So, we've read all the complaints about Titan transmissions, Altimas with melting dashboards, the insistence on putting a CVT in every damn car in the lineup, the CrossCabriolet that shouldn't have ever seen the light of day, stupid ad campaigns with bunnies and teenagers pretending to be Star Wars characters, not to mention the damn "bot" that replies to comments on their social media accounts (with directions to call an 800 number where you'll sit on hold forever), the pathetic watering-down of the NISMO nameplate, and an overall sense of malaise across the lineup.

Just when you think our beloved brand has gone off the deep end, enthusiasts get kicked in the teeth:

www.nissanservicemanual.com

I sure wish this was a joke, but it's not. Those of you who have been with us over the past FIFTEEN years know that our intentions have always been honorable, and that NICOclub staff put fellow enthusiasts ahead of brand loyalty all day long.

I've got 13 Nissan vehicles in my household. I've owned another 10. I'd hazard a guess that we've contributed significantly to the company's bottom line (with no appreciation shown) over the years. To be threatened in this manner is simply insulting.

We're in no position to tell anyone what to do, but it'd mean a lot to us if our loyal readers would share either of these links:

www.nissanservicemanual.com
starting-to-wonder-if-this-company-has- ... 20064.html

I keep typing out responses, then deleting them because Google will probably ban me from the internet if I post them.
I challenge NNA to present a suit/office pleb (of some authority in the company), that actually likes cars.
Maybe someone from managment at Dodge needs to get into Nissan and rattle some cages, because they seem to still value the concept of building a car that car-guys/girls want.
Nissan used to be cool.......
Now it seems like they want to build the new Camry, but do a bad job of it.

Seeing that letter from NNA a few days ago was the last straw for me. My first vehicle in my teens was a Nissan and since then I had been brand loyal. The strong enthusiast support available for the brand, much from NICO, 240sxtech and the FSM database was how I went from knowing nothing about vehicles back in the early 2000s to now being able confidently tackle any task. And I always owed it to Nissan for that.
The CVTs started to roll out in the line up and I cringed. But the 370Z and GTR were still there, unscathed. Time went on of course, and the Z is now tired, lacking and well behind the competition. NISMO no longer means what enthusiasts have grown to expect.
In recent weeks I have been looking for a new vehicle as a commuter, but find it hard to see anything in the current Nissan line up that would be worth my money, just the same old grandfathered technology and engines. I go on NICO and see the letter from NNA, I read about new JATCO CVTs still plaguing Nissan years later, I see loyal owners jumping ship. And I too confess my next vehicle will no longer be a Nissan. Here's to hoping the competition gives Nissan the wake up call it needs.

it's sad NNA has been steadily moving away from us enthusiasts. The only remotely fun vehicles they have left to offer the US market (370Z/GT-R) have not changed in too many years. And the supposedly sporty "NISMO" versions have devolved into little more than silly cosmetic packages. I just don't see NNA shifting at all back to enthusiasts as long as they remain profitable. Given their recent decline in reliability surveys, and the continued suckage of the Jatco CVTs, perhaps they'll eventually take a big enough hit to their bottom line to get off their lazy tushes and reach out to us enthusiasts (perhaps with a new Z). But I have a feeling by then it might end up too little/too late. Oh well.

One word to Nissan: "Bye."

I'll never buy another, even if you do build something I want. I've owned about 10 Nissans over the years myself, several of which were purchased new. There's simply too many other good vehicles on the market to bother with a company who is so petty as to cut off access to service manuals that ENCOURAGE people to buy and work on Nissans.

The French ruined your company. Congratulations.

I worked for the company for 3.5 years. They have a stellar employee lease program and employee purchase program, and yet I never got a single thing from them.
...that's saying something.

^this. My mom took advantage of a VPP for a rogue, but she seems to have gotten the only decent one they ever made. I wouldn't touch another modern Nissan product with a 30 foot pole for fear the suck may infect my Z

macgiver wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:35 pm

mac, VIVA LA FRANCE FFFFFFarrRRRRTHHHTTT-PaHRRUMPFART !!!

Do you know what's the first thing French children learn in school? How to say "I surrender" in 5 different languages.

Wow!! WTF Nissan USA! You should teach a master class on how to piss off your customer base.

Nicoclub.com is basically a non-profit run by Greg & his wife not to mention all the admin's & mod's that do it for the love of Nissan/Infiniti. To pull this s*** is bush league.

