So it finally happened to me.

Car would not start this morning. The battery had power but not enough to start the engine. Everytime I hit the start button it just made a muffled sound. So I phoned road side assistance and they came out within 30 minutes (not bad) and jumped the car.

Now then the saga begins:

I phoned the dealership and let them know what happened. I am told to immediately bring the car in so a diagnostic can be run. I was a little nervous because I have a BBGK and I wasn't sure if they would say anything about it (thanks again for being available Jeremy!) Get there and the Service Advisor fills out all the paperwork on the "dead battery". I took that moment to voice my concern about the drivers seat bubble. So the advisor goes out and looks at it.

Me: See how the seat is "bubbling" right there
Him: Hell that dont look right
Me: I know, can it be fixed
Him: Well will sure try
Me: Ok
Him: Lets go back inside and sign your release

back inside I sign the release and he says:

Him: Ok Mr. Jones I'll call you when its ready
Me: Um, Charles.... How do I get to work. Will I get a loaner?
Him: Ugh... well since you didn't make an appt, I cant give you a loaner.
Me: Well this was kinda an emergency since the battery died. How would I know to make an appt for something like this.
Him: Well all the loaners are spoken for so I can't give you one.
Me: Well how do I get to work then
Him: How far away from here do you work
Me: Just 4 miles down the interstate
Him: Oh well, if it were closer I would drive you but thats too far
Me: Ugh.....
Him: can you call someone
Me: Ugh.....

So I go outside and count 15 loaner cars just sitting there.

Me: Um... Charles there's 15 cars out there. You mean you have nothing?
Him: You didn't make an appt.

So I get disgusted and phone my office and ask one of my employees to come get me. I leave the dealership and 4 hours later I get the call.

Him: Mr. Jones your car is ready, the battery was dead and we got you a new one. Also we've ordered a seat cushion to replace the one thats bubbled. Once it arrives you can bring the car back up here and well fix it up for you.
Me: Thats great. I'll ask around my office and see if someone would be nice enough to drop me off since I couldn't get a loaner earlier.

I get to the dealership and count the same 15 loaner cars still parked where they were that morning (they never left the dealership)......... walk up to the service counter.

Me: Hi I'm here to pick up my car
Cute Girl: Sure whats your name
Me: Daniel Jones
Cute Girl: Oh here it is, that'll be $54.96
Me: WTF!!
Cute Girl: $54.96.... looks like they replaced your battery
Me: WTF!!
Cute Girl: Is everything ok
Me: Where is the service advisor. I shouldn't have to pay for this. It should be covered by the factory warranty.

So the service advisor and a porter come over and try to tag team me

Gang: Mr. Jones your battery is not covered by your warranty
Me: Like hell
Gang: Infiniti will pay a portion for a new battery but the rest is left up to you
Me: Ugh... first off.... why wasn't I told or called about this charge?
Gang: (crickets chirping)
Me: Don't you think someone should have called and said I was going to have to pay, or told me up front?
Gang: (more crickets)
Me: I'm not paying for this..... have you ever heard of the G37 Forums. Its well known that there are battery issues for this car. I do recall a TSB out there for dead batteries. Lets get Infiniti Consumer Affairs on the phone.

Service Advisor: Dont worry Mr. Jones, there wont be any charge. There's no need to worry about it any longer. (service advisor walks off).

Porter: Your car is outside
Me: Thank you have a nice day


So no loaner but didn't have to pay for battery and nothing said about BBGK and will get my seat cushion replaced. Not the way I wanted to spend half my day.

 

Dang man. Why do some dealers have to be so idiotic? You have to schedule a loaner at mine, but they actually put use to theirs. I can't believe someone couldn't give you a ride FOUR freakin miles down the road.

 

that's ridiculous... which dealership was it?

 

You should have dropped my name Danny. I don't get a loaner when I go in, I get chauffered around all day in a Maybach limo by a supermodel in a bikini.

But seriously, I've run into a similar loaner issue. Sean the device writer told me that the issue is that loaners are allocated to customers with appointments first and walk ins after that. Lots of folks will get a loaner for all day when they're in for a 45 minute oil change. Or reserve one a week in advance for a service appointment and no show, leaving the loaner idle all day. Still it sucks.

