'04 Q45 Nav System progressively failing.

[skycable]

My '04 Q45 Nav Sys slowly failing. The screen has dimmed (adjusted to full brightness and full contrast), the select button functions less than 50%. Rear camera screen almost totally dark. Yes, lenses are clean.75K miles. The failing select button was reported under warranty long ago, tech could not replicate so no fix at that time. The screen is at its worst when cold.

Any input will be welcome.

Thanks

Bob in Virginia

[Q45tech]

Why people who understand the true cost to repair electronic systems buy the 100k/7 year extended warranty.

Unlike earlier assemblies [speedo/tacho/hvac/radio] which might cost $500-$700, newer systems being more integrated have doubled and tripled.

A $2,000 option might cost $3 - 4,000 to repair/replace.

LCD screens can fail just like laptops right after warranty.

97% of all new car innovations occur in expensive electronics...........these factors must be considered in future repairs especially display screens which have a more limited life than mechanicals.

[skycable]

I certainly agree with your extended warranty suggestion. However, in my case, after I had paid for the 100/7yr extd wrnt Nissan mistakenly denied me the extd wrnt on the basis that my Q had a branded title, an error I spent several months successfully correcting in '05. Now I am several more months in attempting to correct the same mistake again because the extended warranty department did not get the word. The matter is with Infiniti consumer services but I have not heard from them for 3 months.

[Q45tech]

Branded title? Like a totalled, salvaged, restored, or flood damaged?

Washing title to remove defect stamp doesn't obligate Nissan to re institute the warranty.

They only warranty what they put together at Nissan factory not US rebuilds. Same with a wreck the Nissan warranty doesn't cover parts replaced or affected by parts replaced. A wreck can cause unwarrantable stress on components which never get replaced for years later when the wreck cause failure.

[Q451990]

Sounds like it's time to get more agressive with Infiniti on getting that taken care of. I have heard of a couple of failures on the nav. system screen, but it's pretty rare. I certainly hope you get the warranty issues resolved.

Heath

[skycable]

Branded by mistake regarding this particular Q45 means exactly that - not damaged, not totaled, not salvaged, not restored. A group of Infiniti's damaged in a dealership fire were written off by a insurance underwriter and the title to my untouched Q45 was mistakenly included in the group of titles sent to DMV. The underwriter then had to file a affidavit with DMV saying as much - the end result was a clean title and re-instatement of warranty by Nissan.

You are correct to say Nissan has no obligation when a title for a previously harmed vehicle is 'washed' but a mistake such as this does not relieve Nissan of their warranty obligation. Nissan acknowledged as much by reinstatement of the warranty. We can agree that Nissan does not issue warranties based upon sympathy.

Thanks for sharing your observations.

[skycable]

I do need to get more serious with Infiniti. Unfortunately my warranty enforcement career is secondary to my day job. Legal contact may be next. Thanks for the wakeup call.

[Q45tech]

They are probably overwhelmed daily by the number of fradulent rebuilds in the normal course of business. I'll bet your situation occurs once every 5 years! They are so used to crooks that they cannot comprehend an honest situation.

[Q451990]

The service manager and sales manager at the dealership that sold you the car/warranty (assuming they will also be making the repairs) should be more than willing to help you with this! I don't see an upside of not getting paid their hefty warranty commission or not getting to make warranty repairs on your car.

Part of the "total ownership experience" or whatever catch phrase they're using these days should be a recognization that you have a day job that doesn't involve dealing with Infiniti corporate!

Even if the dealership that you'll use for the repairs is a different location, I would think they should be able to coordinate something through a district or regional manager.

Not telling you what to do... just tossing out suggestions for another way handle the situation.

Good luck!

Heath

[skycable]

You're probably right - I guess they do get slammed with scammers. The details of my Q's history is likely one in a million. But I jumped through all of their hoops in '05 and I have had several positive warranty repair experiences since with Infiniti - pre 60K and post 60K. Customer Service - back in '05 recognized the validity of my case. Since '05, whenever I'm at a dealership, the system lists my Q as warranty qualified - no questions asked. (In the beginning of my ordeal the system listed my Q as 'branded') So before my original warranty maxed out I purchased and paid for the 100K/7 yr at a dealership. A week later the dealer informs me that the 'extended warranty department' rejected my purchase and a consumer is not allowed to communicate directly with the 'extended warranty department'. Although rejected for the extended warranty I continued to successfully received warranty service. Oddly, after my milage exceeded the 60k limit, Infiniti approved a $1800 repair associated with the airbag system. (Go figure!) Even as I write this the Infiniti system lists my Q as warranty qualified (albeit over milage).

Customer Care tells me the 'extended warranty department' has been informed of the erroneous data and they can do more then that.

I share these facts with you and all other interested readers because they may be of some value to another Nissan driver and because another reader may have a kodak moment and shout out "Hey, I know how to fix this problem!"

