God, I hate the performance car/cheap tire analogy every time someone talks about buying a D800. It's absolutely nonsensical. The camera does not require the most expensive lenses possible before you can take a decent picture. There's a right and wrong tool for the job, and "right" doesn't always mean "most expensive". I have a D800. I have none of the "holy trinity" lenses. I have never, never once looked at a photo taken with it and said, "Damn, I need better lenses!!" (you can see the list of what I have below).
Take a look at the DxOMark ratings - there are many lenses that work amazingly well with the D800, across all price ranges.
Will a 36MP sensor show a lens' weaknesses? Sure. Will most people be able to spot them before they're printed poster size? I'm guessing probably not, particularly with most F-series Nikon lenses. Unless you're looking to pick a fight over that little bit of CA in the corner or the wee bit of lost sharpness, which you'll likely only spot full resolution, none of it's going to be noticeable on your uploaded photo. I can almost guarantee that I could take a photo with the 24-85mm and a 24-70mm at f8 and 9 out of 10 of you would have absolutely no idea which was taken with which, particularly after post-processing, which we all do to some extent regardless of the camera/lens combination.
So please, no more automatic Lamborghini and Ferrari references. If the guy wants to drive top speed on mountain roads, them maybe. But for the old man looking for an ego extension on his five mile drive to work where he never gets above 40mph, I don't care what tires you put on that thing because you'll never know the difference.