Diagnostic Fee???

[ImStillaYankee]

Just curious to know if this is a 'Florida thing' that started recently or if this is something that has started nationwide. My 06 M is under the FACTORY extended warranty and I brought it a few weeks ago to a very local Nissan dealer and they tried to charge a 'diagnostic fee' for items that they didn't repair, which was all 5 items I had brought it in to complain about. They tried to soak me for $450 for doing absolutely nothing. They are having a big ad campaign, at least locally, about Nissan accepting Infiniti factory and extended warranty. When I brought it in they said if it was still under factory warranty they couldn't accept that--so already a little bit of bait and switch. When I complained about the diagnostic fee they 'compromised' and lowered it to $150. Gee what sports. I told them to kiss my a**, I'll be calling Nissan and the Dept of Consumer Affairs to complain. They then dropped the fee altogether. So, this time I brought it to an Infiniti dealer 55 miles from my house even though there's another 1 about 25 miles away since the closer one has failed to fix even the simplest things in the past, such as a non working cigarette lighter socket (used for my radar detector only). This dealer was upfront saying there was a $125/line diagnostic fee but I knew that all 6 items needed repair and were covered under the warranty. They fixed 2, and are trying to tell me the rest are normal including my M using at least 1 quart of oil every 1,000 miles or less-- something that's considered absurd by every mechanic I've talked to. So, even though they had a transmission repair to the tune of $2,000 or more and 1 other repair, they still tried to get $89 out of me for a diagnostic fee. If this is happening to others, we need to make this known to our consumer affairs departments and local congress people to put a stop to this sham.

[yomoms16]

if your car is still under warranty you should stick to the infinity dealer.... mines out of warranty so I go to the nissan dealer for little things... and because there only 2 miles away from my house.... they charge $100 for diagnostic fee... but I live in north jersey tho... stealerships are gonna get you either way don't matter which one you go to ...just my 2©

[N8NiTTY]

i'm not sure whats up in florida,I recently went to nissan dealer ship for a oil change and as i was leaving the check engine light came on.I thought they did something to my car and i demanded they do a diagnostic.I was told since my car is a Certified Pre owned by infiniti, No Nissan Dealership can do anything to my car (covered by my warranty).I went to Ray Catena Infiniti (Nj) and they said thats fact.

[myother45isalesbaer]

Just curious to know if this is a 'Florida thing' that started recently or if this is something that has started nationwide. My 06 M is under the FACTORY extended warranty and I brought it a few weeks ago to a very local Nissan dealer and they tried to charge a 'diagnostic fee' for items that they didn't repair, which was all 5 items I had brought it in to complain about. They tried to soak me for $450 for doing absolutely nothing. They are having a big ad campaign, at least locally, about Nissan accepting Infiniti factory and extended warranty. When I brought it in they said if it was still under factory warranty they couldn't accept that--so already a little bit of bait and switch. When I complained about the diagnostic fee they 'compromised' and lowered it to $150. Gee what sports. I told them to kiss my a**, I'll be calling Nissan and the Dept of Consumer Affairs to complain. They then dropped the fee altogether. So, this time I brought it to an Infiniti dealer 55 miles from my house even though there's another 1 about 25 miles away since the closer one has failed to fix even the simplest things in the past, such as a non working cigarette lighter socket (used for my radar detector only). This dealer was upfront saying there was a $125/line diagnostic fee but I knew that all 6 items needed repair and were covered under the warranty. They fixed 2, and are trying to tell me the rest are normal including my M using at least 1 quart of oil every 1,000 miles or less-- something that's considered absurd by every mechanic I've talked to. So, even though they had a transmission repair to the tune of $2,000 or more and 1 other repair, they still tried to get $89 out of me for a diagnostic fee. If this is happening to others, we need to make this known to our consumer affairs departments and local congress people to put a stop to this sham.

ImStillaYankee,

I responded several times to your other post on this topic. What you are trying to do is admirable. I applaud you for your efforts. Scamming customers is not unique to FL and it is and always has been done countrywide. Over my life time to date I have lived in NJ, PA, FL, DC, NY and CT. I have seen many different types of scams in all those states. Not to belittle or be rude, but do you honestly think anyone in any in Government Agency really cares? Economically this country is falling apart. Jobs are going overseas, the health care system is in a shamble, the banks are robbing us blind and the list goes on. All I can suggest is arm yourself. Arm yourself with knowledge of your car and learn when you are getting BS and walk away if you suspect a scam. Sure, I will write my state representatives, but I honestly don't think my letters will go any where except to the bottom of their priority list.

Given all the major issues going on in this country, in my opinion this is one we are going to have to handle on our own.

