I finally called NNA and opened a file with them concerning the Tire Feathering and Pulling to the Right issues. For those of you that has had more than one set of front tires replaced, has the dealership alligned your tires with no questions asked? My tech was giving me a hard time about getting an allignment because it was comepleted twice before. He ended up alligning all four saying that the dealership had to pay for it because NIssan is only paying for one free allignment. He said at this point any more allignment would be my responsibility. My problem with this is, if they are repalcing my tires because of a problem with the vehicle,WHY would I need to pay for the allignment?

 

my dealer told me the same thing. Now how do you replace tires without an alignment? First of all they stall you till the milage on the car is closer to 12500 so that when the noise comes back and it will, you will be over that milage. That being the case, They can argue an alignment because those @#$%&* know that it won't make a difference anyway because they don't plan to pay for an alignment that won't matter.

 

I have replaced all 4 tires before w/o an alignment. I wouldn't do that on the Z. I wouldn't let that tech do an alignment after I got my new tires. I would do it at a shop that specializes, and I would look for a new dealer, if possible.

 

I have 4 of the larger rear tires on my car. I have chromed track rims with the larger 18" tires on all 4 rims and I haven't any problems with the VDC. I have had this only for 200 miles so it is too early to tell concerning the feathering, however, there hasn't been any problems.

Az240z

 

I have replaced all 4 tires before w/o an alignment. I wouldn't do that on the Z. I wouldn't let that tech do an alignment after I got my new tires. I would do it at a shop that specializes, and I would look for a new dealer, if possible.

 

My 2nd set of RE040's was feathering and roaring like a truck. Since they were feathering on both inside & outside, the delaership said it wouldn't do any good to swap them. They know I'm not happy; we're waiting for this impending fix announcement.

Since the rears were getting bald, I just bought 4 new tires and after they were installed today I took it to a performance alignment shop. Guess what? Front toe-in was at 2mm total (the specs in the latest TSB) when I brought it in. That pretty much proves to me that the feathering won't be fixed by setting toe-in to 2mm like Nissan says.

 

Bhobson, did you buy RE040's again? I hope that you are planning on having Nissan reimburse you for your expense. Let them buy you tires until they fix the problem. If your dealer won't help you, then call Nissan and bring up safety issues of driving with feathered tires.

 

BD:
part of the problem is the alignment stays within specs, but the tires still feather. I had my tires replaced at 9400 and now at 15000 they are bad again.

 

My dealer is saying there is no pending fix announcement. He is sharing in the frustration that he cannot satisfy his customers.
This is a mess!!!

 

Oh, no. The dealership replaced them once and they feathered again. I didn't want another pair of RE040s so I bought a set of four Kumho KU19's.

I really don't think it's fair to make Nissan (or Bridgestone) supply me with tires forever, whether there's something wrong with the suspension or not. Between the two sets I got about how many miles I SHOULD have gotten out of the stock front tires so I'm satisfied. I have a good relationship with my dealership, they understand that I'm concerned about the issue and eager for a permanent fix. We're both hoping to hear something soon from Nissan.

I heard that there is a pending fix announcement not only from my dealer but also from NNA customer service. If no new fix is announced, and the new tires start feathering, then we'll have a serious talk.

I'm not sure there are safety issues of driving with feathered tires. I just ran Virginia International Raceway for a weekend with feathered RE040s and they were fine. I didn't take it easy on them.

 

It's not the tires! expect the worse till they fix the suspension geometry. I'm waiting to buy some 19"s and wish I could soon but they get expensive to replace evry 5 to 10k mi
HAS ANYONE HAD A SUCESSFUL REPAIR TO THIS PROBLEM?

 

Well, I have about 2000 miles on my current set of front tires, and the noise is ridiculous. Its going into the dealer again on Thursday. If this attempt doesn't do it, I'm done. Not even going to mess around with BBB process, I plan to secure an attorney and go for a full refund. I feel that is fair after wasting so much of my time with all these trips to the dealer, as well as the time spent arguing with NNA and the dealer just to get service.

 

Nissan replaced my fronts with Michelin Pilot Sports A/S for free.

 

Yeah, I don't know if that's a timing issue or what. I asked for something different than the RE040s and was flatly refused. The one thing that has been consistent in this whole mess is the inconsistency with which it has been handled.

 

Not sure of the significance of 12,500 miles. II have seen references in these posts, but can't find any limitations in my warranty book. Can someone enlighten me?

Thanks
1

 

to my knowledge the 12,000 or 2 year whichever is first is a tire warranty. that doesnt make a whole lot of sense cause this is clearly not a bridgestone problem. sure the OEM 040's are the crappiest things on the road, but the tire still shouldnt feather in and of itself unless there was a fault with the car. this may be wrong but i was told the 12k mile has to do with thetire itself.

 

I was told by my service writer that there is a 12,500 mile "adjustment" warranty, beyond which certain things that qualify as adjustments cannot be done for free. Alignments qualify as adjustments.

 

I'm tired of dealers looking for loopholes to not solve a KNOWN problem. This is a defect. No two ways about it.

 

I think you misunderstand something.

Who gets most of the money you paid for your car? Not the dealer. Nissan. Who is responsible for paying for warranty work? Not the dealer. Nissan. Who controls what qualifies as warranty work? Again, not the dealer. Nissan.

When the dealer does warranty work they submit a bill to Nissan, and if Nissan agrees that it's covered under warranty they get reimbursed for it. The dealer LOVES doing warranty work that they get reimbursed for; it's money in their pocket, it keeps their guys' paychecks coming. If the dealer does the work and Nissan denies that it's covered, the dealer gets screwed and it's not their fault, except that they were nice enough to do the work without being sure they'd get reimbursed.

Dealerships are, in a lot of ways, not in an enviable position. They have very little control over the quality of the product they sell, but they're responsible for fixing it and being the public face for Nissan. They generally understand this is a defect and they WANT to do the warranty work, but if it goes against what is normally automatically covered under warranty then we, the owners, need to contact Nissan and get Nissan to contact the dealer and agree to pay for it.

Now don't start calling me a dealer-lover or other nasty names. I've never worked for a dealer but I have learned a few things and the above is, in general how it works.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bhobson333
[B]I think you misunderstand something.

Who gets most of the money you paid for your car? Not the dealer. Nissan. Who is responsible for paying for warranty work? Not the dealer. Nissan. Who controls what qualifies as warranty work? Again, not the dealer. Nissan.

i totally agree with this. i too have the upmost respect for my dealer and their ability to work with me knowing that the tire issue was not going to be paid for by nissan since i was over 12k until this"fix" came out and then they even said that they werent sure if it ever was going to come out.

my dealer has often said that they want me to bring the car in for anything covered under warranty and have actively called me about things i wasnt even aware of cause like you said its damn near sure money for them. if anything you can rest assured that dealers love warranty work, no haggling over prices or anything. simply just do the work and get paid for it.

now when things get near or out of warranty thats when fellow owners are receiving flack from dealers. this is the sole reason for the inconsistency in dealing with this. some dealers probably have a "no leniency" policy where they only do what is warranted and no more because they cant afford to do otherwise, those are the owners getting only OEM tires and only under 12k, because NISSAN will reimburse 100%. other dealers will hold customer satisfaction at a higher value maybe because they are bigger and will offer or agree to better replacements like the S03's or something cause they can afford to swallow the cost difference to save a customer. thats just the business world we live in. either way bottom line is this inconsistency ends up making Nissan look bad overall and right fully so because they need to step up to plate and fix this once and for all.