STUPID DEALERS

[navyseal]

So I am a student at the University of Florida and I have a G35 coupe 6MT. Since the closest dealer to me is two hours in either direction I usually try to figure things out for myself if something is wrong with my car which is rare or never. Anyways, I bought my G last summer and have put 15,000 miles on the car in a year! (I know I know my girlfriend lives in Georgia and it sucks) So while I was home for the summer I figured I would bring my car to the dealer for a regular 15,000 mile check to see if I needed anything replaced and what not. As I am talking with the guy who is writing me up for the service he says, "Ok so we are going to change your oil, give you new wiper inserts, and blah blah blah which comes out to about $100." I look this mother fricker in the face and I tell him "Look, I am not some 60 year old woman coming in here who doesn't know **** about cars. If I wanted an oil change and wiper inserts I could have done that myself. I told him the reason I came in here is so you can do the stuff that I cant. That is what I am paying you for." So after that I finally somewhat get what I want and leave with a loaner 2007 G35 four door. So when I leave the dealership I pick up a couple of my friends and we go to empty parking lots and beat the hell out of this car. We end up making a race track at different parking lots and just tear it up. When I left the dealership I had a half a tank of gas. When I returned the loaner the gas light was on...haha...so when I get back I talk to the same guy and he tells me that I need two new front brakes ASAP that will cost about $290 for new brakes, to cut the roters, and all. What I decide to do is take my car to a friend of mine who is a mechanic to get a second opinion which is what I should have done in the first place. So I had to end up paying like $180 for an oil change, new wipers, and who knows what they really did? When I take my car to my friends place he tells me that I dont even need new front brakes at all or any time soon. All I really needed was two new front end pulleys and that was it. I couldn't believe how bad the dealer was going to rip me off. No longer will I ever go to the dealer again unless it is covered under my warrenty

[joe603]

I only go to the dealer for warranty issues. I always tell them EXACTLY what I want done before I leave my car there. I don't like surprises...

[Jacko3]

Navyseal:

I enjoyed your story. Very interesting! First how many miles do you have total on your car? I put 23,000 miles in one year on my car---replaced all four tires in one year---car is too fun to drive----it is a toy encapsulated in metal, rubber, and glass---so unreal.

Frankly, the front brake pads of the G-35 Coupe will likely go out between 18,000 - 22,000 miles of driving, depending on how you drive the car---you said you beat up cars as illustrated by your manly and unforgivable treatment of a loaner car, and if you drive with VDC ON or VDC OFF. So, the Infiniti dealership may have been more right than your mechanic, especially if you did not buy the car new with less than 100 miles. So, if you bought the car used, and by adding 15,000 miles, yes, there is an 80% chance that your front brakes were gone. The rear brakes can approach 29,000 miles.

At 15,000 miles of driving, the dealership should have recommended a 4 wheel tire aligment---$89.99 or $69.99. Wait until you reach 25,000 - 30,000 miles, you will need to replace your differential fluid, and possibly but not certainly, your manual transmission fluid---prepare $400 for this two service. You should have replaced the air filter, if OEM, before 10,000 miles of driving.

However, if your brakes were really gone or that bad, you should hear an annoying squeak from the G's brakes, each time it is applied. As for the wiper inserts, the dealership was just using their standard 15,000 miles service program. I haven't replaced mine at 30K and it still works well.

I suspect your car has about 40,000 (+ or -) 5,000 miles on it, since your friend suggested the replacement of front-end pulleys. For some reason, our pulleys start needing replacement at about 40,000 miles.

I will encourage you to still go the dealer for some service of your car. For example, the radiator fluid requires a vacuum pump to replace. All vacuum pumps are the same, but to be safe, just use infiniti of Nissan dealerships for this service, especially if your car is under warranty. If you want to save money on service on the G-35, you can use Nissan dealerships instead of infiniti dealerships becasue they service 350Zs as well. Both cars, 350 Z and G-35 Coupe, are basically the same cars under the hood. Just my 2 cents to assist you in your wayward driving behavior (LOL, J/k) .

