Bought my '08 Nismo Z used about a year and a half ago with 35,000 miles. When I bought it, noticed a slight ticking noise from the engine/drivetrain area. Been working on cars for a while and didn't like the sound of it.

Took it to Poway Nissan immediately and they said it was not the engine but was something in the bell housing area and I would have to agree to potentially pay for tear down and inspection. Clutch was working fine and car was driving fine so I said no figuring they should know what they are doing (obvious mistake)

Now, car has 50,000 miles and clutch is starting to slip so I took it to Mossey Nissan for them to install my clutch. Mentioned the noise, which is still there, and they called me this morning saying they believe it is in the engine. They have put in a claim to see if they can get the engine under the powertrain warranty.

Hopefully Nissan will come through but I am preparing for a fight. Just hate freakin incompetence and shouldn't have trusted Poway Nissan.

 

Damn thats lame... I hope everything works out for you a new motor would be nice.

 

I agree to both (lame and new motor)

 

I tried doing the same, I had a ticking noise but my 03 was waaaay out of warranty. Unfortunately they could not replace it because it was years out of warranty. I ended getting a used motor and swapping it in. If you complain enough they will call you back. They told me they have to investigate every consumer complaint. It takes like a day or two for them to call you back. Anyways good luck.

 

Hey Jason -

Hope everything works out! My advice would be to also get in touch with nissan consumer affairs also and explain your situation. Worked for me. Be nice!

In one year (as you know) I had a new motor and clutch/fly installed at no cost.

 

I am hoping it doesn't come to the consumer affairs route but thanks for the info.

 

I would have made the 1.5 hour drive to Fontana Nissan, pretty safe to say they can be trusted.

 

You are in warranty at 50k and have on record the issue was present at 35k. If they don't fix it you can take them to court and win.

I had almost exactly this situation with Acura in the mid 90's on my 96 Acura CL with the known bad transmission.

Starting at 15k I told them every time I went in the transmission was slipping. By 30k when the warranty was over I had over 20 invoices stating the issue. When it failed at 32k they refused to fix it. I took them to small claims court and won.

Good luck.

 

I thought about it and probably should have but if the car couldn't come back with me, I would have had to figure out a way home. Still regretting not doing it.

I agree that I should have a good "case" just hate having to go through the hassle for something that should be taken care of. I am hoping Nissan comes through without any hassle. Either way, thanks for the info.

 

Sorry to hear that Jason, that is truly awful. Any updates from the dealer?

 

Nope. Talked to him yesterday and he still had not heard back from Nissan HQ. Said they are probably catching up from the holiday weekend. I am going to call tomorrow if I haven't heard anything and probably will pick up the car if nothing is going on with it.

Car runs fine so no problem continuing to drive it if I didn't want to leave it at the dealership.

 

was it like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdayOo8cVmk

 

Nope. More of a ticking.

Either way, I just found out that they are starting with a new short block. If they find any issue with the heads they will take care of it as well but they are starting with the short block.

So far, Nissan is coming through

 

Congrats. I hope it solves the issue.

 

Well picked up the car today and all I can say is a big thumbs up to Mossy Nissan in Kearney Mesa!

Short Block under warranty with no fuss
Reasonable time frame to get the car back to me
Good communication throughout the process

Also replaced my clutch at the same time so the car is good to go. Had plenty of bad experiences with shops but it seemed like John, the tech who worked on it, really knows his stuff.

Happy to have the car back and even happier to get it back without a huge bill.

 

Nissan doesn't replace longblocks anymore? damn wtf.

 

Good to hear J! Glad it all worked out. Kearny mesa takes care of people, super cool.