So I'm at 24,000 miles on my car, and once I hit 30,000 the dealership wants to try to push me to get the 30,000 maintenance package plan or whatever, I know most of this stuff I can do myself, such as replacing the air filter, but other stuff will need to be professionally done. My question is how important is this stuff really, because I know the dealerships try to push more maintenance stuff than the actually manufacturers because they need to make money. Another question is how have you guys gone about this either with your current car or past cars. Should I just try to do them myself and just pay for the stuff I can't do or pay $225 for everything done at nissan?

 

to tell u the truth if you can do it all yourself than save yourself that 225. I use to have a friend that worked at a dealership and he said they didnt do half of the things that they tell you they do. Just my opinion

 

If you don't do the maintenance at a dealership, and something goes wrong, YOUR WARRANTY IS VOIDED, KAPUT, DEAD.

So goes the typical threats you hear from dealers. For stuff you can't do, a local mechanic can do it for cheaper than Nissan. Do the rest yourself; save some bucks.

 

I would just get it done through the dealer for warranty purposes. Oil changes and stuff like that I just do myself but that 30,000 milestone is perfect time for stuff to go wrong. They will have it in their record saying everything is ok whereas if you didn't get it done through them they will wonder...

 

8885...I don't mean to hijack your thread but I'm curious about one part of your maintenance for the 24K miles. Did you use ester oil for oil changes throughout the 24K miles? At the rate you're piling up the miles, oil changes are expensive with ester oil. As readers on this forum know, dealers are asking $120 per ester oil change. Thanks for any insight.

 

I had the 30k performed on my 06, worked out pretty well cause if I would have done it myself, it would have taken me longer and then I would have had to get rid of all the waste oil, they also replace the air filter, ac filter, wiper blades, stuff adds up fast, for what I paid and all the stuff they did it looks as if I just paid for parts, but it also works out in my favor that if and when I had a problem that needs to be taken care of the service adviser takes me right away.

Looks like it may be a while until I hit 30k with the 09

 

I think it was worth it. I believe the Fuel Service alone was worth it. I can't remember that far back, but I do recall they serviced the fuel injectors and changed out the CVT fluid. Afterwards my MPG went up 10-15%. I should hit 50 next week and am serious thinking of having this done once more to validate my 30K service.

 

No I do not use ester oil, it is recommended but not required. I think it's a waste, although I drive my car daily I don't race or push it hard or anything.

 

You are right, I have never done this on my current Nissan's and the 6 I had prior and never had issues regarding warranty work. Most of that stuff is check, check and also if you have your oil changed there they do most of those checks on the 36 etc point checklist part of the oil change that they attach to your receipt.

 

sweet

 

just got my 15k service done at the dealer, I supplied my own ester oil and filter, also told them it was not necessary to change the wipers and air filter. I recently swapped to bosch icon wipers and have upgraded the air filter to the "green" drop in air filter.
The dealer quoted me for $200, which I thought wasnt bad, the fuel additive seems to be beneficial, my mileage went up.

 

we can't tell you what to do cause we are not manufacturer technicans. but we can tell you to google the official maintenance guide in pdf file. it's out there. the older models make many recommendations to check this and that but few replacement parts at 30K and even after that. good luck

 

oil filter
oil change
top off fluids
eyeball your belts for wear or damage.
eyeball your brake pads
air filter replace
inspect this and that.....

 

See my prior post, they do all of that stuff in the oil change at the dealership. Some people just get taken by spending all of that money on the actual 30k service.

 

there's a PDF maintenance file out there.
doesn't seem there's a whole lotta stuff to change
it's just inspections this and that.

probably worth it if
- you live in a harsh climate
- put a lot of miles on it
- drive your max hard

 

When I took my 06 in they drain and replaced the coolant and the trans fluid, 2 things I was not looking to do

 

*** it do it all yaself i say nissan sucks(dealers) im at 33k and i check all myself and done the work rotations, tranny fluids, oils...etc all learn ya car buddy and she'll take good care of you there all cars and things happpen just keep a log of eveything you have done i own 3 maximas and the all hold up very well just change parts wen books maintance says to.

