So take them as such.

#1 first and foremost...DONT try to fiddle around by takin it to another dealer with OEM stuff on. Leave it as is. You will weaken your case if you start fiddling around with that stuff. If you did not mis-drive or mis-shift, you dont have a thing to worry about. At least in the real non-Nissan related world.

#2 If they cant tell you what is wrong, they probably DONT know what is wrong. Yeah, you might be flagged blah blah blah...but try and get a second opinion. Most it will cost you is a tow job. Maybe some diag money from an outside source.

BUT before you leave the dealership make sure they write on the release slip WHY it needs a new motor. Make sure you agree with it. Do NOT leave w/o some kind of paper showing the transactions you are proceeding with. Make sure it has who worked on it and time spent if you can.

This is a start of a paper work trail. Trust me its important. Make sure when you call you get dates/times/ first and LAST names of people you talk to. Information exchanged. It will ALL help later. It will be amazing to find out that its something simple and take 500$ to fix rather than a 5K$ engine replacement because someone was WAY to lazy to diag correctly and made HUGE assumptions.

Be patient now. If you are going to claims...its gonna take a while.

Best of luck to ya!

 

Did you actually get something from "head" of Nissan...I doubt it. I have been/worked around too many dealerships to know that they love to screw people out of Warranty stuff.

I would call a distant nissan dealership, ask them if there is such a database where if a dealer called it in would be logged.

I have a feeling that they did not call the "head office"...instead merely went and had a cup of coffee with the janitor in the back room.

 

Very well said. I have requested from the dealer and Nissan head office as follows (this is the first letter I have formally sent as of today):

"I am requesting a formal written and signed letter from Nissan outlining the denial of warranty work on my 2001 5spd Maxima. I purchased the Nissan ASP warranty and have been denied warranty replacement/repair of my engine within the time/mileage parameters. I have not received a formal quote or analysis as to what the problem is but being told it is denied because of an aftermarket intake and exhaust. I will require Nissan to outline that the engine problem has been caused “specifically” because of these particular modifications and “exactly” what the problem is at hand. I am still formally requesting warranty coverage on this issue and any other warranty issues since I feel these modifications have nothing to do with the engine problem at hand. Your immediate response is required because my Nissan Vehicle is at a local dealership and is current immobilized and I am without my Nissan or a suitable rental vehicle."

 

Nissan head office knows my issue. I called them and they brought it up.

 

Make sure if you send them "snail" mail that its sent certified/signature required for deliver. Last I checked it was like 3 bucks to do this on a "standard" sized envelope. Then you have a receipt from the postal office of delivery. This again, helps you in your transactions. Proves attempt at getting resolution prior to court action.

When we litigated against Chrysler, we did all these things. It made for a very "easy to read" case. Do anything and everything to document. But seems like you are already doing that.

 

You may be already past the point of taking them to court if you now replace the aftermarket parts with stock and go to another dealer. I can hear the judge now:

“You say the intake and Y-pipe had nothing to do with the engine failure?”
“Yes, your honor.”
“Then why did remove them with stock parts and go to another dealer after the first dealer said
these mods were the problem? By doing this, aren’t you agreeing with them?”
“No sir.”
“Then why did you do it, other than trying to fool Nissan and this court?”
“Uh, ummm”
“OK, I not only rule in Nissan’s favor, but now hold you in contempt for submitting an exhibit
designed to mislead this court.”

 

Thanks I sent a fax but will send it registered mail and cc it to the dealership in question as well.

 

Ya too late now. Gotta go through the process and see what happens. I'm not stressing/freakin' about it but just focusing on what needs to get done and do it.

PS Thanks for all the feedback guys! Keep it up it is helping!

 

the million $ question unless i missed the answer somewhere in the 4 pages of posts still remains: so what's wrong with the engine? surely thats the first thing i would ask anyone who tells me my engine is done for.

 

Shennanigans!

