jkratzer

I took my 2K1 in for the 7500 mile maintenance today. It cost me $86 bucks. I brought them a 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 synthetic oil and they put it in for me. I got to looking at the prices of the future maintenance and it will get expensive. At 15,000 miles the cost goes to $130. At 30,000 miles the cost is $200 and at 60,000 the cost goes to $330. Basically, you take your car in for maintenance every 7500 miles. Is it worth it to follow this schedule?

TimW

iTrader: (6)

what did you pay for? look at your manual. Replace oil and oil filter. Inspect a few things. Pretty easy to do.

I will do the 30K, just to keep square on the warranty. But even then, they are going to have to show me some work for the money.

Maximum Velocity

iTrader: (3)

I follow their recomended maintenance. Whether it be I do it myself, or take it in for them to do the harder things, I do follow the schedule pretty much.

Larrio

iTrader: (10)

My dealer color codes them into every:
3750 (yellow) $19.95
7500 (green) $65
15000 (red) $159
30000 (purple) $220

I usually do yellow and green by myself since it's only a 27 point inspection, lube necessary parts, fluid level check, and oil + oil filter replacement. But for the 15K service, they do a lot more and also recommend a wheel balance and fuel injection (which i deny). So I follow it somewhat.

johnsmax

Damn u must be rich or seriously misleaded!! Those dealer recommendations are pure BS! Ur service costs looks higher than my lexus. I only change the oil/filter and air filter for my max. And i rotate the tires myself. So my cost every 7.5k to the dealer is $19.95 and its done by a NISSAN DEALER in an hour or less. Can't be more happy with the service, the car, or the price.......... Forget those intervals and just follow mine and change ur air filter every 20k. Plugs at every 100k.

jkratzer

Rich, no. Seriously misled, maybe. According to my handout, at 7500 miles, Nissan does 11 things other than an oil change including rotating tires, adjusting clutch, brake inspection, etc. Most everything else on the handout is just an inspection of various parts. I've always had problems with inspections because they never seem to catch a problem. I got the handout from my Nissan service dept. But this one was cheap compared to the service at 30,000 or even 60,000 miles.

BTW, Nissan says that the plugs must be replaced at 60,000 miles, not 100,000 miles.

Blackgums100

Tim, I haven't done any of the services threw Nissan, does that affect my warranty? Damn thx for mentioning it, I need to schedule my blown door speaker and I think my rotors are warped. Calling now.

TimW

iTrader: (6)

But I wrote in the back of my manual what I visually inspected. I check pads when I rotate.

as for affecting the warranty, if you let a torn boot go until the CV blows, well, technically it should have been inspected. You could have some trouble with something like that.

I *do* the items called for in the schedule. As for lubing parts, they charge like 5 bucks for that at an oil change place. Not sure about the special $80 lube nissan uses.


Every oil change and tire rotation, I look for leaks and wear.

stockmax

Which service schedule do you follow, the one in the manual, or the one given to you by the dealer? I've noticed that the dealer wants to service things much more often than the manual says (spark plugs 60K vs 105K, fuel filter replace at 60K vs non-serviceable, etc.) Obviously, the dealer wants to maximize revenue from service, and the manufacturer wants to minimize in-service costs to the consumer (try to sell more cars). Which schedule should we follow?

By the way, my theory is change oil and filter every 3 to 4K, air filter every 20K, other fluids (brake, coolant, etc.) at 50K, then every 30K. I have heard horror stories of people taking cars in at 30K for the "major service" and when they get it back, it has nothing but problems after that.

By the way, our service schedules aren't too bad, compared with some vehicles. My wife's Durango requires a lot at 30K (plugs, all fluids, etc.), came to over $400! Didn't have time to do it myself, just let her handle it at the dealer.

