AZHitman, I need your help! Nissan is trying to screw me!

[nsrZ32]

Part of the rear subframe recall is an alignment, they messed that up for sure.

As for your motor, glad you got it out of that dealership and hopefully to an honest one. We get all kinds of people who come here who have horror stories from other dealerships. I have no idea what's wrong with some people. Hang in there and best of luck!

[seyath]

OK, Update #3.

I have taken the car to the dealership I originally purchased the car from. Following instructions by Greg, I did not tell them about the O'Brien experience. I acted as if it was the first time taking the car in for that particular problem. Funny thing, the tech informed me that there is a recall on the rear subframe for the '04 Maxima. I told him that the car had just had the service done, and was informed that nothing was ever recorded on the Nissan database. I also asked them if an alignment was part of the recall, and he answered that a rear alignment is, not necessarily the front unless they mess it up badly, which in this case they did. Well, they will call me as soon as they get to take a look at the car and see what they say. I'll keep you all informed. Thanks again for all your help guys. I'd be screwed without ya.

Jerry, quick question for you. About the alignment issue. I bought the car used from Nissan with 20' wheels already on. Last time I took it in to get my brakes done, (at the O'Brien dealer), they told me they did not align the car because they weren't able to do so on account of the larger wheels. And that was my responsibility. I was actually going to pay for the alignment but they told me they could not do it. Is this bull, or were they messing with me back then too?

[OldmanPurdy]

Whatever happened to your engine I doubt that your oil change schedule/oil brand had anything to do with it, sounds like the dealer dosen't want to replace the engine and wants to shift the blame towards you.

[nsrZ32]

Jerry, quick question for you. About the alignment issue. I bought the car used from Nissan with 20' wheels already on. Last time I took it in to get my brakes done, (at the O'Brien dealer), they told me they did not align the car because they weren't able to do so on account of the larger wheels. And that was my responsibility. I was actually going to pay for the alignment but they told me they could not do it. Is this bull, or were they messing with me back then too?

That's a bunch of BS as well. The new Titan comes stock with 20" wheels. They could easily align it. They seem to be shady beyond belief. Thank god I don't work for that Nissan dealer.

For the recalls, also have them check what else is an open campaign on your car, I believe there was a seat harness recall on that generation maxima as well.

[Florida240sx]

Nissan drama continues.... Update 4 coming to a post to you soon.... lol This is getting interesting.

[mattscar]

I went to a dealership to ask for a price quote on stock 240sx springs and he quoted me for $1700 lol!

Thats just the springs too, and install will be another 1K lol!

F*ing crooks.

[Florida240sx]

I'll fly to CA with the springs and struts and install them for 2700 Monday around 4pm work for ya?

[nsrZ32]

I went to a dealership to ask for a price quote on stock 240sx springs and he quoted me for $1700 lol!

Thats just the springs too, and install will be another 1K lol!

F*ing crooks.

How is that possible? $1,000 for labor? You have got to be exaggerating. Even at 85/hr that would be approximately a 12 hour quote to do springs.

[seyath]

That's a bunch of BS as well. The new Titan comes stock with 20" wheels. They could easily align it. They seem to be shady beyond belief. Thank god I don't work for that Nissan dealer.

For the recalls, also have them check what else is an open campaign on your car, I believe there was a seat harness recall on that generation maxima as well.

Yeah, I did the seatbelt recall almost as soon as I got the car at the dealer that I purchased the car from. It's good to know that Nissan dealerships can perform alignments on 20' wheels. That is really starting to piss me off now.Thanks Jerry. Good inside info. Even if the other dealer takes care of the problem, I am so screwing over the ones in Hawthorne. This is bull****.

[Kenrik]

Different company but the same thing...

Someone at my work has a Mazda Tribute, he had a $19.99 oil change thing from his dealer and I told him DON'T DO IT!!!. I even showed him how he could change his oil.

Well he took it to the dealer and they told him "the oil drain plug is cross threaded you need a new oil pan.. and also you need two rear shocks" it will be $1000

I told him to go pick up his car and not pay anything... he did and I had him go to a mechanic I know.. guess what!! my mechanic had NO trouble changing the oil, the pan was NOT cross threaded and he DID NOT need shocks.

**** stealerships, if I was not a nice guy and tell this idiot at my work that they were trying to rip him off then they would have gotten their $1000 for doing NOTHING.

STEALERSHIPS!!

on that note..

My infiniti dealership is ok, the sales people are really nice and the techs were good (maybe a little slow, but good. They gave me a brand new transmission under warranty.

[Defcon86]

Dang I just read this for the first time and I hope this all gets sorted out and they get whats coming.

