Sorry to hear this happened Yanik!

Coincidentally my light started flashing a few weeks ago (I've already done the light reset numerous times, no luck), I haven't gotten the recall work done on it yet so I'm crossing my fingers that whatever is wrong they'll be able to take care of it. Wasn't planning on getting the recall done since I'm scared to let the dealer touch my car but I don't have a choice now.

 

That's true.

 

+1 There was a recall on the airbags as well

 

Yup. As much as it sucks, the dealer/Infinti really doesn't have to do a thing here. If they do help you out it's because you are a good customer or they cut you a discount or something, but I wouldn't expect them to honor the repair for free out of warranty even if it was only by 10 days. Complaining to Infinti isnt going to do much. If they honor the repair under warranty that is out by 10 days, then what about all the other people out of warranty? My wheels bearings are going out, and i'm 500 miles out of warranty.

Might have to try and find a used one and swap it in. I'm sure someone here has to be parting out a car. I could't justify spending $1200 on a new one just yet.

Resetting the light doesn't fix the prob...your airbags still wont work if you were to crash. With the light off, it's not "out of sight, out of mind"...a bad controller won't properly deply the bags in a crash

 

panda express NEVER has good chicken...

warranty is expressed for X years and XX miles. its stated in a lot of places and the big picture items they cover. If your over it, you pay. Thats how it is EVERYWHERE, wouldnt you agree.

The dealership could play the goodwill card if they want to and cover it for you but that is up to the dealership.

To answer your question about what suppose to and what is not... car parts dont have a date on when they should go bad ( i wish they did ) Anything can go bad at 60k, just because the VQ35 is a great engine and the G35 is a great car, doesn't mean everything is great.... if the dealership doesn't cover it, buy a used control module and replace it, shouldn't be more then $250 for the CM.

 

My service manager said that it is not up to him and that Infiniti consumer affairs needs to approve it before they can do anything. It is one big file that will be looked over.

I still don't think a airbag control module should be going out at 64k. Wheel bearings yes, a piece of equipment that is designed to save my life, no. If it were to malfunction in an accident, I could die. Infiniti should replace that kinda **** no matter what the mileage/warranty.

My service manager left already, so I'm going to give him a call in the morning. It's lovely how a $1300 fix comes along 10 days after the flippin warranty runs out.

 

As usual, I guess I'll play the bad guy here. Let me start off by saying, welcome to the joys of car ownership and adulthood You're not always going to be able to get the parents to fight and pay for your battles.

Your car is low mileage, but it's an electronics issue we're dealing with here so age is the kicker. Your car is a 2005 which means it could potentially be approaching 7 years of use. That's thousands of system cycles and all the environmental impacts to the system like hot/cold weather, constant vibration, impacts from poor road conditions, etc. Unfortunately, things like this do occur and sometimes they happen right outside of warranty. The warranty is written for an established length of time and/or mileage. That's it. Whether the system fails three years past the warranty or 5 minutes past the warranty, Nissan has fulfilled their warranty obligation and they really owe absolutely nothing. Where should they draw the line if they honored your repair? The dealer isn't going to do squat because it's Nissan that will pay them for the warranty claim. Since there is no existing warranty, there cannot be a valid warranty claim from the dealer. Nissan and other carmakers have honored out of warranty claims before, but that's at their choice. It sounds like Nissan isn't willing to help you out and they're really not doing anything wrong.

If it were me, I'd wait and see if the CEL shows up again. Ghost codes pop up all the time. If it comes back, then there's probably an issue somewhere. It would be benefical to verify the location of this part and the connectors to make sure there isn't a pinched wire or loose connector. Most automotive technicans these days lack the ability to reason or evaluate problems. They're also under razor thin profits. They simply replace entire systems in hopes of fixing a problem. That sometimes works and sometimes doesn't which is very expensive for the car owner.

If there is a problem with this unit, I'd look into sourcing a used one from car-part.com (if they're allowed to resell this part). If not, I'd be looking at the various online parts vendors to finder the module and replace it myself.

Unfortunately, with all the safety systems mandated by the US government, you can expect higher repair bills when components of these systems start to fail.

 

Your preaching to the choir here. I agree...and wish warranties were 1,000,000 miles. But they aren't. This is a fact of owning a car....**** will break and you will have to pay. Life sucks and then you die

Yes, airbags are key, but no manufacturer offers a lifetime warranty on electrical equipment or airbags. It's garanteed to fail over time. Seat belts do have longer warranty periods, but even they wear over time and need replacement. There are plenty of other components on the vehicle that can fail and potentially kill you. This is the main reason people dump their cars when the major warranty period is up. They would rather swing consistent monthly payments to own a vehicle with a warranty and not have tom worry.....vs own a used cars and have unexpected high repair costs when they least expect (or can afford it)

If it's going to corporate Infiniti, you might as well prepare yourself for a NO answer. They don't care. The warranty is up. You are own your own here and don't really have a case to force them to honor it. It could have failed a day after the warraty, or it could have failed 2 years after the warranty. Nothing you (or your mom) can do just because you don't want to pay for it. Don't get me wrong. I'd be pissed off in your shoes too....but the dealer has no obligation to do anything for you here. I really hate to say this, because I don't want to insult you because I think you are a good guy, but your initial posts reminded me of a little kid stamping his feet and wanting his mom to fix it for him. Yeah it sucks, but you have two choices here when/if Infiniti says no.....