I am as way ward as you with my G-35 Coupe 6MT---I flog the hell out of my car. Till date all my friends and everyone else have refused to ride with me in my car. I literally have to sign a waiver of good behavior before they can ride with me---they say it is their only way of certifying that they will be alive to see their loved ones again after riding with me.

I am sure you will be fine once you realize that to enjoy the G-35 Coupe, you will need to ensure its maximum maintenance.

[telcoman]

So I am a student at the University of Florida and I have a G35 coupe 6MT.look this mother fricker in the face and I tell him "Look, I am not some 60 year old woman coming in here ........"

leave with a loaner 2007 G35 four door. So when I leave the dealership I pick up a couple of my friends and we go to empty parking lots and beat the hell out of this car. We end up making a race track at different parking lots and just tear it up. When I left the dealership I had a half a tank of gas. When I returned the loaner the gas light was on...haha.............

. No longer will I ever go to the dealer again unless it is covered under my warrenty

navyseal

First let me say welcome to NICO

Second let me say you need an attitude adjustment

No disrespect meant to you but after reading your post I'm not surprised at how you were treated. What you did to the dealers loaner was childish and imature and they will not only remember you but who knows what information on your VIN number and you is going into a computer database?

Now let me tell you what my father taught me many years ago as he earned his living with his vehicle.

The very first time you meet a service advisor and discuss what work needs to be done, you should ask him/her to step outside to show them something. At that point a $20 will usually end up saving you much more than that.My service advisor explained to me if I purchase wiper inserts from parts they will install them for free. I did so both inserts were $7.50. I then asked him to show me and he did. Not sure if I remember which clips to release but it only takes a few minutes. Parts are cheaper if the customer purchases them and hands them to service for installation. If service purchases items from parts there is an additional markup that the customer pays.My wiper blades were replaced at 47k miles

At 15k miles pretty much everything can be done yourself such as tire rotation,oil & filter change, replace air and cabin filter. Other than checking fluids and tire air pressure thats about it.In almost 67k miles and 2 years and 9 months of ownership my only expense has been to replacing tires at 47k miles last winter.I have received excellent service from my Infiniti dealer.

Calm down, take a deep breath, start acquiring some tools, ramps, jack stands, creeper and for and investment under $500 you will end up saving thousands of dollars. Do a search on this site for Infiniti maintenance items

Place the savings in a 401k plan.You'll thank me in 25 years

http://forums.g35club.org/zerothread?id=289523

Telcoman

[phil4watching]

Yeah dude, tell them exactly what you want or you're going to have everything else done that you dont want

[Sentientbydesign]

Kyle,

Let's talk. I'm the same age as you. This is my second Infiniti...blah blah blah.

Not all dealerships are trying to steal your money. The front brakes on the Gs do go out pretty early. Actually, so do the rears. They are soft and have a lot of weight to slow down QUICKLY.

I have found that the Service Advisors will treat you very differently based on your attitude and demeanor. Spewing a little knowledge about what you know about the car doesn't hurt.

So, please don't take this the wrong way, but here's what you did wrong:

1. Your owner's manual should outline what your 15k service should entail. I highly doubt there's anything of any dire importance on there. You should have looked at it and realized that most of it is checking stuff and getting an oil change. Maybe an in-cabin filter too.

If you had actual issues with the car, then you should have NICELY brought them up to the SA (Service Advisor).

2. You went in there pissed off at the SA thinking they were going to screw you over from the get go.

As much as I hate paying $45 for a cheap oil change, I appreciate the complimentary wash and tire dressing plus the vacuum that the service department does.

I'll likely be going back to doing my own oil changes when my engine is fully broken in, but I still appreciate the service from the dealer.

So far, the dealer has offered me 3 items that were way over priced:

Tires (which they admitted were high)Clutch Job (which they tried very hard to lower down to $1300 from $2300)Drive Belts (Wanted $170. I got the parts for $50 and took about an hour).