 

At least get the trans/CVT fluid changed, just look at all the members in the 6th Gen section who are losing their transmissions, most of them have bragged about not doing any maintenance to the cars except for all the synthetic oil changes they have done and then low and behold, they are *****ing about how their trans is slipping at 80k

Maximas are heavy cars and the transmission creates a lot of heat, heat breaks down the fluid, cheap insurance is to have it changed, Nissan does not make bullitproof transmissions so if history has taught us anything, at least change the fluid at 30k

 

WoW man you bee driving go ahead with that...

 

Sorry for reviving this thread. I think most of the owners in this thread are 09 owners. I need some feedback in all points since I paid $1600 for Gold Premium Maintenance Plus (60 mon/75K miles) for my 2010 Max.

1) Oil Change - My dealer said although Ester Oil is recommended, it's a must for it's performance and HIGHLY recommended by Nissan. I called a few service depts of Nissan dealers and they are pretty much 50-50 about Ester. Cost $80-120 varies by dealer. $40 reg oil change without tire rotation. Also called Nissan but two people I talked to pretty much just read the manual we all have...no help there. Your thoughts?

2) How much did you guys pay for the 30K maintenance? A service advisor told me it would cost about $600-700 without the Maintenance Plan. I just want to confirm for those who have taken it to the dealer or other auto shop.

So when deciding whether to purchase the maintenance plan, I calculated the cost and figured I'd get most of the money from the 30K and 60K service if the est quote I got is true...plus all the oil change every 3750 and tire rotation every 7500. Believe me, although it might be over-kill every 3750miles, I will be taking it on sched basis since I already paid for it! That said, do you think paying $1600 for MP is worth it?

Also, how do I make sure that the dealer will actually perform the Premium Maintenance as indicated in the Service Guide rather than just checking it and say they performed the job? I'm not a mechanic...I take my vehicles to the shop trusting that they do what they are paid to do.

 

I paid about $500 (but told them not to touch my oil) the first time and a bit more the second. So if you paid the 1600 for the "premium" maintenance plan, and keep your ride, I'd say you will come out on top. Re how can you be sure? Depends on how paranoid you are..i've seen some folks in the old days use a dab of wax on certain bolts or fasteners before they took em in, a chalk mark on the inside of a tire, to now I've heard of under-cowl video cams.
I would think most dealer's service centers are reputable (however there are always exception.)

 

I was told its $500 at my dealership for the 30K maintenance plan, lol.

 

I had my maintenance plan thrown in when I bought the car, figured they where screwing me every which way with the purchase might as well get something out of it.

The maintenance plan really depends on your dealer, my local dealers in NY/NJ where great, and used only Ester Oil for my car at $100 a change and did everything by the book, then I moved to Georgia, and dealers here are nothing more then steel sheds, I love the car but I am completely disappointed in the dealers in the ATL area, in fact I might start taking my car to the Infiniti dealer only because it's the closest thing to what my dealers look like back home, and they service Nissan.

My 1st GA dealer visit was not that great, it was at 7500 miles which should of been the Ester Oil, and a tire rotation, I ended up with a 29.95 regular whatever and no tire rotation, it pissed me off because you pay for one thing and suddenly don't receive it.

Next service at 11250 will be a different dealer, and I will be paying more for the synthetic oil, on top of what I already paid.

My major gripe will be if I hit 30k and they tell me that my CVT, coolant and other fluids will not be changed, then I will demand my money back, but I hope that is not the case, I really just need to find a good dealer.

 

$500 is what they quoted me for shed 1 oil and tire. It's not bad if it the oil change is "REALLY" $100...but I just think they are gauging us big time on that one. I might do some chalking and other stuff to test them.

I keep my cars for a while. I had a Merc Mountaineer for 12 years and my Accord is 6 yrs (wife drives it). So I plan on baby-ing my beaut Maxima.

Sorry to hear about your "new" dealerships issues. I'll prob do synthetic too after my maintenance plan expires. I'm surprised they didn't do Ester with your oil change since some dealers are so pro-ester. They said once Ester is in there, you should go back to reg oil. Hard to believe what they say since half of them are not sure about what they are talking about or just making them up.

