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Comments
The dealer did an about face this afternoon and said they'd cover everything. They're charging me $0 for what they say is about $10k worth of work. I am very surprised.
I only had to make one call to the supervisor at the dealership. We'll see how it rides in about a week.
To answer your question, yes, a "froze" or siezed transmission can damage an engine.
The engine, which is generating inertia, has to go somewhere. If the CVT locks up and the link between the CVT and the engine doesn't fail then it is quite possible to twist (i.e. put in shear) the crank shaft. This would cascade into a number of internal faliures.
Your lucky to be getting a new engine. Others are out their driving on potentially compromised engines that have had similar failures in their CVT's.
I talked to a mechanic that had done the diagnostic on the transmission before I had to have it towed into the Nissan dealership. The only thing he found in his tests were transmission specific.
He thinks the dealership forgot to replace the fluids before they cranked the engine which caused the failur, and thus prompted them to replace the engine on their own. Luckily I had a previous diagnostic from a seperate facility.
I can't suggest anything more than bringing your car in for a diagnostic check and getting some sort of estimate. But I'd go to a trusted mechanic that isn't a Nissan dealership first.
And then contact Nissan directly to see what is covered on your warrante.
Isn't there some legal grace period, like 30 days or something, when you buy a car. Even if it's used?
you can download a reimbursement form at
nissanassist.com :mad:
I have already done so. The warranty states Nissan will pay for repairs all through the new extended warranty period. In my case though, they are denying.
We are in the middle of a battle over this.
In my case and others I've read about, Nissan has "courteously" extended the coverage to the transfer case, what is politely saying that it should have been covered but since it doesnt fail all the time, they will do it only if you complain.
So go ahead and complain, you might get it refunded...
Anxiously waiting to hear from them on Monday....
Will post how this ends! Thanks again!
All the best to You and Hopefully Nissan Will Take Responsibility as They Should!!
http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/2010-jd-power-csi-study/#2
Thanks for your help!
I had exhaust problems also. Mine was caused by an oil leak that contaminated the CAT converter. The converter failed; fouled the O2 sensors; the ceramics in the CAT crumbled plugging the exhaust pipe; this led to the exhaust manifold cracking because of excess back pressure.
Priceless? No $1500 and not covered by any warranty of course. The dealer told me the same thing.
Anyone buying a Nissan product at this point is a "FOOL"!
My opinion only.
There is a form I copied off the Nissan website for Nissan CVT Customer Satisfaction Reimbursement Request....maybe if you make a huge stink and talk about how they are all interconnected you could get that money back?? Worth a try! I'm going to try for the exhaust system on a 5 year old car when this is settled!
Last Nissan for us! Good luck!
Nissan Corporate Customer Service has to be the worse I have encountered thus far in my past 20yrs. of new car ownership. Extremely disappointing.
Phone staff members & managers were not technically knowledgeable & relied on information passed on by the dealerships (whom I disagreed with & thus initiated my call to Corporate).
Yes - Nissan Dealership & Coprorate Customer Service seemed very quick to blame the Customer (even AFTER I had just corrected them on items from my 05-Maintenance Manual that they misstated during our conversation).
Andy Shafer
Stay tuned to this site for developments
Please keep us posted. I have added a new discussion about Nissan's customer service and satisfaction. Please post your developments there also. Some of us may want to join in your legal action.
Also, these CVT problems are happening on the Rogue and other Nissan models.
You have our support. I listed the Nissan VP's email for customer service in an earlier post. Search by my name if you need it.
BTW, what is the dealer quoting you to replace the case? This information is helpful.
Needless to say, I would be very much interested to join a class action or any type of legal action if you need support. I am thinking of even sending a letter to consumer affairs department or any other watch dog authority hoping to support in resonating our complaints about this particular component and the frequency of its occurences. Nissan simply does not want to admit the faulty design and components and fears nothing by denying their customers. They feel invincible!!! Perhaps a collective suit will be an awakening that there should never be a unilateral attitude!!
Please stay in touch.
