You don’t need or want oil changes every 3000 miles (for most cars made in the last decade.) Just follow your owners guide, and do what it says. Unless your new car is very strange, the suggested milage for an oil change will be something around 7500 miles. Maybe more, maybe less.
Nor does having the service done at the dealer do any good either, as Rick. Better is a local trusted independent mechanic.
Nor would I ever deal with those assholes again, except in Small Claims. Might I suggest Small claims? You have a warrenty. They are refusing to honor it. Small Claims Court judges like to rule on the side of “the little guy”. Does your warrenty actually say you have to keep records of your service? Print out everything Rick has said, and even better, find an independent Mech who will say the same thing.
The problem with small claims is that the amount listed in the OP is over the small claims limit. ($2500 IIRC, in CA, Il. may be different) What this means is that you have to go to big boy’s court with a lawyer. The good news (for you) is that in big boy’s court you can recover punitive damages. IANAL and all that, but it is my understanding that punitive damages are how the jury can spank a company for being bad. I think we can all agree that these guys have been very bad. Look, my last post was a first. I work for a car company. I have never before told someone to sue a car company or dealer. However based on what I have read here, dude, go see a lawyer.
About the warranty, while I do not know the text of the Nissan warranty. Every auto warranty I have ever seen, does require the owner to show proof of services for failures. Obviously if your headlight switch goes tits up, a lack of oil change records means nothing. If you have an engine failure, records are necessary.
I wouldn’t say that servicing the car at the dealer does no good. The dealer is going to be more familiar with the car than most impendent shops. What I said was that there is no requirement that the services be done at the dealer. I sure as hell would never take a car to this dealer again.
As far as oil change frequency, either follow the book, or read your owner’s manual listing for severe service and follow that schedule. If that looks like too much work and assuming your car has a 7,500 mile service interval, change the oil every 5,000 miles. 5, 10, 15 20 everybody can count by fives. Make sure you get top quality oil installed. Don’t go for the default weight and quality grade. We have done several threads on oil quality over the years, do a search.
Keep the receipts how ever and where ever you have the car serviced.
“…the oil on the engine doesn’t seem to be due to a leak…”
Then what the hell is it from? It didn’t just walk there by itself.
“…and that’s what fried the computer too.”
That’s a new one. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I’ve seen oil get on all sorts of electrical things - alternator, starters, wiring, connectors, spark plugs, plug wires - and not affect their operation at all.
“…computer reports of high temps tell them all they want to know about the car being run consistently low on oil.”
If the computer had a code for excessive engine temperature, why wasn’t this mentioned when they first investigated the SES light? And while being low on oil can contribute to the engine running hot, I don’t see that there are any codes for oil temperature - only coolant temperature. There is no way to make a case that high coolant temerature is necessarily due to low oil level.
My suggestions:
Get the car out of there and into a reputable repair shop. Get their analysis of the situation.
If the shop disagrees with the dealer and is willing to testify on your behalf, pursue getting warranty coverage.
Even without warranty coverage, if you like the car, consider having it fixed. I would imagine with a good used engine it would run maybe half (or less) of what you’ve been quoted.
No, not ignorance, just out of date- they are constantly raising the limits. You- OTOH- are a golden source of great auto repair information. Thanks for your many contributions on this!
I just want to chime in to say that, although this dealership has certainly shown itself unworthy of future patronage (to say the least), it would be unfair to use this incident to justify not buying Nissan vehicles in general, as some posters seem to be doing.
Although we have cites to suggest a longstanding problem with this engine that may not have been resolved, every car maker has issues like that. Also, it seems likely that most of Cluricaun’s specific problems were caused by the dealer, not Nissan.
I think that blanket condemnation of Nissan is uncalled for.
commasense It appears that the dealer is not honoring the factory emission warranty on the vehicle (the computer isn’t covered, since it got oil on it), and since Cluricaun says he has spoken to Nissan corporate and they don’t seem to be very interested in honoring their warranty, I would not buy another Nissan product at this point.
Further if you read the link I posted above, it appears that there is a long standing problem with this engine. All the more reason to not buy another.
Sure every car maker has issues with their cars. The difference is how they handle their customers when problems arise.
At this point I have the
fuck me once shame on you, fuck me twice shame on me
attitude about both this dealer and Nissan.
I was surprised that Cluricaun had been turned down by the regional manager, because from what I’ve heard from other 350Z owners, the Nissan corporate types are usually very responsive. So I’d suggest that Cluricaun see if there’s another district or regional rep he can talk to, since his first contact may have a bias in favor of this dealer, or some other reason why he hasn’t been more helpful Hell, write a letter to Carlos Ghosn!
And I still insist that this single experience doesn’t justify condemning all Nissan’s products any more than it would justify condemning all Nissan dealers.
Rick, as my previous posts indicate, I have nothing but respect for you and your expertise. But if you had read my post, you’d see that I already admitted there’s a longstanding problem with this engine. I wouldn’t suggest buying another car with that engine.
But your own cite contrasts how unusual this particular case is in comparison to “the relatively flawless performance of the renowned VQ35DE engine found in many other models,” including my own 350Z. Nissan is not Yugo. They make many fine products, and generally have a good reputation. This incident is unfortunate, but to say all Nissan vehicles and the company itself are therefore worthless is a serious over-reaction.
Commasense, I don’t think we are that far apart in our thinking. Nissan makes many fine products, but it appears that the engine in this Sentra is a POS from a design point of view.
The Sentra is very close to the bottom of the line car for Nissan. Your 350Z is very close to the top of the line. Like it or not, you will get more respect and attention when you show up with a problem than Cluricaun will when he shows up. Your 350 is a prestiege / image car for Nissan. A Sentra is something they sell a jillion of making just a few buck on each. Thsi is just like the guy with the 07 Z06 Vette gets more attention from GM than the guy with a 10 year old Geo.
When I said don’t buy another, I ment a Sentra or another Nissan with this engine, not another Nissan period.
However if Cluricaun said,
hey Nissan wrapped rusty barbed wire around a dildo and shoved it up my ass once, I am damn sure not going to give them a chance to do it again,
I would fully understand and agree.
I agree. And my earlier post wasn’t aimed only at you. crazyjoe was even more strident in suggesting not buying any Nissan cars.
Oh, I like it all right. I’ve found my dealer to be almost annoyingly obsequious at times. Apparently even faintly negative comments on a Nissan survey form will have serious repercussions for them. Which led me to assume that most Nissan customers could expect similar treatment. But perhaps you’re right about the class distinctions.
Yeah, me, too. I hope that he can somehow get this taken care of without being (or even feeling) reamed.
I’ve found my dealer to be almost annoyingly obsequious at times. Apparently even faintly negative comments on a Nissan survey form will have serious repercussions for them. Which led me to assume that most Nissan customers could expect similar treatment. But perhaps you’re right about the class distinctions.