fuel pipes factory recall

[futah]

hello! i just bought a 2003 g35 coupe with alot of aftermarket parts racing suspension swey bars perfomance exhaust ect so i went to the local infiniti dealership to have some warranty work on my cruise then they tell me that my car has a factory recall on my fuel pipes so we make an appointment for next week after i take it in they tell me their unable to complete the repairs because of the aftermarket rear end now im kinda worried about the recall or should i be
Modified by futah at 12:36 PM 3/15/2006

[joe603]

Thats total BS. The dealer has to fix any recalls, or warranty work. When you have aftermarket parts, as long as they didn't cause the problem they SHOULD fix your car. Try another dealer if they're d!ck.

[C-Kwik]

Ask for this denial of service in writing from the dealer. They will likely just take care of it. If not, you'll have a nice letter you can show to Infiniti customer service showing that they denied recall service on a known safety issue.

[futah]

i have the invoice customer copy it reads! car came in for fuel pipes recall aftrmarket modified rear end not compatable with essential tool. canister relocated unable to complete repairs. i called the i 800 number for infiniti and she said that to have the recall done that i would have to buy the original part and have them instaled back on the car to have the recall done? that does not sound right to me the part that was recalled was put on by infiniti

[Q45tech]

So sue them [Infiniti] [in Federal Court] if you can find an attorney that will take the case. Pay the $20,000 retainer and take you chances that you can get a court date in the next 5 years.

Whenever you modify oem systems you take your chances.

Go see the US Attorney to see if he is interested in a violation of the ACT...they covered themselves pretty well not refusing to do the work if you return the car to as built oem design.

Remember your State franchise laws allow dealers to refuse services to anyone.

[C-Kwik]

Look at the bigger picture. Infiniti is aware of a known defect that could cause a vehicle fire. Should they refuse to do the work, while offering to fix everyone else's car at no charge, they put themselves at risk should a fire occur as a result of the defect on that car. Even if he doesn't sue, there is no doubt the insurance company won't put their attorneys up against Infiniti on this one. It would be hard to imagine that Infiniti would put up the money to defend such a case as opposed to simply paying the insurance company back if the facts are pretty clear. From a business perspective, it would be a bad decision to not replace the hose, which they would have replaced anyway and avoid getting into this kind of a mess in the first place. Especially if the reason for the denial of service had nothing to do with the part in question.

Certainly, a dealer can refuse service. But Infiniti is under a contractual obligation to hold up their warranty. The dealerships are under contract with Infiniti to service vehicles under Infiniti's warranty. A consumer's cause of action would not be against the dealer, but Infiniti. But then Infiniti may have a cause of action against the dealership for a breach of contract for any monetary damages they may have resuted from a dealership's refusal of service.

Futah, have they been specific as to what essential tool they are referring to and what its not compantible with what you have on the car? They may be able to deny a free service if they can not service the car the same way as they would a car with all OEM parts. Though, they should still pay for the recall service, but you may have to pay a little bit extra for any additonal work required. But with suspension and exhaust changes and such, I'd find it difficult to figure out how the work would be any different.

[Q45tech]

Probably doesn't cause a fire! Never seen/heard of a fire in 16 years of owning one and seeing Infiniti wrecks.

Anyway they warned you in writing [and taped your phone call] what to do to make the changes possible. Return the car to oem.

Also the comments warning are on the cars permanent record, so selling a known defective/modified/problem car can put you in trouble to the future buyer................you will be a party to any future lawsuit.

Just like breaking the seals on a computer laptop -- tampering voids the warranty on the tampered area ---- unless you win in court.

Careful about telling your insurance company they may drop you if they are told you modified the car without their written permission.

Actually you bought a modified car and they insured assuming it was oem, you may have a duty to tell them NOW that it is KNOWN to you.

[C-Kwik]

Defect fires on cars are relatively rare. Typically, in these cases, a problem must exist and the conditions around it must contribute. So may a fire occur? Odds are against it. But CAN it occur? Absolutely. Especially in a situation where gasoline vapors are exposed and close enough to a heat source that can trigger combustion.

Whether they warned him is not relevant in that of itself. My point would be that they need to justify why they are denying service in the first place. There would need to be direct correlation between the modifications and being able to do the work. It's like saying I can't replace the stereo in my car or they'll deny me this particular warranty/recall service. As every case should be handled on a case by case basis, we should look at it the same way. Broad generalizations are a poor way to make suggestions for something like this.

While an insurance company may drop you if they discover you have modifications (different insurance companies have different methods of handling this), most do not. The trend now is to simply put limitations on a policy for non-OEM or non-OEM replacement parts. It may deny coverage for those items flat out or put a dollar limit on it. You don't need written permission to modify it. The exception to this would be if they asked you if you had mods and you stated you did not. They may have grounds for a policy recision if you lied on your application and they would not have insured you had they known about the mods or if your premium would have been higher. I know Allstate's application in CA asks if the vehicle has a turbocharger on it. Not sure if they would enforce a recision on this but I can see potential for it. Ultimately it comes down to the written contracts which is the insurance policy. And no policy I've heard of in the 8+ years I've handled claims have any language requiring you to notify an insurance company of changes to a vehicle. They would only require you to notify them of any newly aqcuired vehicles within a certain period of time. Of course, it is possible a company may have written a policy in such a manner, but I would highly doubt it. It's just easier to enforce a clear limit or exclusion rather than to get someone to call in every change they make to a vehicle. Might also open up too many legal issues as well.

