R
red00lightning
Guest
What is the name of your state? Texas
Warning....very long
I am having major issues with my new car (bought it in '02)
I pre-ordered my Nissan 350Z back in Feb of '02. I waited six long months for it to be built and delivered to the dealership. All was good for the first 5-6 months or so, until I hit about 4000-4500 miles. At this point it exhibited several issues, mostly minor but still annoying.
The issues were as follows:
1.Annoying grease streaks on the windows (not major, but annoying)
2. Loud clunk on the drivers side when I accelerate moderately or hit a bump just right.
3. Transmission grinding in 3rd and 5th gear
They didn't fix #1 until I brought it back several times. They attempted to find the issue with #2 but never really did. All they offered was to sell me an aftermarket(NISMO brand-Nissan's racing team) suspension and that would get rid of the noise. I wasn't keen on this idea as I just spent 30k plus on the car and felt my suspension that I already had on the car should be just fine, especially with 4k on the odometer. They attempted to find the issue to no avail. I left unhappy about it but knew I'd be back when the transmission was back. So, the tranny is installed and now I have a nice rattle from the exhaust because the exhaust has to be removed to get the tranny out. I complained again about the noise from the front end and they said they couldn't find the issue and refused to look at it further until I get the exhaust fixed because it was rattling and they couldn;t hear the issue on the front end.
I of course went on to explain that the exhaust wasn't making noise until they removed it to install the new tranny. They wouldn't budge on it and said until it was fixed, they wouldn;t look at it again. So, I fix the exhaust myself after some time and bring the car back. They have my car all day and when i go in to pick it up, they say they can't recreate the problem. So, it's been sitting there all day for 8+ hours and they can't recreate the problem and don't mention this to me until I am standing there in the service drive assuming I am picking up my fixed car. I get in the car and have the service manager get in with me and I demonstrated the noise to him while in the service drive. He agrees that this is not normal and asks me to leave the car for another night. I didn't agree with this as it was the weekend and I had already turned in my rental car. So, I figure I'll just live with the noise for a while, that is until I notice my trannsmission getting notchy again.
So I bring the car abck in for the noise and the fact that the tranny is grinding again. This time they replace the front drivers side shock/spring assembly. It is still making noise. They also replace the transmission, this is my second replacement tranny with 12-13k on the odometer. I am obviously fed up with everything at this point, but I love my car and just grin and bear it. I just hold out hope that this is the end of my issues. I actually do go and buy the Nismo suspension on my own dime and replace all of the suspension components myself, loa nd behold the noise is gone.....thanks for nothing Nissan.
Well, about 5k later and my tranny starts grinding again and started popping out of gear while driving. So I take it back in for diagnosis. They decide they are going to replace the transmission. (This is the 3rd replacement, 4th tranny overall in less than 22k miles ) SO, they have the car for a day and a half/two days and replace the tranny.
So, with approximately 15k on the car I also notice it like to eat oil. It's using about .5-1 qt per 1000 miles, so about 2.5-3 qts per oil change. I do my own oil and use Mobil1 religously. I am noticing that I'm only draining ~2-2.5qts of oil each time and putting back in 5. This is obviously not good. I of course feel this is a issue with the rings int he bottom end and that I'm getting blow by. I take it in to Nissan and they think I have a leak, so they decided to replace the valve cover gaskets. This takes them all of that day and the next. So I get the car back and drive anothr 3k and oil change time rolls around and same ole story. Still eating ~2-2.5 qts per oil change.
I take the car back again and complain about the excessive oil consumption. They decide that they are going to do a consumption test. Basically every 1k I ahve tobring the car back to the dealer and they will check the oil level and refill as necessary and also log the information. When i go to pick it up the first time I am pleased to be informed I get to pay for an oil change service because it ahs to start out fresh for their test. (Even though I had jsut changed the oil about 100 miles ago) So, I'm out $20 for an oil change, plus the oil (5 qts at $5 a pop, plus the oil I had already put in it). I feel this sohuld be covered under warranty, but they say it's maintenance. I told them if not for the fact that the car was eating oil, I wouldn;t have needed that oil change, but they stood firm. I wasn't happy but at least maybe we're getting somewhere.
