DEALER denied my WARRANTY!!!
#31
10-12-2006, 12:45 PM
You guys all make very valid points.
The advisor told me multiple times in no uncertain terms that according to the tech, the springs are NOT causing the pulling. The mere fact that the springs are on there, he states, voids the warranty.
If you read the MM act, a dealer cannot specify what brand parts are to be used for repair. The can recommend, and they can state that if non-oem parts cause a failure then the warranty is void for that part. Basically, Nissan cannot tell me that putting other than Infiniti parts on my car automatically voids the warranty.
As far as the dealer installing aftermarket parts for a customer - I wish I went to them. According to the service manager, they don't even touch cars that have NISMO parts on them or install anything other than original parts.
The dealer now says they cannot make a decision b/c the case has been forwarded to the Factory Rep, who has already made her decision - put the OEM springs back on and they'll check it out.
I could go on and on. I think what I'll end up doing is having them send me the damn part and I'll do the work myself. I just wish there was something more I could do. Yes, pursuing the matter much further would be a waste of my time. It's just a shame that the dealer, knowing this, will get away with it.
The advisor told me multiple times in no uncertain terms that according to the tech, the springs are NOT causing the pulling. The mere fact that the springs are on there, he states, voids the warranty.
If you read the MM act, a dealer cannot specify what brand parts are to be used for repair. The can recommend, and they can state that if non-oem parts cause a failure then the warranty is void for that part. Basically, Nissan cannot tell me that putting other than Infiniti parts on my car automatically voids the warranty.
As far as the dealer installing aftermarket parts for a customer - I wish I went to them. According to the service manager, they don't even touch cars that have NISMO parts on them or install anything other than original parts.
The dealer now says they cannot make a decision b/c the case has been forwarded to the Factory Rep, who has already made her decision - put the OEM springs back on and they'll check it out.
I could go on and on. I think what I'll end up doing is having them send me the damn part and I'll do the work myself. I just wish there was something more I could do. Yes, pursuing the matter much further would be a waste of my time. It's just a shame that the dealer, knowing this, will get away with it.
#32
10-12-2006, 01:25 PM
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This is craziness. There is already a TSB out for this issue. They can, at the very least, fix what the TSB specifies.
They're getting paid to do this (not as much as out of warranty work, but still), so I don't understand their big issue with this.
Fill out that paperwork that the state attorney general gives you quickly so he can jump in stomp their lying *****.
They're getting paid to do this (not as much as out of warranty work, but still), so I don't understand their big issue with this.
Fill out that paperwork that the state attorney general gives you quickly so he can jump in stomp their lying *****.
#33
10-12-2006, 02:13 PM
#34
10-12-2006, 03:10 PM
Originally Posted by Jeff92se
My questions is how do they know you had Z springs? You tell them? Unless they are pretty savy about the spring dot colors or can spot a .5" lowering job, they probably wouldn't even know.
Hell you could probably just say you swapped the springs back and they wouldn't know.
Hell you could probably just say you swapped the springs back and they wouldn't know.
#35
10-12-2006, 03:26 PM
Originally Posted by beholder
Moral of the story is don't mod your car unless your willing to do ALL the work yourself. 
Dtor - keep giving 'em hell! What a freakin' drag. This sort of bass-ackwards thinking irritates the living hell out of me.
#36
10-12-2006, 04:52 PM
I'll chime in here. The springs have absolutely nothing to do with the compression rod issue. The compression rod is just slightly longer than the original to increase the rh caster & reduce pull. The springs are not even touches during the install.
Now, you have said more than once you'll just have them send you one & you'll install yourself. They will not send it to you under warranty because warranty will not allow it. Since they have already pissed you off I would search for one online. If you were closer to me I'd get you taken care of.
Good luck
Now, you have said more than once you'll just have them send you one & you'll install yourself. They will not send it to you under warranty because warranty will not allow it. Since they have already pissed you off I would search for one online. If you were closer to me I'd get you taken care of.
Good luck
#37
10-12-2006, 05:23 PM
Join Date: May 2006
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ewww
Originally Posted by dTor
I took my car in last week to Herrin-Gear Infiniti in Jackson, MS (1.5 hours away from me). My main concern was the correction of the pull to the right on my 03 Coupe.
