I got my SE 2months ago. Noticed chrome's strips peeling on delivery and had to bring right back few days later for replacement. Then showing off to my friends and one pointed out the excessive grease splattered near the belt-pulleys. I waited till today @the 1st free oil-change to complain about that. The dealer called 5hrs later and told me the rubber-boot got defective and they didn't have a new one until tomorrow and "go get yourself a ride home" since they disessembled the thing already. Man, I was sad. So I called Nissan and politely explained the situation and begged ("I'm stranded" thing...) for help. The guy kept me holding awhile then came back and said "we're sorry but Nissan can't do anything about it. Next time please arrange with your dealer to minimize the downtime and inconvenience...". Man I got steamed coming out of my ears. I kinda yelled @the guy "..Nissan didnot put the car together right and I'm paying $30+grands for it and the car is only 2months old with two problems...". It didn't help.
OK, so I had my older daughter walked to the daycare to pick up the younger daughter today. And I finally got a ride home from a friend.
I HAD been a die-hard Nissan fan the last 7 years. This '04Max is the 3rd Nissan ('97GLE and '99PFinder). And I'm no longer a Nissan customer for life (Acura, here I come). It's like catching your girlfriend cheating. One minute your're devoted and the next disgusted.
It will be my personal quest to become a Nissan basher. So I won't be posting any more to be fair to you guys. Ah, I will sure come back with a long list of complaints before the warranty ends. The kind of stuffs that while I was in-love didnot mean much:
* Shimmy @55mph (my vin# ...911xxx)
* Glovebox mis-alligned
* Trunklid mis-alligned
* 5sp A/T shifts rough when cold (yeah, and with VIN# = ...911xxx)
* Left strut makes a popping sound when turning left and hit a bump.
Bad customer service was the big part to almost derailed Honda in the 80s and Nissan in the 90s. Nissan has never learned.

 

Sorry about your troubles, MaxFan. Considering the newness of this car and what you paid for it, your dealer dropped the ball by not offering any kind of loaner. In this type situation, my dealer would have given me a loaner, or if one was not available, had their stand-by chauffeur pick me up and drive me home. Just common good customer relations.

The chrome strips peeling is sometimes a function of improper removal of the transit protective covers (white plastic sheeting covering each chrome strip). I saw one on my dealer's lot like that (actually worse; the chrome had been cut with a knife while removing the sheeting) and he moved it to the back lot until he had new strips installed.

The glove box misalignment is a simple fix; just ask the dealer to get you an extended nipple for the left side of the glove box frame (TSB-NTB04-050 part #68399-7y000). This pushes the left upper corner slightly out, causing the right upper corner to move slightly in. The result is usually a good fit with the dash.

Has your dealer actually performed the Nissan-reccommended proceedure for eliminating the shimmy? It exists, has been discussed here at length, and the dealer should be aware of it.

In closing, be aware the Accura T Type has BIG tranny questions and problems (engine rpms so low at some cruising speeds, the cooling system can't keep the tranny cool, so it overheats and gradually self-destructs). Accura is sort of dancing around the problem, giving some range VINs extended tranny coverage, but not other ranges, which have the same problem.

I think we all knew going in that combining the first year of a new generation with moving the entire assembly to the US would have problems. I agree it is really disappointing to find them in a car with a VIN # as high as yours. Not good.

But Nissan/Datsun has been very good to me since the 1970s, and I am willing to cut them considerable slack, as I feel the '04 is an exciting, cutting-edge vehicle which I absolutely love to drive. Of course that comes easy for me with a trouble-free car.

Again, sorry to lose you as a Maxima fan.

 

Another good reason not to trust a nissan dealership. I've also heard that there are problems with the TL's transmission. Maybe you could move up to Infiniti? (G35)? They always receive high marks when it comes to dealer and customer relations.

 

Contact these guys:

Fred Standish
Director, Corporate Communications
phone:310/771-5946
e-mail: fred.standish@nissan-usa.com

dan.gaudette@nissan-usa.com
fred.standish@nissan-usa.com
emil.hassan@nissan-usa.com

Hopefully one of them can help you stay with Nissan.

Your dealer really needed to take you home. One reason I bought the extended warranty was for the loaner. Maybe they can extend your warranty for the inconvience or at least free oil changes or inspections. Best wishes.

 

I have been doing business with Stan Olsen Nissan for over 12 years and one of the first things I learned is to become "best friends" with a service writer. Now I admit that over the years I have had a lot of "best friends" in the service isle do to the fact that service writers tend to move around alot, and this dealership is no different - revolving door in the job, but the thing is that these guys call the shots for setting up appointments, handing out loaners, etc.

Next time, get to know the guys in the lane, introduce yourself to the parts manager, and give them perfect scores on the survey - they get bonuses when you do, and the fastest way to their good graces is by lining their pockets with $$$ - at least when you really do have a problem like you have now you will get preferential treatment and some considerations.

Yelling feels great at the time, but I ususally end up feeling worse than the guy I yelled at - at least they are making an attempt to fix your car, and that's what is really important.

Good luck with the fix, and am sorry to hear about your bad dealership / service experience.

 

Although I sympathize with your problems, I don't think you're making a fair comparison.

Going from Nissan (a regular car company) to Acura (a luxury car company) is going to give two completely different ownership/customer service experiences.

It sounds like that is where most of your problems lie...in customer service. Also, the problems you encountered are not acceptable for a 30k car...but leaving over a misaligned trunk/glove box without letting Nissan make it right seem wrong.

I doubt you'll be much happier with Acura. The Acura-tl.com board is reporting:

1)Exploding transmissions...yes even on the 04.
2)Valve click
3)ECU problems
4)Headliner falling
5)Misaligned panels...yup, it happens there too.

Again, I sympathize and I don't think it is right...but give Nissan the old 3 strikes you're out to fix it on the major issues (left strut, shimmy, AT). Good luck.

 

Good points. In my area we have no good or even decent Nissan dealerships. There was one in Burlington that I used to go to and if the need ever arises I will make the 45 mile trip (flatbedded or driving) to have the work done there.

I'm very disappointed with my service. I don't blame Nissan I blame the slimy mechanics. It's their job to do their job and I don't expect anything else...not coffee...not a smile...not even a "I checked this too and refilled it for free". I do my own work because I can't trust them to do something as simple as an oil change right.

What I got was:
"We forgot to pull your car in." (I had been waiting for 3 hours, no apology)
I watched them drop a wheel onto a lift and damage the outside face and laugh.
They begged me twice to give them a score of 5 when they didn't do good work (left the front fans unplugged after a service).

Unless the Maxima comes in AWD with 300hp next time I'm buying...I'll be going to Infiniti just for the service alone.

 

I understand your frustration. I went thru the same experiance with my '02 6 speed. I sold it and went to another brand. It doesn't matter which for the sake of this discussion. I now find myself looking back to Nissan. I remember my problems with the car like it was yesterday. But I also remember that the service guys really did care. They may not have always had the answer that I wanted but that's part of the deal with cars and corporate people.

I am just now starting to visit these boards again and I have to say the forum community here is much better here than elsewhere. Sometimes you have to do without something to understand how good it really was. No car or dealership is perfect. So before you leave consider my experience.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles as well. For what's it worth, I only drove Nissans and then I switched one time and bought an Acura. I sold it after 9 months vowing to never own another. I'll just leave it at that. Sometimes the grass isn't greener on the other side.

Hope everything works out for you no matter what you decide.