My letter to Nissan Consumer Affairs....
10-27-2004, 08:49 AM
#1
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My letter to Nissan Consumer Affairs....
Joe Blow
#### ##### ####
Unit #
#### ### Fl. ####
October 11, 2004
Nissan Consumer Affairs
P.O. Box 191
Gardena, CA 90248
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter is regarding some rather unpleasant service I received at one of your “Award of Excellence” dealerships while attempting to have a serious transmission and power loss problem addressed.
After having a serious roll over accident in the beginning of August in a compact American vehicle, I decided to look into a larger and safer vehicle for family and I. We came to choose a 2002 certified used Nissan Maxima which I purchased on August 13, 2004 from Sutherlin Nissan. Our Sales consultant did an excellent job of helping us find exactly what we were looking for, in fact our over all experience with Sutherlin Nissan was very positive from start to finish.
In September we began to experience difficulty with the automatic transmission in our Maxima. The symptoms included difficulty putting the car in reverse in the mornings, increasingly abrupt shifting and play between coasting at approx. 40-60 MPH and accelerating. We felt that the vehicle had begun to shift in to overdrive prematurely causing this feeling of play between forward motion and coasting.
On September 27th we made an appointment with Naples Nissan which is conveniently approx 15 minutes from my place of business to inspect our Nissan on the following day. After having the car spend the entire day at there service facility their “Nissan 2004 platinum Service Advisor recipient” called me and assured me that the transmission was in perfect working order. Mr. ### ######## told me that his master technician of 23 years checked all the transmission & motor mounts, checked the ATF fluids and drove the car Nemours times before stating it was perfectly normal operation. At that time I proceeded to question how this diagnosis was performed in order to better understand the dismissal of this very pronounced problem. On the afternoon of the 27th when I arrived to pick up my Maxima, I immediately offered to stop by and replicate the problem. After replicating the problem several times with Mr. ### ####### whom was riding in the
vehicle, he finally agreed that something was going on when we began to experience a burning odor and asked me to bring back the car on fowling day to re-diagnose it.
September 28th, day two at Naples Nissan brought much of the same in terms of downplaying the severity of the situation. I proceeded to question if any of the Nissan transmission TSB’s could be related to problems I was experiencing, Mr. ###### quickly dismissed the TSB’s to causing problems mainly in the previous Maxima models and how he had not seen one Maxima with transmission problems in his 5 years with Nissan. Once again and for a 2nd time as went to pick up my un repaired Nissan I proceeded to offer to duplicate the jolting shifts for either the Service manager or head technician, at which time was introduced to Mr. #### ####### who had just returned from driving my vehicle. His professional opinion at that time was also “normal operation”. I convinced Mr. ### ###### (Naples Nissan Parts & Service Director) to take a drive with me so that I could replicate the shifting issue, which I did and which he stated I was deliberately causing it to occur. After being insulted and while on this 20 minute test drive I proceeded to brainstorm with him in hopes of finding a solution. He explained Nissan’s criteria for replacing defective parts and the fact that my problem hadn’t become pronounced enough to merit warranty service. When I asked him what I should do, he replied “take it back to the dealer where you purchased it” or wait another 5000 miles and allow the problem to worsen then bring it back for re diagnoses. While not happy with the poor service I had received, I agreed to drive the car for another 5k and bring it back for diagnoses.
October 9th, after driving around for 11 days with a poor shifting transmission which I was assured was perfectly fine, we experienced even more serious problems on our way to the east coast of Florida for a family birthday. The transmission began to profusely slip after driving for approximately 1hour, about 30 minutes latter as we exited the highway the transmission was slipping so badly that it would have to constantly downshift to propel the car forward. When we arrived to our destination the same burning smell that Mr. ### #### and I had experienced on the 27th of September had returned once again. I felt the need to recheck the fluid prior to returning to the west coast of Florida on the flowing day, it was clean and up to optimal operating levels. On the way home we experienced the same unsettling feeling driving the car with a slipping transmission and not knowing if we would make it home.
I purchased this car as means of safer and more reliable transportation after a traumatizing accident in a small American car two months ago, and have come to feel just as helpless with our new Nissan Maxima. This Certified Nissan was purchased with approx. 43,000 miles of use and now has about 48,000 miles on it; it is under warranty and we are astonished that the Naples Nissan Service department would allow us drive away with an assurance that our car was fine, when in fact was not functioning properly at all and downright unsafe to operate on public roads.
I have since then returned to Sutherlin Nissan where we purchased the car to have this problem addressed. Sutherlin Nissan is currently working with us to resolve any issues that our car may be having. I wanted Nissan to know that because of the extremely poor level of service I received at Naples Nissan I would never step foot nor recommend anyone visit there Service department. I would think Nissan would be a bit more critical in awarding individuals and service departments like Naples Nissan’s that operate in such an unprofessional manner. As much as I love my Nissan I would be very hesitant to recommend Nissan to anyone in fear that they would be put thru the same time unpleasant experience that my family and I were subjected to. I would implore Nissan to investigate and find out exactly what is going on in there service facilities in order to better serve it’s customers and minimize these unpleasant and extremely unprofessional experiences customers like myself and other are being subjected to .
Sincerely,
###### #######
#### ##### ####
Unit #
#### ### Fl. ####
October 11, 2004
Nissan Consumer Affairs
P.O. Box 191
Gardena, CA 90248
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter is regarding some rather unpleasant service I received at one of your “Award of Excellence” dealerships while attempting to have a serious transmission and power loss problem addressed.
