Here's the situation. I purchased the car 1 month ago from Orlando Infiniti. Had a great sales experience (Damian) and enjoyed the drive home with a brand new car (you know the feeling). Well after the next couple of days, I started to notice that the car had and alignment problem and was always pulling (or drifting) to the right. The problem was highly noticed on all lanes of I-4 here in Orlando (the good stretches). I brought it to the attention of the general sales manager at Orlando Infiniti (Sean) and he had Damian come and pick it up at my wife’s work. He dropped off our loaner and I was very surprised to see that it was an identical car to what we had just purchased (same features, color and options) and only had 35 miles on it. They kept it for two days and said that everything was in spec and was test driven by service manager and tech. Damian dropped it off at my wife’s work again and picked up loaner. My wife drove it home and noticed that the problem was still apparent and not fixed. I test drove it when she got home and yep, no change. I e-mailed and called Damian, Sean, Service manager (Steve Johnson) about the problem not being fixed and expressed my concerns. Damian came the next day to my wife’s work to pick up the car and again we were very surprised to see our loaner vehicle, was a fully loaded (with Navi) 2005 QX with only 45 miles on it. They kept the car for 2 days and said that they could not duplicate the problem (three people drove the car) but respec'd the alignment, made some more adjustments and rotated/balanced all tires (17in stock and Goodyear RS-A). Damian dropped the car back off at wife’s work and picked up loaner. On her way home wife immediately noticed that car did the exact same thing, drifting to the right and she almost got into an accident. Well, we gave up on the problem and started having wishful thinking that the problem would go away with the new wheels and tires that I purchased (19 inch Volks and Falkens). I got these installed at Discount Tire (great professional people at Sand lake and John Young) and the car's problem did not go away, still pulled to the right. I brought this concern up to the Discount tire’s manager and he had the all the tires re-balanced and all the rights switched to left. The problem was still there and then I contacted Sean, Steve and Damian at Orlando Infiniti and this time I mentioned Lemon Law. Damian came to the wife’s work again and dropped off our loaner, it was a 2005 G Coupe with 19 miles on it. I told them to keep the car until they knew it was perfectly fixed. They had the car for 3 days and I went today to pick it up, so that the whole management team could test drive it with me. They promised that the car was fixed and I asked them what they did. Steve said that there was a TSB out on an alignment problem and changed out the tension rods?? Well off we go, on I-4 in all the lanes the car still showing the same exact problem (drifting to the right). Steve asked to drive, so we turned around and the car duplicated the same problem for him. Back to the dealership we go and Steve is scratching his head. Damian takes me over to Applebee’s for some drinks to relieve some anger and Steve shows up with my car on some Stock 17's and Bridgestone Tarzana’s. He wants me to test drive the car and states that it will drive straight now. I test drove it and now am very surprised that it did indeed drive straight. He then quickly blamed the aftermarket wheels and tires as my problem?? I disagreed with him and asked why has the car been doing this since day one even with the stock wheels and tires but he could not answer it. Once arriving back to the dealership I had my Volk's carefully placed back on, and now everyone's tune was now different. They all seem to blame the aftermarket wheels and forgot about this continuous problem. The drive home on I-4 was the same; the car is pulling to the right.

So after this long chapter that you have just graciously, I asked some opinions from each one of you. What should I do? What would you do? I am thinking about putting on my stockers back on and then taking it to the dealer again so they can't blame my aftermarket wheels and tires. I have been happy with the sales side but the service side sucks. Should I find another dealership Melbourne, Tampa, Lokey (long drive away) or is it time now to take it to an aftermarket alignment shop and once it is fixed have the bill sent to Orlando Infiniti.

Thanks in advance for some advice and opinions.

Jason

138th Florida G35 club member

 

The alignment is common that's why there's a tsb. I've heard OI's owner (Peter I think) is trying to restore their name. I would talk to him if you don't feel you can get anywhere with the service dept. Your alternative is Lokey or Melbourne. Lokey is a great dealership if you call the service dept. tell them your problem and that your an FGC member I'm sure they will be able to help you.

