Topic: 06+ Nissan Xterra!

[ALEXis22]

I purschased this beautiful ruggid looking truck, a Nissan Xterra-Off Road Edition last Jan 2006. Four weeks after I took ownership, I went through a car wash and my roof started to leak!  

I was very upset!! A brand new truck, and its already having problems.  

This is when I experienced a new side of Nissan....

The dealership was not accommodating.  They said the water was leaking through my "roof rack" and they ruined some bolts while trying to find the problem.  Apparently they had to order 'special parts' and my vehicle had to be in the shop for a week.

I had to demand them to give me a loaner car.  I got my truck back, went through a car wash, and same thing happened all over again!  I couldn't believe the service I was receiving. I phoned Nissan Canada, and apparently "dealers" are private franchises and they did not care about my situation.  

I even tried going to another dealer, and I told them the story about my leaky roof and they said I should go back to the original dealer and get them to finish the job..... (Even though I've been there numerous times and nothing was being accomplised--they simply couldn't source out the problem).  And the other dealer just didn't want to work on my car, from the sounds of it!

No wonder Nissan is having financial problems--their customer service sucks! I never want to touch another Nissan vehicle again.


To make a long story short:

I thought the truck was awesome except for the leaky roof
I hated the lack of service I experienced both from Nissan dealer(s) and with Nissan Canada
I took a huge loss, traded in my Xterra with only 4000 km's on the truck, for a 3 series Bmw. (i've never been happier with Bmw- Great car and Great service!)

Has anyone else had problems similar to mine with NISSAN dealers or their Nissan vehicles?

[Mitlov]

Never dealt with Nissan, sorry can't answer the question.

But a switch from an XTerra to a 3-series.  What a night-and-day switch in vehicle genres!  What inspired the change from off-roader to RWD sport sedan?

[555]

ALEXis22  you are so right when you talk about Nissan and their lack of customer service.  You would think they would stand behind their product 100%,  I like you will NEVER buy or recommend anyone to even think of purchasing Nissan.  I would rate my '05 X-Trail's problems and Nissan a zero on a scale of 0-10.  Can't wait to tell others at the Toronto Auto Show about how bad Nissan Canada really is.  I bet the people in Nissan customer service don't even drive Nissan after hearing the horror stories about their own.
Mark Grimm  " You're Fired!"

[Julie]

Sorry, can't answer your question, but nice BMW. 

Got pics? Can post them in Readers' Rides. EDIT: After you reach 10 posts.

[Leviathan]

The 02 Sentra I had was a Red Nissan turd BUT the dealer I went to was good about getting everything dealt with quickly and there wasn't any warranty BS either. I didn't get another Nissan but I did buy the Tribute through the same auto group.  Sorry that your experience is so bad on both ends 

[ALEXis22]

Mitlov: I guess I got tired of the SUV. And, at the time when I had my Xterra the gas prices were soaring $1.30/L...so I thought why am I driving a big suv when I don't really need to. In addition, I was so dissapointed in Nissan (both NISSAN Canada and Nissan Dealers), I decided to look at higher end vehicles: Audi; Acura; Lexus; BMW. I picked up a demo 05' 320i right after the truck, and I loved that car.  I fell in love with the product and service that of BMW.  And then, I had a deal I couldn't refuse a few months ago, subsequently, I am now driving a 2007 BMW 323i.  You're right- big change from a truck to a rwd sports sedean!  Only thing with the BMW, If I didn't have winter tires on this winter I think I would be screwed....lol

555:  I 100% agree. I was bewildered how the dealers wouldn't stand behind their product...  And, then when I contacted Nissan Canada they showed no interest in me....  I called them so many times, talked to different people but it got me nowhere.  They simply didn't want to deal with anything.  This is very unfortunate for them in the long run....especially when they were almost bankrupt and had to be bought out by Renault.

Julie:  I have some pictures posted under the gallery section on the toolbar where it says: Home, Profile, My Messages, Logout, etc.  If that does not work check out my cardomain website. I cannot post the link but my username is abmw323i.

Leviathan:  I am sorry to hear about the problems with your sentra, but I am glad to hear the dealer rectified the problem for you. How are you enjoying your Tribute and hows the service from Mazda?

Safe Driving,

Alex

[Arthur Dent]

My wife's Nissan Quest has been reasonably solid so far but the dealership experiance is pretty horrid. 

[Leviathan]

Leviathan:   How are you enjoying your Tribute and hows the service from Mazda?

Tribute has been a great and the 4WD most appreciated with the heavy rain and the odd snow fall we've had around Vancouver this year. Mazda service has been good but, then again, I haven't required anything more than getting the tires balanced & an oil change

[Julie]

Julie:  I have some pictures posted under the gallery section on the toolbar where it says: Home, Profile, My Messages, Logout, etc.  If that does not work check out my cardomain website. I cannot post the link but my username is abmw323i.

Saw it on the Gallery! Beautiful. 

Although I chose the TSX, my experience at the BMW dealer was so pleasant (in fact, it was the best one besides where I finally got my Acura) that I am definitely going to look at a BMW again for a future car. Others who have owned/own BMWs say the same thing about the dealership experience.

By the way, there is a member called Bobby who also has a 2007 323i, and he had a picture with a plate showing "JUSTA323". I don't remember now if it was his plate or the dealer's.

Welcome to the forum!

