Stabber

I bought a 03 Z from a dealer new a week ago. It had 796 miles on it when I took delivery. It runs good, but how can you tell if it was broken in properly??? I havent gone past 4000 RPMS yet so I dont know how it acts past there.

Also, does 796 miles mean the car is a demo and they lied? They sold it to me as new. They had another one there with 2000 miles that WAS being sold as a demo.

Blue Liquid

I'm going to suggest that 726 miles should not have been sold as 'new'. Mine had 7 miles on it when I picked it up. And as far as i know, there's really no way of knowing if it was properly driven so far, because there isn't any particular thing that happens or doesn't happen to an engine during break-in that can be looked for. I think you may find out many many miles down the road if you discover abnormal oil burning issues or something of that nature, due to the possibility of the rings being seated improperly?

danotto

If you paid sticker price for your "new" car I would push for a free extended warrenty. It is NOT too late to do this.

Stabber

I already purchased an extended warranty. :crossing my fingers:everything is going to be ok

Would the performance of the vehicle reflect how it was broken in?

Also, you can pull info off the ECU to see how it was driven, correct? Please tell me I do not have to see a Nissan dealer in order to do this??? Idealy, I would like to see a printout of that

danotto

I would first call Nissan 1-800-647-7261 and file a complaint that a car with 700 miles was sold to you "as new". Then I would fight that THEY pay for the extended warrenty, NOT YOU. You are in the "drivers seat" in this situation. It took me two weeks to put 700 miles on my car. Who is to say that your car was not sold to someone, and then two weeks later his loan was rejected. Happens all the time, and then they want to sell it to you as new. I would fight this to the end...

NOW, just because your car "may not" have been broken in properly does not mean that there will be problems down the road, and there have even been reports that cars that are driven hard during break-in perform better than cars that were babied. I cannot really comment on this because I am always too scared to be hard on a car during break-in, but some people swear by a rough break-in. YMMV

jackwhale

Stabber: The computer has memory for certain events which have occurred. On another thread, a fellow who had been to the drag strip went to the dealer to complain about his broken transmission. The dealer hooked the car up to the computer and told him that he had been racing the car.

A dealer could probably do that to your car to see if the computer memory had logged any serious problems with how the car was driven. I also think that the dealer should explain to you how your 'new' car got so many miles on it.

Stabber

Thanks guys.
Danatto, I have heard the same thing about break in period but didnt think it held much value. I could be wrong. Where can I see this research?

jackwhale,thanks. Would it be wise to call NNA right now? Or should I ask the dealer first. I feel that I could get an honest answer from NNA, but if I **** the dealer off...they may give me a rough time with warranty work down the road. Not right, but that's how it goes.

I did a carfax on my car and it shows no trace of ownership, but there still is a possiblity it was temporarily owned right?

danotto

I would call NNA right now. The dealer will just try to cover it up, NNA will try to get to the bottom of it. Think of NNA as the Dealers supervisor. I would not worry about the dealer and future warrenty work. They make money on your warrenty work, so it would not make much sense for them to turn down any. The service department and new car sales are two different entities anyway. Each is looking to make a buck.

Stabber

Hey, called NNA and got a case number. Gave them 3 phone numbers to contact me by. They said they are contacting the dealer and will call me back in 48 hours. I told them my area of interest is in the mileage and the missing sticker.

Hope the dealer doesnt get pissed at me! LOL


He asked me if I addressed these concerns with the dealer yet and I said "not all of them" and I proceeded to tell him the specific ones I DID address. Did I lose credibility by not taking it up with the dealer first? Or was I right in going to NNA right off the bat?

thanks again

danotto

When you say missing sticker do you mean the window sticker? Was it on the car before you bought it? This is getting interesting!

Dr Bonz

iTrader: (1)

By law, doesn't the dealer HAVE to supply you with the sticker? If it was "missing" I would be VERY suspicious that this was a preowned car.

Even if it wasn't though, 700 miles is a lot of test drives and I would think that you should get SOME discount on the price of the car even if all of those miles were legit.

Jackwhale: First of all, how can the dealer know (from the ECU) if the owner was "racing". I have NEVER "raced" my car but I have driven it fast and accelerated fast (even before my supercharger). How could they tell which one it was? This is legitimate use of the car and in no way should this void the warranty.