 

I would take the trip over to Lokey. But, first PM or call John, their service manager, and bounce the issue off of him.

 

Jason,

What did you decide after we spoke on the phone today? Sorry my voice was all messed up from this sore throat lol

Seems like everyone has had a great experience at Lokey. I'll ask around and see if there's an alignment shop any of my clients use here in Orlando. Weird problem, not surprised to here them blame the aftermarket wheels (so typical and ridiculous lol).

Anyone check the air pressure in the tires?

 

Thanks!! Peter was the last person I spoke with before I left today. He used to be the service manager before becoming a managing partner and does know a thing or two about specs and mecanical stuff. He reviewed my spec sheet and said that everything looks to be fine but mentioned that my aftermarket wheels are the problem. I will give John a call or PM. Thanks for reading

Jon, yes. I refused the free Auto Butler they offered and asked them to check into a discounted price for the installation of a clear bra. Thanks for the professional opinion and hope you feel better. Air pressure has been checked at least 10 times now???

 

If it's really bothering you this much just go out a get a set of Cusco adjustabe a-arms for like $400. That will end the situation.

 

Not necessarily. Adjustable A-Arms (I have 350Evos) are for adjusting camber, not caster. While tire pressrue, camber, and toe-in do impact thrust angle, caster is a key element here.

Besides, the ISSUE is that his new stock vehicle pulls to the right (well, at least until the end of the story it did), and changing rims and tires to aftermarket was his first mistake. Adding more aftermarket is only going to make things more difficult to diagnose and alleviate more liability of the dealer.

Since the car now steers straight with factory rims/tires, here's what I suggest:

1) Take the vehicle with the stock rims/tires back to OI. Have them put it on the alignment machine and provide you a hard copy printout of the alignment reading (camber, caster, toe in, and thrust angle). Since it drives straight in this condition, this printout will be your baseline.
2) Compare this printout with the factory specs.
3) Now install the aftermarket rims/tires (since this is what you ultimately want) and take another alignment reading.
4) If the readings match and the car still pulls to the right, then you probably have a radial pull (i.e. defective aftermarket tire).
5) If the readings do not match, and the car still pulls to the right, then you know your aftermarket rims/tires are throwing your alignment out of spec. Knowing what specs are out will now enable you to determine if you can align the car back to spec with the factory adjustments or have to go with aftermarket kits.

Hope this helps.

 

I wouldn't change anything else on your car until this problem is resolved to your satisfaction.

The issue seems to be that two out of three sets of tires (your original OEM set and your new aftermarket set) make the car pull to the right. A third set (a dealer supplied temporary set) worked correctly on your car.

I agree with MiamiG35sedan. Put the stock wheels and tires on your car and take it back to them again. Ask them to fix the car with your wheels or give you the set that fixed the problem.

 

New car problems, Not good.
This is a long shot, But I does happen some times. I have seen this problem before and its very frustrating. There is a possibility that your front right caliper is not releasing all the way and dragging on the rotor. Just a thought

 

^+1

 

Thanks everyone for the opinions. Everyone has made some great points but still not sure what direction I am going to take it.

The reason this concerns me so much is because it is a brand new car and originally the dealer could not seem to fix even in the factory set-up.



^^^
1-5. Great advice!! Even though this will be a bunch more work for me, I will most likely do this but the only time that my car has driven straight was 2 days ago when the dealer supplied their own stock wheels and tires. These tires were a different brand and tread from what I received from the factory. They were Bridgestones and I have Goodyear. Prior to me adding the aftermarket wheels and tires, I gave the dealer 2 chances to fix this issue and each time it was never fixed. Now I was concerned that the dealer might blame the aftermarket items but I do have two past recorded incidents about this same problem. I am not sure why the car with the dealers' supplied wheels and tire, finally drove straight.