#1 fix it yourself. Pay the diagnostic fee and get the car back. Reset the light and start looking for sources of a good used module. If the light comes back, buy it and install.

#2 or pay $1300

 

Thanks for the responses guys, and sorry if I'm coming off like some little kid. I am just a little irritated right now. Main reason is because I was in fargo and they don't have an infiniti dealer up there. By the time I get back, my warranty is out. Just unbelievable timing,

I want to sell this car, so if infiniti won't pay for it, I'm just going to leave it as is. They reset the light today and it hasn't come on since, so Ill probably just leave it. Hopefully dave is right and it just tripped.

 

a HUGE plus ONE.

Air bag control module failure is going to cost the same if you own a civic or a Bentley. Same part that does the same thing for a given car. Only difference in pricing would be the labor to get to the part, i'm sure on a civic and our g35 is mounted somewhere in under the armrest area takes 5-30 minutes to get to, the bentley you would need to remove plenty of wood trim panels and etc to get to. Either way that bentley should have about the same warranty, ( i looked it up, 3 years unlimited miles)

If your SM told you its up to infiniti, they most like they dont want to good will it for you. I've been on both sides of the dealership. Dealership most likely looked up you were not the original owner, you didn't buy the car from that dealership so no loyalty there. After all the phone calls, infiniti will say screw you bring in the car 10 days earlier.

What you said about if you were in a accident you might die, YES that is 100% true. But here is the kicker, the car has a blinking AIR BAG light, it tells you it has a system fault, dont drive it. YOU choose to drive it knowing this, so you get in a accident and you DIE because YOU choose to drive it KNOWING your air bags have a problem.

Look at it outside the box. As of now you most likely owe $200 for the diag fee. This can make you hate inifiniti for the rest of your life. But this could of been any other car and the outcome would of the same. Cars suck... plain and simple.

 

Just depends on the dealer. I have had issues arise just when my warranty expired and they still covered the repairs. I believe they just altered the mileage on the paperwork.

Which dealership did you go to-bloomington?

Ive had pretty good luck with them and the service guys are always friendly.

They should be willing to work with you on this. Id hope...

On a side note-have they produced papers to show that your warranty is no longer valid?

 

My airbag light started flashing about 2 months after recall, see my previous post: Crash Zone Sensor fail after airbag recall

IMO there's something not quite right about the recall: our airbag system wasn't acting up before the recall, isn't it a little bit odd that the light just came on for various components failing in the airbag system a short period of time after the recall, disregarding the years and mileage of the car? My car was 7 yrs and 86k miles at the recall and there was not a single day this light ever came on. I believe this is worth investigating.

 

Bloomington has always been great to me, and Rudy is an awesome guy. normally a dealer WILL help you out on warranty issues and since we have been seeing that dealer (and had an Infiniti in our garage since 04) that we are loyal.
That is exactly what I am saying and thats what I told the dealer. Unfortunately, they don't believe me and says it has nothing to do with the recall. I don't even know how I'd go about investigating the problem. They say it has nothing to do with it, but it is an airbag system, and we HAD an airbag recall. There has to be some sort of connection.
We ARE loyal though. My dad has had 2 G35xs (since 2004) and was planning on picking up another pretty soon along with me buying a new car in the spring. No, i didn't buy my current car at that dealer, but I'v had it serviced there since the day I bought it. I'd call that pretty loyal.

Regardless, I am looking at this from different aspects, but I'm just going to wait and see what the dealer says in the morning. If they won't cover it, fine. I'm done. I'll pay the diagnostics fee, and leave it at that. I'll probably just end up selling it a little sooner. What can you do? **** happens.

 

They might not see it that way...

If the car service history is under your name, why would your dad's record show up. Car being service would mean you take it to them for everything and do all their upsells. Like flushes that they tell you you need too soon and etc. To a dealership when they pull up your name and history they see all the stuff you declined and bought. Your dad wont show up because thats part of sales, they do look into the fact if you are the original owner. That played a big role when we did the oil consumption testing.

Like me and my G35x, I dont get any special treatment. I been to the dealership twice and 2 different ones at that. One when i bought the car to fix a rattle under warranty and the 2nd time was for that air bag recall. I declined all the flushes and etc they asked me to do. They wont bend over backwards for and i dont expect them to. If i need them to do something i'll pay. I know i'm out of warranty and they do too.

Oh FIY, all parts you buy/get installed when your out of warranty carry a 1 year/12k mile warranty now. Not the 3 year the originally came with the car for the part. So your o2 sensor that had 3 year warranty when it came out the factory now has 1 year installed by the dealership.

Hopefully your light wont come back on.

 

My dad and I are under the same name or something, but any time they check me in, I see all three cars etc.

I do most of my maintenance through the dealer, so that comes up as well. I generally do decline and do the big parts on separate occasions as it can get kinda spendy. But it all eventually ends up being done for the most part.

Like I said, i'll see how it turns out in the AM when i call my SM back and see what he says (he is a very good guy and usually goes out of his way for us since we have known him since 04) and maybe a miracle will happen. If not, whatever. The lights off.