Larrio

iTrader: (10)

What jacks up the price so high is the labor rate that the dealers charge, which is about $60 per hour around here. The parts are only like 10 bucks for a 7500 miles maintenance. I got really ****ed off the last time I went cause the mechanic threw out my k&n filter and replaced it with a stock nissan one. I only go in there for the 15000 miles maintenance just in case they say that I need proof to keep my warranty or something like that.

BuddyWh

To answer the question: probably nobody... most EXCEED Nissan's requirements.

Nissan's requirements are in your warranty booklet. Anything else is not required to maintain warranty coverage, and that includes most of what the dealer recommends.

If you want to feel comfortable about your car, then do what the dealer recommends. All the 30k and 60k dealer packages I have seen do have value for the $300-600 they cost. Yours could be different but somehow I doubt it.

BuddyWh

HulaMAX

iTrader: (1)

Another thing about dealer's labor rates...the mechanics have a standard for each service (i.e. 1 hour for plugs, 2 for clutch...whatever it may be). Regardless of how quickly they are able to perform this service, they will charge you full amount. If it takes them longer, then they can charge even more...but not any less than what the books say.
I do the simpler stuff on my own (oil changes, tire rotations, air filter change, inspections...) but tend to leave the more difficult stuff to the dealer.

Larrio

iTrader: (10)

My dealer recommends a wheel balance every 15k, they charge about 40 bucks for it. Do you think I should follow their advice?

TimW

iTrader: (6)

the plugs may be good to 100K, but often become nearly impossible to remove if left in that long. dunno. I would prolly do them at 60 anyway.

vmax8

Thanks for that piece of information! I'll keep that in mind. Do you know if the timing chain/belt should be changed or not after a certain number of miles (regardless of what condition it appears to be in)? Or do you wait until the belt or chain is starting to show actual signs of wear? Thanks!

Larrio

iTrader: (10)

Have you guys ever considered changing the spark plugs from the platinum ones to the iridium ones that they sell on ebay? Some boast major improvements in 1/4 times, but i'm a little skeptical

rubman

Do a search, several org members have discussed the pros & cons of Iridium plugs. Called my local speedshop(Jotech in Garland, TX.), talked to Kenny Tran(the owner), asked him about replacing the plugs with diifferent ones. He mentioned that on our cars, it is best to replace the plugs with what Nissan originally installed. He said it something about the timing. Called Nissan and since my Max only has 40k, they recommended waiting until @least 50k to replace the plugs.

ThisMax2NV

So does it really matter wether you follow the recommended dealer stuff or just do as you think. I change oil every month.

jnm2kse

I change the oil every 5-6k with Mobil 1 and rotate and balance the tires at the same time. I threw in a K&N Filter also. Thats it. Car now has 44K on it and is running good. Avg almost 800-1000 mile a week. We'll see how long it goes.

Still have the original Toyos on there but may be time for them to go. Tread still looks decent and traction isn't all that bad but the wheels seem to be unbalancable now.

Have had the brakes cut twice under the TSB, once at 26k (warpage started around 18k and once again at 36k when warpage came back at 39K. Have to replace rotors soon. Got into a fender bender beginning of March, some clown in an Outback Legacy cut into traffic and whacked the Camry in front of me, I hit the brakes but no way to stop....probably about a 5-10mph hit..2000 in damage....did I mention tha Max's are built like tin cans??

Had the orginal TSB done for tranny but not the solonoid. Only time I feel what I think is slipping is when I'm crawling in traffic and sometimes when I go to give it gas and press it a bit it seems to be stuck in a higher gear as it will seem like it wants to go but then downshifts into a lower gear. The only thing I can think of is that the tranny is crawling in 2nd and then when I hit the gas it pauses for a bit before downshifting into 1st.....thats not slippage is it?


Anyhoo..The oil gets changed and the tires get rotated...so far so good other than the usual rattle trap noise that the car always makes. The rental Dodge neon I'm in now sounds tighter than my Max.

Blackgums100

Nothing will prolong the life of your tires like rotating.