Hi all,

Hope everyone have a happy 2008 so far. It's been a while since I last posted. I brought the car for oil change today at the stealer. Car is 3yr old and has 24k miles. The dealer told me my fan belts are drying and start to crack and glaze and would cost me $150 to change. So I follow him and take a look. He uses a flash light and shows me said it's cracking inside. I looked and said where's the crack? He said it's cracking, it's your car so it's up to you. Gee...these are the same people that told me almost a year ago my power steering fluid was all dark when in fact its still clear.

When did you guys change your belts?

Anyway, I asked him...fan belt? Do you mean AC belt or power steering belt. He said it's 1 belt. Isn't it two belts? Anyway even if I would to change, I wouldn't bring it back to the stealers. My car is always garage. Is it normal to crack with so little miles?

I have yet to do anything on the car except oil change. I did air filter, cabin filter, tires, wipers, etc and that's about it. Will have to do 30k maintenance miles down the road. For ones that bring it to Nissans to do the 30k maintenance, is it really a lot cheaper?

Should I be doing A/T, brake, differential fluid flush soon?

Also, after warranty I will be bringing car to local shop for oil change. I read that the oil plug washer has to be changed everytime. Does local shops do that or I have to stack up a bunch myself and bring it with me?

Thanks as always...

 

I'm pretty sure it's one belt and it should get changed at the 30K service, just wait until then.

As for replacing the oil plug washer every time, that's just ridiculous... it's the Nissan legal department demanding they say that in case some idiot reinstalls a defective washer. Just make sure it's not bent or messed up in some way when you change the oil and it's fine. Oh wait, you're not changing your own. Ok if you're trusting some $10/hour kid to change your oil, you should bring a new washer with you every time because I guarantee you he gives as much of a $hit about your car as he does about your neighbor's PT Cruiser, and that's very very little.

 

belts generally shouldnt need a replacement this early. Ive read on here our belts are should be good for 100K. If you have second doubts take it to another mechanic. I have 29K on my 05 and the belts are fine.

As for 30K you will save money going to a nissan dealer. I typically do all of my maintanence at a Nissan dealer because its typically 30-50% cheaper than Infiniti. You dont get all the nice luxuries of the Infiniti dealer but its the same mechanical service. I recently did my 30K maintenance, but only had them flush trans, change differential fluid, and a sythetic oil change. It was $290. Check with the dealer on what specifically you want done because some do different things like leaving out transmission service and differential fluid which are recommended by alot of people on here.

IMO the oil crush washers are cheap enough where you should use them each time you change the oil for piece of mind. They can be bought in bulk from various places online.

 

$290 is not that bad compare to what infiniti charges. There's not that much to their service except free car wash and free donuts. What I don't get is both shops belong to nissan. Wouldn't they make a lot less if everyone just brings it to nissan?

For nissan dealers can you schedule appts?

I highly doubt I'll change the belts anytime soon. I call that BS. I went back to my garage and checked the belts but didn't see any cracks or whatever he was talking about.

I wonder if others do that. Bring acuras back to hondas, lexus back to toyotas, etc.

 

it was $290 just for those three things i had done, oil, trans flush, and diff change, everything else according to Infiniti 30K maintanence I inspected myself.

I would be willing to bet alot of people that own Infiniti's dont realize Infiniti is owned by Nissan, therefore they think it can only be serviced by Infiniti. However, all warranty work has to be performed by Infiniti. Yes Nissan will schedule you in for service any time, they like getting business from Infiniti owners all the time. And im sure its the same deal for Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura.

 

I have a 2004 g35 coupe with 25k miles on it. 2 days ago, I turned on my car, and it was extremely cold outside, i hear a very loud odd noise, and all this white smoke started bellowing out of the engine bay, i quickly turned it off, and then turned it back on, no smoke, no noise, but i did see the battery light on in the instrument panel, i tried to drive the car and the power steering was gone, i called infiniti and they towed the car to the dealership.

It seems that my drive belt was glazed and it failed, AND, it was replaced under warrenty, they also replaced my throttle body something under warrenty as well because the service engine soon light was on.. all under warrenty, and i have 30 maybe 25 more days of factory warrenty left.

You should state to them that the belt should be covered under warrenty, because with only 24k miles, it shouldnt be glazing.

My belt failed because i didnt drive the car for 3 days, and it rained, and snowed, then there was some decent weather, and then boom, 4 degrees F, and thats probably why the belt failed. Even then, it was covered under warrenty.

 

I would hope they know their cars are own by nissans...haha. I gotta look into servicing it at nissan then. I read this forum everyday and people are talking about paying anywhere from 300 to 700 for 30k maintenance at Infiniti. Today my oil change cost me 48 bucks. Crazyyy expensive.

How much is oil change at Nissan? I mean we have the same engine as maxima's, altimas etc but just on rwd or awd platiform.

 

First of all I am really surprise they covered it under warranty since belts are wear and tear. I doubt my dealer will do it. Plus I think they are just trying to pull my leg. He couldn't even point to me where the cracks are.

Thanks for your info though. I think my next car might be back to honda/nissans and not the luxury line acura/infinitis, etc. It cost a leg and arm to maintain it.

 

any dealer is going to charge alot more than a typical mechanic will. Its just a fact and you just gotta eat it if you like having your vehicle serviced at the dealer. You can save yourself money by going to Nissan, a good mechanic if you know of one, or if you want to save the most do the maintanence yourself if you are able.

I know my local Infiniti dealer charges $79 for a Mobil1 synthetic oil change as for the Nissan dealer down the street does the same thing for $59.

 

I do the basics like air filter, cabin filter, etc. Don't have the time to do oil changes etc. I just find it awkward that nissan charges cheaper for servicing an infiniti car. When in fact the money goes to the same company.

 

one belt for the VQ35HR 07-08 sedan...

its not that expensive and you can do it on your own...

if its a 03-06 sedan, its 2 belts

 

Cracking of the accessory belts is entirely normal and does not indicate replacement. When the ribs start flaking off is when replacement should be considered. The accessory belts on my old VQ30 lasted over 8 years and 100K miles until the ribs started flaking off. This included 9 Midwest winters/summers too.

Always remember that it is the service manager's job to sell you work, whether needed or not.

 

Even if they are bad, why wouldn't your belts still be under warranty? If the dealer wants to replace them under warranty, great - belts aren't usually considered "wear parts", are they?

 

+1 go to a different dealer if you feel like your dealer is pulling a fast one. There are so many in our area.

 

All I heard from him was it's going to cost 150 bucks to do it so he definitely wasn't going to do it for free.