2012 M56S Issues & Service Dept. Reaction

[SmoovC]

A little long winded, but detailed conditions and Dealer reaction:

Warranty Concerns/Description:

On 5/13/2013, 14,193 miles:

I drove the vehicle to work with no issues. When I went to go to lunch a few hours later, I unlocked the car with the key fob. When I attempted to start the car, it showed “Warning Key System” in the dot matrix display.

After exiting the vehicle, pressing the fob a few times, and re-entering the vehicle, I was able to start it. (It should be noted that the batteries in BOTH fobs are new; and were replaced by myself when I bought the vehicle.)

Once started, I noticed that the climate control and audio system were not functioning.

Upon further investigation, I noticed that both only work when the driver's door is open. Once you turn on the climate control with the vehicle running and the door open, it will stay on.

The audio system will function only with the door open, and as soon as you close it, the sound will no longer be present.

Also noted is that the center multi-function control panel does not respond to any input when the vehicle is running with the doors closed; nor does the audio system controls below the CD/DVD load slot.

Further, none of the audio related steering wheel controls on the left (driver's) side of the steering wheel respond to any commands while the vehicle is running with the doors closed either.

It was at this point I decided to call Infiniti and make an appointment for warranty service. Since no service loaners were available until Wednesday the 15th, I decided not to drive the vehicle, and left it at my work.

About an hour later, one of my co-workers comes into my office and states, “hey, did you know your hazard lights are on”? Sure enough, I walked out to the car, and they were indeed flashing. I unlocked with the key fob, opened the door, and they turned off.

I disconnected the negative battery terminal to prevent this condition from draining the battery.




5/14/2013:

After work, I reconnected the negative battery terminal, and started the car. I did not see any key error warning, and the vehicle started up fine.

The condition of no climate control and audio was still present. While the vehicle was running, I opened the driver's door, and set the climate control to “auto”. Once the door was closed, it would stay on “auto”.

The audio came back on while the door was open, and went silent as soon as I closed the door.

The audio related steering wheel controls on the left (driver's) side of the steering wheel weren't responding to any commands while the vehicle is running with the doors closed either.

I drove the car home, and the conditions did not change the entire trip. Once home, I decided to try the spare key fob. It did not make any difference as to changing any conditions.

I did make note of what time I got home, parked the car in the garage, and closed all doors; but did not lock the vehicle.

After about 7 to 10 minutes, I checked on the car, and the hazards were flashing. I opened the driver's door, and they turned off.

At this point, I disconnected the negative battery terminal, so as not to have a dead battery in the morning before I bring it in for service.


Summary of Conditions:

The key fob(s) may or may not be related to the issues at hand, but may seem to have some correlation, as these issues started when a “Warning Key System” error was reported in the dot matrix display.

1) The center multi-function control panel does not respond to any input when the vehicle is running with the doors closed.

2) The climate control does not function with the vehicle running and the doors closed. It will however, function with the vehicle running and the doors closed under the following conditions:

1) Start the vehicle
2) Open the driver's door.
3) Turn on the climate control.
4) Close the door.


3) The audio system does not function, or respond to any inputs from the center multi-function control panel, audio system, or the steering wheel controls with the vehicle running and the doors closed.

It will however, function as soon as you open the driver's door. As soon as you close the door, the audio turns off (ie: no sound), but the center display indicates that the audio is playing.

4) After turning the vehicle off and exiting, about 7 to 10 minutes later, the hazards will start flashing. Opening the driver's door will turn off the hazard lights.



5/15/2013:

Left in the morning to take vehicle to Infiniti of XXXX for scheduled 7:30 am appointment. Reconnected battery, started vehicle, and all appeared to operate normally. The climate control and audio system worked as they should.

I checked the tire pressure through the info center (as I do every morning), and all tires read 33 psi. About half way to my destination, the TPMS light came on. I checked the info center, and it indicated no reading from the left front tire. I stopped and visually inspected the tire; it looked fine.

