Should I have fought this a little harder? (Dealership story)

[uncbeers]

So I took my car in for what (I still believe) should have been warranty repairs. I had two back doors that would not open from the inside of the car and also the A/C was not blowing cold air if it wasn't set to 60 degrees. I told them to go ahead and check everything else out as well since I have had it for 6mos. and don't know what the previous owner did or did not do (no service records in the system).

He sets me up with a loaner, checks out my car and then calls and says my car looks great except that the two issues I brought it for could not be warranty items. He starts making noise about it potentially having been tampered with previously maybe due to an accident or any other reason. Of course the previous owner did not say anything about an accident and the CarFax also does not show this (which, actually is easy to hide from CarFax). The Infiniti guy did note if it was any accident he the repair shot covered their tracks very nicely but given what I know about the vehicle's history I doubt the accident. He gave me estimates but I continually questioned him on how that could have been tampered compared to maybe a factory defect. Strangest bit is he didn't have answers and claimed his people had never seen such issues on other Infinitis. He also had no response to the fact that one rear door used to work and then stopped after some time with the vehicle under my possession. The AC I can not say the same for since I bought the car in December of '07 and didn't notice it until Summer.

My arguments were really just me against him since I have only owned it for 6mos. and I am the second owner. I can't say for sure what the previous owner did or did not do but the more I think about this whole thing, the more I wonder if I was taken for items that should have been covered by Infiniti? I doubt there is even anything I can do about it now (except take it back to him to fix for free if those 2 things were to ever quit working in the future).

Any thoughts on this one?

[infinitgkid]

I donno what to say...

get a second opinion?

Then again thats why you came on here and made this thread to do just that...

Well, I'm out of idea's... sorry bro...

Maybe someone else can chime and help ya out

[RED_DET]

What year is the car and how many miles are on it? Infiniti bumper to bumper warranty is 4yrs/48k miles. 6yr/70k miles powertrain and ALL NISSAN/INFINITI vehicles have an emissions warranty for 8yr/80k miles, which covers the catalytic converters and ECU/ECM/PCM or whatever you want to call it. Have you checked the child safety lock on the back doors to make sure it isn't engaged?

[uncbeers]

What year is the car and how many miles are on it? Infiniti bumper to bumper warranty is 4yrs/48k miles. 6yr/70k miles powertrain and ALL NISSAN/INFINITI vehicles have an emissions warranty for 8yr/80k miles, which covers the catalytic converters and ECU/ECM/PCM or whatever you want to call it. Have you checked the child safety lock on the back doors to make sure it isn't engaged?

Lol-question of the day! Yes, it definitely is/was not the child safety locks. The dealer service dept. claimed somebody had to have tampered with them in order for them to have not been functioning. However, this can't be true since one side was working for a while immediately after purchasing the car.

As far as my car: 2005 G35x (warranty until Oct. of 2009) and only has ~24,000 miles.

[zozoka1212]

It should of been under warranty. I would go to another dealer. They can't prove it was tempered. As you said they had no answer.

Out of curiosity which dealer was it?

For others to avoid going there.

zozo

[bentrod]

I think you're doing the right thing asking for second opinions. This sounds like the dealer I have in Hartford. If I was in your position, I would take the stand that this is a warranty issue unless they can prove otherwise, and the emphasis is on PROVE. I would call the Infiniti customer service number and put in a formal complaint plus ask for a district service manager for another opinion. If no satisfaction, my next step would be your state division of dealers and repairers. They are usually pretty good and most often side with the consumer. I don't see how your dealer can deny your warranty claim without specific evidence that the issue is accident related. How is the air conditioning issue related to the doors? IMHO you're getting railroaded and never forget - the noisy gear gets the grease.

[uncbeers]

I found a 1-800 number on the website under the Warranty FAQs that I think I will put a call into. I agree, I was also confused as to how the back doors are related to the AC unit. I have the work order diagnostics as well if anybody was interested to see what they did exactly. I know there are one or two service dept. people on these boards that may find those interesting/useful.

This is Infiniti of Denver. Unfortunately, only one of two Infiniti dealers in the state of Colorado.

Appreciate the feedback.

[rn79870]

I recommend writing Infiniti customer service and getting them involved. This really does two things, first of all, it gives you another source of resolution, and secondly, it might keep the dealer from pulling the same crap on the next guy.

I would add that the item should be a warranty repair UNLESS the dealer can clearly prove that it was the result of an accident. The comment that"the shop covered their tracks" tells me that they really aren't sure and are basically taking you to the cleaners. (assuming your car is still in the warranty period)

Fight this bro and don't, like the dealer expects, roll over on them. I'll bet they end up paying.

[etschell]

if it has to get fixed, take it to nissan the labor is cheaper. secondly id go ahead and inform the guy you are never recommending anyone take their infiniti to his shop.

