Bad situation, how to get a hold of Nissan HQ

[bcar240]

My parents have been through a really tough time trying to deal with a recall issue. Their car was recalled for a safety critical manufacturer defect which it was discovered to have suffered from. The dealer said they could said they could fix it after my dad refused to accept the low-ball offer they made to total the car and kept nagging them for months. After everything was in order for the repair the dealer conducted a "second inspection" and suddenly claimed the fix would cost more than they were authorized to spend and it was denied. My parents have been without their car for about 10 months. They are now reiterating their offer to total and have given him a “last chance to accept or you will get nothing and must remove your car from the dealer’s lot” letter.

Nissan apparently contracted out the handing of the recall to a third party "middleman" company, and my parents have not been able to find anyone at the company who claims they have any authority to do anything other than pay him the proposed offer. All the dealer will do is refer them to this company. My dad has tried to contact Nissan corporate, but he said he can't get past customer service receptionists and they have all just referred him back to the dealer or the third party forming a big loop. Does anyone happen to have any contact info for a department or someone in corporate or something that might be able to help that I can pass along to him? Our family currently owns 4 Nissans, I am shocked beyond belief at how callously they have been treated. They just can't find anyone who seems to care at all.

[Towncivilian]

Is this related to the Pathfinder / QX4 rust recall?

You can give 1-800-NISSAN1 a call - it's the consumer affairs number.

[bcar240]

Is this related to the Pathfinder / QX4 rust recall?

You can give 1-800-NISSAN1 a call - it's the consumer affairs number.

Yep, that's the one. Strut tower separated on their car about a month before they announced the recall. Thankfully it did not knock the steering out like it has been reported to do in some cases. I would prefer my parents take a payout or even a fair trade in value over a repair, just due to future safety questions, etc. Thanks for the number, I will pass that to them and see if they tried it. They did call some Nissan 1-800 in the past and wasn't able to get very far up the chain before getting the "nothing we can do, sir."

[Jesda]

Gather evidence of the vehicle's value and contact an attorney.

[Bubba1]

Gather evidence of the vehicle's value and contact an attorney.

This^. What year Pathy or QX4 is it?

[bcar240]

Gather evidence of the vehicle's value and contact an attorney.

This^. What year Pathy or QX4 is it?

Funny story, my dad actually is a lawyer, not in this area of law though. They haven't taken him very seriously though, sticking to their guns even when he points out problems. He might end up consulting a consumer law expert. Though even at best case there is not a lot of money on the line here, so it seems like going a legal route would be a lose-lose for everyone except the lawyer.

My parents are having to replace this otherwise perfectly good vehicle, so they are going to be out a lot. The car is a '97 Pathy, so it is barely worth anything in Nissan's eyes (or reality). They are realistic and are not expecting to get paid more than it is worth, just a fair amount for the vehicle and hopefully a little compensation for the trouble due to the unreasonably slow time frame (had to borrow a car from family for this entire period) and expensive repairs they had to have done before the recall was announced that were caused by the defect (the mechanic from one of these was test driving the car when the strut tower failed.)

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Dealers are retarded.
"Lets screw this guy that has bought 4+ vehicles from us in the past, and ensure that he never buys anything from us again".

[Bubba1]

Funny story, my dad actually is a lawyer, not in this area of law though. They haven't taken him very seriously though, sticking to their guns even when he points out problems. He might end up consulting a consumer law expert. Though even at best case there is not a lot of money on the line here, so it seems like going a legal route would be a lose-lose for everyone except the lawyer.

My parents are having to replace this otherwise perfectly good vehicle, so they are going to be out a lot. The car is a '97 Pathy, so it is barely worth anything in Nissan's eyes (or reality). They are realistic and are not expecting to get paid more than it is worth, just a fair amount for the vehicle and hopefully a little compensation for the trouble due to the unreasonably slow time frame (had to borrow a car from family for this entire period) and expensive repairs they had to have done before the recall was announced that were caused by the defect (the mechanic from one of these was test driving the car when the strut tower failed.)

