So I take my car down to Nissan for the ping/knock problem that people seem to be experiencing in greater numbers lately. Mind you this is my third time at the shop for the same problem. Service writer is a complete di*k and attempts to make me feel like an idiot for even suggesting that there is something wrong with my car, Steven Davis at Desert Nissan for you in Las Vegas. This guy tells me that he will arrange transportation for me when I get there at 8:30 am. Guess what? He hasn't....because Nissan doesn't provide "loaners". Never mind the exact word loaner came out of his mouth when I made the appointment. Then tells me that he'll have me on the shuttle at 9:30am, but before I leave I have to ride with the tech to recreate the ping/knock. Sure, no problem, besides the fact that it takes 2 hours before this happens and I miss the shuttle. And this a**hole Steven continues to be a di*k. Finally I call Nissan Corporate, they can't do sh*t either apparently. But it seems they must have called the dealership up or something and put a little heat on them, enter Steven. He says with a cocky little voice "ooooh, you DIDN'T tell me your car was Modified" at this point I lost it and went off on him (I had been VERY civil up to this point). Wtf does an intake have to do with pinging/knocking. So I go to the service manager with whom I had spoken the week before about Steven. He finally agrees to a rental through Enterprise at 1:30pm.

I get the call at 3:30 that my car is done. Yippee I wasted my whole day at this godforsaken dump they call a service dept for a 2 hour rental. Anyway, the service writer didn't have the cajones to call me, instead the service manager calls. He tells me that they have been on the phone with nissan's tech dept and that they are stumped. They have no solution to the problem and that it is probably caused by my intake. So, they have no solution, then proceeds to tell me that Nissan says that it is perfectly normal for the engine to sound like it was transplanted out of a T-model Ford. So I pick my car up and bring it home contemplating how to most effectively drive it through all of their showroom windows taking as many cars with me as I possibly can. Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to get it off my chest how much I FUKCING HATE NISSAN!

 

I feel you bro! To think the Maxima is their so called flagship/entry level sedan and they are treating the owner so badly! BTW, what kind of intake do you have on when you brought it to the dealer?

 

Got the Injen CAI.

 

You are running a little lean since the intake draws in more air. Try reset your ECU for air/fuel ratio recalibration & use different type of gasoline, Chevron-93/Sunnoco-94. I have the Injen intake also and notice mild case of pinging at lower RMP. I've heard that this is okay if the symptom is not too excessive.

 

Believe me...I have reset the ECU and replaced MAF I even tried going back to stock airbox, but it still sounds like I can expect a valve to bust through at any time. I have tried different gas but no luck. The only thing that has not been replaced yet are the ignition coils. But the dealer won't even consider it since "it's modified". Besides I don't think the coils are an issue in the 2003....I could be wrong though.

 

Take the intake out, put the car back to stock and then make them fix it. You probably need new coil packs.

 

I hate Nissan service too!!! They are total asses!!!

 

Is there another dealer where you can bring your car to? If so, make sure you put back the stock air intake assembly to avoid further confrontation.

I think we should all compile a list of unsatisfied owners, with vin# & dealer location and email to Nissan's headquarter or yet to the consumer affair/JD Power&Associates? Nissan needs to implement some sort of trainings to the affliated dealers or else they'll loose loyal customers!!!

 

dont worry, your not on the boat alone. acura dealers suck just as much.

 

Like I've posted in another thread, you're better off just having your Max serviced @ Infiniti (if possible). Everytime I went to Acme Nissan (S. Brunswick,NJ) I feel like I could get better service from Mr. Goodwrench @ the Chevy dealership next door.

Peace.

 

Why don't you take your car to United Nissan in Las Vegas or Douglas Nissan in Henderson?

Sorry to hear about the way you've been treated at Desert Nissan. I've had nothing but quality service from them for my Maxima and my SE-R.

 

I have no other choice but to take it to united or douglas. I will never set foot at desert again. I have yet to see a more arrogant and anti-customer service minded people. I like the Infiniti idea though. Maybe I'll give that a shot. Seriously though, I am really considering just selling the max and buying something that the manufacturer stands behind 100%. Not sure what though. It's seriously embarassing to have your car sound like a clunker. My my neighboor has a beat up pos 89 prelude that purrs and I think he's pi**ing in his tank. I ALWAYS use 93.

 

Thank for the info man. I'm in the same boat. My 03 Max w/ Injen intake started pinging a few weeks ago. Always noticable in the afternoon. Around 2k rpms.

I was going to replace the stock intake and take it in for service...but apparently Nissan doesn't know how to fix it. Btw...I understand that cars ping...but for a $30k to ping as much as my Max does is unacceptable. I reset the ecu, tried different types of gas...but I have no idea why it started pinging just a few weeks ago.

I hate it when my Max pings!

 

wait we can bring it to an Infiniti dealer?! Are you guys sure?

 

He should have known better than to take it in with the intake on...

 

I'm in the same boat as you guys are but I think my problem is more intense. Mine continously pings when its hot outside going over 55+ mph. I requested a district mgr/tech to come out to the dealer ship and the dm said NO! He has ran into this problem before and 5 other Nissan Maxima owners have put in lemon law arbitration lawsuits and have lost them all. I've already called NNA liked 7 times to complain about the tech support dept.

