I had a back-up tranny and a 3.5 awaiting, and I tried my hardest to get my engine to do that and I couldn't...........

like i said the car is a tow-in/ no start. there is never any hurry for it. plus they once they look at it its 3-10 work days for the engine to come in. then 2 more days till the tech wants to drop it in. ideally thats how a dealership would work on things like this. your car isn't a new car therefore there is no priority on it.

I have a 99 too, Im not biased, I know the facts. Nice job with upping your post count BTW.

190K miles, compression is great, motor pulls good, few oil leaks, valve covers f/r and maybe the timing cover not sure yet. But other then that its been solid. I think you may have got a abused car before. You will never really know, unless you personally knew the previous owners. In my case i did, and i know the guy liked to open it up once in awhile, but he also took very good care of it.

My 98 auto was the opposite, driven hard, and had very few oil changes...end result BHG while im 1000 miles away from home..motor only had 107K miles. Mine and the techs assumption is that the car had oil changes perhaps every 25-30K miles. The amount of sludge build up in the engine...we were surprised it even lasted that long.

I'd be willing to bet the motor died because of one or more of the previous repairs being messed up. Not because the motor was abused or old.

STILL haven't even batted an eye to it.


Here's the phone conversation I had with the service manager, Charlie:

Me: "Hey Charlie, it's Evan with the gold maxima. Any updates?"

Charlie: "Well, we've been really backed up, with appointments, cars coming in, cars not coming in... it's been hectic around here the past couple days. My tech said he was gonna possibly try to get it pushed into the bay today, and see if we can at least get it on a rack."

Me: "I realize that my car not running is making it a last priority to you guys. I have court down in Peoria at 9am monday morning. You told me several times over it would be done THIS WEEK. We're already at wednesday. That leaves 2 days for you guys to call the warranty company, have them send out an adjuster, find a motor, put the motor in, and then get it all wired up. You can do all that in 2 days?"

Charlie: "Like I said, we've been really backed up... I'm hoping we can at least get it IN the shop today. If not, it'll be one of the first cars tomorrow."

Me: "So, do you have a loaner I can drive for 2 days until you can get my car looked at? I drive 600 miles a week. Without a car, I can't work. Without work, I don't have income. No income means nothing gets paid. See where I'm going with this? I NEEED my car back. If your techs aren't gonna have it done by the end of the week, let me know now, and I'll have it towed to another shop."

Charlie: "Well, we don't need to be irrational here.... we're just a little busy."

Me: "I understand that. Don't get me wrong, you were busy yesterday when I was down there. But when I was down there, I also saw my car on the OTHER side of the service lot, where it got towed to. It appears no one is making ANY effort to work on my car, because they're gonna have to push it. What would you do if you were in my situation? Skip work? Tell my boss that I can't come in for X amount of days because my car is in the shop until who knows when? That's not an option. I live in the City, and I work in the suburbs. It's 52 miles each way for me. Without my car, I can't get to work. And if it's not done this week, what am I supposed to tell the judge? Go ahead and let my lawsuit go, because I can't come down to court, because my car is in the shop for X amount of days? Work with me here. I'm fully aware that tow-in's are last priority. No-starts are last priority. Warranty work is just above last priority. Warranty NOT through Nissan is even worse. The fact that I have a tow-in, no-start, warranty not through Nissan has guaranteed me a spot at the bottom, in the "we'll get to it when we get to it" lot. I'm asking you, point blank, will my car be done this week?"

Charlie: "If we can get it rolled in here today, we can start the whole process... I can't promise anything."

Me: "So do I need to have another shop expecting the car, then? One that can guarantee it will be done this week?"

Charlie: "We should be able to get it all buttoned up in a couple days. Gimme an hour, I'll call ya' back."



I F*CKING HATE DEALERSHIPS! Bunch of crooked, shady f*cks that work there.

+1

My car has 498,000kms and apart from the usual f/r valve cover leaks, it's not bad at all...oh..except my damn A/C don't work this summer!

Wow dude...you definetly stuck it to him, you said pretty much all you could while still being rational and not a d*ck although it sounds like you're WELL WITHIN your right to be a d*ck! Question...what about insurance? Do you have rental insurance? Can you rent a car and have your ins. pay for it? Or what about the dealer...some dealers here dont give loaners due to "insurance reasons" but they're partnered with another dealer who rents, or with like a Hertz or Enterprise or something...can you rent a car and have the dealer pay for it? Your engine IS warranty work, so if that dealer rents cars or has connections they pretty much HAVE to pay for a rental for you, or at worst pay cash to a rental company to get you a car.

Or even worse case, if you dont have that much money AND they wont do anything, rent a car yourself so you can at least get to work and court, put it on a credit card and either dispute the charges soon as they come in or sue the dealer/write the state attorney general for it. Good luck man

Got off the phone with Charlie...


Here's the diagnosis...

#3, and #5 pistons decided to go for a vacation, and made their way out through the oil pan, along with the connecting rods.

#2 piston wanted a haircut, and is now smashed into the cylinder head.


The oil pan is non-existent. Well, what's left of it.


I had to authorize repairs... $1200 worth of pulling the motor, and tearing it down. They know the motor is f*cked, I know the motor is f*cked, the warranty company knows the motor is f*cked... but they still want the dealer to tear it apart and find out WHY it's f*cked.

