I know very little about cars, so I was hoping to get second opinions from people on this forum. I took my car to the dealer for a few reasons (key fob no longer working, car seems to be slipping more/poor traction on turns, and poor mileage).

They're going to fix the key FOB free of charge, but the service guy who checked my car in and did the paperwork wasn't so sure about what could be causing the poor traction and poor mileage, but recommended a few things.

For the poor mileage problem, he thought maybe the throttle body or fuel injector might be the problem, which would cost me $150 and $133, respectively, to have fixed. I said I'd been having regular maintenance as outlined in the Nissan manual and asked if the services he recommended would have already been taken care of from that, but he said no and that regardless the fuel injector (and maybe the throttle body, I can't remember) should be cleaned ever 1-2 years depending on how much you drive anyway, which didn't seem quite right to me.

So my questions are:
* Would work on the fuel injector and throttle body help my mileage?
* Are the quoted prices reasonable for this work? For the fuel injector they'd just be cleaning it, I think.
* It seems like if the fuel injector were really supposed to be cleaned every 1-2 years it would included in the Nissan recommended services manual. Is what he said about doing it every 1-2 years true?

Finally, in regards to the poor traction, I asked if wheel misalignment could be causing the problem and he didn't think so and didn't know what the problem might be, but said he see if the computer were putting out any telling "error codes." Anyone have any ideas what might cause the slippage I get when turning sometimes?

Background info: I drive a '06 350Z touring, which I bought new about 3 years ago. Also, my tires are Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 and are properly inflated with enough tread left; although, they are graying a bit from weather damage and this has lead to a small crack on one of the tire's treads. When I take my car in for scheduled maintenance no one has said the tires need replacing, but have commented on their weathered look, which is odd because I live in CA and park in a garage.

I know almost nothing, so any info anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

Slipping is probably due to tires. "enough tread life left" means to me they probably have some miles on them and in my experience with my 06 when the tires get old they get fun!!!! Those aren't bad prices. I would wonder what exactly the fuel injection service in-tales? All they due with the TB is take it off and clean the carbon build up on the back. Yes you are correct that if the fuel injector service and TB service were mandatory they should be in the manual. But they want to make some money and it won't hurt any and may help but that is your decision. Mileage in my car varies depending on how I drive but stays fairly consistent. (if I drive crazy no mileage, if I drive grandma good mileage)

 

fuel injection service is running some cleaner though the fuel system, thats about it. Both it and the TB cleaning or "induction" service are money maker things for dealerships. Parts cost is around $10, takes less than 20 min, they charge $150. I'd avoid it at all cost as it is a waste of money.

These cars get poor gas mileage in general, what is your average mileage now versus before, are you driving the same way and routes, and how are you measuring it?

Buy new tires. Old "performance" tires get hard and slippey, traction degrades pretty badly when this happens.

 

As a reference with my list of mods and MY typical driving I get 20mpg. Hyw and light mix. heavy foot I get 18-19mpg. Grandma 23mpg.

 

Use techron fuel injector cleaner. It works great for improving gas mileage on an older vehicle. I also clean the maf using maf sensor cleaner every other oil change/filter cleaning. Every 20k miles I have to clean out my intake manifold since I get a lot of blow by. Doing these maint. steps, I can get 30mpg highway and roughly 21-23 city.

 

You tell me about poor mileage but never say what poor mileage is. Is it 10 MPG? 30 MPG? Nothing wrong with the car. Back off the gas peddle.

Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 is a great street tire. That said - any tire can slip.

 

Thanks for the responses. I guess I'll pass on the fuel injector and TB cleaning. The techron fuel injector cleaner sounds good, but I don't know enough to do it myself and even if my dealer did use the techron cleaner, I don't know if a 3 yr old car is old enough that it'd get enough of a boost to warrant $133 on it.

Sorry, forgot to mention my MPG. Last time I filled the tank I got ~14 MPG, and that included highway driving and light AC use. Granted, I do live in LA, but still, I'm pretty good at avoiding traffic. When I realized how low the MPG was I tried driving around grandma style and was not doing too much better (~16 MPG city), though I did not test for that long.

I've had my tires 2.5 years and put < 15k miles on them (yeah, I realize that's pretty little). Could they really have worn out that fast?

 

Tires age from just existing along with driving on them. 2.5 years could account for your slipping. 14mpg is not good at all. If you don't drive it allot the gas could have gone bad within a week. Infrequent driving could also gum up the injectors. Go to pep boys and try to find some redline fuel injection cleaner. And if you store the car get a fuel stabilizer.

 

You are getting better mileage than I am with my 2006 RevUP. I'm averaging about 20.2 now, mostly suburban driving. Can you explain how you clean the maf sensor and intake manifold?