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Car Forum / Nissan / Nissan Cars / August 2008OK do I trust my dealer or my local repair shop?
Over the years I have been using this local repair shop that specialized in Japanese cars, I have been going there now for over ten years and they are pretty competitively priced and always friendly, and I am not car literate some when they asked me to do something I usually told them to go ahead and do it and never questioned it or checked that it has been done. Occasionally I will take my car to the dealers because some services the local shop don't do, tires, body work etc... Recently I got a coupon from the Nissan dealer with a $9.99 oil lube filter service special so I took it in. They told me in addition to the oil change I need a fuel induction service on my 2002 Nissan Altima because there are tons of carbon buildup and that would be $160. I told them to not do it and that I would wait. I later took the Altima to the local repair shop when I had to replace the engine mounts and I told them to check the fuel intake and if I needed a fuel induction service, they told me yes I need it and it would be $80 so I did it. That was three weeks ago. Today the engine light is on and the local repair shop is closed due to family emergency so I took it to the dealer again. They told me it's the catalytic converter that is failing and it would be $900 to replace it OUCH!!! but they also told me I really need a fuel induction service as the there are too much carbon build up. So if there are too much carbon build up and I had that service done by the local shop three weeks ago, then something is wrong. I don't know how to check for it myself, so how can I tell what is really going on? I hate to think I have been going to a shop for 10 years and been paying for services that may or may not have been faithfully carried out. > Over the years I have been using this local repair shop that specialized in > Japanese cars, I have been going there now for over ten years and they are [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > think I have been going to a shop for 10 years and been paying for services > that may or may not have been faithfully carried out. I would not totally trust either the dealer of the local shop. My first guess is that the local shop probably used seafoam to clean out the intake and enough of it got through to the oxygen sensor(s) to cause the trouble light to come on. Before you spring for a catalytic converter, check out the oxygen sensors. The downstream sensor serves no purpose other than monitoring the efficiency of the cat. If it gets contaminated, it can appear the converter is bad when it really is just the sensor. Whether or not there is still enough build up (or ever was) to warrant (more) cleaning, I would get another opinion from a different source who isn't already committed to it. Axiom of Auto Repair 1) The cost of a visit to a local repair shop is directly proportional to the payment on his 22' bass boat. 2) The cost of a visit to a dealer repair shop is directly proportional to the payment on his 45' cabin cruiser. Steve > Over the years I have been using this local repair shop that specialized > in Japanese cars, I have been going there now for over ten years and they [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > to think I have been going to a shop for 10 years and been paying for > services that may or may not have been faithfully carried out. you can believe this or not . EVERY dealership has standard operating procedure . when a vehicle comes in for service , it's not leaving without them finding something wrong or making something wrong . i.e. you take your vehicle in for an electrical problem re: your lights , in reality , it's a bulb . when you pick up the vehicle , the bill is $ 300.00 . does that sound familiar ? NEVER take your car to a dealer for ANYTHING !!!! the only thing you can be sure of is that you will truly get SCREWED !!!!!! they are a bunch of WHORES !!!!!! boy , that felt good . dick > Over the years I have been using this local repair shop that specialized > in Japanese cars, I have been going there now for over ten years and they [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > to think I have been going to a shop for 10 years and been paying for > services that may or may not have been faithfully carried out. > you can believe this or not . EVERY > dealership has standard operating procedure . [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > they are a bunch of WHORES !!!!!! > boy , that felt good . That's an gross exaggeration. Dealers usually do charge more, and try to justify that by their training and expertise on the makes they service. That cuts both ways. Back when I worked in the industry, I saw many cases of unjustifiably expensive repairs carried out by non-specialists, just by guessing at what part to replace next to solve a problem (claiming all needed replacing). The vast majority of dealers don't invent or manufacture faults. Some do, but I've seen service managers sacked when the dealer ownership discovered such behaviour (by internal checks). No dealership in my experience has the kind of procedures you