I just talked to a service rep at Infiniti and he said as long as you do your regular schedule maintaince your fine and if your car ran out of oil between a 3000 mile oil change service then it would be covered by warrenty because odds are something is wrong with the engine, for it to suck up that much oil. Now if your suppose to bring it in for its 3000 mile oil change and you wait 15000 miles to do it, then it would be your fault if there is any engine damage.

But in the case of this member on this board, he had a oil change by Infiniti 2 weeks ago. In my opinion one of 3 things happen.
1 - The engine is jacked up and sucked up the oil (which should be covered by warrenty)
2 - Inifiniti didnt put the plug on tight enough and oil leaked out (which the owner should of noticed a oil leak, since he did not mention a oil leak, i doubt this is the case)
3 - Infiniti didnt' put enough oil in the car which is there fault and should be covered by warrenty, or atleast covered by the Infiniti dealership since they screwed up the car.

So its either 1 or 3, i think its 3 because for them to say its the fault of a Stillen Exhaust and CAI is complete BS and there just covering there mistake, because if its found out they messed up, the dealership would have to pay out of there pocket to fix the engine, not to mention the mechanic would probably be fired.

2003.5 G35 Sedan White/6MT - 2004 350z Roadster Black/6MT

 

Where is that sticker? You should check your oil occaisonally that way if a problem does develope, you find it right away and can deal with it!

Where did the 3000 mile thing come from? The recommended interval is 3750.


<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

This car drinks more oil than any other car I have owned. Today I noticed that mine was a quart low.

<hr></blockquote>

Shodog, how many miles before it was a quart low?


Brilliant Silver/Graphite/Chrome Wheels '04 Sedan/5AT

 

Habbit from owning Hondas in the past, i've always changed all my cars oil at 3000 miles. Heck the service rep says i can do it every 7500 miles, but that makes me nervous so i do it every 3k

2003.5 G35 Sedan White/6MT - 2004 350z Roadster Black/6MT

 

Well if anything good comes from this, it will be that i"ll start checking my oil level after every oil change by the dealership.



2003.5 G35 Sedan White/6MT - 2004 350z Roadster Black/6MT

 

Thanks for everyone's support, it means a lot during this stressful time. I called Infiniti's Consumer Affairs line today and layed out my case. I should get a call tomorrow. Hopefully, I receive good new. I'll update everyone as soon as I find out.

 

I think that we all can agree that the owner has some responsibility to check the oil level regularly... the question is "How often is enough?" I'd say that once a week should suffice, although I have to admit that I don't check mine that often because the dipstick in this car is such a pain to use.

However, in this case, there is no way that Infiniti can prove that skeleton_cru didn't check his oil between his last oil change and the engine failure 925 miles later. However, I think that most people would agree that going through that much oil in about 4 weeks is grossly excessive.

 

I have been following this thread and it will be interesting to see how Infiniti deals with this issue.

I personally find it very unreasonable for a LUXURY car dealer (Infiniti) to expect all of their customers to check their oil less than one month after being serviced by an Infiniti dealer. Does it end with the oil? Does that same way of thinking apply to everything else as well? Why would we as owners be expected to pay for 7500, 15000, 30000 mile services that can cost a pretty penny (my 15k service cost me $375) when most of the services included are just a visual inspection by their techs and we are required to perform them weekly anyways? Doesn't make sense.

Now if the owner notices anything weird, of course it is their responsibility to look into it, fix it, have someone else fix it, etc. Isn't this what this person did? Is it up to the owner to assume that service work done by an Infiniti dealership is not up to par and therefor requires the owner to check after the service is done (ie; putting the proper amount of oil in during an oil change)?

If that is Infinitis stand on how a LUXURY automaker should treat their customers count me out.

 

OK, so I called Consumer Affairs again yesterday and I was informed that they were unable to reach the Service Mgr. at Peninsula and he did not return their calls. WTF? Is he avoiding Consumer Affairs?

 

I have not looked it up myself but do the warranty and/or maintenance manuals state that the vehicle owner check their oil level in between oil changes?

*'03.5 MT6 Sedan, Premium, CB*
Z-tube, Pop-Charger, Autovation pedals, Minor de-badging

*'00 Saleen S281-SC*
Mucho mods. See it here!

 

Nope its just a vague statement that says the owner is responsible for fluid levels. The main reason this statement is in here is so if someone goes well beyond there schedule service, they can't blame inifiniti for there car getting messed up.

Some on the forum take it more serious and check there fluids weekly. I talked to a service adviser and he told me that its not a bad idea to check it every now and then, but said as long as you bring in your car for schedule maintaince your fine as far as the warrenty is concerned.

So to each there own... To make yourself feel better check with your local Inifiniti dealership to get there take on it.

2003.5 G35 Sedan White/6MT - 2004 350z Roadster Black/6MT

 

Just curious if you got a loaner car when you brought it in for service? You should insist on this as it is likely to be a protracted situation. If the dealer did not offer a loaner, ask Infiniti Consumer Affairs to compel them to provide one. One of the first rules of salemanship is to "assume the sale"; and this sounds like a case of selling your story to Infiniti.

It certainly sounds to me like it would be unreasonable for them to deny warrantee coverage unless they have some compelling incriminating evidence on you. You didn't leave any time slips in the glove box, did you???? Or bottom the car out hard enough to crack the oil pan while trying a Dukes of Hazard stunt???

04 G35s 6MT BS Aero Kit/Nav/Prem
Warning: Objects in Mirror Are Losing!

 

I did get a loner and I still have it. I did not do any Dukes of Hazard stunts. I do not race. I drive the car normally.

 

OK, here is the latest. I spoke with consumer affairs earlier today. I was told that they were able to reach the Service Manager "Ron". Ron stated:
1. The CAI was making the A/F ratio rich (too much fuel) which caused the catalyst converter to fail.
2. The exhaust did not have enough back presure which did not allow the ECU to compensate.
3. He believed that I was "abusing" the car.
4. They were going to check my brake rotors to look for signs of discoloration and scoring which would prove I "abuse" the car.

Can you believe this? What was funny is there was no mention of "engine failure" in any of the notes. Only the failure of the catalyst converter. I'm assuming he is referring to the previous failure which they repaired under warranty.

None of this explains why I was 3.5 quarts low of oil. They still haven't said what EXACTLY is wrong with my car.

I found his comments about me "abusing" the car insulting. I have never abused my car. I love that car.

 

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

You are missing the point, the warranty requires that the owner maintain the oil level and bringing it in 3.5 quarts low is proof you didn't maintain the oil level!

<hr></blockquote>

Sorry, but no. The "standard" or "acceptable" oil burn rate is *one* quart every 1,000 miles. 3.5 quarts in 1,000 miles mean there was already a problem there, whether internal or a technicial forgot to install a drain plug.

At one point I worked at a quick lube place. We bought two motors in the year+ that I worked there, where we did not sufficiently tighten the plug or filter. Even though the owner should have seen the large oil puddles, it was our negligence that caused the leak and therefore we replaced the engine. Period.

With your crackpot theory, if the dealer drilled through the damned oil pan it'd be your fault for not checking the oil every mile and adding four quarts. Silly.

Regarding the Moss-Magnuson Act: the dealer (or Infiniti, properly) must prove the mods specifically caused the failure. So if the oil was down 3.5 quarts without a leak, then it must be proved that a different exhaust or intake filter caused internal engine damage.

Not damn likely. Otherwise Car-X would be out of business.


Rick