I will not be purchasing another Nissan not only for this reason, which is huge, but because Nissan has lost it's way. It's now a POS brand that aligned with the French who wouldn't know what a good looking, reliable, powerful car looked like if it bit them in their a**! Citroën comes to mind

My first car was a 1977 Datsun 280Z and it sparked the fire that made me fall in love with imports. I grew up around American Muslce Cars, but when my dad took me for a ride in the 280Z the first time it was over. I was hooked. It was an absolute joy to drive, sounded amazing, and had a look like no other vehicle. That Z and the Skyline is what personified Nissan IMHO, but that wasn’t the only great thing they made and I owned many more for years to come.

Next I bought a 81 Datsun 720 4x4 Pick-up. It was beat up and worn out, but it at the time it was an absolute blast to drive around and it was impossible to get stuck off-road. It never failed me or left me stranded though, even though I bought it for $400. I eventually sold it, but the new owner still got many years out of it as well.

A friend of mine offered to sell me his daily driver since he was getting ready to purchase a new truck for himself. It was a 95 Nissan Maxima GLE with 201,000 miles. It had been meticulously maintained and it once again never let me down during the entire time I owned it. It was super reliable and was honestly one of the best cars i’ve ever owned - which is why I began recommending them to everyone that was looking for a good reliable sedan for years to come.

Next I purchased an ‘00 Infiniti I30 for a new daily driver, because we had a child on the way and my regular cab pick up truck I had at the time was no longer going to work. Remembering how great my Maxima was, it was an easy choice. I put 50,000 miles on that car with zero issues and loved every moment with it.

I’d like to forget this one, but I also had a tastefully modified 99 Maxima GLE after the I30. It honestly was nothing the car itself could be blamed for, but it had a string of issues due to lack of proper care and corners cut on previous repairs.

After a short period after that Maxima, I decided to purchase my current ‘05 Nissan Pathfinder which has EASILY been the best vehicle purchase i’ve ever made. It has been super reliable and taken me and my family all over the country for 3 years and 60,000+ miles with zero issues. Only basic maintained and routine wear and tear during the whole time. It has moved us, it has towed everything i’ve ever needed to tow, it was conquered every terrain i’ve asked it to. It has been a true testament to me that Nissan did at one time care about the vehicles they made. It shows that Nissan once had a soul and put actual effort into what they once made. It truly is was one of the last generations of Nissans that they actually gave a damn anymore. After the R51, we all know Nissan decided to neuter the Pathfinder and ruin it by making it into a crossover and putting their notoriously horrible CVT transmission in. To top it off, they decided to kill off the Xterra and the aging, 13+ year old Frontier platform has no sign of a refresh on the horizon. It really saddens me to think that while I plan on driving my Pathfinder for as long as I possibly can, because it’s like a family dog to us, Nissan offers absolutely nothing that I would in good conscience replace it with. Not. A. Single. Thing.

I purchased a ‘03 Infiniti G35 a couple of years ago, which was honestly one of the most enjoyable cars i’ve owned in the sub $7,500 price range. It was a blast to drive, even though the transmission was a little lazy at times and it got looks everywhere I took it. This platform and the Z33/Z34 platform was some of their best work, yet the Z34 platform is aging just like the Frontier with no news of anything new on the horizon.

I also currently have a ‘14 Infiniti Q50, which thankfully Nissan’s horrible business model and garbage power trains haven’t completely trickled down to yet. Infiniti still has a glimmer of hope to soldier on as something decent, but my Q50 still can be very mediocre at times. I ultimately think guilt pushed me towards purchasing it, because I had trusted and loved Nissan and Infiniti products for so many years. It’s a great vehicle and does everything pretty well for what it is, but I regularly find myself feeling as if I wasted my money. I had hoped for a 4 door 370Z/G37 Coupe, but it just doesn’t capture the same magic those vehicles do. It hauls my family around and is a fun car to commute in, but for how much I paid for it, I feel like my loyalty was a bit foolish this time. I regularly find myself wishing I had made the jump like I was so set on at first and purchased one of the many other great vehicles I looked at. I honestly would have gotten rid already, but I found out that it’s resale value is absolute crap after owning it less than a year. A car that should have already depreciated quite a bit, has somehow depreciated another $8,000-9,000 in value in less than a year. It is absolutely infuriating to own a vehicle that is worth less than most used Toyota Camry’s. It doesn’t seem to be just a Q50 problem though, it seems to be a Nissan problem in general - they just aren’t retaining value anymore. Vehicles in general are a poor investment, but it seems like a Nissan is almost a worse investment than a Korean vehicle these days.