I spent one day with Discount tire's manager trying to put the blame on the new tires. The wheels and tires were rotated and balanced 2 times and all right tires were placed onto the left side of the car. Now if there was a radial pull (bad tire) then shouldn't the car then pulled to the left. Well it didn't and there was no difference in driving and the car still pulled to the right??


If the right caliper is stuck, why has the car driven straight atleast once??

Thanks again for the assistance

 

Post the alignment readouts in this thread. If OI fixed the problem the first and second times, they should have given you an alignment piece of paper. It should have had a BEFORE and AFTER readout to determine if the alignment was initially out, to determine if they ever needed to 'fix' anything.

There was a thread in Acurazine about a guy with the EXACT problem GeePasta described. I'd have this checked out just for good measure.

Potential Solution: If the dealership says the problem is the tires, say the following to the service director...

"I'll pay for you to DIRECTIONALLY ROTATE the tires. If the car then pulls to the left you are correct, it's the tires that are causing the alignment issue. If the car still pulls to the right, then it's not the tires and I'd like a FULL REFUND for the directional rotation." BTW, a directional rotation is where they dismount the tiress on the left 2 wheels and mount them on the right 2 wheels and vice-a-versa.

This will immediately eliminate the tires as the cause of the pull.

If OI refuses to do this, ask to speak to Peter Wilson, the owner of OI. I'm meeting with him on Tuesday to discuss a few things and I'm sure he'd like to make sure you're 100% happy with your OI experience. Remember, you haven't filled out any surveys yet.

Good Luck and please, keep us posted.

 

Damian, Hello.

I would like to thank you again for your continued support and assistance with getting my brand new car fixed properly. Since my car is still not fixed, please let me share some concerns that I have with this entire process. Cheri and I brought the car in on two different occasions for the same problem within the first 2 weeks of purchase. The car still had the factory wheels and tires on and the problem was never fixed. It seems that numerous service techs drove the car and could not duplicate the problem and the vehicle was returned back to me in the form of "good as new." When Steve finally drove the car with me on my third visit, he could now mysteriously duplicate the problem but this time I had installed aftermarket wheels and tires on it. So instead of blaming himself and his staff of being incompetent he quickly blames the aftermarket items.

Some concerns:
1. Why did service finally replace something on my car the third time it was brought in for the same problem. Steve told me that there was a TSB for the issue I was having and that he replace the torsion bar. Why didn't service change it the first or second time the car was in, instead of inconveniencing us a third time?
2. It does seem that Orlando Infiniti likes to blame problems on aftermarket items (heard this from numerous past customers) but the constant problems I have had started from the car in its factory form driven off of your lot. So no Blame should be put onto the aftermarket wheels and tires that are installed whatsoever.
3. When test driving the car with the supplied OEM wheels and tires Friday 10/28/05, I was not able to drive it over the speed of 45 mph (because of back-up traffic). So I am not totally convinced that it drove any better.
4. Here is what I do know: The car has pulled to the right with eight different wheels and tires on this vehicle and 4 of which were OEM.
5. Instead of taking this car out of town (like we originally planned) the car spent all day Saturday at the shop that installed the aftermarket wheels and tires, trying to place a blame on these tires and wheels. All wheels and tires were balanced for a total of two times. All right tires were placed onto the left side of the car and nothing was changed, the car still pulled to the right. My aftermarket wheels and tires were even installed onto the manager G35 sedan and guess what, the car drove straight with no signs of right drifting!!!! Two managers and 3 techs came to the conclusion that it must go back to the dealership to get properly fixed. They advised me to take it to another Infiniti dealership or an alignment shop that knows what they are doing.
6. I feel that I have exhausted my means at Orlando Infiniti. The service department seems in no way able to address my problem.

