New here w/ 02 Max...does this sound right?

[Lynn2410]

Okay I'll try to make this long story as short as possible. But bare with me as I'm not too car savvy, but I've learned enough to know I can't trust the dealer. I'm just hoping to get some experienced maxima owners unbiased opinion!

Bought an 2K2 max se w/ 40K mi., from an independent used lot in Northeast Ohio (6 hrs. from home). Car looked good and from what we could see was in excellent condition. On the way home the ses light comes on & car is hesitating/sputtering on the highway. Took it in to have it looked over and have 2 open recalls fixed (transverse links & crankshaft position sensor). I was assured nothing was wrong and the "crank position sensor" was what was causing the problem and the ses light.

1 week goes by, car is not running well still, gas mileage is around 14 mpg., then exactly on the 8th day after having this recall fixed, the light is on again and the car is hesitating even worse now during acceleration on the hwy. I take it straight into the dealer. I'm told now it's the o2 sensor, code P0139, heated oxygen sensor rear bank 1, for a charge of $385 ($174 parts, $191 labor). This is after just days prior having it fully inspected (supposedly) by 2 separate service dept.'s and told it was absolutely fine.

So the dealer that determined it's the o2 sensor assures me it has nothing to do with the recalled sensor that was just fixed. I called 800Nissan1 and was told they were looking into the problem and would possibly compensate me. A week later they call and say there's nothing they can do to assist and that the dealer actually accidently gave me a $150 break due to only charging me for 2 hrs rather than the 4hr is was supposed to be, and this was because the service advisor was new. So really I got a discount and that should be sufficient assistance. However, the other 2 estimates I got on fixing this were only 2 hrs. also, not 4 hrs. anyway and were cheaper overall....so exactly what discount did i get???? does it really take 4 hrs?

My question is this, is this truly just an ironic circumstance or could the recalled "crank position sensor" and the o2 sensor have anything to do with eachother? At only 40k miles I certainly didn't expect to have such a costly problem already and be told my powertrain and the fed emissions wty don't apply at all.

Thanks for anyone's input and maybe some reassurance that I didn't just get screwed, as I've got great concerns considering the dealer and Nissan consumer affairs have not been consistent and truthful so far!!

[maxhopper]

Wecome!

It seems as though if the code for the O2 was present at the time you had the recalls done, they would have found it then (provided that they performed the diagnostics on your car, and just didn't assume the recall crank sensor was what was causing the SES light). My advise to you would be to look at how your service invoice was written up when the recalls were done, and read the tech's notes. What you need to look for are the following: Are the recalls the only things listed? Was there a seperate complaint on the SES light, and if so what codes were present? How many miles did your odometer change while in the dealership? (this will show if they did a test ride after the repairs were completed to verify the repair)

As for four hours to change an O2 sensor, that's BS. Two hours sounds right (in dealership time) if you factor in 1hr diagnosis and 1hr repair time.