[mattscar]

How is that possible? $1,000 for labor? You have got to be exaggerating. Even at 85/hr that would be approximately a 12 hour quote to do springs.

Nope, I am not exaggerating one bit. I sort of sound like a girl over the phone when I called them (About 4 years ago) (Was still going through puberty)

Some mechanics are crooks and some are not. But I bought an FSM recently and I try to do all my work myself now

[AZhitman]

Manuel - DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.

The tech at that dealership is an utter assclown.

A drop in oil pressure won't cause the issues he described, and even if it DID, he told you the car was OK to drive, risking further damage?

I smell a LOAD of liability here.

The other issue is that they didn't document your visit in the computer system, which means they can't bill Nissan for the recall work performed. More incompetence and tomfoolery.

It actually works to your advantage here... Now, let's get that thing to a REAL tech (I'd simply ask to SPEAK to a tech before they touch your car, and explain to him what you've been through, but don't identify the prior tech as a dealership).

I'm betting it's a simple issue, and I'm disgusted that a representative of Nissan would be so damned retarded.

BTW, "can't align 20" wheels"? Unreal. I could align 40" wheels if there was such a thing, diameter makes no difference (as long as the alignment tools will adjust out to the proper diameter).

[IanS]

at work I cant align anything bigger than 18" wheels, the laser pads that attach to the wheels dont adjust out any further, although that machine is like 10 years old, I would think dealerships would have to keep their equipment up to date with todays trends and wheel sizes.

//end thread jack

[seyath]

Yeah Greg, I'm keeping documentation of everything. The car is still at the dealer I originally purchased it from. Left it there on friday afternoon and haven't heard back from them yet. I'll stop by tomorrow as soon as I get the new tie rods on the S13. Hopefully they won't try to screw me too. BTW, is it a normal procedure to charge a $105ish diagnostic fee if the work is not going to be covered by the warranty?

[AZhitman]

at work I cant align anything bigger than 18" wheels, the laser pads that attach to the wheels dont adjust out any further, although that machine is like 10 years old, I would think dealerships would have to keep their equipment up to date with todays trends and wheel sizes.

//end thread jack

....especially considering a lot of Armadas and Titans roll out on 20's and bigger.

[seyath]

Ok, new update guys.I haven't heard anything back from Ramsey Nissan (where I bought my car), so I plan on stopping there tomorrow.I just got a phone call from a third party company that is responsible for running customer service questionnaires for O'Brien Nissan. Cecilia (the operator), asked me how satisfied I was with the service... I basically tore them a new *******. Explained in detail the whole situation. I've actually linked them to Nico, as the operator did not seem to phased at first by the mention, but quickly changed her attitude when she entered the forums... Basically she told me she was going to file a formal complaint against the dealership, and she is going to stipulate that I was forced to bring it to another Nissan dealership for a second opinion per recommendation of said dealer and a boatload of Nissan owners, some of whom are techs for Nissan themselves. Now I am going to wait until I get a response from Ramsey Nissan after which I will file a formal complaint with Nissan HQ, and we'll see where the car situation goes from there. Either the Maxima gets fixed or not though, I will take care of O'Brien. This is a bunch of crap.Thanks again for all of your help guys. I thought about it, and hell, if I wasn't into cars and didn't have access to this community, I would have probably been screwed.

[chukiBOOTY]

WOW, interesting..i read this whole thing front to back....effing bastards...i HATE poor cuntomer service, and it sounds like youre on the right track...any calls i can help make to further complain about this situation, im in

[datsun2401972]

I hope it all works out for the best for you. I can't imagine how irate I would be if that happened to me.

If they told me that my warranty was void because I didn't keep every receipt for oil changes.....they would have to call the police to remove me from the property. And I'd give them plenty reason to not wait until closing time.

And then I would call every local news station(radio/tv) and notify them as to why O'Brian's had to call the police to escort me off the property.

Sorry to thread jack but this reminds me of my friends mom. She bought an 06 Explorer from one ford dealer. Took it to another ford dealer to service the transmission(scheduled maintenance). Then a couple weeks later the transmission starts acting up. She takes it back to the original dealer she bought it from to have it fixed under warranty...and what do they say?

"If the other dealership didn't add the special additive in the transmission oil when they serviced it your warranty is voided."....excuse me??!?!!?

It was a ****ing ford dealer that serviced it...that means you owe me a new transmission...is what I woulda said. But of course the dealership saw that they were dealing with a woman so they figured they could get away with it. And even after I told her she was getting screwed, they still got away with it.

So what I'm saying is it would make me very pleased to see someone give these dealerships what they deserve!

Seriously, they BS you for hours in their office about your trade in value, or "we can get you a lower payment if you push your loan to 6 or 7 years". And if you don't hesitate to buy the vehicle then they will sell you your car for a marked up price and still have no problems sleeping at night.