Second, EVEN if the owner was racing his car, this also is not a valid reason to void a warranty. Lots of people buy sports cars for the purpose of racing them. The engine is MADE for it. How could a dealer refuse warranty work on a damaged tranny using this as an excuse?

danotto

Exactly what I was thinking Bonz

Stabber

Well, the window sticker wasnt "missing" really. But it wasnt on the car when I looked at it. While I was test driving it, the salesman was holding it in front of me reading it.

When I brought the car home, that same sticker was in the car. So yes, I have the sticker here.

bigdaddy

iTrader: (3)

from my experience, no automobile manufacturer has the ability to hook up to your ECU and figure out exactly what you have been doing to it during your ownership. the only time the computers will take a "snapshot" of what the car is doing is when an error code pops up. now if you break something while at 6500 rpm in 6th gear and a fault code is stored with that info recorded, you might have some issues. however, if you just come in for something routine and the dealer scans the ECU, he won't find anything. it is simply not worth it to these companies to put a computer into every vehicle they make that has the ability to monitor several things for the life of the vehicle. it is also not worth it to the dealer to hook up to every vehicle and scan every life code for reasons not to fix your car. btw, one thing most companies do build into the ECU is a recorder dealing with airbag deployment. often, when the airbag is deployed, parameters such as vehicle speed, engine speed, etc. at time of deployment are stored. this just helps them cover their butts in a lawsuit. GM's and Ford's have released the systems needed to gather this data to the public, while all other companies have kept it private.

sorry about the rant there. i just hope i am right, seeing as i drive the crap out of my car, including time at the strip.

sean

REGNiTS

Hi guys, I had 210 miles on mine, as well as 4-5 paint chips in the front facia. I made them sign and agreement that they would fix the facia chips. 2 weeks later they have repainted the facia. It's pretty neat how they cleared over bugs and dirt, and its digustingly worse. They also agreed to refix the bumper. Calling them tomorrow (not to mention the car has a gross urethane like odor inside that is so pungent, i can't drive with the windows up). Should I take the milleage issue up with NNA? I thought that was sorta strange at the time of purchase, but this is my first new car. I did not get an extended warranty. Any advise would be great. Thanks

mberthia

iTrader: (5)

By law a new car must have less than a certain number of miles. I think that figure is 100 or 120miles. It may depend on the state. In Michigan they make you sign a page that shows the odometer reading. Myself, I would never buy a car with over 30 miles on it unless it's sold 'used' or I really want it/get a good price.

jackwhale

Bonz: You probably have seen the thread I referred to. I think that the info the dealer obtained from the computer might have been date, rpm and speed. He made an assumption that this meant racing.

I was surprised when the Chevy dealer was trying to figure out what was wrong with my transmission and pulled up info about date and speed from the computer. I'd be very interested to hear from someone who has more detailed knowledge.

articfury

Stabber- I would definitely want to know the story of the car before I purchased one with that many miles as new. Did you ask the dealer about this when you were test driving it?

I agree with others, the car should have been sold at a discount or included the 100k mile extended warranty.

Bonz/jackwhale- The problem with drag racing and warranties in general is that it is a timed competition. As compared to a Driver's Edge type event where there is no timing done. If the warranty has any mention of this type of timed competition and they can prove you were there (hard to do just from and ECU) they can void the warranty. Just be glad Nissan reps haven't taken to visiting the tracks like Mitsu guys. Actually taking photos and recording license numbers.

D

yobri

iTrader: (2)

Really? That is interesting, and kinda funny... in an "owned" kind of way...

REGNiTS

I called NNA and opened a ticket for my complaint in the above reply. They stated the warranty starts when the car is sold, therefore you get 3 years/36k + existing milleage. They recognized the break-in period constraints however said I nor they could provide prove the car was damaged in the first 210 miles. I asked to have the ticket escalated, however they haven't called me back in 3 days. The dealer told me they wouldn't give me anything.

As for the paint chips, I got the car back from the *second* front bumper repainting. It still has nicks painted over, hairs in the clear, overspray on the black grill and clearcoat runs directly above the grill (looks like water is rolling down the paint). Bonz or whoever: is it possible, and should I ask now, for this dealer to supply a factory painted replacement bumper after 2 horrible repaints. Please any advise would be greatly appreciated.