Original in service lease maintenance program on a 2003 Infiniti M45?

[Motorsport Nut]

Hey new member here, second thread. I am still looking to track down a nice M45 and the one I am looking at, the dealership who has the car is telling me that when new, Infiniti offered or rather is making it seem provided preventative maintenance for free. Basically, regularly scheduled oil changes, fluid top offs etc. He says that Infiniti and some other manufacturers are stringent with their lease programs and tried making it as easy as possible for people to keep their lease cars serviced thereby receivng them in much better condition upon lease expiration?

Can anyone verify this or have any details on what may have been covered and part of this supposed mindless maintenance program? I have reservations generally regarding lease cars since many people treat them as extended rentals and remove any ownership conscience.

FWIW, I am looking at a Golden Sand Metallic with Willow interior and 39,xxx miles on it, for approximately $20,500. Car looks amazingly clean and well taken care of in photos.

Curious what you members feel about this price? If you do an ebay search, especially on completed auctions, you will see that hardly any of these cars sell since they don't meet reserve. It would seem that the max bid would somewhat indicate the public's perception of value?

[Q45tech]

Don't believe a word a salesman says.

What ever the dealership puts in writing signed by the dealership president and the board of directors with corporate seal might be close to true.

When buying any used car you are concerned with written documentation proving to Nissan that all required lube changes were done on time and to dealership minimums.

Which means you need legal written proof of oil changes every 7500 miles or 180 days and proof that the oil level was maintained at full between oil changes.

Nissan is easy about warranty EXCEPT for this simple requirement that the oil is changed and maintained...............surprisingly this is where most people get caught up.

Personally I take the cars to dealership every 90 days from brand new until the warranty expires. Nothing beats Nissans own computer print outs as proof.

Leased cars are often the absolute worst examines of a well maintained vehicle...........even rental fleets change the oil ocassionally.

[Motorsport Nut]

Thanks for the response.

This particular car in question is at a Autosports type used car lot, BMW's, Honda's, Mercedes, Audi etc. The rep comes off as knowledgeable on many makes and programs, which is why I was trying to verify if at the time of lease, did Infinit actually have a program out there as part of the lease agreement that they offered their customer this type of service and free check ups and oil changes etc, much like Audi's program did some years ago. As an example, they provided wiper blades, brakes, anything the car required was covered during the Audi lease period.

Just curious if anyone can verify or attest as a lease customer on one of these cars if that was in fact the case?

[Motorsport Nut]

creme creme, cake daddy?

[Q45tech]

Nissan didn't offer any such program. An individual dealer might have but I doubt it.

The best used cars are at the dealers, those unsuitable to maintain a good reputation are wholesaled to the auction where these type lots attempt to find decent looking examples.

Dealers try to work together giving their best surplus cars to other brand dealers whereas most of the generic performance lots just buy from auctions........................there are often some scarey great looking ones with defects that only experts will find.

Cars that go thru auctions are repos, stolen recoveries, dogs that are bought back under lemon laws, or the ones the dealer wants off the lot in hours or have stayed longer than 60 days without being sold.

Never buy one of these cars without paying the dealer a few hours to list the defects!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again Nissan will only accept written proof that the oil changes were done on time.

[szh]

Personally, *if* a free service offer occurred (which is surprising in itself), I would seriously doubt that this was offered on anything other than a very late sale on a 2004, when they may have been trying to get them off the lot because of the 2006's coming in.

And, yes, the dealers can look up the service history on any car that was serviced by them and other Infiniti dealers, but not at any independent place, of course (like I do for every other oil change - I keep records!). Don't let them convince you otherwise! When I bought a 1995 Q45 back in 1998 (was a lease return) at a local Infiniti dealer, I asked for and got the complete service history on the car.

My one experience with buying a lease return vehicle was not a good one though, unfortunately. There may be exceptions, but I think that short-term lessors tend to be very slack on maintenance. Because they know that the problems they create will be the next owner's issue to deal with!

So, buyer beware is certainly important. Check the car out very thoroughly, and see if you can get the dealer to do a good extended warranty - maybe buy a long-term one from Infiniti - when you get a lease-return car!

Good luck with the purchase!

Z

[Q45tech]

Unfortunately someone will buy every car eventually and blame Nissan for any problem that shows up after they own the car..............instead of themselves for not having paid to check it out.

The only thing I am concerned about is the oil change habits!

[J-Owner]

Infiniti offers a service program that you can PURCHASE that covers all oil changes etc for the first 30,000 miles. I purchased this and the Tire Exam program (which has saved me with nails in the back tires). I think I paid $750 for it but in retrospect I just prepaid for the oil changes. The tire coverage has been useful but the other was not.

Outside of these two things, I agree that the dealer offered no such thing.

I am one of the most retentive people if not the most that you will ever meet. I do EVERYTHING at the dealership usually for cheaper than what they offer the rest of the customers and I have a note book with all of my service receipts trackable through Infiniti's records back to 11 miles on the car.

A seller like me who properly maintains the vehicle and has the records to prove it with no gaps is the type of person you want to buy a car from. I also agree that mom and pop car lots are the absolute worst place to buy a used car. Get it from the dealer.

Just my $0.02

[szh]

Infiniti offers a service program that you can PURCHASE that covers all oil changes etc for the first 30,000 miles. I purchased this and the Tire Exam program (which has saved me with nails in the back tires). I think I paid $750 for it but in retrospect I just prepaid for the oil changes. The tire coverage has been useful but the other was not.

Interesting! Was this something special from the dealer you bought from, or a real Infiniti Corporate program? I have to admit that I have not heard of it before!

I am one of the most retentive people if not the most that you will ever meet. I do EVERYTHING at the dealership usually for cheaper than what they offer the rest of the customers and I have a note book with all of my service receipts trackable through Infiniti's records back to 11 miles on the car.

With a few minor exceptions, I do similar things, probably for the same reason! . I don't keep a notebook anymore (used to - it even had every gas purchase listed!) till i got tired of the time it took to keep it up to date when buying gas.

I also rely on the Infiniti dealer having all the records for the work I have done there, and am perfectly willing to have them pass that info along to whoever eventually buys my car (not that I am selling it! I like to keep my cars for some length of time).

All scheduled maintenance items (multiples of 7500 miles) and warranty work are done at Frontier Infiniti in San Jose. Only the "in-between" oil changes (since I change my oil every 3750 miles) are done at independent places. Reason is as follows.

I buy my Mobil-1 0W-40 synthetic at a local Kragen (even for the regular maintenance changes at the dealership), the filter is OEM from Joe Tsensky (only use them for the in-between changes) and get the oil changed at a local Goodyear Tire or Precision Tune place - depending on who is free at the instant I drive in (no appointment needed either - I just call ahead).

These locals charge me $12 to $14 labor for the one thing that Frontier Infiniti could not do for less than $50 (albeit reluctantly, since they do my other work) and they are all close to my office work. So, I can have the work done very quickly too.

Since I also watch and supervise the work, and keep the records too, this is a reasonable compromise. When I use the Goodyear Tire place, they also rotate and balance my tires for free (since I have bought tires from them ) - which is another saving - without an extra trip.

A seller like me who properly maintains the vehicle and has the records to prove it with no gaps is the type of person you want to buy a car from.

Yes, indeed!

Z