It’s really sad, but my current vehicles will definitely be my last Nissan and Infiniti vehicles. I know i’m simply one person here, but as you can see i’m not the only one fed up here and i’m sure you’ll see many more going forward. You make garbage vehicles, you don’t give a damn about your loyal customer base, and you simply have missed the boat on everything in the current vehicle market while everyone else is making outstanding products.

So to summarize this long winded rant - You’ve lost yet another loyal customer Nissan. I’m done.

Kompresshun wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 07, 2018 10:36 am

... You’ve lost yet another loyal customer Nissan. I’m done.

Probably me too ... I think my next vehicle will be a Mazda Miata or a Tesla 3 ... in a few more months when my current M45 gives up the engine ghost.

I plan to write a similar piece in a letter to the various heads of Nissan and Infiniti.

Z

Placeholder for my story, coming soon.

I'll pile on.

Like others have said, I started driving without a single bit of knowledge on how to repair my car. With the help of the FSM's and forums like NICOClub, I have owned and worked on my 97 Maxima GXE, 99 Maxima SE, 07 Infiniti M35x and now 11 M56x. To remove that reference point from the equation will prevent me from buying a new car that I have no information on or any idea on how to work on. It's a matter of principle that I refuse to let dealers do the work I can do myself because they charge an arm and a leg. Nissan is aware of this because they are specifically designing cars now in such a way that FORCES people to go to the dealership and pay through the nose.

Here are some examples:

Headlight bulb change - 99 Maxima? 5 minutes tops. For both sides. 11 M56x? 30 minutes per side because you have to jack the car up, remove the wheel or wheel liner, slide your arm in, jimmy lose the cover/bulb, etc.

Catalytic converter change - 99 Maxima? relatively easy, remove it from the exhaust and replace with a new one. 11 M56x? From what I understand...IT'S PART OF THE HEADER WHICH REQUIRES REMOVAL OF THE MOTOR!! WTF!?

There is no other explanation as to why a car maker would make a car so prohibitive for owners to repair themselves other than trying to maximize profits for their dealerships and getting kick backs.

I'll be trying my luck with Lexus me thinks. Wife is up to get a new car in a year or two and we were looking at QX70's but I might have to look elsewhere...

This is my first and only Nissan, and I really don't like some of the things. They make it insane to the point the dealer has to do it. Luckily, I live close to a shop that did great work on our other car, and I took the Nissan in last week too, and they did a pretty great job. I am not gonna go on a rant, but if you want a rant, look no further than a couple threads down. However, I'll give a rundown on what I wish Nissan should've done better (for the 2nd gen Rogues at least)...
1) Keep the damn interior the same during the mid-model refresh... seriously, the mid-model refresh looks like it could be the 3rd gen in the interior department.
2) Why did you had to carry the same engine from the 1st gen? The dang thing is under-powered.
3) Make the transmission quieter.
4) Make the ECO feature useful, not useless.
5) The CAF is a PITA on the Rogue, compared to my 1999 Honda Accord (which has more things to remove, but doesn't put a strain on the knees).
6) Put in a traditional automatic for once and ship the Rogue with the 6spd manual, since the X-trail (Rogue's counterparts in the rest of the world) has the 6spd manual and a turbo-diesel as an option.

I got a whole lot of things on this list of what the company can improve on, ONLY IF THEY BOTHER TO LISTEN!!!!

Either way, I'll be doing a 50k mile/2.5 year owners review soon on my Rogue, with the list of all the Pros and Cons about it. Once, I'm done with college (in 4 years or so), I'll be behind the wheel of a vehicle that has better customer service (corporate and forums with access to FSM, not like what Nissan just did to NicoClub).

However, I will have my own question in which I will answer in a few years.... Will I be keeping the Rogue as a beater car/daily driver or will I be getting rid of it for the new car?

Great feedback, awesome insight, and useful info for Corporate... yet only 600 views.

If this was a thread about some silly hot-button social topic, it'd have 100x the exposure.

AZhitman wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:07 pm

Great feedback, awesome insight, and useful info for Corporate... yet only 600 views.

If this was a thread about some silly hot-button social topic, it'd have 100x the exposure.