 

How did you blow your engine?? If you took you in at the dealership, and they deny your warranty....they MIGHT have redflagged your car, and if not, put all the factory equipment on, and like what Cutlr7 said...play dumb. Some dealerships even hold up even with aftermarket parts....it mainly depends on the dealership.

 

A word to the wise, before you ever take your car to get any major work done at the dealer... put oem parts back on the car

 

Thanks, Captain Obvious

I would do what has been suggested as far as keeping detailed records and getting a second opinion from another shop. Then I would consult an attorney. The people on this site are knowledgable but, they are not attorneys and know the law inside and out. Most attorneys offer a free consult before they will represent your case.

 

This sounds rather fishy.

The MAF would take care of the Fuel/Air Ratios and the Knock sensor would keep the engine from detonating, and the O2 sensors would keep emmissions down once the main cat is heated up. There's no reason why either the y-pipe or the intake would cause your engine to fail.

 

Obvious or otherwise, it took FOUR PAGES before anyone bothered to mention it.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

 

i thought it was bennigans

 

Follow this approach. There is no way in hell a intake and y-pipe can blow a motor, just not possible. The only thing the y-pipe can intake can possibly void the warranty on is on the OEM y-pipe section to a maximum of the whole exhaust system (who cares) and the intake will void anything in the intake area most notable the MAF sensor and thats it. They can not prove those mods blew the motor. Something else had to have happend here, I dont know what can cause a new VQ30 block to blow. Those motors could take one hell of a beating and come back for more 200K miles could easily be reached with no major problems with proper maintenace. This is just wrong.

Btw- Please get a compression test done. I find it hard to belive the motor is gone, unless it was a factory defect or something I just dont see it possible. Also were are you located at (city/state?) The chances of this isnt too well but if your within 30min form me ill do the compression test for you. This I gotta see to belive, I personally think the dealer is full of **** and is tryin to take your cash.

 

i blew my oil pump with a mishift, engine blew on the way to the dealer .nissan denied warrenty saying the aftermarket pully was installed too tight causing the pump to go which was a lie. i replaced the engine at cost and sued nissan for the money, by law they have to prove the aftermarket part caused the damage .( most importantly) make sure you get their bs in writing. i got a lawyer to write a threatning letter then went through small claims court and they settled.

 

Can you please private message me your email address?

thanks

 

so how much money did u get?

 

1.) Find out what is wrong with the motor. Have them put it on paper.

2.) Tell them your legal counsel has requested a written explanation from the service manager outlining the details of the failure and the cause. Inform them you have been told this is mandatory as they must stipulate why the warranty contract has been broken, by law.

3.) Contact the Ontario Motor Vehicle Arbitration Program

4.) Contact the APA.

(3&4 won't be understood by people who aren't Canucks, sorry folks ).


Also, be a little more agressive with this. For starters, I would recommend that you make sure you get #2 done by the end of the business day today (Thursday). Give them until noon, then call the service manager. Have him get it to you by 2pm. If he doesn't have it, call reception and contact the owner of the dealership. Kindly inform them it's their a$$ on the line if they don't comply.

It's quite impossible for them to prove you broke it unless you really did over-rev it/missed a shift. If they can't present that, they gotta fix it.

The magnuson-moss act doesn't apply to Canada last I heard, but I might be wrong.

 

Thank you for your help!

They won't tell me what is wrong with the car at all. Just saying it is probably a blown motor. The dealer said he will not look at it because Nissan has voided the warranty. The dealer is saying I have to pay to find out what is wrong.... $1000+ to diagnose. If the dealer deems the damage on the car was not done by the mods in question then the warranty would cover it. (i have that in writing as well from headquarters).


Called a lawyer today and set up a meeting. I have also sent Nissan a letter and they have responded with a signed letter (see above).

How do I contact Ontario Motor Vehicle Arbitration Program?

What is the APA. How do I contact them?


Any other details let me know?

Thank you for your help!

