Squeak or Tension on the Roof Area
11-30-2008, 06:30 PM
#106
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Refusing to take the car will not accomplish anything and quite simply will not work. In a situation like this where there is a chance that the problem is fixed but the vehicle had extensive repairs, the customer can request a dealer buyback which they might do to maintain customer relations and not hurt their reputation or a goodwill deal where they actually trade your car in but offer cash to make up for the depreciation. This allows everyone to save face. A manufacturer does not want a lemon law car because it is expensive to go through the process and even more expensive if and when they lose. The goodwill and buyback are typically up to the manufacturers sales representative. With Infiniti competing with other luxury brands in a depressed economy, they might be more willing to offer some incentives to get a new car and stay with the brand. I have seen buybacks for some very trivial things and I have seen others that should have been bought back and were not. I hate to say it, but it just depends on the situation. That brings me back to my original statement about refusing to pick the car up. That is a childish response and it is almost certain to fail. If you want the dealer/manufacturer to be reasonable, you have to do the same. To your point about not wanting a car with all that work, I am with you on that and I intend to pursue some sort of buyback/goodwill regardless of the final repair result. I have kept good records and made careful-detailed notes of everything so that when and if I need to discuss this, I am prepared. This particular car is my fourth from this dealer in the past 2 years so I believe I have demonstrated a certain degree of loyalty that should aid in my pursuit of a remedy, but you just never really know. Regardless of the steps needed to fix this, if it is accomplished successfully, the dealer really has no other obligation to the customer. I have worked around and owned quite a few luxury cars and when you go to sell one, the first thing most buyers want to know is if there has been work done. Service records are easy to find and this type of thing will almost definitely require an explanation the I would not want to give to a perspective buyer. The other thing is if this issue continues to grow as it appears to be, most educated buyers will be tuned into this and the word will get out to stay away from this year of this car for that reason. BMW faced this with their oil cooler problem on the 335i. When I was in the market for one, I knew which VIN's did not have an oil cooler and which ones I would consider. In this case, I simply would not buy one unless it had the update or was built with the oil cooler. I am sure there are others that will argue with some of my points, but I have been the customer, dealer representative, expert witness and goodwill advocate and I have no incentive to steer you wrong. I just see a lot of false statements regarding lemon law and I finally had to say something. As a note, I would not immediately ask for a buyback. Wait and see how the car is and continue to keep notes. If you believe the repairs were too invasive and you really have a case, then you should proceed to call the manufacturer and seek remedy. Personally, I would try to lead them them into discussing buybacks before I brought it up.
Last edited by goadee; 11-30-2008 at 07:21 PM.
11-30-2008, 06:45 PM
#107
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Just a note about the 39 days. I am not going to say that that amount of time is reasonable, but allow me to provide another example. I had an Audi that was in service for exactly 156 days out of the first 180 days that I owned it. Of the days the car was at my house, several were when I was waiting on the dealer to come pick up the car for service, three were waiting on an insurance agent to look at the front end that was dragged along my driveway while they tried to pick it up on a flatebed to take to the dealer and about a week of it was me driving it around while a huge plume of white smoke poured out of it. It could be worse...
11-30-2008, 08:11 PM
#109
I guess everything is relative, 156 days must have been torture. Thanks again for the comments.
Being the dealer was willing to drop the car off, I don't expect them to do/offer anything to help manage a negative situation with my first Nissan car. I want to pick it up so I have an opportunity to get documentation on all work that was done, and pictures, as was promised. Hopefully the car is really done tomorrow as claimed (again.)
I'll just consider switching dealerships for service in the future. But first I'll wait to see what is said and the condition of the my car when I pick it up.
Being the dealer was willing to drop the car off, I don't expect them to do/offer anything to help manage a negative situation with my first Nissan car. I want to pick it up so I have an opportunity to get documentation on all work that was done, and pictures, as was promised. Hopefully the car is really done tomorrow as claimed (again.)
I'll just consider switching dealerships for service in the future. But first I'll wait to see what is said and the condition of the my car when I pick it up.
12-15-2008, 09:49 PM
#110
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Problem Solved
Got my car back after about 10 days (there were issues to deal with other than the a pillar), they repaired a couple of pinch welds and installed something around the other weld. Bottom line is that there is no noise at all. Hopefully this continues and others have the same luck getting the issue resolved.
02-26-2009, 10:49 PM
#112
My dealer e-mailed me today regarding Nissan has release information on how to fix the squeak or tension from the A-Pillar area. He told me that a few bolts near the headliner and windshield need to be replaced and some caulking will need to be applied to address this problem. No welding is required nor windshield removal. Only a small section of the interior headliner will need to be removed to do this. Anyone heard anything from your dealers on this?
Last edited by Oggie; 02-26-2009 at 11:12 PM.
