I purchased a New 2002 Nissan Maxima in 2002. At 10,000 miles and April of 2002 I brought my vehicle to VOB Nissan in Rockville Maryland because of a clunking noise when turning under 5mph. At that time they were unable to fix my problem and gave me some bs excuse and told me to take it to a body shop. Then in Feb 2002 I brought it back in for the same problem. I have repeatedly brought this vehicle back to VOB, atleast 5 times. I even went for a test drive with their shop foreman who stated that their was a problem with the vehicle and that they would fix it. The last time I brought it in they replaced the entire steering rack, thinking that was the problem. The vehicle has almost 54,000 miles on it now, way over the warranty period now. However, its still making this noise. I recently brought the vehicle back (in fact its still there) and now they are telling me its the front struts, even though the shop foreman thinks its the lower control arm. However, now they are trying to force me to pay over a thousand dollars to fix it. Am I responsible for paying for this since I originally brought this to their attention at 10,000 miles when the vehicle was only a couple months old? At this point I feel like they are just replacing random parts on the vehicle because they actually don't know what the problem is, however they are trying to do it at my cost. Can you help me? Also, if any of you bring you car to VOB Nissan in Rockville Maryland I suggest you stop because they are obviously idiots. Does anyone know what this problem could be or should I just assume the car is a lemon and work that angle with my lawyer? Thanks and sorry for the novel.

VOB Sucks

 

Vultures Of Bethesda. I bought my 97 max there new and while trying to sell it found out that it had been hit in their parking lit and repainted by them. They didn't bother telling us when we bought it. They suck. Stand your ground!!!

 

Wow. I wasn't going to say CV joints...but they say they replaced the whole axle. Maybe the boots cracked and leaked again? When they said they replaced your axle, did your car stop making the clunk? Did it comeback again recently, or has it been present all the way up until today?

 

I'm not sure if they replaced the axle, just the steering rack (whatever that means). I don't think it ever fixed the problem. After they replaced the rack it wasn't as noticable, but it was still there. At one point I was just going to live with the noise and keep the radio up loud and not drive under 5mph. However, living in a metro area, thats near impossible. I've called 1-800-Nissan-1 and they are not helping me much either. They are going by what the goofy guy(Service manager who wears bow ties and tacky suits) is telling them. I think they made a mistake by replacing the steering rack and don't know what the problem is. I doubt its the struts. They didn't even take the car apart and told me it was the struts. Don't you have to take the actual struts off of the vehicle to determine if they are bad? They didn't even pull a tire off or put it on a lift. They just test drove it for the 100th time and told me that. Do you think taking it to another more qualified mechanic and getting a second opinion is what I should do? At this point I am willing to do whatever it takes to prevent VOB from bending me over any further.

VOB Sucks

 

My money's on CV joints or possibly wheel bearings. It can't be your struts, if it was, you'd feel it at higher speeds too. Cracked CV joints are usually what cause the clunking. I have it too.

 

Hey, I got the same problem and it turned out to be the upper ball joint (whatever they call it). They are pieces #4 (left and right) as shown in the picture below



The right piece is $15.62 and the left piece is $28.29 from www.everythingnissan.com . Hope that will fix your problem too.

 

wow if it is i dont think i wanna go to a dealer ever again for a service

 

wow, thanks for the suggestions guys. I really do appreciate it. I'm going to get a second opinion from a shop with the suggestions you guys made. I am pretty sure its not the struts. I've had the same crap original tires on this car since I bought it with 100 miles on it. It now has 54k on it and the tires have worn evenly the entire time and I have experienced no other common bad strut side effects. My lawyer is going to have a field day with VOB Nissan in Rockville Maryland. I'll never bring my vehcile back to another Nissan Dealership ever again. Thanks again guys.

VOB Sucks

 

I got the same problem.The two ball joints #4, right and left were bad. After I changed de joints I also found the steering clolumn shaft to be bad, with excessive free play in the upper universal joint.

 

I just had a new tranny put in, and from the dealer testing all of their theorys(taking the original tranny apart time and time again)they damaged my stock fsb. It was bouncing up and down on the worn out shaft on the driver's side, also when i turned the wheel all the way to the right and back to the left it would make a bang sound. The dealer replaced the bar.