I brought the TSB with me and left it. After a lot of battling with the advisor, the service manager, the store manager, Corporate, and a message from the regional rep, they refuse to honor the warranty and perform the job because I have '03 350Z springs on it.
All I've received is one BS excuse after another. First it was that they needed to align the car before they could service it. I had the car aligned less than 2 months ago, and I showed a copy of the alignment sheet to the manager. The next day it was that the TSB only applies to Sedans. I promptly went to my computer, pulled up the TSB and read it verbatim to the advisor and reminded him that I left the same TSB with him. Today it was that Infiniti would not reimburse them for the work and they could not be out the money . Then it was about my safety and their liability if they were to perform service on an altered component.
I took a copy of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act with me today and gave it to the manager. Their final solution was to hide under the skirt of the regional rep, even though the rep made an illegal call based on the M-M Act.
On my way up to pick up the car, I called Infiniti customer/warranty service and started a case. I then called the FTC and filed a complaint. After that I called a lawyer that my boss's wife works for. He could not give me any concrete information over the phone without having the manufacturer's warranty to look at. Then I called the MS State Attorney General's Office. When I told him the issue, he asked me how much time it takes for the repair. When I told him about 2 hours (according to the dealer) and a $15 part, he was dumbfounded that the dealer would put a customer through this, especially on a KNOWN flaw. He is sending me paperwork to fill out and then will be contacting the dealership.
BTW, this whole time, in multiple instances, the advisor and the tech told me that the springs are NOT causing the pulling. The mere fact that they are on the car voids the warranty on the suspension (according to life in their world). F'n backwoods redneck hicks that have backwoods redneck customers who don't know any better. As soon as I plop the LAW down in front of him, he tucks tail and hide behind the mysterious "rep" that can't be directly contacted. What a crock of horsesheit.
I'm so friggin' steamed right now.
Is there anything else I can do? I'm NOT going to take another 6 hours of vacation time off work and make a 3 hour round trip for something that takes 2 hours to fix. I'm going to try to get them to have the Nissan dealership up the street fix it. If not that, then I'll just have them send me the damned part and I'll fix it my f'n self.
And people wonder why I do my own maintenance. This is the luck I get every time I try to have somebody perform a service for me.
The first thing was when Firestone put the wrong tires on the wrong f'n wheels, and didn't notice it for the several hours that the car was sitting in front of their store. Then, the "best tint place in town" scratches my car, which took a week to get them to fess up to and have it buffed out, and the rear window tint peeled down.
Fk it all.
I brought the TSB with me and left it. After a lot of battling with the advisor, the service manager, the store manager, Corporate, and a message from the regional rep, they refuse to honor the warranty and perform the job because I have '03 350Z springs on it.
All I've received is one BS excuse after another. First it was that they needed to align the car before they could service it. I had the car aligned less than 2 months ago, and I showed a copy of the alignment sheet to the manager. The next day it was that the TSB only applies to Sedans. I promptly went to my computer, pulled up the TSB and read it verbatim to the advisor and reminded him that I left the same TSB with him. Today it was that Infiniti would not reimburse them for the work and they could not be out the money
. Then it was about my safety and their liability if they were to perform service on an altered component.I took a copy of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act with me today and gave it to the manager. Their final solution was to hide under the skirt of the regional rep, even though the rep made an illegal call based on the M-M Act.
On my way up to pick up the car, I called Infiniti customer/warranty service and started a case. I then called the FTC and filed a complaint. After that I called a lawyer that my boss's wife works for. He could not give me any concrete information over the phone without having the manufacturer's warranty to look at. Then I called the MS State Attorney General's Office. When I told him the issue, he asked me how much time it takes for the repair. When I told him about 2 hours (according to the dealer) and a $15 part, he was dumbfounded that the dealer would put a customer through this, especially on a KNOWN flaw. He is sending me paperwork to fill out and then will be contacting the dealership.