Still waiting on an answer from NNA. I'm not giving up!

 

If the intake was the issue here they would never have even worked on the car under warranty...which they did. The only thing I should have known better was to buy a Nissan. As much as I love my car I never would have bought a flagship that sounds like tractor. Guess I should have done some more research.

 

I have a 2k2 max and injen, sorry for being an idiot, but what exactly does the ping/knock feels like?
Maybe I have the same problem but I wouldn't know sh*t cause I have no idea what the ping/knock feels like.
Can a bro help me out??
Thanks in Adv.

 

Another reason me and my family own Infiniti

Better service... all i can say is DAMN they're patient with me, (and especially my dad)... He's brought it back in the past 3 months like 20 times for every lil tidbit i wouldn't even complain about... I Infiniti has loaners too.!!

 

Yea, I know how you feel. I have the same problem with my stock 2k3 3000 miles only. So I went to (Star Nissan) in NYC today they told me that they can't service my car today and I have to go back tomorrow. That sucks that mean I have to take another day off from work.

 

Ping and knocking is when you press your gas and the car doesn't want to go anywhere. And it kinda bogs down and you hear cliii cliiii cliiiii cliiii Clliiiii Noice coming out of the engine bay. On the maxima usually caused by Bad Ingnition coils.

 

I've learned a game most Nissan Dealers play. When you take your car in for service thats warrenty, They know they are not getting paid for the job, so they just tell you the car is normal and there was no problem found. They make you go back and forth with them til the miles on your car keep growing and your car runs out of Warrenty. Once that takes place, Now they are willing to fix every little rattle and mechanical problem for a Fee.

 

Wonder if they would be willing to fix all their showroom windows and all their inventory?

 

You don't wanna do that man, You can get into big trouble that way. Just throw your car in the lake and call insurance company

 

Hmm, that's interesting. My Max only pings right around 2k rpms, regardless of what gear I'm in. It usually doesn't ping on the highway cause at 75 mph...its runs at 2.5k rpms. Funny thing is, even if it was pinging slightly at highway speed, I wouldn't be able to hear it cause of all the damn wind noise.

Btw...is it me...or did Nissan totally skip the wind tunnel when designing this car. Driving on highway, I get bugs, and all kinds of garbage on my bumper and windshield...

Does anyone know what the cod is on the Max??

 

Hey guys I'm sorry to hear about these problems ya'll are having, but ya'll need to look at it this way at least it's not a domestic. I just sold my malibu like two weeks ago for a 2k3 max, and from all the searches on problems with the max it seems minor to my malibu which was a 2000. I wake up everymorning when I start the engine I get this squeaking noize that is f**king unbelievable loud. Chevy knew it was coming from the belts but they couldn't fix it and I hated having to let the car warm up for like 15 mins before it went away. Cause no one wants to drive down the street in front of people with your car dammit squeaking crazy. So I understand your problems that ya'll are having but trust me it's nothing like a domestic.

PS: Sorry for making this so long, but also I saw someone say they think they would get better service from Chevy thats because everytime you go in Chevy they are filled up with complaints and problems so they have to get the best customer service people.

 

But look how much's the malibu vs the max. If I knew all the problem max's have I would of gotten an accord for less $$$. Don't get me wrong I love my max, But I will love it more if the dealers are willing to fix all the problems....

 

My 2k3 is just over a year old, no pinging, purrs like a kitten.

 

So you are the lucky 25%...... lol

 

.......

 

I hear you on the malibu thing.. My 1998 malibu gave me all sorts of trouble.. 3wks after my parents gave it to me (in 2001), it blew a head gasket...3mo out of warranty... $1200 to fix at the dealership. I hated it then...so much. No big problems until the brakes needed replacement. I replaced them at precision tune here, and they started squealing... Brand spanking new pads..squealing... so loud you could hear it over my system System for you to peruse..., which I'll say was no slouch at 2000wrms... Brought back the malibu a month later, complaining of a squeal that just wouldn't go away (they told me it'd go away after a few days)... they replaced the pads for free... A month later ....another whole month of squealing I brought it back again.... Those pads had eaten through as well... my wheels got pitch black after like a week of driving.... 4 times in total I brought it back, in 4 months... to have the pads replaced... Of course that stopped when it got totalled... and I moved up to an 01 I30t... MUCH better customer service, smoother running car, longer warranty.. but no system I miss it....

 

Owned for almost 1 year, 22,000 miles and mine's purring like a kitten too. I love my car.

 

I took my car in at 7am today and now is 1:30pm they still didn't take a look at my car. I hate nissan. I just know what they're going to say later when they call me, they're going to tell me they find nothing wrong or they have to order parts so I've to go back another day..F**K nissan

 

Exactly why I love Infiniti.. Could care less when they get around to my car as long as they hook me up with a sweet replacement loaner in the mean time... G35, M45, FX35/45...etc lol

 

You know it's weird how everyone says that they don't get loaners but I have five coupons for free rentals. When I'm having service done, they also said after the coupons anything that is covered under my 5 year bumper to bumper I would get a free rental I just would have to pay for gas.