That does suck, but I think you're pretty much on target that given it's 15 yrs old, the difference between the low ball purchase figure and what the dealership would give them for it in trade is probably not all that much. So fighting it via the legal system will likely cost more than its worth.

One thought, would it be worthwhile to take the Pathy back and find out how much it would an independant shop charge to fix those strut towers and keep Nissan out of the picture?? Although your parents won't get reimbursed, if they've sunk a lotta money already into the Pathy for other stuff, and it's in decent enough shape otherwise, maybe they can get some mileage out of the money they've already spent by doing it themselves. I highly doubt Nissan's going to reinburse them for anything other than the repair itself at best.

Otherwise perhaps it might be time for them to cut their losses and buy a replacement vehicle. And not let Nissan continue to disrupt their lives by keeping it in limbo.

[bcar240]

Yeah, It just stinks that just about a month before the announcement of the recall they had paid 40% of what they are now being offered for diagnostics and repairs on the electronics (ECM, etc.) because the failing strut tower had started cutting into a wiring loom. They were going to pick the car from this repair the day the tower separated on the mechanic and obviously have not been able to drive it since. My advice right now to my dad is that if Nissan will give some money for the repair and let him keep the car then do it, otherwise it's not worth sinking any more of his money in. But Nissan says giving us money to fix the repair independently is not an option, they either fix it themselves or total it with a payout (not surprising, seems like fairly standard practice).

The deadline is looming for them to accept or Nissan "will assume they reject the offer." My dad said he tried that number but got a loop of people passing the buck and no one with authority to make a decision. I suggested he try it again and see if he could get any further. I also remember reading about people sending letters/emails to the Nissan USA head management people and getting help, but I can't find any direct addresses.

[C-Kwik]

Yeah, It just stinks that just about a month before the announcement of the recall they had paid 40% of what they are now being offered for diagnostics and repairs on the electronics (ECM, etc.) because the failing strut tower had started cutting into a wiring loom. They were going to pick the car from this repair the day the tower separated on the mechanic and obviously have not been able to drive it since. My advice right now to my dad is that if Nissan will give some money for the repair and let him keep the car then do it, otherwise it's not worth sinking any more of his money in. But Nissan says giving us money to fix the repair independently is not an option, they either fix it themselves or total it with a payout (not surprising, seems like fairly standard practice).

The deadline is looming for them to accept or Nissan "will assume they reject the offer." My dad said he tried that number but got a loop of people passing the buck and no one with authority to make a decision. I suggested he try it again and see if he could get any further. I also remember reading about people sending letters/emails to the Nissan USA head management people and getting help, but I can't find any direct addresses.

Did they explain how they came up with the number they did? Did they provide documentation of such?

[Towncivilian]

See this thread - it has 14 pages worth of others' experiences with this recall, and you might find some useful information regarding dealing with Nissan and Morley within.

[audtatious]

The car is a '97 Pathy, so it is barely worth anything in Nissan's eyes (or reality).

If they (Nissan) have had the vehicle for 10 months I would make sure they reimburse at the cars worth then and not now.

[AZhitman]

...added to Twitter.

[bcar240]

Oh man, can't believe I didn't see that discussion. It is filled of broken record stories of similar problems to what we are going through.

They did not give any justification of their number. I have read that a reps at the third party said that they have authority only to offer KBB + a small amount extra ($500 or less it appears in most cases) to "seal the deal," and that only if you strongly negotiate. Apparently their stating offer is trade-in, which is an insultingly low number, not to mention you have to haggle to even get close to market value. No other compensation.

Thanks for all the assistance so far guys, and the twitter shout out! I guess my advice to my dad at this point is either take the offer or get ready to file suit. I honestly can't believe their hasn't been a class action yet. The strong arm tactics are very irritating to deal with.

[AZhitman]

I'm honestly a bit disappointed that Nissan hasn't responded - Not even a "thanks for the FYI".