The SA was never pushy and never tried to upsell me. They've been extremely good to me including replacing my engine with no fuss. And fixing a hell of a lot of other stuff under warranty...with NO FUSS.

3. I HIGHLY doubt the dealership would tell you that you needed new front brakes unless it was true. The only possibility in my mind would be if they accidentally mixed up paperwork (unlikely).

On my I30, I would change my brakes once every 12k-18k miles. I expect the same out of the G.

I'm not doubting your mechanic friend, but I have also seen a few occasions where mechanics knew less about my Infiniti than I did.

Also, learn how to check your own brakes. It's not rocket science.

Welcome to NICO!

[SteveTheTech]

I have to agree with the other guys here, you just need to keep calm down a bit. Were all just trying to do our jobs and that type of behavior is just not needed. I understand you may have been quoted a price that was not to your liking but I don't understand why the harsh response? are things that need to be done at any 15,000 mile service interval Most dealers will actually charge a fuel surcharge for returning the loaner empty, but really though they let you barrow a car to keep you from being inconvenienced while not even getting warranty work performed. I am sure the dealer would prefer you to have your non Infiniti trained friend fix your car, good luck with that and make sure you get receipts in case you have a warrant able issue. good luck with that

[J-Owner]

I have an '05 coupe with 42K miles on it. I have the original wiper blades, which still work like new surprisingly and I have the original front brakes. I have only replaced the back brakes so far about 6-7K miles ago. I made it to basically 40K miles on the original set of front tires and only had to replace the back due to nails, which was covered under that tirexam warranty thing I bought.....thank god those tires are like $380 a piece.

I would just like to say that this kid is the reason why people should NEVER buy a loan car from a dealer or from enterprise or anywhere like that. Very immature.

Aside from that, welcome!

[kmckis1029]

yeah i agree with the other guys also... i have learned once you show ANY mechanic that you know what needs to be done... they treat you much better and you get the best price. i just recently brought my G35x on 8/04/08 and i will be getting my first oil change from the dealership in about 2k or so more miles. i will be going to the nissian dealership since the nearest infinity dealership is 1hr away. i've been educating my self on my car so i can go into the service center and KNOW what needs to be done at 20k miles, and what is just extra. Also like another person said i like the little extras you get like a car wash, vacum, tire washed, lubes, ect when you go into any respectable service center. Plus all they do is fix your brand of car all day... everyday.

[Sentientbydesign]

yeah i agree with the other guys also... i have learned once you show ANY mechanic that you know what needs to be done... they treat you much better and you get the best price. i just recently brought my G35x on 8/04/08 and i will be getting my first oil change from the dealership in about 2k or so more miles. i will be going to the nissian dealership since the nearest infinity dealership is 1hr away. i've been educating my self on my car so i can go into the service center and KNOW what needs to be done at 20k miles, and what is just extra. Also like another person said i like the little extras you get like a car wash, vacum, tire washed, lubes, ect when you go into any respectable service center. Plus all they do is fix your brand of car all day... everyday.

Going to Nissan for regular maintenance is fine and dandy. Don't try going there for warranty issues. They can't help you.

[kmckis1029]

yeah i figured they wouldnt be able to do warranty stuff... but hopefully i wont have any major problems with my car... as i always keep my cars serviced well. plus my warranty is not up til 2010 according to infinity (w/ road side assistance included)... i guess the first owner purchased an extented warranty?

[adren77]

15k miles/year is nothing.

I average about 40,000/ year. That means my G will least about 3 more years before engine/trans swap

[Jacko3]

I agree 40,000 miles is nothing to the G becasue it is very fun to drive. But, you may not meed to swap out anything. My little Nissan is almost at 250,000 miles with the original engine and transmission---still going strong and I still flog her. She loves the highway the most.

[telcoman]

If anyone ever wondered why some car rental agencies will not rent to anyone under 25 or why insurance rates are high for males under 25 this is a good example.

Telcoman

[Sentientbydesign]

Actually, from my understanding, the new insurance breaks are based on years with a license.

