I hope everyone is enjoying their Maxima more than I did. I just sold it after numerous issues. Parts are never available without waiting two days, an electric power steering unit failed (20K)and I was told to "top off the fluid" until the part was re-engineered. (400 units back ordered at that time) four weeks, A door actuator went at 15k. finally the dealers mechanic swapped my 6th quart of Mobil one oil for generic oil. I had it tested by Blackstone Labs to certify there was no trace of Mobil one in the quart I had to ask for because they didnt leave the quart in the car. Dealership manager said he would make it right and mail me coupons. Nothing, no apology, no coupons. Like I said I hope everyone has a better experience than I did. I will never own another Nissan and will tell anyone about my experience.

 

So you had a **** dealer. Sorry to hear that. Could happen with any car. Check dealership reviews before you buy next time.

 

That is rough...especially about them adding a 6th quart of oil???? Did I read that correctly? Yeah, your service center or manager or both aren't up to par. You have my condolences and my grantedly selfish relief that I have not experienced such service.

 

Does not matter what brand you buy. Buy used with a short warranty. You can use the money you save to get repairs performed where, when and how you want.

Take the dealer and corporate out of the equation as much as possible. You do not want to rely on them if you can help it.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience.

 

Sorry but I don't believe a dealership mechanic making good $$$ drained a quart of Mobil 1 you had in your car and filled it back up with dino oil.

Power steering pump was a bad design, not the dealers fault Nissan had them on back order

 

What year was this car? What's your next car going to be?

 

There are all kinds of dealers with any car make. My dealer is one of the reasons I will NOT be changing brands away from Nissan. I have used him for 19 years, know him (and most of his staff) personally, and have had nothing but royal treatment from day one.

Believe me, I know about dealers. I have been driving since the 1940s, and never had a dealer I felt really good about until the Nissan dealer I have now. My worst dealers were Studebaker, Hudson, Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Dodge and Oldsmobile.

My wife's worst dealers are our two local Ford dealers. She now uses independent shops with her trucks. My son has had deplorable service from Acura and Honda dealers. He now uses an independent shop.

The problem is not always the BRAND of car. Every brand has very good and very bad dealers.

 

Maybe that dealer had a small stock... low budget?

an electric power steering unit failed (20K)and I was told to "top off the fluid" until the part was re-engineered. (400 units back ordered at that time) four weeks

your under warranty you probably could of found this part online new or at another dealer.....(400 units backordered may of been a lie they told you).

A door actuator went at 15k.... warranty covered this...

finally the dealers mechanic swapped my 6th quart of Mobil one oil for generic oil. I had it tested by Blackstone Labs to certify there was no trace of Mobil one in the quart I had to ask for because they didnt leave the quart in the car. Dealership manager said he would make it right and mail me coupons. Nothing, no apology, no coupons.

This sounds like typical stealership behavior. if you are that sensitive about oil than you must change it yourself. Even if you were to bring your own oil in for them they would probably mess that up too.

Like I said I hope everyone has a better experience than I did. I will never own another Nissan and will tell anyone about my experience.


ALL DEALERS are bad(I cant speak for Audi, Mercedes etc but I know BMW is BAD). They have a network set up to where customer satisfaction does not matter. Its an American thing.


Sounds like you had a dealer problem. But if I had a car where the parts would keep failing it would certainly come to a point where I would not want to own that burden out of warranty. Also Getting Nissan to extend the bumper to bumper warranty would of been the cheapest option.... What did you change to BTW? I hope you didnt get a domestic car.

 

Would you be willing to publically share the name/location of the dealership you went to?

I think it would be helpful for Maxima Forums to start a master list of dealerships along with positive and negative experiences.

 

Man, that stinks. I feel your pain.
In 1997, I purchased a brand new (and very hard to find at the time - one dealer said there were only a handful in the three states around Illinois) VW GTI with the VR6. This car had everything on it. When I took delivery, I had to point out areas on the car where they hadn't gotten all of the protective shipping tape.
Inside of 1000 miles, the tube that flowed windshield washer fluid stopped working and had to be replaced. Inside of a year, a wiring harness under the car had failed and I had replaced a window regulator on the passenger side.
Then the problems really started. In my time with the car, I had to have the dealer replace 4 manual transmissions (built in Mexico, sealed units that had a high rate of failure) 4 window regulators, two radio head units, the sunroof switch, the sunroof motor, repair three separate oil leaks, and a wheel bearing. On top of that, simple things like oil changes required overnight stays at the dealership with no loaner offered.
Plus, the dealership near where I lived lost a front license plate, lied to me (and charged me) to replace a belt in the engine bay, and damaged my rims and rear quarter panel.
When I dumped the VW, I swore I'd never own another. I went to a Honda dealership and got a new Accord that needed only maintenance stuff (oil changes, tires, a battery) over 70k miles and 7 years (I drove a lot less then).
My Maxima has been pretty trouble free and the dealership service has been very good, if not perfect.
When I was shopping the Max, I decided to check out a VW CC on a VW lot and was sent a message from on high that I was right about VW. They undervalued my trade in by $2500, telling me that I don't know what I'm talking about (they didn't know I had an appraisal and offer from Carmax in my back pocket). Then they tried to charge me for a disinfectant package ($1000) and said it was standard. Then they wouldn't give me back my keys. I was there for 5 hours. Finally, I walked up to the sales manager and said "I am an attorney. My law practice has purchased or leased 5 cars from this dealership, including a Phaeton. You are holding my keys and playing games with me. So here's the deal- either you give me my keys immediately and let me leave right now or I'm calling the police." Big surprise, I got my keys back. And left. And will never buy a VW.

 

They still pull that garbage from the 80's (or earlier)? When I went in to buy my Max at the local dealer, they pulled out the old 4-square and then pulled me into the managers' office so he can tell me my trade-in had major flat spots on the tires (there weren't any, they just needed a balancing). Guy had the requisite gold rope chains on his neck. I felt like I time-warped to the car sales cliche purgatory.

Bought the same exact car from another dealer a few miles further. Class act all the way. My wife walked in and bought an Altima (for her, a car is just an appliance) from the same person there. He sent me a check for $50 as a referral fee. I thought that was a nice touch.

 

Not only did they try the old four square nonsense, but the guy actually wrote down "Jeffislouie will purchase the 2013 VW CC from our dealership for $XX,XXX." and asked me to sign it. When I explained to him that I am a lawyer and that signing that document in no way bound me to do anything because the alleged contract lacked consideration, he gave me a blank look and asked me to sign it anyway. So I explained to him that his silly tricks are only going to get me to walk out and that if he wants me to buy a car, he should give me the best price possible on the car, the highest price possible on my trade in, and the least amount of bull spit possible. He persisted, so I told him to go talk to his manager because I wasn't going to sign something with no legal force. I explained that the whole "sign here" thing is a psychological trick to get suckers to think that they are now under some sort of weird contract. He got up and left me alone for over half an hour, then came back and said that maybe we should look at another car.
Yeah, this dealership was awful. I make sure that everyone I know stays away now.