Please find attached, although maybe too late.
http://www.easterncatalytic.com/
The CAT between the firewall and the engine is the expensive one. However, when mine went out, I went hunting for an alternative because the dealer was giving me a pile about how hard it is to replace, etc.
They really screw you when they have you over a barrel.
I bought an Eastern CAT for my 2003 Murano for $275. I also had to buy a manifold for $200 from the dealer. I took the parts to a Midas shop. They installed them for about $250 labor. The dealer quoted me $1500; I paid ~$725 (half of dealer quote).
I think the dealer is smoking you. A good mechanic can get this work done with out breaking parts. The chances of breaking the brackets on the CAT sounds bogus. He might be eluding to stripping threads or breaking bolts. In that case, a good mechanic can fix those issues easliy. They have the tools to remove broken bolts or install new thread inserts, etc. I know because I am a mech. engineer.
If the dealer screws up the CAT make sure you tell him you want to see the physical parts before authorizing any work.
Reply if you need help. The Nissan dealers in the NE Atlanta area start sweating when I show up. I will beat "$&*@" down!
You can find your state's consumer affair (I did mine in NJ), but I suggest this site national site for a better chancce to have all complains in one place collectively. It is: consumeraffairs.com
When filing your complaints, try to include all details and the relationship the trasnfer case has with the CVT and therefore should have been convered under extended warranty recently offered by nissan.
If you all agree with this, please spread the word around on as many discussion boards as possible. This needs to get good attention and be stopped!!
Best of luck.
Believe me I share your pain. I have already sold my Murano and replaced it with an Acura TL & I also bought a Toyota 4Runner to boot.
I love the TL and this is my second 4Runner. My wife & I have never had problems with any of our American, Honda or Toyota products. We have returned to familiar territory.
No more Nissan's for me either. They have earned from me eternal criticism and disdain. I am with Massoud; I am complaining onward until I get someone to listen.
I spent $25K for the car and another $11K in repairs. I take meticulous care of my cars. I hung on for 5+ years thinking that I had all of the bugs repaired out.
Wrong! When you can...Sell! Sell! Sell!
I'm in the same boat you are in but with a 2003 Nissan Murano the first of its kind. At first I taught it was just me, but it looks like is not. My transmissions gave up after my warranty and I had to pay out of pocket, almost $5,000. Now Nissan has a reimbursement plan for those who don't know about it ,let me know I'll port the info., however they are not calling it a recall. Needless to say that the transfer case also gave up in the middle of the road shortly after (a few miles later) that I had to tow my car to the nearest gas station, and I had to pay again another $3,000. I'm talking to Nissan now, but they told me that the transfer case is not part of the transmission. But I've been told that it is. And thats how I found your blog. I'm waiting for another call from them this Monday April 05, 2010. But I definitely want them to acknowledge that my entire family's life has been in danger because of this faulty parts. If you need my testimonies I'll be glad to help you, and I have all the documents to prove it.
Eddie
See http://www.nissanassist.com/ProgramDetails.php?menu=2
Any help in regards to whom to contact e-mail address info will be helpful. Any kind of info that can ease my Murano nightmare will be helpful.
Regards
Or are your catalytic converters bad and not your CVT? Are you still within the long warranty on emission equipment? (8 years and 80,000 miles on catalytic converters, according to Nissan's 2006 Warranty Information Booklet.)
--jayhawk
The Local AAmco Trans shop quoted me $1200 for the labor to replace the tranny but Nissan won't ship the tranny to them, they say they can only ship it to a Nissan dealer.
I have an '06 Murano, and I received a letter that the tranny is now covered for 10 years and 120,000 miles. Do you know about this?
Good Luck!
Alan
I can see why Nissan would say the bracket problem is not part of the warranty, but it sounds like they are OK with covering the normal parts and labor for the CVT problem. It appears your dealer's service department thinks you are forced to use them and sees this as an opportunity to generate revenue.