[skycable]

I appreciate your suggestions. I've never been able to get contact info for a district or regional manager - always been told I must go thru customer care.

I also am interested is repairing my Nav system myself - replacing the LCD screen is simple. Potentially more challenging is replacing the select toggle. The screen and the select toggle seem to be the points of failure with my Nav system.

Can anyone tell me which Nissan/Infiniti products share the same Nav system since '04 thru '06?

Thanks

[Q451990]

I don't have much experience (ok, any) with the Nav. system, but I would think many of the components would be the same on the first generation M45, as well as the FX line.

I wouldn't assume that your issues with the toggle switch are so much mechanical or electrical - but maybe software based. There times that I click the mouse on my computer and it does nothing because the computer is too busy doing something else. Could be the same here... who knows.

If you want to research how the systems work, I would download your FSM (Factory Service Manual) here and read up.

I guess what I'm saying is that I wouldn't go tearing in to something that you have paid to have covered under a warranty. Especially given the cost of even used components to do the repair - and the fact that you really don't know what's wrong. You also don't want someone to deny your future warranty claim (after you get your problem with the warranty dept. fixed) based on the fact that you have been in there swapping incompatible parts or any other excuse they can find.

My suggestion was to take your file to the service manager (not advisor) or dealership manager - basically as high up as you can find - drop it on their desk, and let them handle it! They should have more direct channels though their district and regional support network than you will get calling consumer affairs.

Infiniti, like most corporate entities, will pass you off to a toll free number staffed in god-knows-where unless you insist that they take care of it for you. Tell them it's not your job to deal with it - it's theirs!

Heath

[Jesda]

Its not scammers so much as it is an overabundance of people taking their POS Infinitis in for service, costing Nissan too much money to fix their junk.

Dealers are frowned on by Infiniti NA and sometimes penalized for issuing too many warranty repairs. Your dealer and the manufacturer are both motivated to make you to pay to fix the defective vehicle they sold you.

[mhoepfin]

Bah.

Find the email address for the President of Inifiniti NA and send him a letter or email. I guarantee that he has a team of people to handle complaints escalated from customers to him directly.

These people will generally do whatever is required to satisfy you, knowing that further escalation usually ends up costing them much more money.

BBB is another alternative that will usually get a response as well.

[Q45tech]

Nissan North America Inc.333 Commerce StreetNashville, TN 37201Phone: (615) 725-1000Fax: 615-725-3343

Hopefully you can gather from this that they have the entire 725-1000-3343 phone block! Actually they have 725-1000-6998With LD so cheap you can call everyone from Presidents office downward.......they can't change there numbers so someone will solve your problem to stop your calls.

Fax works well because it is usuall a B to B usage + call all numbers until you have arived at every fax machine in building.

You can bring a corporation to it's knees with a phone and fax machine I think they are still in OLD Bell South Building in DT Nashville, not sure they have all moved to new Brentwood yet

Infiniti Customer Affairs might be in Franklin, Tennessee temporarily.

The people below probably have home phones and home addresses easily tracked down on web.

I do this periodically to show people how easy it is to find people: These 25 will lead to the 250 humans

Frédérique Le GrèvesVice President, Corporate Communications [email protected] Product Communications Scott VazinDirector, Product PR [email protected] Tony PearsonManager, Technology / Environment / Motorsports PR [email protected] Kathryn FieldsManager, Lifestyle Communications [email protected] Nissan Division: John SchillingSenior Manager, Product PR (Nissan) [email protected] Darryll HarrisonManager, Product PR (Nissan) [email protected] Infiniti Division: Kyle W. BazemoreSenior Manager, Infiniti Communications [email protected] Josh CliftonSpecialist, Infiniti Communications [email protected] Corporate Communications Fred StandishDirector, Corporate Communications [email protected] Katherine ZacharySr. Manager, Corporate Communications [email protected] Vicki SmithSr. Manager, Manufacturing Communications 615-223-4142 - Smyrna615-725-1448 - Nashville [email protected] Stephanie Valdez StreatySr. Manager, Philanthropy & Diversity Communications [email protected] Nicole Brinson 615-725-1451 Specialist, Philanthropy & Diversity Communications [email protected] Regional Offices Tim GallagherSr. Manager, Prod. Launch Strategy & Corp. Communications - West [email protected] Brian BrockmanManager, Corporate Communications - Midwest [email protected] Steve OldhamManager, Corporate Communications – Northeast [email protected] Jeannine GinivanManager, Corporate Communications – Mid-Atlantic [email protected] Julie LawlessManager, Corporate Communications - Southeast [email protected] Steve ParrettManager, Corporate Communications – South Central [email protected] Stefanie De Los SantosSpecialist, Corporate Communications – South Central [email protected] Candi VaughnPress Pool [email protected]

[Q451990]