Some of you may remember that I posted in late May that my 2 week old 2005 G35 had been t-boned by another car. I tried everything I could to try and get the car totaled but with only around $15K of damage there was no way All State would total the car.

Well, here we are over 3 months later and my car still has not been completely repaired. The reason for the delay is that the body shop is still waiting on three parts to be delivered by Infiniti. Apparently two of the parts did not even show up in the Infiniti system as something that could be ordered. The last part is scheduled to be shipped by the distribution center on September 19th, nearly four months after it was ordered. From what I have been able to determine, this is not an uncommon story with Infiniti as they have a history of not stocking a sufficient number of spare parts for new models. I heard second hand from the body shop they had an Infiniti part take 6 months last year.

I have escalated this problem as high as they will allow me to go within Infiniti and the most they will do for me is code the part as critical. Before I contacted the consumer affairs hotline, I couldn’t even get a delivery date and it took me 2 weeks to even get that. The telephone support at Infiniti consumer affairs is very poor and the gentleman that handled my case (Matt) did little to nothing for me and would not even call me with information. I sent two emails to the Infiniti website with no reply. They basically won’t let you talk to a supervisor at Consumer Affairs and the Infiniti dealership in Tucson won’t even give you the name of the regional Infiniti rep. The other lady’s insurance company has even gotten involved (All State) and they have not had any success either. From what they have told me, the regional rep has been contacted - but so far no benefit.

Some of the blame definitely falls on the body shop at Watson’s as I heard multiple times over a 3 month period that they had all of the parts in and the car would soon be going to paint. It wasn’t until a two week delay in the car going to paint that Aaron Forrest at Watson’s body shop bothered to tell me that they were short these parts.

I am new to this car repair thing as it is the first time I have been in an accident in 30 years of driving. Does anyone think that Infiniti should give me some kind of compensation for their delay? They would not even consider providing me an Infiniti rental car for me trouble. So this is the “Total Ownership Experience” they are talking about on the website? One of the reasons I purchased an Infiniti was due to their reputation of standing behind the product – but I have now found this to not be the case.

Drew in Tucson

 

Infiniti can only do what they can to get the parts to the body shop. If anything, i would sue Allstate and force them to buy you a new car.

 

I feel for you. Your situation is far worse than most.

The “Total Ownership Experience” is highly dependent upon which dealer services your car. Squeaks and rattles are actually not covered beyond 12 months/12,000 miles unless there is a TSB that specifically addresses it.
I found this out when I tried to get some service at Jim Coleman Infiniti in Bethesda MD. It's close to my house but after talking with two of their service reps, I will never go there. They treat you like scum.

Fortunately, Rosenthal in Arlington, VA has treated me like an Infiniti owner. It's a longer drive, but I will gladly make it for better service.

I hope your parts come in and you get your car back soon.

 

That must be one hell of a headache. My wife's Maxima got rear-ended a while back and it took more than a month to fix. It didn't look that bad but was over $6k in damages. I didn't mind the long wait because I had a rental.

It sounds like you are doing all that you can. If the car has only 15k of damage then it's far from totalled. However, the costs of the rental and all the labor has to be adding up if it's taking months. You might want to consult legal help to see what your options are but I doubt there are any. The only thing you can do is lean on the insurance companies to get things rolling or total the car.

 

I don't think Infiniti should be blamed for lack of spare parts, after all they sell you a car and stand behind it if anything breaks down, i'm pretty sure getting t-boned by someone else is not covered by Infiniti's customer gurentee... If anything you should get a lawyer and sue the insurance company of the other person for not giving you a new car since its seems impossible to get the parts needed to fix your old car...

 

I don't see the difference in whether the part breaks down or is damaged in a crash - either way they are not standing behind their product if a spare part is not available.

 

use the BBB's Autoline program and they'll help you come to a resolution with Infiniti. The least they can do is offer you a free loaner while the parts are backordered. (if indeed they are backordered)

 

Hey, I am sorry to hear about your accident. I know how it feels. First off, be thankful you and everyone else are ok. The car is replaceable, a human life is not. Secondly, depending on your insurance coverage, the other person's coverage, and who was at fault....some kind of retal/loaner car should have been provided. Thirdly, as for the part being back ordered....unfortuately these things happen and since it isn't in your control and Infiniti is trying to make business for themselves there isn't a whole lot they can do to help you. Finally, I would definately contact a laywer about possible lawsuits based on coverage, whether the other party's insurance or your own screwed up. And I would find a new insurance company after this if they did screw it up.

Again, sorry to hear about your accident, but at least you are ok.

 

Have you talked to the responsible insurance company about the reduced value of your car. An accident that major will show up on a CarFax report and reduce the value of your car. The insurance companies will not volunteer anything about this, and you may need a lawyer to get the money, but the value of your car has definitely been harmed.

 

This is good to do after the repairs so I don't think it will help now. You don't need a lawyer for this - only a reputable appraiser. I did this with my Maxima after I got it from the body shop. I paid a guy a few hundred bucks to come out, take pictures of the car and repaire work, and to create a report about the loss of value. I sent this report to the insurance company and they sent me a check without questions. It's standard stuff but it's true in that the insurance companies won't tell you about it unless asked.

 

Any time you have a serious problem with a company, go straight to the top. Write a letter to the President of Nissan in Japan about how disappointed you are with Infiniti's service. Copy the local dealer and Infiniti USA. I bet you doughnuts to dollars you will get results--fast.

 

Thanks for the response. I have already talked to All State about diminished value and they do have a process after the repairs are complete. I also took Gdream's advice and sent an email today. Got a phone message later today from the Exec Offices of Infiniti but missed the call. Looks like we will have to speak next week, but they did call me real quick in response to the email.

Thanks,
Drew

 

+1..

Force the issue legally now. You've waited long enough and shouldn't have to wait forever.
If it were me I'd get legal advice.
G/L
C.

 

Don't trust any of the insurance companies figures. They will just throw a few bens your way. Get an independent appraiser to name the loss of value figure. It should be a significant figure if you had $15k of damage.

 

All State's procedure is that after repairs you get an independent appraisal(s) then send it to some office in Texas and then they will do their own appraisal and you negotiate from there.