Because the search forum function has been down for days now I'm going to have to start a new thread on topics that have probably already been covered. Sorry everyone.

I'm trying to cover most of what is covered in the 15000 mile maintenance for the Z. Most of it I can do: Oil Change, Wiper Blades, Engine Air Filter but some of the things I can't or I need a little help on. The first being replacing the In Cabin Microfilter. Has anyone done this? And if so any guides or tips would be appreciated.

Other than those things, I don't think I'm going to be paying Nissan $270 to basically visually inspect the car. I think that's pretty pricey. Does anyone have any opinions on that? Should I take it to a third party shop and have them look everything over at a cheaper price?

I'm not overly auto saavy. I can do some things but anything past the belts and oil changes and stuff like that I get a little lost. So any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

I just paid like $120 and had oil changed, rear diff fluid changed, trans fluid changed, and the other basic BS they do...

 

for my 15000 check up, they only charged me for the oil change. $25 if i remember correctly. you cant get the tire rotation. you can get wipers elsewhere for less. you can even change the oil if you want. hell, i just got a little ad from nissan telling me to take my car in for a complimentary 100 point inspection. if that is all you need, they shouldnt charge you. it is basically the same inspection that comes with the oil change anyway.

regardless, i would not agree to pay the full price.

hope this helps.

sean

 

I just had my 7500 mile service and it cost me 90 bucks for basically an oil change. Thats after the generous 20.00 discount they gave me because they can't rotate the tires. I'd do the oil myself (I do on all my other cars) but the underbody defuser has to be dropped, or at least a portion of it. I'd rather not mess with it.

 

wondering why you would have rear diff fluid changed at 15k miles. Doesnt that go like 60+k miles ?

 

Because I believe in driving a car hard and maintaining it exceptionally well.

 

Our cars aren't equiped with the Cabin Microfilter. I forget which Nissan cars have them, but we don't get that 'luxury' item.

 

According to the maintenance booklet, we only need to change iol and air filter. All other equip. just inspect and change if needed.

 

Having the Roadster model, I would assume that any cabin filter would not be required ;-)

 

My dealer charged me $208 for my 15,000 mile. When I asked the advisor to to tell my why it was so much for basically a glorified oil change, he ducked and dodged the question and fed me some ********. they aren't getting another dollar of my money there, and I will only go in for warranty stuff.

 

The biggest question I needed answered was the In Cabin Filter. They have them on the G35's wonder why they don't on ours. Anyhow I:

Changed the Wipers myself: www.tripledge.com Lifetime warranty and are made of Silicon. You'd be surprised how we got through wipers out here in the desert (sun kills them - not from use). That rear wiper was a pain to replace though. Geez.

Oil/Filter Change: I know a lot of you say do it yourself but I've never had a problem with Jiffy Lube and that's who I go to. At the same time I had them:

Change the Transmission Fluid: I've been having a little problem with the Transmission (manual - might need to be replaced) so I thought this might help. It didn't - see below.

Jiffy Lube also inspected the following: Wipers, Fuel Filter, Belts, Differential Fluid, Power Steering Fluid, Brake Fluid and the lubed the chassis. My Air Filter is a K&N so I've got that covered.

All told I paid about $80 between Jiffy Lube and the Wipers and I feel pretty good about the car being taken care of. That's a hell of a lot cheaper than the $270 they want to charge for doing pretty much the same thing from what I could tell.

I had to take it to the dealer anyway to fix a half dozen little issues (grease windows, trunk latch, noise when braking, PSI indicator is off, and that manual transmission issue) but that's all being taken care of for free.

Thanks for the help everyone. I recommend doing the same as I did for everyone else

 

Do we even need to perform the service at the dealership? They charged me $60 to re-seize and re-gap my sparkplugs. If I don't go there for service, will they void my warranty?

 

From what I understand, you don't have to go to the dealership for service in order to maintain your warranty. But, you must perform the sheduled maintenance outlined in your maintenance manual that was included with the new car. Keep all receipts of purchases and log everything you inspected or replaced.

I plan on doing almost everything myself because:
1. I've questioned my local dealership on various occasions, and found that their tech dept is not adept enough to inspire confidence.
2. I have a motive to do a better job at inspecting/replacing maintenance components.
3. I make much less money per hour than the rate the service dept charges. In fact, if I spend 2 hours for every hour that the service dept charges, I still end up ahead.