[ALEXis22]

Julie:  Acura is a great car.  I used to own a 97' Intergra back in the day and I was very happy with the service department at my local dealer.  As for the TSX that is a beautiful car as well.  I test drove one and was very happy with the performance and handeling of the vehicle.  My father bought an 06' TL a year ago and he was considering the TSX as well....  To this day we both agree that the front seats are a lot more comfortable in the TSX than in the TL.  What colour did you get?  I love the pearl white on that vehicle.

As for the JUST A 323, that is my sister and brother in law's bmw...  It is actually their plate which they bought before they even had the car!!  The dealer was excellent and had the vehicle in the showroom on the day of  delivery! We used to have similar plates when I drove my 320i: JUST A 320.  lol   Now we have the same 3 series so I just get a normal plate...

I think I have to think of a catchy plate.  When I was driving in Oakville last week I was at a stoplight beside a black cabriolet M3: his plate read  L8 4A D8.   

If you have any pics I'd love to see your TSX

Cheers,  Alex

[Julie]

Here's the thread where my pics are: http://www.canadiandriver.com/forum/index.php/topic,48920.0.html

(The first ones are kinda dark, I posted brighter ones the day after in the thread.)

It's black with the parchment interior, but I agree that pearl white is very stylish!

You will be experiencing the ultimate in sports sedan balance and feel with the BMW 

[dave 2]

I hadn't seen these before.   Real nice!  (I guess we're waaaaay off topic here  )

 There's something about a black car...

[Julie]

I hadn't seen these before.   Real nice!  (I guess we're waaaaay off topic here  )

 There's something about a black car...

Thanks Dave. 

[Trainman]

I bought a 2002 Pathfinder used.  It has been to the dealer in Kamloops a couple of times for regular maintenance and I have had no issues.  They do not even charge extra for re and re'ing the steel skid plates I had put on (makes oil, filter and trannie service a "challange"  ).

So no, I can not say that my Nissan dealer experience has been bad but I did not have any warranty claims either (it is now long off the 100,000 km powertrain warranty), just the opposite.  First time I brought it in (for a trannie service, who knows if the PO had done one at 40,000 km as required) they ran the VIN through their system to see if there was any outstanding recalls or work orders (I had already done that when I bought it but it was nice they did it without asking), also told me it had had the water pump replaced under warranty as the only warranty work done.  So I am quite happy with my Nissan dealer.

[inco]

I'm sorry to hear that your experience was so bad Alex, but like Trainman we had no issues with our old Nissan Sentra. That was a 96 and the only thing that went wrong was an alternator. The car had been serviced in Ajax and Newmarket and both were good dealers.

What I don't understand though is that because it was under warranty they are obligated to fix it. After the first time I would plunk the Service Manager down on the seat and head for a car wash. If it still leaked they keep the car until it's fixed and I have a loaner. Don't waste my time dealer.

And if they can't fix it and the company won't step up then it's off to CAMVAP and a full refund of your money or a new vehicle. I would not have turned around and traded it losing money in the process. But that's just me and I wasn't in your shoes to question your decision at the time.

On the bright side though you did change to a far better car.

[ALEXis22]

Trainman:

I like the Pathfinder's....I've always been attracted to that boxier style on the truck...I.e., Landrover, Pathfinder, Xterra.  I am glad everything is going well with your truck!  It is always great when a dealer takes pride in their business and are successfull in both the sales and service.  In my opinion the service is more important then the initial sale of the vehicle. You always want repeat customers and of course, word of mouth is very important in the auto business. It builds a nice raport.

Inco: My experience with nissan from the orginial purchase of the vehicle was so-so, and then it went downhill from there!

For starters, they ordered the wrong truck for me!  I wanted the grey with blue/black interior.... I went to view the truck before the delivery date (luckily)...Anyways, I talked to the Sales Manager.... he said oh no thats the blue interior....I was like no that truck is grey on grey....  He went to show me a god damn brouchure of the colours available for the xterra .... I said listen this truck is not the right interior colour, he finally went outside to look at it with me, and low and behold I was right!

I hate doing their job for them...How come I had to point that out? On the bill of sale it specifically stated the colour choice I wanted.... Sad thing was, the sales manger actually traded for that truck--it was his mistake not my sales guys. Now they had to trade for another truck...

I got a call that night, oh sorry there are no trucks around with your colour choice.... I really wanted that cool funky blue/black interior...[check out the nissan website... that interior is sweeet....]

I told him okay that's fine I don't want the truck then......  I get a call back 10 minutes later, and all of a sudden he found one near the end of production in the USA and he could get it to me in a few weeks....  Isn't it funny, he finally can sell me what I want after I almost walked away from the sale.

To be perfectly honest, I feel If I was a middle aged man I wouldve received better service.  Being a young woman, I feel they wanted to walk all over me.  When I had a meeting with the financial manager, we were talking about payment, and i said oh yeah i already have the money draft...he was like oh okay well I can hold on to it until you pick up your truck... I was like what are you nuts?

Anyways, I did voice my complaints with this dealer... I questioned the Manager many times and I had to force him to give me a bloody loaner vehicle... At first, they tried to give me a 02' used car....and I said no I want an suv, and luckily they complied to that.


In the end, I was just so unhappy with the service I didn't want to drive their vehicle anymore. As for them giving me a new car...haha yeah I asked that, I even wrote letters and called numerous times to Nissan Canada....no one cared. I paid cash for the truck, so they had their money....I was really surprised how Nissan Canada was not helpfull....And as for the letter I wrote, I received no response back.  In the end, they lost a customer. 

Anyways, enough of me complaining....