As far as changing the fluids and other stuff for the 30K premium service, I'll be pretty **** about that since that is the primary reason why I went ahead and paid for Premium MP.

Thanks for the feedback. Let's keep this thread going based on your maintenance experiences.

 

Thanks, hopefully this was just a one of a time things, I'm 100% certain I will not return to Marietta/Team Nissan, from the moment I stepped out of the car it felt bad, starting with the guy, don't even know if he worked their asking me, what I push my car up to

The synthetic oil will go in at 10000-11250, but I'm choosing synthetic for the added protection of constant starts and short trip driving, I live within 3 miles from my school.

Right now I'm a bit on edge with the current oil in my car, it got way dirty/dark way to fast, I've never experienced that, I checked the oil filter and it was changed, as best to my knowledge.

I'm pretty **** with my car, and thought that all 09+ Maximas would receive Ester Oil, but I guessed wrong, I performed all the maintenance on my 06 by the book and it ran like new the day I traded it, hope the person who ends up with it treats it as well as I did.

Now just for comparison since I did all the maintenance on my 06, and the cost factor led me into purchasing the maintenance package.

I'll give you a run down:
I changed the oil with regular oil at 1000, 4000, 7000 (1st 3 oil changes cost about 35bucks each) and at 10k switched to synthetic, then changed every 5k, the synthetic oil with a mobil 1 filter usually ran 7 bucks a quart, I always put 5 in and the M1 filter was 12.99, about 60 with tax for the stuff.

At 15k I put the Fujita CAI on the car, cost was $250, had the 1st filter on for 30k then bought a new filter for 39.95 and had that on for 15k, OEM setup was switched back when I traded, sold the intake for 150, so I guess you can say engine air filters ran me 100 bucks.

Had the 30k performed at 35k, major service including:
Cooling system service / replaced antifreeze
Drained Transmission Fluid and refilled
Replaced In Cabin Micro Filter
No oil change, cause I changed it, and no air filter, and they did not touch the wheels/brakes, cost 300 but with a discount, so the service writer took 100 off, and I was in a week earlier having them repair something for $1100 dollars that I broke so he cut me a deal, other wise 30k is $500

They don't cover brakes in the maintenance plans but at 47k I had installed Front&Rear RotorPros Rotors, Hawk HPS Pads Front&Rear, with complete Mobil Brake Fluid Flush, that was $400, 50 a wheel, and the parts cost $350, total was $750, so far the brakes on the 7th look slightly better, but time and mileage will tell, still at almost 10k the car stops smooth, my 06 vibrated like crazy

At 51k new drive belts where installed, cost 150 from the dealer

At 60k I replaced the battery, 115 from sears, you can buy and install it yourself, but if they install it they warranty the battery for 3 years free replacement, so I figured WTH

Never had the 60k done cause the car was traded, so thats 500 I did not spend, that you can add into the cost.

Hope this helps, remember prices vary at dealers

 

Starr, thanks for all the info. Makes me feel better about forking the $1600 MP for Gold Premium.

My quick calculation for the 60month/75k mile service:
20 (75K/3750) oil changes with tire rotation X $100 each (i think it's a ripoff) = $2000
30 and 60K maintenance x $700 (estimate) = $1400
----------
Total $3400 so I'm basically saving over 50% with price increase protection.

So for everyone else, if you are looking for Maintenance Plus, make sure to check online on lowest possible cost. Dealers will sell it to you twice as much. Be sure to have the info before you go into the finance dept...they will bend you over. I learned a bit late from my previous 2 vehicle purchases prior to my Maxima. Prepare to walk away if they don't want to match the prices you've seen online.

As for Security Plus, I got it for $1400 Gold Premium 84month/100K. Parts and labor are quite expensive as I learned from my Accord (also had extended warranty--good thing). Worth the upfront investment for me.

 

yea, I think the service advisor was inflating it a bit when he told me 700. But I took that into consideration when estimating the cost and still will be up ahead. In fact, if I take it for oil change every 7500 miles, I'll still be saving money...so what the hey, I'll be there every 3750!