The "new" motor I'll be getting will be a junkyard motor, with 30-50K miles. A new 5th gen clutch, and a new knock sensor. My deductible for the motor is $100, and everything total, is about $700, out the door.

It might as well be a million at this point.


The warranty company only covers 3 days of rentals. Insurance doesn't cover it at all. I'm looking at over $500 for that, since the car won't be done until the 25th or 26th.


They said that had I not had a warranty, I'd be looking at $6700 in repairs.

$6,700 in repairs is ludricous, particularly given the fact that a used engine is going to be installed.

are they at least going to buy you dinner or call you the next day after they are done ****ing you over? sorry this had to happen to you man. if this ever happens in the future id say plan an emergency engine swap meet. you buy the food and drinks youll get help quick.

Call up Continental and ask for Lynn, shes the service manager there.

Explain the situation to her and tell her- listen, you have PLENTY of Sentras and Versas for loaner cars. You are making BANK off this ticket, and I think you should let me have a car.

If they refuse to do it..... I will gladly take that check they will cut them, lend you MY 91 Max which BTW makes any of those new Nissans look like pure junk.

That's pretty much how you have to be with any place that repairs cars. When my car got wrecked I was without it for about 6 weeks and that was with me going down there and calling in. You almost have to go down there everyday and find out what's going , if not it gets done slower. You could put heat under the warranty company too if they referred that shop. You could call another shop and say how long will it take to get my car back to me if I get it towed in? Then you can tell the other shop they said this, etc, if you don't have it done by 4 days out the tow truck will be coming to get it. Granted it will take longer to fix since you started the process all over again but warranty repairs are almost a cash cow almost to shops, they can say the repairs are almost whatever they want.

yep thats how i feel too. tacoma nissan is the only dealership i let touch my car. and i live in everett.

Sorry to hear your Max will be laid up longer than expected. The stealership will take their time wasting yours and they still make $$ off the deal right? WTF then, give the man a loaner and let him work! I would think that Nissan would want a better rep that this, but I guess they only care if your buying a NEW car. a$$munchrz!

I think you did the right thing calling and pressing them. Just sux to have to hold someone over a barrel to get done what you need done. Where do you work (which subb), I grew up in Aurora. Actuall bought my Max in Streamwood too ... while visiting friends!

Anyway you could get the check yourself and have a ORG member help with a 3.5L swap? Just curious, how much did you pay for the extended waranty? If it was a bunch ... I'd demand a NEW engine, not one they pick from a bone yard. Also, if you can, be a part of the choice in engines. The VQ is an amazing masterpeice, but hell, even Vahngo did some bad work. Make sure you get the old block and parts they replace. Most eveything will be re-used I would think, but still get your parts. No sense in letting them have the parts.

I work in Willow Springs, IL. www.courtrights.com


I'm gonna re-read the warranty again, and see what it is I'm entitled to. The adjuster is going to the dealer tomorrow, so I should know what the hell is going on sometime soon.

on trying to get all the old parts back, the scrap aluminum if you totally strip it will cover the $100 deductable, and you'll have spare parts and some things you can sell after that.

I don't know how the fine print of the warranty deals with that aspect, I'm pretty sure it's a federal law (might just be my state) that any repair shop must save all old parts and give them to the customer at his request.

they want to find an excuse not to honor the warranty. once they get it apart, the adjuster will show up, find some sludge/varnish and claim the car was not maintained, or there was pre-existing damage/wear that is not covered by the warranty, etc. then they will deny your claim. they are betting you will not sue them.

3rd party warranty companies are the biggest scams out there, even worse than the crooked shops they hire out.

I know they verbally said they'd pay for it -- but you should get ready for a fight. I speak from experience.

Sometimes I wish my motor blows so I can justify putting a 3.5 in it.

sorry about your buggy...see sig for proof of longevity of said engine.

You've only used five sets of tires in 260 thousand miles?

i drive gently, despite what my record says...

actually, people hate on OEM Goodyears (RS-A), but they're good for 50k+ barring anything really crazy, rain/snow/sun.

No knock sensors or waterpumps? No tune-ups?

no major parts other than what's listed...all scheduled maintenance was done, of course.

oem was not good year eagle GA tires ? maybe just here in canada

RS-As or Toyos came on 97-99 SEs, I remember from my days at Nissan....

well bud, after reading your post, it sounds like you got sold a ****ty car from the get go. Sounds like where ever you bought it from knew that it was going to die, thats why they looked at every excuse not to fix it. A K&N drop in air filter wont void ur warranty. Sound like to me you got sold a lemmon. I dont know about ur state but her in FL, there are laws that protect you from that. **** if you had to replace that much **** on it, it was probably a lemon. If i were you ill call the dealer, ask them if a K&N would void ur warrenty. If they say no then you should tell the people you bought that car from that, and take there *** to court bro. Good luck with it.

the dealer will do a de-k swap on a 4 gen? When did this com about?

They don't, he was contemplating it. Someone local was the idea, and a DEK because he wants something with lower mileage. Either way the car is out of the dealership, and was fixed by some local shop that warrantied their work. He got a another VQ30