[RED_DET]

Well then in that case, the car is under the year and mileage for warranty. It needs to be repaired regardless if you are the 2nd owner on the 200th owner. Take you business somewhere else. Prime example why I hate "stealerships".

[G37 Man]

Who did you buy the car from,another dealership or first owner?

[uncbeers]

Who did you buy the car from,another dealership or first owner?

Hmmm...best way to answer this is both (sort of). I bought it from the first owner who was leasing it so the dealership (Infiniti of Denver again) had to facilitate the transaction since Infiniti still technically owned the car. I guess they look at it as they own the vehicle for 5mins and sell it to me at a previously agreed upon price and their cut for this is the dealer handling fee. Hope that makes sense.

Regardless, their answer about warranty was not about who previously owned it but more about who caused the problem and how it happened. They claimed it had to have been tampered with since they had to remove the door panels to fix the back doors. Their excuse on the AC unit was also about tampering but the relationship with the back doors I don't follow.

[rn79870]

I agree, BS. Call, write, email Infiniti and let the dealership have it. If they can't prove "tampering" they have no leg to stand on. Do you have any sort of consumer protection agency in CO for Auto related causes? If you do, try them.

[G37 Man]

Hmmm...best way to answer this is both (sort of). I bought it from the first owner who was leasing it so the dealership (Infiniti of Denver again) had to facilitate the transaction since Infiniti still technically owned the car. I guess they look at it as they own the vehicle for 5mins and sell it to me at a previously agreed upon price and their cut for this is the dealer handling fee. Hope that makes sense.

Regardless, their answer about warranty was not about who previously owned it but more about who caused the problem and how it happened. They claimed it had to have been tampered with since they had to remove the door panels to fix the back doors. Their excuse on the AC unit was also about tampering but the relationship with the back doors I don't follow.

I would fight this,the dealership got my money out of brokering the deal,yet they will not service it and honor the warranty.Something is wrong with this whole picture,good luck!

[Raylo]

That sucks bro. I don't think that they have a leg to stand on with the AC or the locks since they can not even tell you how it may have been tampered with. Did you already have the work done?? How much are they telling you it's going to cost to fix?

See what Infiniti of Littleton tells ya. You have a third choice, Mike Ward Infiniti, but the springs is a bit of a drive from Greely.

Good luck.

[uncbeers]

Does my profile still note Greeley somewhere or do you have a good memory? I finished school in Cow Town back in May 07 and I'm back in Denver now but CS is still a ways away. I wasn't happy about South Denver for Infiniti of Denver! I may start going to Littleton though. I'm tired of 'the other guys' now.

$270. I'm calling the 1-800 number tomorrow to see what's up and express my dismay-missed them by 20mins today.

Edit-where are you in CO? Who do you use for work on your car?

[Raylo]

Your name is "UNC"beers. My memory blows so if you already said you moved back to Denver sorry. It's in there now.

I'm just at 3000 miles now so I have not had it serviced yet. I did purchase my G from Infiniti of Denver because I did not like the salesman I dealt with at Infiniti of Littleton. I am going to try the service department in Littleton since it is closer to me but I have not heard anything good or bad about them.

[uncbeers]

Your name is "UNC"beers. My memory blows so if you already said you moved back to Denver sorry. It's in there now.

I'm just at 3000 miles now so I have not had it serviced yet. I did purchase my G from Infiniti of Denver because I did not like the salesman I dealt with at Infiniti of Littleton. I am going to try the service department in Littleton since it is closer to me but I have not heard anything good or bad about them.

I am too attached to the name to let it go!

You should have heard the Infiniti salesman outside the finance office when I was doing the lease buyout back in December at Infiniti of Denver. I was not dealing with him but he was bad enough that I wanted to excuse myself and go punch him in the back of the head I guess all salesmen are exactly that...the very few cool ones I found were usually just made d!ck by their managers and lost sales due to that.

Do let me know how your experience at Infiniti of Littleton goes. I called the Infiniti people and they will be calling me Tuesday to tell me how the review turns out.

[SteveTheTech]

That sounds like a load of crap to me. You should get the results your are seeking by calling the 800 number you mentioned. Make a stink about it, I have seen a few well placed calls move mountains. Unless there is obvious damage or InfinitiNet tells them the warranty has been canceled you should be good. It's dealers like that that bastardize the whole trade for the rest of the people who take their careers seriously and strive for customer satisfaction. It is a shame however that you cannot easily get a second opinion from another local dealer, have you tried calling the service manager, or general manager? CSI score is critical to service departments retaining their manufacturing license. If you complain to the dealer request the lead tech, or if they have a body shop maybe they can take a look at it and they may give you a second opinion. I say may because they do not want to be held liable if any litigation were to occur.