Air Bag Recall Disater

[Theo]

Well, I visited a local dealer here in the Toronto area to have the recall completed.

With complete garbage service at Willowdale and Downtown Infiniti I thought I'd try another local dealer (further away) in hopes of finding decent service . without that, there was no chance I'd buy another infiniti product which is unfortunate because I like my car and the new models. The amateurs at Unionville Infinti sealed the deal and confirmed ,This will be the last Infiniti or Nissan product.. they now own the title of worst dealership I've dealt with in over 30 years of car ownership.

Here is the story,.
2 months ago I visited the dealership for the recall. They claimed they needed 3 hrs to complete the job. I also asked to have the brake fluid changed.

At the 3 hour mark the Service Rep comes out to tell me there was a small issue and car will be ready shortly.

shortly afterwards I'm in my car and pull over to take a call 1 mile from the dealership. While on the call I notice extensive dash damage
- Dash damaged in 8 different locations & clearly visible

I return to the dealer and the service reps reaction is 'oh, this isnt good', as if she didnt know what was going on. long story short, The service manager tells me they wont replace the dash but attempt to cosmetically repair it. I left & told her I would get back to her.

When I got home I looked closer and found the tech did not install the dash correctly, it was loose , sagging near the windshield , misaligned, one vent was broken and loose, the rear seat vents were loose, the drivers door kick plate was cracked, 1 dash screw near the glove box was missing & my door skin was damaged. Oh and, and plastic clips under the hood were missing. In other words this POS tech damage everything he touched.

Several conversations and emails later the Service Manager is still telling me they wont replace the dash (despite my polite request) but replace the broken trim pieces

A local body shop quoted 8.5 hours and almost $3000 to fix the damage.

I later wrote and advised the dealership and infiniti that I had safety concerns about the airbag component given that the tech damaged 'everything' else . I advised them I was preparing to take them to small claims court to recover all damages I possibly could ($1000 for my lawyer to get things moving) and I would be back for millions if the airbag was an issue in an accident.

I then got a call telling me other dealerships were having issues (it wasnt the Techs fault) and they would be replacing the dash and inspect the airbag.

One interesting piece of info. every dealer I called and the body shop quoted 8 hrs to re & re the dash, but Infiniti is only allowing 2.7 hrs. I contacted Transport Canada to confirm the 2.7hrs , prior to being told they would replace the dash i advised Infinti Canada I might include them in my Small Claims case. I was prepare to do so and spend the cash it took to litigate these dirt bags

What a complete gong show from end to end . Bush league behavior by every single person or group involved.

Dash was replaced the other day , things are not prefect but I have no patience to deal with these criminals any more.

I will post some pictures when I have time.

Use the dealership in question at your own risk. the tech involved needs to be taught a lesson but I dont know who he is.

Take pictures of your car before you have the airbag serviced.

[Theo]

not sure if this link for the photos will work but here goes ....

http://s86.photobucket.com/user/maxwebster01/library/

[kmiles]

Theo - I'm sorry your had such a horrible experience and such poor customer service. I had read enough stories about these that I took a full set of photos and video of mine before dropping it off a couple of weeks ago. They called me 3 hours later and said the work was done. When I picked it up, it looked perfect, no cracking and they had washed and detailed it. I gave my dealer (Infiniti of Tacoma at Fife) a 5 out of 5 for the excellent work that they did. The loaner they gave me was a Q60 with the new 2.0 liter engine (I think it is a Mercedes engine). I hate to say that I didn't love it. What drove me most crazy was it has this fuel saving feature that shuts off the engine when you come to a stop. The first time it happened was in stop and go driving on I-5. As it shuddered off, I thought I had been hit, but I wasn't. It took a couple of stops to realize what was happening. The engine was fairly peppy, but not nearly as responsive as the 3.5L.

[Ilya]

This dash stuff is affecting so many people and very few are truly happy with the work.

Unbelievable.

[Theo]

I've driven a few cars (rentals) with the auto shut off and my reaction was exactly the same as yours. I don't like it , there should be an option to disable this feature.
Good to hear someone has avoided a mess with this airbag recall....