Next time throw a tantrum and tell them your 08 is a POS and that you want to trade it for a 2010 M45. You want a take home test drive while your G is in service. Then bring it back when your car is ready and say you didn't like it.

Way to not pay for that out of warranty battery. The batteries that come in our cars are pretty weak IMO.

 

The Eligibility Requirements for Service Loan Car
are as follows:
• Only available during the 4 years/60,000 mile
Infiniti New Vehicle Limited Warranty basic coverage
period.
• You must be 21 years of age or older with a valid
U.S. driver’s license.
• You must provide proof of primary insurance.
• You must schedule the service appointment in
advance.*
• Other restictions apply to loan car including
mileage use and days use limitations.**
*Depending upon availability, exceptions to the
service appointment requirement may be made in
the event your vehicle is inoperable due to unexpected
mechanical failure. In such a circumstance
the participating Infiniti dealer will strive to provide
you with a Service Loan Car if possible.
** Ask your dealer for details.

 

While we're talking about dealer experiences, while my dealer is generally pretty good I was less than impressed with my experience earlier this week when I brought my car in for scheduled service. I had a 7:30 AM drop off appointment and when I arrive there was one other person standing outside near his car so I waited, and waited and waited. After about 15 minutes an advisor finally came to me and told me to have a seat in the waiting room and I assumed that meant his area but then a few minutes later he comes in with another customer who he said was ahead of me and asked me to wait in the main waiting are to be called. At this point it's already 20 mins after my drop off appointment for a simple oil change/service so I continue waiting. I then notice a customer that came about 10 minutes after me is waiting in the hallway and then disappears after about another 10 mins into one of the advisor's offices so I walk over and find that they took him ahead of me. When I asked the advisor (not the same as the one that greeted me) annoyingly states that he was first. When I corrected him that was not true he annoyingly claimed "sorry". I've had similar attitude experiences with this advisor but nothing this blatant. I hope I get a survey. I finally got out of there 30 mins. after my appt.

 

+1 so I know which dealership to stay away from..

BlackBetty, you have a PM sir

 

Please let me know what they do about your seat cushion? My G has about 4400 miles and has pretty bad wrinkles making it look old. This is my main complaint about the G. As far as service goes ... Car dealerships are known to provide the worst service ever. I've never had a great experience. I have friends who have bought cars from the Collection in Miami (sells Porsche, Audi, Ferrari, Austin Martins etc) and had horrendous service. After all the horrendous experiences I've had plus the stories I've heard from higher end dealerships I've come to not expect anything.

 

Make sure you don't get charged for the seat replacement . . .

 

My driver seats has two bad bubbles....and the passenger has a little one. Are they obligated to change them? I don't want them to come back and say that's normal wear and tear.

 

Does anyone know if the loaner car option is only for warranty work? Providing I meet all the other criteria outlined above.

 

Are they replacing it with the same weak battery that will just cause headaches very shortly down the road?

 

West Houston Infiniti




^ I like that because it clearly shows no one "strived" to get me anything!

 

Yea I had some fun with this, my battery died while they were putting in my amp, I drove to the dealer and they tested it and it tested good so they didn't replace it and assured me it was ok.

It did run fine for several more months and then one day I went out to my car to start it and dead again. I charged it and it's been working fine since.

I believe there's two things going on here, one the battery is poor and secondly the car has a permenant power drain on it with sensors most likely for entry, it's never really off. When it died both times I had left it sitting for a week. It's on my to do list to just replace the sucker with a quality battery, until then I monitor and ensure I don't let it sit for long without plugging in a battery tender.

Also what you're seeing with the dealers is a sign of the times, they're all being squeezed like most business to manage costs and the first thing to suffer is customer satisfaction. It really is depressing. I can look at my own place of work where we use to allow scheduling of services up until the last day of the contract, now we require services to be delivered within the contract period, not just scheduled which is as the contract stated all along. This serves us by increasing the chance for additional sales and also limits the customers ability to fully utilize the contract. Our moto... Customer satisfaction is number one!, if at any time you're not very satisfied engage your representative..lol. Sometimes I just want to scream at the hypocracy of life in this era.

 

West Houston Infiniti's service & sales is much worse than when I bought my 1st Infiniti, an '04 sedan. They will not get my business again and after the two years free service is up it's cya later.