OK -- before I get flamed, READ MY POST!!!

I LOVE my Maxima -- I take extremely good care of it, keep the maintenance going, and install items meself...BUT, Nissan, as a
corporation has really backward (and IMHO - unethical) practices.

Case in point:

I've NEVER had a good dealer experience -- NEVER!

Before my Maxima, I never had a car for more than a year or two (all Piecesof****)...so, when I first bought my car (after spending decent $$$), I said - I will not work on it, I will take the car to the dealer -- they know what's up...

I couldn't be further from the truth...

OK -- so, we ALL know DEALERS SUCK, they're WORTHLESS and they're CRIMINALS -- but, here's what irks me:

Nissan Corp. will HAPPILY give dealer shops AWARDS and accolades -- the dealers PROUDLY post 'em up on their walls...Also, Nissan Corp. (in Canada atleast) will put posters up that state "Fix it right, the first time" (which I personally have never enjoyed).

BUT, when a dealer FLAT OUT RIPS YOU OFF and you complain to Nissan their response is --> Every dealer shop is independantly owned, we can't do anything about it, take it up with the Service Manager.

Ofcourse, when the service manager is ripping you off, where are you supposed to go?

SO, Nissan will gladly give the dealers awards and slogans, but they won't stand behind them when a problem arises --> THAT'S SO WRONG!!!

Any ideas???? What can we do???? It's also nearly impossible to sue these folks --> or is it???

any way, I'd love to hear some thoughts from the .org!

long live the org!
FLO_BOY

 

i LOVE my service people, they OWN...actually encourage me to mod it

 

I've found that in general, do not go to dealers that win awards. Case in point, Sheehy Nissan in Baltimore has one of worst Attitudes when it comes to servicing my vehicle. My SES light came on and I had to wait for them to reprogram my ECU for six hours, they never did the work and all they did was reset the ECU. However, Gathersburg Nissan has given me rental cars in the past (a real nice one, 2002 Chevy Silverado 4X4) when I need my brake job (I had to pay for my rotors because I was over the Service Bulletins limit a issue that I will get back to on a little bit) and Norris Nissan as well(a Misutubishi Galant for a Brake Light Switch problem).

Going back a few months prior to me getting my rotors fixed I had taken my car to Sheehy Nissan because my brakes where Juttering when I did a hard stop. So I put the car in for service, the service manager comes out to me and tells me the car isn't covered because they said that the rotors were already replaced(I bought the car used) and I would have to pay such and such an amount of money to get the car fixed. Since the problem wasn't that bad at the time I left because I didn't have the money to get it fixed(It was supposed to be covered by the TSB for Crying out loud, I showed it to them and they Ignored it!!!) and a couple of months later outside of the TSB deadline my brakes finally give up the ghost. Driving to gathersburg is not a short drive(around 50 miles) to get my car fixed but they treated me well. I asked the service manager at Gathersburg Nissan if the rotors were ever replaced and guess what: THE ROTORS WERE FACTORY STOCK AND HAD NEVER BEEN REPLACED!!!! At that very moment I envisioned myself at Sheehy nissan Throwing a Brick right through the window. Oh well, I guess its only money. However I will never take my car to Sheehy Again.
By the way Sheehy's ranked number one in service and sales by Nissan and the freakin' dealership could have gotten me killed over refusing not to do TSB work. I have been going to GB nissan and Norris Nissan ever since.

And the moral of today's story is: You don't have to be number one to give good customer service.

 

what can you do? DON'T PAY THEM! If they don't do the work, don't pay the bill... it's as easy as that. You'll have to fight/argue/yell a little but you'll eventually get them to fix the problem or you can insist that they never fixed it so you'll never pay.

I know you're going to say "it's not that easy" ... well, it is. I haven't had to do it with this car because I haven't had a problem that wasn't fixed, but I have done it with other cars and it works. My Mitsu GSX timing chain broke at 55k miles and destroyed a bunch of stuff. They said they fixed it and I wasn't happy with it (made weird noise; they claimed "needs to break-in and noise will go away") so I told them "I'll pay when the noise goes away." It's that easy. I eventually gave them another chance and they finally fixed it correctly...

Hate to say it this way but, if you allow someone to walk on you, they usually will.

 

Personally, I've had limited experience with Nissan dealerships. The one I've been to was nice enough, did the work quickly, but bent me over when the bill came across the counter. $200 for CEL diagnosis, oil change and tire rotation. This was when I first bought the Max, and the deal was pending the results from the CEL. They wanted $350 to replace the knock sensor, but thankfully I got out of there and found the .org not soon after

Still, they weren't jerks, and the mechanic I talked to actually encouraged i/y-pipe/exhaust mods. Go figure.

But I've been to plenty of dealer shops filled with contemptable bastards. And I've been to lots of independent shops filled with liars and thiefs. OTOH, I've seen honest and reasonably priced versions of both. And in the case of my old Volvo dealer, my mom actually *loved* their service department (the parts manager was trained in Sweden!!! ). But with my car, I flew into a mild rage in their shop after they showed me an invoice for $400 to "blow crushed walnut shells through the head". On a friggin Volvo 240

Seems to me the best advice is to deal with the dealerships on a case by case basis. I've seen plenty of complaints about Nissan dealers on this board, but unless I'm missing something, they're not much different from most other makes.

theLoon

 

No probs here what so ever. Got a free 100k mile warranty for bad trannies.

 

Personally, Nissan has the BEST service... Everytime I call a dealership for a price quote on anything, they get it to me right away without any hassle...

Honda on the otherhand is HORRIBLE!! I asked them for a price quote on one of their engines, and the parts guy said he didnt have the time to look that stuff up... I tried another Honda Dealership and I got about the same thing!

So really, Ive had the best experiences with Nissan... Although I dont reccomend calling their HQ in California, they on the otherhand are very messed up and need some better people working there...

 

i've had some bad expeiences in the past as well. all i know is that i'm never going back there to get something fixed unless it's a major problem. i went to see what was up with my locks one time....when i pressed the button they would unlock half way and i would have to use the key to get in and push them the rest of the way with my finger....they charged me near $100 and they're still broken, well only one now, i fixed the others.