Theo - I'm sorry your had such a horrible experience and such poor customer service. I had read enough stories about these that I took a full set of photos and video of mine before dropping it off a couple of weeks ago. They called me 3 hours later and said the work was done. When I picked it up, it looked perfect, no cracking and they had washed and detailed it. I gave my dealer (Infiniti of Tacoma at Fife) a 5 out of 5 for the excellent work that they did. The loaner they gave me was a Q60 with the new 2.0 liter engine (I think it is a Mercedes engine). I hate to say that I didn't love it. What drove me most crazy was it has this fuel saving feature that shuts off the engine when you come to a stop. The first time it happened was in stop and go driving on I-5. As it shuddered off, I thought I had been hit, but I wasn't. It took a couple of stops to realize what was happening. The engine was fairly peppy, but not nearly as responsive as the 3.5L.

[Theo]

I left out that my car is in mint condition . It only has 140000kms (86000 miles) with zero damage inside. Exterior has a small <1inch rust spot, a small scuff on the rear bumper, zero accidents and well maintained, so it's not like I drove a $hit box to them for service.

I'm blown away anyone could do this kind of damage to someone's property (I'd really like to get my hands on the tech) , try to avoid responsibly (service manager) and make the customer feel as if they are being unreasonable (they said so) for asking for things to be fixed.

When I dropped off the car for the dash to be replaced one of the service reps clearly had attitude , the bro with arms crossed, was a pro at shooting dirty looks and took interest in checking out my car. I've never received a follow call from the service manager, zero class all the way around . apparently the same person owns Agincourt Nissan. That Nissan dealer won't see my Xterra again. (I'm on my 3rd and final Nissan).

the icing on the cake is the tech is still employed at the dealership , have to wonder what other hack jobs he's done where ppl were unaware , had no recourse or were intimidated to walk away.

I explained to the service manager in my field of work , this would have resulted in the immediate firing of the employee. The fact he is still employed by the dealership is a direct reflection on them and infiniti. Total bush league as I said.

I've been eyeing a Golf R but need to convince my wife it's a good idea and that the infiniti needs to go, not much luck there so far.

[steve_c]

I received my 2cd notice to contact my dealer for the recall. I dread doing so.

Infiniti USA is not standing behind this recall at all!
Dashes are being destroyed due to the complexity/fragility of this replacement procedure.

Corporate is leaving it into the hands of its dealers, and not giving them any recourse for reparations to consumers suffering consequences from the procedure.

I already made up my mind never another Infiniti again over this BS.

[Larz]

You are sooooo right Steve. Takata and Infiniti have made a complete disaster of this whole situation. I could feel a bit sympathetic towards Infiniti since the cause of this fiasco was clearly not their fault. However, damage has been done now, Inifniti has to recall these cars and Takata is supplying new parts with no cost to Infiniti. The VERY least Infiniti can do is offer dealerships an accurate labor allowance per dash, and dashes should be replaced at no cost to owners who have no existing damage prior to repairs. For those who already have damaged dashes, there should be a significantly reduced price for replacement dashes and Infiniti should absorb the $200 or so for labor to transfer all parts for the air bag to the new dash.
My dash was already damaged prior to the recall so I was forced to buy a new dash and pay to pay labor charges to have the dealer install the necessary supports, etc to transfer the new air bag and components to my new dash. New dashes do not come with any ancillary pieces needed to install the air bag - that was about $200 in addition to the cost of the new dash. I am out over $2000 for this 'free' recall and my new airbag was supplied by Takata and has the SAME dangerous propellant as the defective air bag with a little additive that will delay the breakdown of propellant into another potential pipe bomb. I live in South Florida - ground zero for the climate conditions that cause break down of this propellant.
Exactly how happy and secure should I feel whilst driving this car?

[WillV]

I won't say my dash was perfect before the recall was done, because it certainly was not. But since my airbag was replaced, it has gotten WAY worse! I may believe in some coincidences, but 11 years of sun and the dash has some cracks, and three months later my dash looks like it has California fault lines now, and it doesn't fit around the vents, and sags by the windshield. I have a before vid, I took it back to my dealer and they said they would review - verdict came back "it looks the same." So I emailed my service rep a couple more times and he just stopped responding. That was like a month ago. Waiting till I'm back in that town so I can go have a talk in person. Beware of Lokey Infiniti in Clearwater FL! Not my first bad experience with their service dept!