Greg, you need to make this thread as a sticky or make it as an announcement. Then it will get more views and possibly the attention from corporate. However, I have been waiting for a reply from corporate about the whole press fleet thing, so I can make my reviews to help others.... well looks like its the typical dealer inventory review lifestyle for my channel

I have to agree with everything that's been said here.
Count me in as one more person who is done with Nissan.
There were 5 of them in the family ten years ago, and now there is only one: my 2002 Pathfinder.
The Pathy is pretty much done too btw.
Broken front spring, needs other front end work, rust everywhere, noisy, clunky, flaky transmission shifts, etc. It is done.
I replaced my 2006 Altima with a new 2017 Mazda 6 GT with tech and premium last fall. What a beautiful car. Absolutely love it.
Didn't consider the 2017 Altima for a second when shopping either. What a POS machine.
It will be bye bye very soon when I find something to replace the Pathy (actively shopping).

This will probably be the last time I log on here, so...It's been a slice.....and thankyou NICO for the last ten years of membership.
I learned a ton, and appreciated the site everytime I logged on.
Lots of great people here, especially on the Pathfinder forum where I spent most of my time.
Cheers

Mercury, Plymouth, and Saturn disappeared.

I guess Nissan took it upon itself to take over the role of churning out mediocre s*** for mediocre people.

So, this is pretty crappy news. I've relied on the FSMs heavily over the past several years for numerous projects beyond basic repairs, like cross-referencing specs across models to determine possible parts compatibilities. We've still got 3 Nissan trucks (98 Frontier, 04 Pathfinder, 17 Frontier) that have served us well.

Just curious, but does NICO have a communication channel with NNA, or has it simply been a cease-and-desist one-way convo? A guy at NPORA where I shared the news suggested that Nissan allow continued usage of older FSMs, like say pre-05 stuff, or some rolling age.

I'd like to think that of any Nissan-related site out there, NICO might have the most influence in pitching this idea, at least attempting to convince Nissan that they're really hurting the community, particularly the people who are actually vested in making the most use of the information.

I think I can answer some of that.

No, unfortunately we have very limited communication with NNA. Becky and I have some very dear friends who work for Corporate in Japan, and a couple in Smyrna... but the C&D was a boilerplate one-way discussion. I don't know Mr. Roberts. I suspect he's simply doing his job, and certainly can't be faulted for that.

We didn't expect some sort of special treatment. But again, to threaten me after I spent my own money on these documents is simply poor form. If I were charging for them, I'd clearly be in the wrong. By making them available, one could make a case that I've "disseminated" the documents, but one could also make the case that I can do as I wish with something I own, including sharing said property with my friends and the community.

I think your friend's suggestion has merit. We also own nissan4wheelers.com , and I'm sure this news won't go over well with that group.

Frankly, I've got very mixed feelings on this matter. Corporate has, on occasion, been very cool to us (the Nissan360 event and the 370Z Tour come to mind right away). However, we've also been overlooked, and even slighted. Perhaps it's my imagination, perhaps it's because we're bluntly honest about the product line. When they get something right, we scream it from the rooftops. When we help our readers look for parts, we refer them to OEM sources. When they lay an egg, we damn sure point that out as well. Our FIRST loyalty is to the owner, the enthusiast, the consumer. Period. Always will be, and they can't do a damn thing about that.

I suppose part of me still hopes this was an oversight, and while I don't expect carte blanche, I'd love for someone with a little more authority than Mr. Roberts to address this matter. But when you sell over 400,000 CVT-saddled Rogues in one year, maybe they figure they just don't care what we think. I hope that's not the case, but their silence has been deafening.

Post this thread as a blog on the front page.

Oh and congratulations on being the new owners of N4W

AZhitman wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 13, 2018 11:43 pm

I think I can answer some of that.

Thanks. That is unfortunate. I'll hold out hope that someday they understand the loyalty they've lost by a decision as mundane as this one. But as you put, it seems pretty evident that their focus is selling new cars, no matter how crappy they are, rather than keeping the customers they've had for years.

Thanks for all your efforts!

Thanks Rat! And thanks for your years of service, both here and at N4W, taking GREAT care of Nissan off-roaders!!!

Its no surprise to anyone (I don't think) that I will never buy another Nissan ever again. This definitely puts a nail in the coffin, though. There was a point where I helped contribute tech articles here because it was for the greater good. Somehow the greater good turned into Nissan getting its panties in a wad.

I was unaware of this until today and I agree with Hitman's comments. It is an insult to Nico members because of all the brand loyalty we've given all these years.