the nine-speed automatic. The problem with Nissan’s pickup trucks that spurred a massive recall is that an internal problem with the transmission can prevent the parking pawl from engaging, which could lead to a runaway condition.

It’s hard to say if the 2023 Z is facing a similar issue, though a Nissan spokesperson relayed this message: “Nissan initiated a quality hold on MY2023 Nissan Z automatic transmission equipped vehicles on August 29, 2022, while it investigates this issue. The investigation is ongoing at this time.”

This all points to bad news if you’re expecting a 2023 Nissan Z automatic. The good news is that if you’re waiting on a manual transmission-equipped car, you shouldn’t have any problems. It’s unclear when Nissan will find a solution to the transmission problem, but the engineers are working on it.

Do you think this issue will push more people to manual Nissan Zs? Tell us your thoughts below.