Dealers are independent businesses, free to charge whatever they want for vehicles or services. (by law, even - that is why manufacturers cannot force dealers to sell their vehicles at a fixed price) But that also means you can shop around to other dealers for their service business. If there are no other Nissan or Infiniti dealers close by, I would complain to Nissan about your dealer's attempt to charge excessive prices for the bracket problem because of the CVT warranty repair.
(I despise almost all auto dealer's service departments, who do everything, including lying about what the manufacturer requires, to charge for unnecessary services, like their "premium" packages for the 15,000/30,000 mile intervals.)
Could you have the AAMCO or another shop fix just the bracket problem, then go back to the dealer for the CVT problem?
Maybe your local paper or TV stations have a consumer advocate that might be interested in your story. The threat of bad publicity often does wonders with these kind of problems.
Good luck! --jayhawk
What you think about Nissan? Everything is “OK”. They did not announce that Nissan Murano 2003-2010 has a problem. They decided to do it slick way. Send each owner of Murano a letter stating if you had a problem with CVT transmission go on line print a form(the name of the form is (Nissan CVT Customer Satisfaction Program Reimbursement Request Form) send it to us and prove of repair we will reimburse you for amount you spent. Slick is in it? And then the game begins. You send them form all documents needed but they ask for more documents and if you send everything what was asked, they will find the reason not to pay for repairs.
In my case I almost got into the accident, my car stop in the middle of the road because all transmission fluid leaked out, thanks to the CVT part. How come Toyota is all over the news and Nissan is not?.
"However, I do get some jerkiness at speeds under 40mph. My guess is it's just because the CVT has a limited number of set ratios at lower RPMs. I know it's the CVT "shift-logic" because if you move it over to manual mode and shift it that way, the engine is very smooth and pretty refined feeling. There's absolutely no jerking in manual mode other than what you feel when you shift between ratios.
(Now enter theory stuff)
I believe that with the next generation of Altima we'll see both engines get significantly redesigned. Now that Nissan has established that CVT-based vehicles are what they wish to pursue, I think they're going to start designing their engines around this. As of right now, they're currently designing the CVT to be compatible with their chosen engines. However, if you design the ENGINE to also be compatible with the CVT, the refinement will reach a whole new level.
The current engines are very content with a manual gearbox, but a little sluggish with the CVT. That's because the engines aren't designed to take advantage of a CVT's gearless system. In other words, the engines have very specific power bands, and thus, it only feels energetic when the engine is in that power band. I believe we're going to see more torque and horsepower from lower RPMs and the peak will be far lower in the rev-band as well. That way, cars will feel much more energetic from a stop AND there won't be a "flat line" on power between 2000-3000RPMs (in the 4-cyl). This should also eliminate jerkiness from the lower revs, as the CVT won't have to shift as much to keep the power up.
1st generation CVT: high rev acceleration, rubber-band feeling
2nd (current) generation CVT: smoother acceleration, higher horsepower engines
3rd (future) generation CVT: engines designed for CVT, MUCH quicker acceleration, more linear power delivery.
This is only speculation, but if you're a fan of CVT based Nissan cars, I think it's about to get a lot better in the 3rd generation. The first 2 generations were test beds to see if it would work. Now that Nissan knows it works (and is selling well) they should invest a lot more in their powerplants this time around. Only time will tell though. "
Their testing methods and statistical data gathering are a joke.
I do not rely on anything they say. You are better off consulting Car & Driver or Motor Trend.
CP has always about political correctness not accurate reporting.
As the years are going on, its getting harder and harder to find magazines or professional car forum that doesn't have bias in its assessments.
Right now, edmunds, autoblog, C&D, Road and Track, and Popular Mechanics are probably your only bets left for fair and balanced/unbias comparisons and reviews.
CERTIFICATION
I (We), ___________________________________________________________________________ , hereby submit this form requesting
reimbursement for expenses incurred in connection with repair or replacement and/or related towing of the CVT on
my model year 2003–2010 Nissan. I certify that these repairs have been made to this vehicle and that they were
not previously paid for, in whole or in part, by Nissan