Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager problems

charles15

Check the manifold bolts on the older Quests. I believe they were problematic and had to be replaced at considerable expense on the Villager. I believe that Nissan replaced them under warranty but probably will not do so now.

mdeng

Daric, did you get an answere from Nissan Service Rep on the mid-seat shaking issue?

I am going to the hearing on this issue this Friday (6/23). I want to conference you in if possible (or allowed).

Another person (Ralph Long), who had the same problem, and sued Nissan before will be available for conference call too.

You can email me:

[email protected]

thanks,

mdeng

pat84

Many Companies notify their telephone customers that they are "taping this conversation to ....provide better service, etc". This is primarily due to some States require that both parties to a telephone conversation be notified and agree to the taping of the conversation. This is required regardless of State of origin or receipt of the phone call. IMHO that is the primary reason for the taping notice. Check with Linda Tripp; MD is one of those States requiring both parties' agreement to taping phone calls.
BTW Renault has bought controlling interest in Nissan, sacre blue.

pat84

Owns the controlling interest in Nissan, are they going to rename the "Quest" the "Quest-ce que cela"?
Now when you see an Odyssey, you can say "laissez les bon temps roullez".

mdeng

Hi, Folks

I opened the mid-row bench of my Quest Van. Trying to locate the damper described by this Rep
as: A piece of metal, mounted to the seat back with rubber bushes.

There is not a single sign of such a thing ever exist, or suppose to exist.

This guy in order to cover his lie in the past, made another lie under the oath in the Hearing.

pat84

my vote for president.
Did you make a video tape of your problem seat to refute the Nissan rep ? IMHO if you had spent half the effort coming up with a harmonic balancer for your seat as you did with fighting with Nissan you might be happier. I have to ask, if you get your wish and Nissan refunds your sale price what are you going to buy to replace it ?

mdeng

I brought the Van to the Hearing and the Arbitrator tested it.

BTW.
pat84, How do you like your 99 Honda Odyssey? Do you need a "harmonic balancer" for it?

pat84

My ODY does not need a harmonic balancer. It is 1 year old, my sales person sent me a birthday card for it. In 19.8K miles it has only had routine maintenance. It runs really well. One of the best vehicles I've ever had the pleasure of driving.(I have been driving for almost 40 years).
I've had some really good cars and some real pieces of garbage. One of the absolute best cars I've ever had was a Nissan 240SX SE 5 speed.
Thanks for asking about my ODY. What about answering the other question about what happens if you get your wish ? You don't have to post your answer, I think you should think about it IMHO.

mdeng

I do not know yet. I bought the Van because my parents will visit me in Augest from China. Plus my a two boys, and my wife, I do need a Van. I think I learned my lesson this time.

No mater what Van I am going to buy, I will bring my whole family with me, and test it throughly.

Do you have any recommandation?

pat84

For the size of the Quest, I would first look at the Toyota Sienna and then look at the Mazda MPV.


regards,


Pat

mdeng

I won.

We did three legs of test run with my Quest Van. First Leg, Arbitrator sit in the mid-seat, Second, Arbitrator sit in the thrid row, with mid-row empty.
Third Leg, Nissan Rep sit in the mid-row, Arbitrator sit in the thrid row.

The Arbitrator has a detailed description for each leg. I won't repeat them here.

The conclusion is:
"The seat is not acceptable and impacts a consumer and the consumer's family health, safty, and useability of the vehicle. The vehicle should be repurchased by the manufacture at no out of pocket cost to the consumer."


PS.
This is the LEAST SHAKY Van out of the 20 new Quest Van in the dealer lot. The first Quest I got was the worst.

pocahontas

Congratulations with your case! Hopefully, now you can put this all behind you and move onto a vehicle that satifies all your needs. Good luck. ;-)

Pocahontas,
community Leader/Coupes, Convertibles, and Sportscars Conference

mdeng

Do you guys get this error when log in?

ugojp

Help, I have been to my dealer 10 times with a mid section rattle and bumpy ride complain.
It is still not resolved, they tell me that there is no noise and the "sounds are normal" I don't think a brand new car should have these problems.
I purchase my 1999 Quest SE back in Sept. of 1999, it now has 9000 miles on it and the rattles are getting worse!
I read some postings about this, I don't know to proceed with this. Can any help?
Thanks,