About 10 minutes later, I checked the info center for tire pressure again; thinking maybe it reset and would show a reading. It now indicated that in addition to the left front tire, the right front tire had no reading. Once again, I stopped and visually inspected the tires, and they looked fine.

At 7:30, I arrived at the Dealer for my scheduled appointment. I was greeted by my Service Consultant. We proceeded to fill out the necessary paperwork, and I gave him a copy of page 1 and 2 of this document.

He entered some notes on the work order in their system, and had the Service Manager look at the vehicle with my Service Consultant . Once they both looked at and around the car, they both came back into the office.

It was at this time that the Service Manager stated to me “it looks like the vehicle has had some paint work”. I asked “why do you say that?” He said “the paint looks dirty”. I proceeded to inform him that the entire vehicle had been wrapped in Xpel Ultimate paint protection film, and took him out to the car to show him exactly what that entailed.

The Service Manager also stated that the vehicle has had the windshield replaced, the tires replaced, and the front end had been damaged. I stated that yes, the tires had been replaced; I had them installed because the Factory-installed Bridgestone tires tramlined horribly. I also stated that yes, the front fascia had been scraped on a parking curb (by the previous owner); it is purely cosmetic damage, and that I had already purchased a replacement from Infiniti of XXXX parts department.

The Service Manager also asked where I bought the M56S, and if I received a CarFax. I stated that I bought it at XXXXXX Toyota, that it was traded in at XXXXXX Mercedes, and that it was originally purchased in April of 2012 at Infiniti of XXXX. I also told him that I did indeed get a CarFax, and that it was clean, without incident, and that it had a buyback guarantee.

During this conversation, I got the feeling the Service Manager was looking for a reason to not repair my vehicle under warranty; and the insinuation was that the car had been in an accident; thus the cause of the electrical issues it was experiencing. Keep in mind I have driven the car for over a month and 800 miles with no issues whatsoever; until the concerns stated on page 1 and 2.

My suspicions were confirmed when the Service Manager stated “I'm not saying that it won't be covered under warranty, but depending on what we find....”

2:32 pm: XXXX called me and said that he wanted to update me on the status of the car. He said the tech “pulled five pages of codes”. He said they cleared all the codes, and needed to keep the vehicle. I said I was fine with that, and was sympathetic to the troubleshooting process.

3:57 pm: XXXX called again, and said “here's where we get you involved”. When asked what that meant, he stated that Infiniti said that the car needed to have some miles put on it, and either I could drive it as I normally do, or a tech could drive it. I opted to indicate I would be picking up the vehicle.

4:14 pm: XXXX called again, and stated that once they pulled the vehicle out of the service bay, the hazards started flashing, which was one of the original conditions (see page 1, item #4). He also said they would need to keep the vehicle.

[TXT]

I don't even know what to say to you. I applaud you for your patience (at least that's how you seem by what I read). I'm sure it will be solved somehow. You cant be the only one with this weird issue.

[Ilya]

I don't even know what to say to you. I applaud you for your patience (at least that's how you seem by what I read). I'm sure it will be solved somehow. You cant be the only one with this weird issue.

This.

Personally, I would make a case with Infiniti Corporate RIGHT NOW. Once this dealer hears (or see's) a case number from Infiniti, their demeanor should change QUICK.

I had an issue with my dealer where they sent a rookie along for a ride along of some suspension issues (he drove, not me). Nothing was found. I disagreed and even took GoPro footage of each wheel over a bumpy road. I was trying to get a new suspension out of it (as mine was shot but still under warranty) but after getting Corporate involved and making a post about the dealer on a local car forum, the GM of the whole place personally talked to me and sent his senior tech out for a 30 minute ride along (me driving) all around our city and the guy IMMEDIATELY found my issue, replaced it under warranty, and all issues were resolved. I had a bad/shot bushing situation of my steering rack but since the bushing are part of the rack they replaced all of it.

Bottom line: Get Corporate involved to speed up this process and change their attitude.

[SmoovC]

I don't even know what to say to you. I applaud you for your patience (at least that's how you seem by what I read). I'm sure it will be solved somehow. You cant be the only one with this weird issue.