What happens if you question a car salesman about his service,"Oh, well, I'm just trying to do my job and put food on my table."

And it's obviously the same way with parts and service departments...

And what the hell do these people get out of rejecting your warranty anyways? It's not like they have a warranty reject quota they have to meet every month for their bonus check.

I guess automotive dealerships are the only companies nowa days that have real "company" men trying to save every penny of the company's money . In reality, they are just ****ing bungholes.

/end thread jack lol

[AZhitman]

^ AMEN.

Whenever I get that kind of service, I have NO problem raising my voice and making a scene.

I'm fairly well-spoken, so it's not hard for me to make most people stutter and stammer, backpedal and blubber.

One of my favorite lines to use: "Is this money coming out of YOUR pocket? Are YOU paying for the service? Is this going to impact YOUR bottom line?"

Once the "gatekeeper" realizes it's someone else's money they're alloocating, they usually cave.

Let's make it a point to make an example out of this moronic bastard - He needs to be working at a Jiffy Lube where that kind of crap flies - NOT at a Nissan dealer.

[IanS]

^ agreed,

Im not afraid to throw a fit if its needed, although I have never had any of my vehicles serviced by anyone but myself. I have seen people really blow up, somtimes its waranted somtimes they have no reason at all, and its people like that that make running a straight business so difficult, the people that will throw a fit about nothing and are always looking for a way to get free stuff ruin it for the rest of us. You sir have a dam good reason to make a seen about this, they screwed you and I hope they get the Karma thats coming to them.

[G_whizz]

This is BY FAR the best pwned video when it comes to stealerships trying to screw customers!!

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/0...6-500/

[seyath]

You guys are going to love this.I just came back from Ramsey Nissan, checking up on the Maxima since I haven't heard from them at all.While I was ready to deal with their bull**** I have to say I was not prepared for what happened. "The car should be ready in a couple of hours actually."".....It's done?""Yeah. We put new timing chain guides, because the original wore themselves to pieces, so your chain was banging all over the place. That's all. New guides, a slight adjustment to the tensioner and you'll be back on the road."I had a great chat with their head tech, who actually confided they get a lot of business from O'Brien's Nissan, seeing how their service really sucks.The most I'll have to shell out is $50, which might be my deductible for the warranty, but I don't even think I have to pay that if I recall correctly. They told me they'd check for me tomorrow when I go pick her up.

Well, now that the Maxima is taken care of, it's time to get even with O'Brien Nissan. I will call Nissan HQ tomorrow and speak to someone in charge of customer service, (If you guys have someone in particular for me to speak to, please do give me their number.) and I will file a formal complaint against the dealership. I intend on getting my money back for the motor flush that was utterly useless, I expect them to align my car again, free of charge seeing as she war running as crooked as an old politician, and I better get some damn free servicing vouchers out of this.

Any comments, hints, high fives are welcome.

[ddgsxr504]

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Way to stick to your guns, glad all you needed was T/C guides.

As for the $50 deductible that sounds about right but then again that depends on your warranty coverage. The reason I say that is my BMW had a warranty and after 36K miles all warranty work cost me a $50 deductable which is like a co-pay.

[seyath]

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Way to stick to your guns, glad all you needed was T/C guides.

As for the $50 deductible that sounds about right but then again that depends on your warranty coverage. The reason I say that is my BMW had a warranty and after 36K miles all warranty work cost me a $50 deductable which is like a co-pay.

\

Yeah, I don't mind paying the $50. It's just that I have an extended warranty till 100k mi and if I recall correctly, all labor is covered 100%.

[Ozzie]

I wonder if we can get a banner on Nico's main page, stating that we don't let our members get screwed by shonky dealers, then make a name and shame list below it.

O'Brien's Nissan sucks balls!

Congrats on getting it sorted out, but way too much hassle involved.It's dealers like that, that give ALL car dealers a bad name.

[datsun2401972]

Congrats for stickin it out and not folding under the stealership's word

[IanS]

"RETRIBUTION FIVE Yah"

-The Todd

awesome

[Eikon]

Manuel,

Congrats on the resolution thus far. Hope you can make progress with a claim against the old dealership.

Would you consider doing an article about your experience and what you've learned? I think it would make great editorial content for the homepage. "How-To: Not get screwed by a shady service department!. An article about how to deal with a bad situation at a service department... getting second opinions, and proper repairs without wasting money. Followed by how to file a claim against the stealership and what to expect...

[AZhitman]

Beautiful idea.

I'll make it front page news, and I guarantee it'll get indexed pretty quickly....

Half the work is already done, this thread is a great outline!