02-26-2009, 11:51 PM
#113
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My dealer e-mailed me today regarding Nissan has release information on how to fix the squeak or tension from the A-Pillar area. He told me that a few bolts near the headliner and windshield need to be replaced and some caulking will need to be applied to address this problem. No welding is required nor windshield removal. Only a small section of the interior headliner will need to be removed to do this. Anyone heard anything from your dealers on this?
02-27-2009, 07:40 AM
#115
To follow up on my A-Pillar issue, I did get my car back after 39 days (12/1/08). The work order simply stated "Found loose welds in A Pillar seam, Removed interior, send for repairs, reinstall all pieces." I was furious with the lack of details, so I questioned the service Tech, this is what I was told:
The problem was in the A Pillar where two pieces of metal overlap. With certain twisting and bumps, these two pieces would rub/bang against each other making the noise. After consulting Infiniti, they sent the car to the body shop to weld the two pieces together. Apparently the body shop did not think the weld was the proper fix and offered other suggestions to correct (did not say what they were.) In the mean time, there was another dealer addressing the same problem and Infiniti was also involved. The solution for that car was not to tack weld, but separate the pieces of metal. (Did not say how they were separated, but I heard something alluding to bending of metal.)
They said Infiniti instructed them how to fix the problem by separating the two pieces of metal and did not want the tack welding done, so the body shop did nothing. I never did receive additional documentation or copies of the pictures taken.
When driving home after picking up the car, I heard another noise in the same area, but more of a creak then a subtle rattle. I'll summarize the next steps since it is a long story. After many phone calls, I met with the Regional Rep who drove with me to hear the noise. I could tell he was well aware of the A-Pillar issues and could differentiate the sounds, and explained the different materials. He could tell the rattle problem was fixed, but they creak was due to putting the car back together. (My earlier post mention they had the door stripped down and windshield replaced.) He worked to get the problem resolved, made it a priority at that dealership. They worked to my schedule and made sure I was satisfied. They could reproduce the creak by raising the car slightly with the lift under the drivers front wheel. They narrowed the noise down to loose bolts from side air-bag mount. They used lock-tite on the bolts.
Regional Rep also said they were aware of an A-Pillar problem, but did not know how many cars were affected. The did correct everything and I can not tell the car was taken apart. We also worked out some compensation that I won't get into.
It seemed they took so long the first time (too long) so they could document the problem. I was told they took pictures.
Hopefully it only affects a limited number of cars and now they know how to correct in a timely manner.
The problem was in the A Pillar where two pieces of metal overlap. With certain twisting and bumps, these two pieces would rub/bang against each other making the noise. After consulting Infiniti, they sent the car to the body shop to weld the two pieces together. Apparently the body shop did not think the weld was the proper fix and offered other suggestions to correct (did not say what they were.) In the mean time, there was another dealer addressing the same problem and Infiniti was also involved. The solution for that car was not to tack weld, but separate the pieces of metal. (Did not say how they were separated, but I heard something alluding to bending of metal.)
They said Infiniti instructed them how to fix the problem by separating the two pieces of metal and did not want the tack welding done, so the body shop did nothing. I never did receive additional documentation or copies of the pictures taken.
When driving home after picking up the car, I heard another noise in the same area, but more of a creak then a subtle rattle. I'll summarize the next steps since it is a long story. After many phone calls, I met with the Regional Rep who drove with me to hear the noise. I could tell he was well aware of the A-Pillar issues and could differentiate the sounds, and explained the different materials. He could tell the rattle problem was fixed, but they creak was due to putting the car back together. (My earlier post mention they had the door stripped down and windshield replaced.) He worked to get the problem resolved, made it a priority at that dealership. They worked to my schedule and made sure I was satisfied. They could reproduce the creak by raising the car slightly with the lift under the drivers front wheel. They narrowed the noise down to loose bolts from side air-bag mount. They used lock-tite on the bolts.
Regional Rep also said they were aware of an A-Pillar problem, but did not know how many cars were affected. The did correct everything and I can not tell the car was taken apart. We also worked out some compensation that I won't get into.
It seemed they took so long the first time (too long) so they could document the problem. I was told they took pictures.
Hopefully it only affects a limited number of cars and now they know how to correct in a timely manner.
02-27-2009, 11:54 AM
#117
WOW I'm surprised it took so long. My A-pilar problem was fixed in about 2-3 days. They took the interior apart removed the roof panel and put some bonding agents in there. They put it back together and she's as good as new. In fact whatever they did also fixed a couple of small/ minor rattles that I had been hearing from the roof aside from the A-pillar.
03-03-2009, 10:28 PM
#118
As promised, here is my update on my A-pillar noise issue. Went to see the dealer today and they did the work in one day. They have put in some bonding agent in the top of the driver-side roof and A-pillar area and replaced the bolts. So far, I had not experienced this popping noise any more. I am glad that I didn't go for it when they wanted to pull my windshield apart to fix this back in September. It looks like Nissan may have a TSB for this problem.
