Hi everyone,

I wanted to share an experience I had with my local Nissan dealership, I thought you guys would get a kick out of it.

Yesterday, I dropped off my base 2003 350z to get a full inspection at my local Nissan dealership, since I just bought her and I will be going to "Friday at the Track" at Summit Point raceway. I wanted to be sure she was in tip top shape. They call me while I am driving to work in my daily driver, answering with my car phone. They report that the condition of the car is excellent, especially for a 2003, expect for three things. They said I need to get a Coolant flush for 150 dollars, a Fuel Injector flush for 168 dollars, and the my valve cover was leaking some oil, so I needed to get the gaskets replaced for 850 dollars. All this immediately raised a red flag. I was thinking " DAMN THAT IS EXPENSIVE." I told them to hold off on the service while I checked things out....

I researched our wonderful forums. What I found was basically that I don't really need to get a coolant flush or injector flush, they were just trying to make me spend money. So I decided to not get those services, (haven't called them back yet). Then I called my local Motorsports shop to get a qoute from them. They are going to charge me somewhere around 380 dollars for the gasket replacement.

I called them at the end of the day. They said they finished the service for the Fuel Injector Flush and Coolant Flush, but held off on the gasket replacement. I reminded him that I didn't say for them to do that.

So, a long story short, I got those services for free.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before with Dealer service? How ridiculously expensive they are, and them making mistake like they did with me, or just in general?

This is not the first time I've had this issue with a dealer (for a different car).

Cheers,

HydeCiel

 

cliff notes?

 

typical dealer sh..

 

I flush my fuel injectors every time I drive the car.

The original coolant is still in my ten-year-old Silverado and our eight-year-old Accord, and the part that's in the overflow tank is still the same color. I've never had to add any coolant, so the caps have never been removed from the radiator or the overflow tank on either vehicle.

 

Here is the thing about dealers and I can say this because I work for one. The service advisor more that likely thought that you were going to say yes to the services, because you wanted your car in tip-top shape. Thats when he took it upon himself to tell the tech to go ahead and complete the services since he thought that you were going to be spending money with them. But thats good that you didnt come out spending any money because you as the customer did not tell him to do any services and that now falls on the service advisors dumb decision. But the valve cover gaskets are easy to do.

 

Yes they are very expensive, but i am also most comfortable letting them do the work on the car when i cant. My local dealership is great. My service adviser is really knowledgeable about our cars and a pretty stand up guy. And he's always understanding about my concerns when i get my car serviced:

Do not touch the wheels
Do not wash.

haha.

Ive never gotten it serviced for free, but ive gotten discounts etc before..

 

Thats not good to have the coolant in for that long. It should honestly be changed every 30-40k miles or 3yrs. It starts to beakdown and offers no protection to the engine or the cooling system. You should really consider changing the fluids if you have seen what I have seen then you would change your mind. But they are you vehicles and you do that you want.

 

They probably gave it to you for free because they didn't do the work at all....

 

If you've never had the coolant replaced, then it's about 4-5 years overdue.

Injector cleaning is a waste IMO.

Check the DIY forum on gasket replacement. Unless you are mechanically inclined and have the time and tools, having them do it might be money well spent.

Just to put it in perspective for you - I own a SLK300. MB charges over $300 to change the engine and cabin air filters. I bought the filters for $75 and spent the hour changing them myself.

 

I would say an actual fuel injector service is a waste.However as a technician I truly believe in a intake service.The amount of build up that happens in the intake trac is more than you can see.The intake service will take care of most carbon build up,and pcv builup too.Coolant is also important.The manufactuer recommends a certain interval because they have done the r&d to know when they break down and need to be replaced.Its not just the coolant color,its the reaction to the metals in the cooling system as well.

 

I guess you have a bad nissan dealer but every dealer is different.

I got my rear brakes done in August by Nissan
I needed front brakes in September and brought it to a private mechanic for service. He told me I needed my the rear brakes replaced too. Moral of the story I don't trust what the mechanic usually tells me.

 

If thats the case, you should have paperwork and the right to get your money back from the dealer seeing that they didn't perform the work that they charged you for.

 

^all why i do all myself...

 

Hey, are you on NIclub as well? I think you are, my username is Arvin on that.

I go to regency in North Van, its in the automall. The guy to talk to is David, he's the youngest looking (late 20's). Is the oil thing transferrable?

 

I seafoamed my car right before I went to the dealer for other services. My usual guy was sick, so the adviser asked if I wanted to get my fuel injectors cleaned ($177). I said no, do you think seafoaming it was enough of a clean?(Lots of white smoke during seamfoaming btw).

 

I do all my work, simple and easy.

 

What he's saying is the private shop tried to screw him into replacing the rears as well. Moral of the story, stay away from shaddy and unreputable shops. And always double check the work, if possible.

 

If you use a dealer service center for ANYTHING other than WARRANTY work
you are a certified IDIOT MORON that deserves to get SCREWED.

 

good thing you didn't get suckered into buying those services. word of advice: stay away from stealerships from now on. do some more research here and learn to do the repairs and maintenance yourself or find a reliable, affordable performance shop to help you

 

Thanks for the advice, that is exactly what I will be doing from now on, BoomerZ33. I am a noob, but I really want to learn. I got my 350z as a project car, so I can start learning to repair, upgrade, and maintain my own cars. The whole reason I didn't get ripped off is because I did my research on the forum here .

I actually did find a great shop in my area, a Motorsports shop to be exact, I also asked their opinion on the services suggested, they said it was a rip, also they helped me out for free a few times, good guys over at Atlantic Motorsports in Gaithersburg, MD!!