After having a serious roll over accident in the beginning of August in a compact American vehicle, I decided to look into a larger and safer vehicle for family and I. We came to choose a 2002 certified used Nissan Maxima which I purchased on August 13, 2004 from Sutherlin Nissan. Our Sales consultant did an excellent job of helping us find exactly what we were looking for, in fact our over all experience with Sutherlin Nissan was very positive from start to finish.
In September we began to experience difficulty with the automatic transmission in our Maxima. The symptoms included difficulty putting the car in reverse in the mornings, increasingly abrupt shifting and play between coasting at approx. 40-60 MPH and accelerating. We felt that the vehicle had begun to shift in to overdrive prematurely causing this feeling of play between forward motion and coasting.
On September 27th we made an appointment with Naples Nissan which is conveniently approx 15 minutes from my place of business to inspect our Nissan on the following day. After having the car spend the entire day at there service facility their “Nissan 2004 platinum Service Advisor recipient” called me and assured me that the transmission was in perfect working order. Mr. ### ######## told me that his master technician of 23 years checked all the transmission & motor mounts, checked the ATF fluids and drove the car Nemours times before stating it was perfectly normal operation. At that time I proceeded to question how this diagnosis was performed in order to better understand the dismissal of this very pronounced problem. On the afternoon of the 27th when I arrived to pick up my Maxima, I immediately offered to stop by and replicate the problem. After replicating the problem several times with Mr. ### ####### whom was riding in the
vehicle, he finally agreed that something was going on when we began to experience a burning odor and asked me to bring back the car on fowling day to re-diagnose it.
September 28th, day two at Naples Nissan brought much of the same in terms of downplaying the severity of the situation. I proceeded to question if any of the Nissan transmission TSB’s could be related to problems I was experiencing, Mr. ###### quickly dismissed the TSB’s to causing problems mainly in the previous Maxima models and how he had not seen one Maxima with transmission problems in his 5 years with Nissan. Once again and for a 2nd time as went to pick up my un repaired Nissan I proceeded to offer to duplicate the jolting shifts for either the Service manager or head technician, at which time was introduced to Mr. #### ####### who had just returned from driving my vehicle. His professional opinion at that time was also “normal operation”. I convinced Mr. ### ###### (Naples Nissan Parts & Service Director) to take a drive with me so that I could replicate the shifting issue, which I did and which he stated I was deliberately causing it to occur. After being insulted and while on this 20 minute test drive I proceeded to brainstorm with him in hopes of finding a solution. He explained Nissan’s criteria for replacing defective parts and the fact that my problem hadn’t become pronounced enough to merit warranty service. When I asked him what I should do, he replied “take it back to the dealer where you purchased it” or wait another 5000 miles and allow the problem to worsen then bring it back for re diagnoses. While not happy with the poor service I had received, I agreed to drive the car for another 5k and bring it back for diagnoses.
October 9th, after driving around for 11 days with a poor shifting transmission which I was assured was perfectly fine, we experienced even more serious problems on our way to the east coast of Florida for a family birthday. The transmission began to profusely slip after driving for approximately 1hour, about 30 minutes latter as we exited the highway the transmission was slipping so badly that it would have to constantly downshift to propel the car forward. When we arrived to our destination the same burning smell that Mr. ### #### and I had experienced on the 27th of September had returned once again. I felt the need to recheck the fluid prior to returning to the west coast of Florida on the flowing day, it was clean and up to optimal operating levels. On the way home we experienced the same unsettling feeling driving the car with a slipping transmission and not knowing if we would make it home.
I purchased this car as means of safer and more reliable transportation after a traumatizing accident in a small American car two months ago, and have come to feel just as helpless with our new Nissan Maxima. This Certified Nissan was purchased with approx. 43,000 miles of use and now has about 48,000 miles on it; it is under warranty and we are astonished that the Naples Nissan Service department would allow us drive away with an assurance that our car was fine, when in fact was not functioning properly at all and downright unsafe to operate on public roads.
I have since then returned to Sutherlin Nissan where we purchased the car to have this problem addressed. Sutherlin Nissan is currently working with us to resolve any issues that our car may be having. I wanted Nissan to know that because of the extremely poor level of service I received at Naples Nissan I would never step foot nor recommend anyone visit there Service department. I would think Nissan would be a bit more critical in awarding individuals and service departments like Naples Nissan’s that operate in such an unprofessional manner. As much as I love my Nissan I would be very hesitant to recommend Nissan to anyone in fear that they would be put thru the same time unpleasant experience that my family and I were subjected to. I would implore Nissan to investigate and find out exactly what is going on in there service facilities in order to better serve it’s customers and minimize these unpleasant and extremely unprofessional experiences customers like myself and other are being subjected to .
Sincerely,
###### #######
11-01-2004, 01:59 PM
#3
Great letter. Sorry to hear about your accident. Nissan should have known better than to try and get over on folks. They think people are so niave about their tactics. Nissan service departments sucks. I have a 4th gen tranny problem that took them 9 hours to figure out. Then was told that it would cost around $2700 for parts and labor and that it was recommended that i go throught them since that already had seen the car and knew what the problem was. So after paying $89 bucks for a stupid diagnostic test which was probably uncalled for, I took my car home and decided to buy one from somewhere else. Nissan will screw yo everytime.
11-13-2004, 11:28 PM
#4
As a Nissan tech, I think the vehicle needed to driven over a period of 2-3 days with CONSULT in data monitor in Transmission section to monitor line pressure. Your problem could easily have been solved with a VB or solenoid replacement if line pressure was not in factory specs. I did one 2k2 transmission, with very similar symptoms as above, but it wasn't slipping, the TC's stator had 1 or 2 bent fins causing a shudder when you released the gas and got back on it, line pressure did flucuate in graphing mode, but undectible with numeric output. I believed there is a TSB for the VB replacement on a33b(3.5L) transmissions.
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