 

www.apa.ca

 

I suggest you call them and tell them Nissan cannot void a warranty on any particular item until they correlate the modification with the failure. The dealer would have to tell them what is installed, and what in the warranty SHOULD be voided as a result. Both Nissan HQ and the Nissan dealer must work together, and you could say that each has a 50% influence into the matter. So they have to know.

Did you point out what they've done is illegal? They can't -decide- to do anything because there is modification. Ask them what is voided in the warranty. Tell them if a non-powertrain dependant component such as your power window motors has also been voided (ie. complete warranty void), they are in breach of their contract to provide you support for their product. Also, what dealership is this, and how far up the ranks have you escalated with Nissan Canada?

Lots of links, including Ontario arbitration and Canadian arbitration : http://camvap.ca/eng/links.html / http://camvap.ca

 

Please please please don't be so passive bro. Go buy a $30USD compression tester from your local autoparts store and IMMEDIATELY go to the dealer and use it.

Just from the replies, it doesn't sound like the dealer has a clue if the engine is really blown.

HOW DO THEY KNOW IT'S BLOWN?

Good luck BTW and keep us updated.

 

True! They say it is but they haven't put anything in writing. But want me to pay for a diagnose to determine if the intake/y caused the "problem". Problem = undefined. I am getting "some" progress. Will keep everyone up to date.

quansung 2: please drop me your email.

 

You should ask them to provide you a documented approach on how they are going to determine if the intake/performance y-pipe caused the problem. There should also be an up-front definition of what observations would consitute "cause". In short, make sure the rules of this "game" are defined up front so that you don't end up being victimized by them changing the rules midway through the game.

I also seem to recall that if the issue is ultimately covered under warranty, the diagnosis cost is the dealer's to absorb. You should ask them about that too.

Good luck! Nice to hear there's some progress.

 

Are you going to perform a compression test?

 

It's not like it's $1000 in labor to diagnose the failure...

- Compression test first, then go from there. Silly compression results (ie 0psi on some cylinders) would mean something VERY bad happened. If the compression is good then everything else is fixable. A compression check on the VQ should only take 30 mins. And you can do it yourself!

- Also run the engine codes.
- Check the oil and cooland for proper level and cross-contamination.

Try this attack... Ask the dealer to explain what scenarios would be caused by the intake (ie leaning out etc) and work on refuting those scenarios. Maybe they'll claim the engine leaned out - then you would expect to see some 02 out of range code? Or they'll say a K&N style oiled filter damaged the MAF sometimes - well, show me a MAF code or something!

If you don't get off your butt and harass these folks then your *** is gonna be $5k wider...

 

this is your only hope

 

Being done today by a third party.
The third party got my car running in 30mins.

 

See, Nissan has no Fu(king clue how to diag a car. They see "something" and pull BS to get out of working on it. Cuts into their "butt" time. And god forbid if the ECU does not have a code. How can a car be broken and a code not be thrown?

Could you tell us what the "end" result was to repair that blown motor of yours? Can you prove it was warranty?

I would also write a polite letter to Nissan, and the owner showing the incompetance of their facilities.

 

So what was the problem?

 

Send Nissan HQ a link to this thread...maybe it will enlighten them on how much their training and hiring practices are poor as hell.

 

I don't understand why you're willing to put up with this dealership. My car has a warranty on it, if a dealership (although infiniti is a lot more friendly than nissan) refused to even tell me what was wrong I'd just take it to a dealership who would look at it. If that means getting your car towed to another dealership then do it.

 

DRIVE, RUN, WALK, hell crawl if you have to and GET YOUR CAR THE *** OUT OF THERE!!!!!!

Damn man! If they say the engine is "blown" and some "3rd party????" gets it running in 30mins.., you need to have it towed to ANOTHER DEALER immediately.

Just get your car away from them ASAP and tell them to go *** themselves after you call them idiots a few dozen times.

BTW, take Colonels' advice and WRITE letters about what they "tried" to do to you.