BTW, this whole time, in multiple instances, the advisor and the tech told me that the springs are NOT causing the pulling. The mere fact that they are on the car voids the warranty on the suspension (according to life in their world). F'n backwoods redneck hicks that have backwoods redneck customers who don't know any better. As soon as I plop the LAW down in front of him, he tucks tail and hide behind the mysterious "rep" that can't be directly contacted. What a crock of horsesheit.
I'm so friggin' steamed right now.
Is there anything else I can do? I'm NOT going to take another 6 hours of vacation time off work and make a 3 hour round trip for something that takes 2 hours to fix. I'm going to try to get them to have the Nissan dealership up the street fix it. If not that, then I'll just have them send me the damned part and I'll fix it my f'n self.
And people wonder why I do my own maintenance. This is the luck I get every time I try to have somebody perform a service for me.
The first thing was when Firestone put the wrong tires on the wrong f'n wheels, and didn't notice it for the several hours that the car was sitting in front of their store. Then, the "best tint place in town" scratches my car, which took a week to get them to fess up to and have it buffed out, and the rear window tint peeled down.
Fk it all.
#38
10-12-2006, 06:21 PM
Do you have aftermarket wheels, especially wider ones?
Who installed your springs?
It's been my experience that most alignment shops aren't great and often times they can make an alignment worse. I think the pulling issue is related to one or combo of these things:
1) Whoever installed the Z springs messed with the tierods or some other component that really shouldn't have been tampered with or they installed the spring upside down, didn't seat the spring right, etc.
2) Bad alignment job
3) Suspension damage from a curb check, pothole, etc.
4) Overly wide aftermarket wheels tires teamed with a bad alignment
5) Radial ply separation in a tire
I have a hard time believing there's actually a failed part in the suspension that's causing your problem. The reason being all these components have very little adjustment and many are cast (ie they won't bend/break under normal operation). Either a compontent was tampered with (ie tierod), it's the wheels/tires, damaged suspension, or a combination of all. I leaning towards a combo of 1 and 2.
Who installed your springs?
It's been my experience that most alignment shops aren't great and often times they can make an alignment worse. I think the pulling issue is related to one or combo of these things:
1) Whoever installed the Z springs messed with the tierods or some other component that really shouldn't have been tampered with or they installed the spring upside down, didn't seat the spring right, etc.
2) Bad alignment job
3) Suspension damage from a curb check, pothole, etc.
4) Overly wide aftermarket wheels tires teamed with a bad alignment
5) Radial ply separation in a tire
I have a hard time believing there's actually a failed part in the suspension that's causing your problem. The reason being all these components have very little adjustment and many are cast (ie they won't bend/break under normal operation). Either a compontent was tampered with (ie tierod), it's the wheels/tires, damaged suspension, or a combination of all. I leaning towards a combo of 1 and 2.
#39
10-12-2006, 06:31 PM
Originally Posted by dTor
They could tell it was lowered. I didn't tell them until they called me and told me they couldn't do it because it had been lowered.
#41
10-12-2006, 06:42 PM
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Originally Posted by DaveB
Do you have aftermarket wheels, especially wider ones?
Who installed your springs?
It's been my experience that most alignment shops aren't great and often times they can make an alignment worse. I think the pulling issue is related to one or combo of these things:
1) Whoever installed the Z springs messed with the tierods or some other component that really shouldn't have been tampered with or they installed the spring upside down, didn't seat the spring right, etc.
2) Bad alignment job
3) Suspension damage from a curb check, pothole, etc.
4) Overly wide aftermarket wheels tires teamed with a bad alignment
5) Radial ply separation in a tire
I have a hard time believing there's actually a failed part in the suspension that's causing your problem. The reason being all these components have very little adjustment and many are cast (ie they won't bend/break under normal operation). Either a compontent was tampered with (ie tierod), it's the wheels/tires, damaged suspension, or a combination of all. I leaning towards a combo of 1 and 2.
Who installed your springs?
It's been my experience that most alignment shops aren't great and often times they can make an alignment worse. I think the pulling issue is related to one or combo of these things:
1) Whoever installed the Z springs messed with the tierods or some other component that really shouldn't have been tampered with or they installed the spring upside down, didn't seat the spring right, etc.
2) Bad alignment job
3) Suspension damage from a curb check, pothole, etc.