[ImStillaYankee]

You might be surprised at what your representatives are willing to accomplish, especially when they come up for re-election! You are exactly right, the country is falling apart and few if any government agencies really care much about anything more than collecting a paycheck from us, the taxpayer. But, it is precisely their ineptness at actually running the government that causes them to be a little more responsive to things like this. If they get enough complaints, or ones that show their consitituents getting ripped off by unscrupulous car dealers, they'll respond in a positive way(so long as they aren't getting large campaign contributions from those dealers!).

[wingFeather]

Sounds like a typical Florida-style ripoff attempt.

[myother45isalesbaer]

Sounds like a typical Florida-style ripoff attempt.

Having lived in the Tampa area of Florida I don't know what the difference is in a "typical Florida style ripoff attempt" is vs. one done in any other state. Please explain. I did find that there is still an attitude that is negative towards Yankees by a few. But that seems to being dying out as there are more Yankees in the Tampa area than true southerners. It's a very subtle thing.

I will support the poster and send a few letters to my State Representatives amount this scam some dealers are pulling. Are you in or out? He has made some valid points!

[wingFeather]

The difference being that in Florida (yes I once lived there too) it seemed that 90% of the population had some sort of scam going. I attributed this lack of integrity to the transient nature of the state, and the percentage of newcomers from other states/countries who aren't familiar with their new land's social norms & make easy prey. Yes there are bad people everywhere, but touristy/transient communities tend to attract a higher percentage.

[myother45isalesbaer]

The difference being that in Florida (yes I once lived there too) it seemed that 90% of the population had some sort of scam going. I attributed this lack of integrity to the transient nature of the state, and the percentage of newcomers from other states/countries who aren't familiar with their new land's social norms & make easy prey. Yes there are bad people everywhere, but touristy/transient communities tend to attract a higher percentage.

Not buying into FL is the only state running scams one single bit. Maybe in the 80's-90's when almost ever retired person went to FL that was true. I currently live in CT and the scams are being run up here to this day. How do you explain that?

[EniGmA1987]

Many Infiniti dealers just suck and rip people off big time. Thankfully I am near one of the best dealers in the country so my experiences are always great. The dealer does charge a diagnostic fee, but that fee gets waived when you get the repair done. If you just take it in to look and and then leave then they do charge you $125 for the time it takes for them to figure out the issue, as they should. Otherwise people would go in to the dealer all the time to find out for free what is wrong and then either do it themselves or go to a cheaper mechanic. There are other times where they will also do a diagnostic for free, such as if other repairs are done. I was just in a few weeks ago and had a tech do a ride along (after hours too) and then do a diagnostic and I didnt even get the repair done, but I did $600 in other maintenance and repairs so the dealer didnt care to charge me for the time on the issue I didnt fix with them. I wish more dealers were of the same high quality standard that Riverside Infiniti has. It seems the east coast dealers are the worst offenders of them all.

[myother45isalesbaer]

Many Infiniti dealers just suck and rip people off big time. Thankfully I am near one of the best dealers in the country so my experiences are always great. The dealer does charge a diagnostic fee, but that fee gets waived when you get the repair done. If you just take it in to look and and then leave then they do charge you $125 for the time it takes for them to figure out the issue, as they should. Otherwise people would go in to the dealer all the time to find out for free what is wrong and then either do it themselves or go to a cheaper mechanic. There are other times where they will also do a diagnostic for free, such as if other repairs are done. I was just in a few weeks ago and had a tech do a ride along (after hours too) and then do a diagnostic and I didnt even get the repair done, but I did $600 in other maintenance and repairs so the dealer didnt care to charge me for the time on the issue I didnt fix with them. I wish more dealers were of the same high quality standard that Riverside Infiniti has. It seems the east coast dealers are the worst offenders of them all.

Sad to say, I have to agree with much of your post. You have a good dealer. I have found two-thirds of them in CT will jack the bill up as high as they can. I can see if a dealer refunds the diagnostic fee if you have the work done there. That seems fair. I once went to a dealer/mechanic, what ever you want to call them, and I knew what the problem was. They tried to hit me with a diagnostic fee. To make matters even worse I bought the part myself at a cost of less than 50% of what they wanted to charge me. Well at this point I was getting a little HOT! I told them install my part, eat the diagnostic fee or I will see you in court. After much bickering they were going to slap a mechanic's lean on the car. Threats and more threats from the manager of the shop who actually stated to me he does triage on cars as if he was an MD.

Many bickering and threats later I had my brother show up who is a State Trooper and all of a sudden all was forgiven and I paid the bill for the work done. The SOB's knew they were in violation of the law.

No car owner needs any of these stress producing scams. I got lucky and bad mouth that service center to this day. I now have a good guy who will tell me he can do X amount of work for some $$$ or Y amount of work for another amount of $$$. He gives me alternatives. Every time I drive past his repair shop he is packed with business and it usually takes a few days for him to get me in for some work. He owns his own business, never advertises and has more word of mouth repairs than he can handle. Plus when he gets backed up he puts his guys on overtime. He never charges a diagnostic fee!

Now that's my kind of repair shop.