And no insurance company assumes anything. "Assume" is regarded as a bad word in the insurance industry. The company I work for requires photos at the time you purchase the policy as we do not assume that the newly insured vehicles do not have existing damage to them prior to the policy inception. And when we get claims on policies that are newer and/or have suspicious circumstances, we look at the photos to make sure a claim for existing damages are not being made.

Getting back to the issue at hand, if we are talking about an exhaust, shock/springs, and sway bars, what would tool would it not be compatible with? As I said, they need to provide a specific reason. Unless the car is so low to the floor that they can't get it on a lift(assuming they need to)? If that's the case, then could they not offer to perform the recall work by charging extra for any additional work required to complete the service?

[Q45tech]

"aftrmarket modified rear end not compatable with essential tool. canister relocated unable to complete repairs"

To me this describes the situation precisely!

Canister is the fuel evaporation cannister........the previous owner redesigned part of fuel system...........to me this is reason enough to not do a fuel related change. By working on some previous jury rigged item/ change you agree such changes are safe..........future liability by dealership.

Pay to return it to oem or live with the future liability.

[futah]

thanks for everybodys response i do appreciate it! i have had a lot of different opinions on this matter online or not, but the dealership really pissed me off not just about the recall. the warrenty work they did on my cruise it still is not fixed. i guess when i tell them about that let me guess its because of the aftermarket parts i have been a loyal infiniti driver since 94 my 2nd car i bought was a 91 q45 and a 94 g20 for the wife! so i bought 2 cars from them and they treat me like this dont get me wrong i love my g35 but that dealership can kiss my ***.
Modified by futah at 11:02 AM 3/12/2006

[C-Kwik]

Does the evap cannister somehow get in the way now? Or is it somehow tied into the fuel filler hose? There is still no direct relation indicated. My concern at this point is to determine if he has any argument or legal options.

Mechanics and dealerships aren't liable for someone else's actions. There has to be some level of correlation between what a machanic does and the resulting damages for their to be liability. It's called causation. If the dealer is that concerned, they can write in the invoice notes that they felt there could be a safety issue and they recommended the part be changed. Or even note that this condition existed before they did the work.

As a business I'd be more worried at this point about a liability that Infiniti is aware of and not wanting to do anything about. If there is truly a just reason, I'd like to hear the specific details of why. If this were to end up in litigation, believe me, the details would be probed with a microscope. I really don't think it would be that hard for both parties to come up with an agreement to satisfy both.

[Q45tech]

What am I missing the dealer/ Nissan offered to do the work if the owner returned the vehicle to stock...........they did not refuse to do the work.The tech said he couldn't do it because the specified tools won't fit the mod.

Show us some relevant under car pictures of the rear changes.

Why you must be careful when you buy a butcheredup moded car still under warranty or any time.

[maxnix]

I agree with Q45tech. Unless your car was altered by a dealer with no waivers attached, you must return to OEM configuration. Why you recieved the box of parts when you bought it.

[C-Kwik]

The problem is that I never just accept and answer just because that is what was said. There needs to be some definitive reasoning behind it. If you know something about this particular set-up, then please enlighten me. But nothing has been said about why this evap relocation poses a problem in actually doing the work. If it gets in the way, fine. But I won't make that assumption until I hear or see it for myself.

Again, I am thinking about this with futah's best interest in mind. He shouldn't have to accept something if it's owed to him. The key is determining if it's still owed to him. And from what he has said so far, we don't have enough info to make that determination.

[rydwhite]

I just spoke with my service advisor at Infiniti and he is pretty concerned with the fuel hose issue. They are cracking, it appears as a result of a poor hose material. He is calling each of his customers that the recall affects and is trying to get them all in ASAP. He moved things around so that I could get the car in to him this afternoon for the work rather than putting it off till Monday which is normally the soonest they could get me in.

Whatever you do, don't take this recall lightly.

[futah]

i just spoke to my wonderfull service consultant he wants me to bring my car in next week to have an estiment on how much its gonna cost me to return my g35 back to stock condition to do my recall it may look like i will have to take out a second morgage to do the work i will get the news next tueday i still cant understand why they just cant take the aftermarket part off do the work and put them back on instead of taking all of my money to return the car to stock condition? im no mechanic but i smell a rat.

[C-Kwik]

The rule of thumb for me is if someone can't answer the question why, then they are BSing. Force them to be specific about why they can't do the work. They may be justified, but they should be able to give you a reasonable explanation if they are. If they can't, I'd start raising hell.

[Nowhere]

Good gawd, just buy the hose kit, exhaust gasket, and the prop shaft bolt kit..

It's like 70 dollars..

[C-Kwik]

Good gawd, just buy the hose kit, exhaust gasket, and the prop shaft bolt kit..

It's like 70 dollars..

If it's such a simple solution, why don't you buy it for him then?

[futah]

well its another strike against the dealer i think this is the 3rd one and their out i got their for my apoinment for tuesday and they totaly forgot i was coming they had no loaner car for me and about 20 cars ahead of me for the recall im going to have someone else do the work if i need it the car is almost 4 years old and nothing has happend yet. i will deal with it when its breaks down.

[redg35hawaii]

I noticed your lower and upper grills, I was hoping your could tell where you bought them from. Thank You very much. [email protected]

[WESIDE]

What kind of exhaust do you have installed. Any pics?