4) Overly wide aftermarket wheels tires teamed with a bad alignment
5) Radial ply separation in a tire
I have a hard time believing there's actually a failed part in the suspension that's causing your problem. The reason being all these components have very little adjustment and many are cast (ie they won't bend/break under normal operation). Either a compontent was tampered with (ie tierod), it's the wheels/tires, damaged suspension, or a combination of all. I leaning towards a combo of 1 and 2.
...or, maybe it is due to the part that needs to be replaced according to the TSB?
But I'm sure that stuff contributes to the severity.
#42
10-12-2006, 07:21 PM
Totally feel you. I've never brought my car in for a single maintainance/mod without them breaking something else. And I've been to several places. At this point I'm very reluctant to let anyone else service my car for ANYTHING. I figure I do it myself and spend my time now, I won't have to go back and battle the auto shop to fix what they broke. Most mechanics in the Washington DC area are pretty damn incompetant.
#43
10-12-2006, 07:57 PM
Originally Posted by DaveB
Do you have aftermarket wheels, especially wider ones?
Who installed your springs?
It's been my experience that most alignment shops aren't great and often times they can make an alignment worse. I think the pulling issue is related to one or combo of these things:
1) Whoever installed the Z springs messed with the tierods or some other component that really shouldn't have been tampered with or they installed the spring upside down, didn't seat the spring right, etc.
I installed them. At no point were any parts bent, damaged, or otherwise tampered with. I have installed many springs on many cars - this one was no different and was easier than others I've done. The springs are properly seated, and the height to the peak of the fenders is the same on both sides front and rear.
2) Bad alignment job The alignment was performed at Sears. I have a copy of the before and after alignment measurements, which I showed the dealer, who verified that the alignment was good.
3) Suspension damage from a curb check, pothole, etc.Like I said, the suspension is not damaged in any way. If this was the case, not only would have it been noted at Sears and by myself, I'm sure the dealer would have pointed it out as well.
4) Overly wide aftermarket wheels tires teamed with a bad alignment Stock 18" wheels.
5) Radial ply separation in a tire Tires have less than 4000 miles on them. There are no unusual signs or symptoms of a faulty tire.
I have a hard time believing there's actually a failed part in the suspension that's causing your problem. The reason being all these components have very little adjustment and many are cast (ie they won't bend/break under normal operation). Either a compontent was tampered with (ie tierod), it's the wheels/tires, damaged suspension, or a combination of all. I leaning towards a combo of 1 and 2. Read the TSB - Infiniti (basically) used the incorrect part from the start, which has since been corrected in 05+ cars.
Who installed your springs?
It's been my experience that most alignment shops aren't great and often times they can make an alignment worse. I think the pulling issue is related to one or combo of these things:
1) Whoever installed the Z springs messed with the tierods or some other component that really shouldn't have been tampered with or they installed the spring upside down, didn't seat the spring right, etc.
I installed them. At no point were any parts bent, damaged, or otherwise tampered with. I have installed many springs on many cars - this one was no different and was easier than others I've done. The springs are properly seated, and the height to the peak of the fenders is the same on both sides front and rear.
2) Bad alignment job The alignment was performed at Sears. I have a copy of the before and after alignment measurements, which I showed the dealer, who verified that the alignment was good.
3) Suspension damage from a curb check, pothole, etc.Like I said, the suspension is not damaged in any way. If this was the case, not only would have it been noted at Sears and by myself, I'm sure the dealer would have pointed it out as well.
4) Overly wide aftermarket wheels tires teamed with a bad alignment Stock 18" wheels.
5) Radial ply separation in a tire Tires have less than 4000 miles on them. There are no unusual signs or symptoms of a faulty tire.
I have a hard time believing there's actually a failed part in the suspension that's causing your problem. The reason being all these components have very little adjustment and many are cast (ie they won't bend/break under normal operation). Either a compontent was tampered with (ie tierod), it's the wheels/tires, damaged suspension, or a combination of all. I leaning towards a combo of 1 and 2. Read the TSB - Infiniti (basically) used the incorrect part from the start, which has since been corrected in 05+ cars.
#44
10-12-2006, 07:59 PM