So, 1k goes by and I bring it in and it's .5 qts low. They mark it and refill it (I get to pay for another qt of oil) and I go on my merry way. I click another 1k miles and head to the dealership. They check it and again, it's low .5+ qts. They call NNA tech line (Nissan North America) and report the findings. They decide that they want to replace the valve cover gaskets. I of course say "Been there,done that" we don't need to do that again. So they decide they'll do the valve covers themselves. It will be a few days til they get the parts and such so bring the car back.
The parts arrive and I bring the car back last Thur for what should be a partial day job and I pick up the car that evening or Fri morning at latest. I call them up Fri morning and they decided that while they are doing that they will do a compression test to see if there is an issue with the engine. They do it and all but one cylinder fail. Minimum compression is 142 , I had 142 in one cylinder and 128-135 in the other five. They then decide to do a leak down test where they put oil in the cylinders and check the compression. When they do this they all raise to acceptable levels, this shows that there is blow by and a problem with the rings. So Nissan has decided to replace my bottom end of my motor. The car is still there, has been for 5 days now. I am at my wits end and do not want the car anymore. I feel it's market velue has declined dramatically. If a future buyer ran my VIN through Nissan they will notice that it is on it's 4th transmission and second engine in less than 30k miles. I know if I were a prospective buyer I wouldn't buy the car.
My question is what recourse do i have ? The lemon law doesn't sem to protect me. It says that it has to be the same repair 4 times in two years or downtime has to exceed 30 days. This last repair is about a week after my two year mark for owning the car. All said the car has been in the shop for more than 30 days I think.
I feel the value of my car is extremely diminished and I definitely want to get rid of it. I know I'll take a beating if I sell it outright, so I want Nissan to buy this POS back. I am not a Nissan hater, I currently have 3 other Nissans at my house.....but this one jsut has to go
Is there any recourse to make them buy this vehicle back or at least give me a different vehicle of my choosing ? What are my options if any ??
Thanks in advance for any and all information.
--wes
Warning....very long
I am having major issues with my new car (bought it in '02)
I pre-ordered my Nissan 350Z back in Feb of '02. I waited six long months for it to be built and delivered to the dealership. All was good for the first 5-6 months or so, until I hit about 4000-4500 miles. At this point it exhibited several issues, mostly minor but still annoying.
The issues were as follows:
1.Annoying grease streaks on the windows (not major, but annoying)
2. Loud clunk on the drivers side when I accelerate moderately or hit a bump just right.
3. Transmission grinding in 3rd and 5th gear
They didn't fix #1 until I brought it back several times. They attempted to find the issue with #2 but never really did. All they offered was to sell me an aftermarket(NISMO brand-Nissan's racing team) suspension and that would get rid of the noise. I wasn't keen on this idea as I just spent 30k plus on the car and felt my suspension that I already had on the car should be just fine, especially with 4k on the odometer. They attempted to find the issue to no avail. I left unhappy about it but knew I'd be back when the transmission was back. So, the tranny is installed and now I have a nice rattle from the exhaust because the exhaust has to be removed to get the tranny out. I complained again about the noise from the front end and they said they couldn't find the issue and refused to look at it further until I get the exhaust fixed because it was rattling and they couldn;t hear the issue on the front end.
I of course went on to explain that the exhaust wasn't making noise until they removed it to install the new tranny. They wouldn't budge on it and said until it was fixed, they wouldn;t look at it again. So, I fix the exhaust myself after some time and bring the car back. They have my car all day and when i go in to pick it up, they say they can't recreate the problem. So, it's been sitting there all day for 8+ hours and they can't recreate the problem and don't mention this to me until I am standing there in the service drive assuming I am picking up my fixed car. I get in the car and have the service manager get in with me and I demonstrated the noise to him while in the service drive. He agrees that this is not normal and asks me to leave the car for another night. I didn't agree with this as it was the weekend and I had already turned in my rental car. So, I figure I'll just live with the noise for a while, that is until I notice my trannsmission getting notchy again.
