24 month or 30k maintenance ???

[leftykev]

Wow! I must have had a blond moment when I purchased 2008 Rogue. After receiving a Nissan 24 maintenance notification in the mail, I contacted my Nissan service department to schedule an appointment, asking around what it would cost: $889 Ha!

Then, I checked the Nissan maintenance schedules, and see just how much they do and replace, so I guess I understand.

So, is anyone here that diligent and did the 24 month maintenance? I only have 24k mileage on the car, which is mostly city driving.

[kerrton]

You've got to be kidding, $889??!! I find that hard to believe, the Schedule 1 and 2 24 month service is very minimal, most of that long list of items are just general check items (ex. look at wiper blades, check headlights etc.) that my service department told me they do every time anyway, and they aren't in the business of ripping customers off so it's included in regular service. For your 889 bucks they don't actually do much of anything, they change the cabin and engine filters which can be done in a matter of minutes on your own, don't pay them to do it. And beyond that all they do is inspect a lot of stuff, which probably takes them 20 or 30 minutes if they really take their time.

They must've quoted you for the 24 month/30k PREMIUM service, which is not required under normal driving conditions. The premium service calls for a complete replacement of the CVT fluid which can run up to $500 on it's own, but the funny thing is this fluid is good for a MINIMUM of 100,000 km depending on driving conditions, and you can easily get much more than that. This is not normal transmission fluid, it's a Nissan-only special fluid that is designed to last a very long time, I don't expect to have to change mine until well after the 10-year mark. To determine when to change the fluid, the Nissan Tech checks the onboard computer, it monitors every detail of your driving and calculates when the fluid needs to be chnaged. At 30,000 km your fluid is just fine no matter how hard you drive your vehicle.

The premium service also calls for a complete replacement of the coolant and drive belts - at 30,000 km this is laughable and completely ridiculous, Nissan should actually be ashamed of themselves for including it in the maintenance sched. Granted they define the criteria for "premium" service, which is harsh driving conditions, but even then this is extreme overkill, the car is still like brand new and not in need of such major work!!

Just pull out your maintenance schedule, look at the schedule 1/2 serivice, call your service dept. and ask for a quote on this work, it should only consist of an oil change, tire rotation, and two filter changes, which I would highly recommend doing on your own rather than paying Nissan to do it. Don't throw your money away needlesslly!

[casperfun]

Don't forget the $800 for labor.

[zakmartin]

Kerrton's answer is spot-on. 24,000/30,000 mile services are moneymakers for dealerships. When you buy a new car, the bulk of the money a dealership makes is on the trade-in and on the "recommended" servicing.

[kerrton]

I'm very lucky to have a dealer service department who flat out admits this and tells me not to pay for these "full meal deal" packages that are largely devoid of any real value. The actually refused to let me pay for one of these pacakages last year and instead charged just for the oil change and insisted that they check those items each time anyway while waiting for the oil to drain.

For that reason I'll always take my vehicle back for service, except maybe for things like brake and exhaust work, unless the price quotes are close. Anyone who lives in Southern Alberta, I can recommend an awesome Nissan service shop.