The reason Cheri and I decided to purchase from Orlando Infiniti was because we heard good things about the dealership. Within my pre-purchase research process, If I would have found the negative issues regarding the service department (the ones I emailed you in the past) we would not have purchased from Orlando Infiniti. We gave Orlando Infiniti a second chance after our first terrible experience with sales. I believe that Cheri and I have been inconvenienced too much since the purchase of our new vehicle. We have not been able to take this car on a nice road trip (for safety reasons) nor have we been able to show it to any of our friends/family. I still feel that our sales experience at Orlando Infiniti was a positive one but these consistent problems with our new car have overshadowed it. I believe that we would not be here today discussing this problem, If I would have been allowed to test drive the car before this purchase. When signing the ownership paperwork with the finance manager, we asked to test drive the car but he deterred us from doing so by changing the subject and promising that there was no need because everything would be perfect. We will be filling out our New Car purchase survey that we just received in the mail. It has Orlando Infiniti's name on it and I believe if we cannot come to satisfactory conclusion, this survey will reflect poorly on Peter's Dealership and all employees who have been involved. I am very privy to the Lemon Law process and have legal aid at my fingertips. I suggest someone from Orlando Infiniti educate themselves about Lemon Law vehicles because we now feel that I have one. We are starting to regret purchasing this vehicle from Orlando Infiniti and wish we would have given BMW and Lexus a second look. All I want is my car to be properly fixed!! Other than this consistent problem, the car is has been great. If we need to start over with a new Infiniti G35 sedan then we will before deciding to change brands!! Cheri and myself have purchased numerous brand new vehicles in the past and never have had any negative issues ever!! This is our first and guaranteed to be our last negative new car purchase experience. Please also take into account our negative car delivery (dirty interior, poorly detailed, drivers door scratch and leather seat).

I would like to hear from Sean or Peter with a game plan on how Orlando Infiniti plans to address our issue at hand. Please have Steve mail me the service paperwork from my last visit. He neglected to give it me. This paperwork should include all alignment specs and what he had done to my car.

Sincerely,

Jason and Cheri

 

This letter will get you nowhere.

I'm playing devil's advocate, but OI response will be: "We strive for 100% customer satisfaction and did our due diligence on each service visit (including concierge loaner service each time) with the final outcome being that we provided new factory spec rims and tires and your car drives straight. Thus, you have no grounds to exercise the Lemon Law.

On the first two visits, our techs were unable to replicate the problem but double checked the alignment and it was to spec. We advised you of this. Unfortunately, we only provide hard copy alignment specs upon request.

Next, you installed aftermarket rims and tires and had a 3rd party shop alter the alignment and you do not have any hard copy alignment specs. Your actions notwithstanding, on the 3rd visit we replaced the torsion bars per a TSB since your complaint continued. We were now able to replicate your problem and it was our opinion that your aftermarket rims/tires is the cause.
Despite this fact and wasting our time and resources, we provided for customer satisfaction (at our cost) new factory spec rims and tires that fixed your drifting problem.

At this point, your car is working to factory spec which is all we can be held responsible for. We are not in the aftermarket tuning business and you have no grounds for further action."

 

Thanks for the opinion Miami but a couple things I must add. No one but Orlando Infiniti has adjuted the alignment and the new OEM rims and tires were only on my car for a total of 20 minutes. My original OEM wheels and tires that had the problem to begin with are in my garage. I am still awaiting the response from Orlando Infiniti but the worst case, I put my OEM wheels and tire back on and have them try and fix the problem. If fixing the problem includes replacing my OEM wheels and tires then so be it but why has it taken them 4 times already to offer or try this fix?? Please remember that this car has had this problem since day 1 and I noticed it on day 2 (new car purchase honeymoon). I purchased a brand new vehicle that was suppose to have zero problems!! Thats why I laid my hard earned money down on this car but so far it hasn't been perfect nor has Orlando Infiniti's service. Each service visit, I have supplied a detailed printed list stating the problem and how to duplicate it to the "T". How can I be responsible that the service team could not duplicate it the first 2 times??