So I bring the car abck in for the noise and the fact that the tranny is grinding again. This time they replace the front drivers side shock/spring assembly. It is still making noise. They also replace the transmission, this is my second replacement tranny with 12-13k on the odometer. I am obviously fed up with everything at this point, but I love my car and just grin and bear it. I just hold out hope that this is the end of my issues. I actually do go and buy the Nismo suspension on my own dime and replace all of the suspension components myself, loa nd behold the noise is gone.....thanks for nothing Nissan.
Well, about 5k later and my tranny starts grinding again and started popping out of gear while driving. So I take it back in for diagnosis. They decide they are going to replace the transmission. (This is the 3rd replacement, 4th tranny overall in less than 22k miles ) SO, they have the car for a day and a half/two days and replace the tranny.
So, with approximately 15k on the car I also notice it like to eat oil. It's using about .5-1 qt per 1000 miles, so about 2.5-3 qts per oil change. I do my own oil and use Mobil1 religously. I am noticing that I'm only draining ~2-2.5qts of oil each time and putting back in 5. This is obviously not good. I of course feel this is a issue with the rings int he bottom end and that I'm getting blow by. I take it in to Nissan and they think I have a leak, so they decided to replace the valve cover gaskets. This takes them all of that day and the next. So I get the car back and drive anothr 3k and oil change time rolls around and same ole story. Still eating ~2-2.5 qts per oil change.
I take the car back again and complain about the excessive oil consumption. They decide that they are going to do a consumption test. Basically every 1k I ahve tobring the car back to the dealer and they will check the oil level and refill as necessary and also log the information. When i go to pick it up the first time I am pleased to be informed I get to pay for an oil change service because it ahs to start out fresh for their test. (Even though I had jsut changed the oil about 100 miles ago) So, I'm out $20 for an oil change, plus the oil (5 qts at $5 a pop, plus the oil I had already put in it). I feel this sohuld be covered under warranty, but they say it's maintenance. I told them if not for the fact that the car was eating oil, I wouldn;t have needed that oil change, but they stood firm. I wasn't happy but at least maybe we're getting somewhere.
So, 1k goes by and I bring it in and it's .5 qts low. They mark it and refill it (I get to pay for another qt of oil) and I go on my merry way. I click another 1k miles and head to the dealership. They check it and again, it's low .5+ qts. They call NNA tech line (Nissan North America) and report the findings. They decide that they want to replace the valve cover gaskets. I of course say "Been there,done that" we don't need to do that again. So they decide they'll do the valve covers themselves. It will be a few days til they get the parts and such so bring the car back.
The parts arrive and I bring the car back last Thur for what should be a partial day job and I pick up the car that evening or Fri morning at latest. I call them up Fri morning and they decided that while they are doing that they will do a compression test to see if there is an issue with the engine. They do it and all but one cylinder fail. Minimum compression is 142 , I had 142 in one cylinder and 128-135 in the other five. They then decide to do a leak down test where they put oil in the cylinders and check the compression. When they do this they all raise to acceptable levels, this shows that there is blow by and a problem with the rings. So Nissan has decided to replace my bottom end of my motor. The car is still there, has been for 5 days now. I am at my wits end and do not want the car anymore. I feel it's market velue has declined dramatically. If a future buyer ran my VIN through Nissan they will notice that it is on it's 4th transmission and second engine in less than 30k miles. I know if I were a prospective buyer I wouldn't buy the car.
My question is what recourse do i have ? The lemon law doesn't sem to protect me. It says that it has to be the same repair 4 times in two years or downtime has to exceed 30 days. This last repair is about a week after my two year mark for owning the car. All said the car has been in the shop for more than 30 days I think.
I feel the value of my car is extremely diminished and I definitely want to get rid of it. I know I'll take a beating if I sell it outright, so I want Nissan to buy this POS back. I am not a Nissan hater, I currently have 3 other Nissans at my house.....but this one jsut has to go
Is there any recourse to make them buy this vehicle back or at least give me a different vehicle of my choosing ? What are my options if any ??
Thanks in advance for any and all information.
--wes