Thank you for your input. I am a patient man, but will not allow kindness to be mistaken for weakness.

[SmoovC]

IlyaKol,

Thank you for your reply and sharing your experience. I think you bring a very valid point to the discussion; which is to get Corporate involved.

After reading your post, my thought was to give the Dealer the opportunity to do the right thing and fix the car, and if they will not and/or cannot, then take it to the next level. My line of thinking is that once they attempt a repair, release the vehicle, and the car goes back for the same issue, that is strike one on Lemon Law. I believe this would give me more options in dealing with the situation?

I know it is not the end of the world, (as many people have a lot bigger life issues to deal with), but this whole situation is a big let down for me. I absolutely loved my old M45, and achieved another goal in my life by obtaining the M56S with the color and options that I wanted at a great price. I felt that I would have this car for a long time to come, and when the time came, move on to another Infiniti product.

You obviously have more experience in these matters, so I would love to hear your thoughts as to how to proceed, and how you did so with Corporate.

Thank you again.

[Ilya]

IlyaKol,

Thank you for your reply and sharing your experience. I think you bring a very valid point to the discussion; which is to get Corporate involved.

After reading your post, my thought was to give the Dealer the opportunity to do the right thing and fix the car, and if they will not and/or cannot, then take it to the next level. My line of thinking is that once they attempt a repair, release the vehicle, and the car goes back for the same issue, that is strike one on Lemon Law. I believe this would give me more options in dealing with the situation?

I know it is not the end of the world, (as many people have a lot bigger life issues to deal with), but this whole situation is a big let down for me. I absolutely loved my old M45, and achieved another goal in my life by obtaining the M56S with the color and options that I wanted at a great price. I felt that I would have this car for a long time to come, and when the time came, move on to another Infiniti product.

You obviously have more experience in these matters, so I would love to hear your thoughts as to how to proceed, and how you did so with Corporate.

Thank you again.

You're more level headed than me.

Once they rebuffed me with the rookie technician doing the ride along and the service manager saying they didn't find anything (and me assuming they would half-a** it from there), I didn't waste time.

But, yeah, your plan sounds good. Let them fix the issue and see what happens. If they hold onto it for more than a day or two (unless they are waiting for parts), then I think is when you step up to the next level.

It definitely gets things done (going higher up). I'm 25 and generally pretty mild mannered/new to the whole concept of being forceful...but had to be done.

[SmoovC]

Well, as the moral to an old story goes: you can run down the hill and f*** one, or you can walk down the hill and f*** them all.....

I guess we will see what today brings, and go from there. As long as they are making progress towards a solution, I am ok with putting the miles on their 2012 G37X loaner.

[Ilya]

Well, as the moral to an old story goes: you can run down the hill and f*** one, or you can walk down the hill and f*** them all.....

I guess we will see what today brings, and go from there. As long as they are making progress towards a solution, I am ok with putting the miles on their 2012 G37X loaner.

Ain't the G37x fast? I love it when they give me that instead of the G25 (sounds like POO and slower than death). The G37x is SO much faster than my M35 (lighter car and bigger motor = BAM!).

[SmoovC]

Well, as the moral to an old story goes: you can run down the hill and f*** one, or you can walk down the hill and f*** them all.....

I guess we will see what today brings, and go from there. As long as they are making progress towards a solution, I am ok with putting the miles on their 2012 G37X loaner.

Ain't the G37x fast? I love it when they give me that instead of the G25 (sounds like POO and slower than death). The G37x is SO much faster than my M35 (lighter car and bigger motor = BAM!).

I wouldn't say it is fast, but it is quick and nimble. Not really my cup of tea though; it is like Kid Rock said: I don't like small cars, or real big women, but sometimes I find myself in 'em.

I would MUCH rather roll your M35, even if it is slower. It is so much more car.

[SmoovC]

Update: No communication from the Service Dept at all yesterday; I did not hear anything at all regarding status of repair.