Every 3 years, you get a break (for the first 6 or 9 that is).

[navyseal]

Let me first start off by saying thanks for all the responses. I just wanted to clear up a couple of things. First off your probably right about my attitude and how i should have handled the situation, but it was the way the guy was treating me like i knew nothing about cars and was trying to get me in and out. I was telling the man what i did and didn't want and specifying what i thought i might and might not need. I went in with a calm and cool attitude, but he just got me so worked up. Also, the thing about the loaner car. It's a LOANER. Who the heck is gonna drive a loaner like they drive their car. I dont know about others, but I really baby my G. I am not hard on it like some, but I will get up on it ever once and awhile. The reason I was so hard on the loaner is because how often do people get a car that has so much HP and they can have as much fun as possible and not have to worry about destroying their own car. The way I look at it for example is how do we race and/or drive go-karts at theme parks or other places. We ride them like a bat out of hell and beat the crap out of them like we stole it cause in the end we dont really care about what happens cause we dont have to pay for the damages. It's like an escape where we can drive something like crazy and get away with it. Even though the signs say NO BUMPING, what do we do anyway, we bump the crap out of our friends and try to run them off the road. Why? Because it's fun! I have 44,000 miles on my car now and like I said I baby it so I try to down shift as much as possible and preserve my brakes as much as I can. When he told me I needed new front brakes I thought that he was probabyly right with the miles on my car. But then when I found out that I didn't need new front brakes at all let alone for a long time that is what made me so mad. Whether I respect them or not they should not have to treat anyone like that and rip people off. It happens all the time and some of us are too stupid or blind to see it. My point here is not to trust the dealers. I wasn't writing this post for someone to tell me that I had a bad attitude and next time I should try being nice. Like I said I respect everyone on this site and posts, yet at the same time I dont believe I should get ripped off, disrespected, and/or pushed around by a dealer or mechanic let alone anyone if I had had a bad attitude. Clearly they were trying to get into my pockets when it wasn't needed. To tell you even more of the story I even had a long conversation with the guy about his family and going to college and everything and he still was lying to my face . If anyone thinks I am wrong here please tell me. I know my attitude at the point in time was wrong and I should have been more positive, but I truly appreciate everyones opinion and what they have to say. Thanks again.

[CYO44Baseball32]

Which dealership did you go to?

[SteveTheTech]

The situation you have described here is not right, but what are your brake measurments and how much meat is on the pads?The front pads do tend to wear pretty quickly and may be 3 or4/32" where they may be recommended. When things like this do happen bring it up to the service director. They are there for customer relations issues like yours, and will be able to resolve your issue in a way that satisfies all parties. It's a shame that you have had such a negitive experience there are many people who are very happy with the service they recieve at dealerships, and there are many of us who work tirelessly to ensure every customer is happy and only sold the things they need. Instead of bitching about it here try doing something.

[rn79870]

I'm not critising, but It would help a few of us older pharts if you'd use a few more paragraphs. Our eyes ain't what they used to be and paragraphs help us read it. Thanks.

One advantage to having Infiniti do your work is in the event you need warranty work done. They really have a hard time denying a claim when they have a record of performing all the recommended services. After all, they are the ones who are factory trained and using the recommended procedures and tools. As long as your G is in warranty, I'd let infiniti do the servicing. It's cheap insurance.

[Sentientbydesign]

I can only speak for my own experiences. I have dealt with quite a few shady sales reps, but never service advisors. It's possible that they don't try to pull any crap with me because I am fairly knowledgable regarding my vehicle, but I think you just ended up with a bad Service Advisor.

I still find it nearly impossible that your brakes were recommended to be replaced with absolutely no need. That's just comical. You might do what SteveTheTech mentioned and talk to the Service Manager or Director about the situation. They may have some odd policy of recommending early brake service due to a previous lawsuit or some other reason.

Paragraphs ARE your friend. You'll find quite a few people on the boards who get annoyed quickly when they are here to help you out and they have to reread the same lines 3 times because of no formatting.