claim. John what's the weather like on your planet ? dick >> you can believe this or not . EVERY >> dealership has standard operating procedure . [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > John > what's the weather like on your planet ? Forecast for Tuesday Fine and sunny day with moderate southerly winds. Precis: Fine, sunny. City: Max 12 Chance of rainfall: 5%. Winds on Lake: Southerly 15-25 km/h. John >> you can believe this or not . EVERY >> dealership has standard operating procedure . [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > and try to justify that by their training and expertise on the > makes they service. I once took my old P10 Nissan Primera (SR20De engine) to my dealer because of gearbox oddities. They said the TPS needed replacing. They fitted a new TPS which was even worse. Despite visiting two different Nissan dealers, none of them knew how to resolve the issue. When I got my car home, I found the second screw that they couldn't find and adjusted the TPS myself to within spec. The new TPS did not make a difference and wasn't the problem. Probably never was the problem, but was an easy thing to blame. Another Nissan garage said my O2 sensor was on the way out. So I bought one. Made no difference to economy or running. D. wrote: >>> you can believe this or not . EVERY >>> dealership has standard operating procedure . [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >>> they are a bunch of WHORES !!!!!! >>> boy , that felt good . I wrote: >> That's an gross exaggeration. Dealers usually do charge >> more, and try to justify that by their training and expertise >> on the makes they service. > I once took my old P10 Nissan Primera (SR20De engine) to my > dealer because of gearbox oddities. They said the TPS needed [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Another Nissan garage said my O2 sensor was on the way out. So > I bought one. Made no difference to economy or running. I tend to agree with you on this aspect. In my recent experiences with dealerships (cars under warranty) they have not always shown the degree of competence I expected. John >D. wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] > >John It's not helped by some of the codes the OBD sends out. Look at all the stuff that went on just because a few people were not competent to secure the gas cap. (though they probably deserve everything they got) Then there is the Nissan ECU test on old 2 led systems. You may get to a point where the leds won't flash in sync at 2000rpm, about 9 times in 10 secs, it says "replace ECU". What it really means is: you failed to do the preparation for the test correctly and have an air leak in the induction system. But yes the manual has specific on vehicle and bench tests for each part. Fault finding by replacement of parts at customer expense is not professional. A lot of the problem lies in the way contracts to fix vehicle faults are made. You take it in, they look at it, you get their advice, you then contract them to carry out the suggested work. If the suggested work fails to fix it, they just did what you contracted them to and you have no redress.  SignaturePeter Hill Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header Can of worms - what every fisherman wants. Can of worms - what every PC owner gets! My Nissan dealer has never found anything wrong (not counting corrosion on the battery terminals). Worse yet, the inspection that goes with the lube didn't find a couple of things that it should have. SignatureEd Light Better World News TV Channel: http://realnews.com Bring the Troops Home: http://bringthemhomenow.org http://antiwar.com Iraq Veterans Against the War: http://ivaw.org http://couragetoresist.org Send spam to the FTC at spam@uce.gov Thanks, robots. > My Nissan dealer has never found anything wrong (not counting corrosion > on the battery terminals). Worse yet, the inspection that goes with the > lube didn't find a couple of things that it should have. Both my dealer and local oil change shop failed me on their inspection. Neither noticed that the rubber tubing on my EGR had failed due to aging. Well at least I did save a bit by fixing it myself. > Over the years I have been using this local repair shop that specialized in > Japanese cars, I have been going there now for over ten years and they are [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > think I have been going to a shop for 10 years and been paying for services > that may or may not have been faithfully carried out. Yes they both sound like they're giving you a line. What is the year and mileage of this car, I'm surprised at all the problems you've had. i rest my case !!!! dick >> Over the years I have been using this local repair shop that specialized >> in [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] > What is the year and mileage of this car, I'm surprised at all the > problems you've had. >> Over the years I have been using this local repair shop that specialized >> in [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] > What is the year and mileage of this car, I'm surprised at all the > problems you've had. Pathfinder 1999.5 SE Limited. |
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