Ugo Joe Piasevoli
[email protected]

tnunis

I have only had my quest for 2 years. Motor wise I have had no problems at all. Everything else on my van is a different story. I was just wandering if these vans are poorly designed or is it just mine? In the last six months all of these things have happened in which "Warranty does not apply," or so I've been told.
1. Driver side power window will let down but will not come back up unless you furiously shake it.
2. Mirrors on the doors (also power) do not move.
3. Sliding door on the passenger side will not unlock or lock with "Power" button on the front doors.
4. Speakers in the back make crackling noises. (No I do not turn them up too loud)
5. After taking the van through a "touch free" automatic car wash the back wiper came on automatically and would not turn off. The only way we could make it stop was to pull the fuse. #2 Mirrors on doors quit on this same day. Is this fuse for both?
6. After taking the van through the automatic car wash and having problems we decided to take it to a car wash that uses the wands that you spray yourself. When we did this the washer fluid sprayer (on the driver side no doubt) blew completely off the van. Now I spray the cars behind me when I try to use it.

I do not normally use car washes, I usually wash all my vehicles myself, but we are under complete water restrictions where we live and this is my only way to keep my cars clean legally. However, mine will just look awful from here on out because at this rate I am going to be left with a motor and four wheels before long.
7. The chrome painted strips on the sides of the windshield are flaking. I have noticed a lot of other vans with this problem. This started long before I went to the car wash.
8. The ignition switch locked everytime I tried to crank the van for about a month and finally 3 weeks ago I turned the key and the whole thing fell out in my hand. Needless to say that had to be fixed immediately, but not by Nissan, they said they would have to completly take the steering column apart and that would take hours, which meant big money, so I took it to a lock smith and he did it in less than 30 minutes.

By the time I repair everything that has fallen off or quit on my van in the last six months I feel like I am looking at a "money pit" I have always taken very good care of my vehicles but at this point I can't keep up financially. I have never seen anything like it.

Right now I am getting very frustrated wandering what I might loose in the road behind me one day.
I have decided to trade this van in but I am not really comfortable with Nissan right now.

ugojp

mdeng,
thank you for your advise, I called Nissan Consumer Affairs and I am still waiting for a reply. I will be sending and email to BBB Auto Line.
I was conacted by Todd G. Finneran an Attorney at Law from Columbus, Ohio. He says he represents some consumers in a lemon law arbitration
case against Nissan concerning excess vibration in their 1999 Nissan Quest.
Does any one have any info on him or this case?
Thanks again,
UgoJoeP.

happy25

This forum looks like it could use some good news.

I own a 1982 Nissan 200SX with 297K miles on it and it runs great. All original parts except for clutch & pressure plate.

Also have a '94 Quest with 78K miles and it has performed flawlessly both mechanically and body/interior.

mdeng

Todd is currently helping his clients on the same issue of Quest using BBB Autoline program. They seems going to have a hearing next week.

You might want to follow up with him on the result or anything that may helps.

mdeng

mdeng

Quest 99 and 2000 are different than the Nice Niisans you experienced.

They are manufactured by Ford, in US. I don't know whether that makes the difference.

devinf

I am seriously looking into my first Minivan purchase due to an expanding family and a desire to take the family on comfortable road trips (don't plan to exceed the 2.5 child average)..my growing concern with the Nissan/Mercury model was the recent announcement to discontinue production of this model in two years..does anyone else see this as an issue for potential buyers..your feedback is greatly appreciated...

pocahontas

My 2 cents:

I don't perceive a problem with buying a vehicle thats going to be discontinued... if it's reliable, comfortable, and priced right.

Resale value may be effected, but that can be counter balanced by taking advantage of the discounts and incentives up front.

Warranty/Parts- When a vehicle is discontinued, the manufacturer is still responsible for the warranty/parts. In addition, they have to have parts available for at least 2o years.

Also keep in mind many of the Quest/Villager parts are also shared with other vehicles in the ford/nissan line up. For example, much of the Quest power train is the same used in the Pathfinder and Infinity Qx4.

Btw, I recently read that Nissan will have a new minivan in 2003. It very well may be a different version of the Quest with a different name. Anyone else heard anything?

Pocahontas,
Community Leader/Coupes, Convertibles, and Sportscars Conference

stevenb1

We have a 1994 Quest GXE with 104K miles. We bought the van from a dealer at 32K (lease return) and had no problems with it until last week, when the crank shaft snapped. My mechanic at first thought it was a broken timing belt, but after removing the engine, he found that the the crank shaft broke. He said he does not know of this being a problem with the Quest. Has anyone else had this happen, or know if this is a problem with the van. FYI, this repair is EXPENSIVE!

94questowner

My 1994 Nissan Quest's crank shaft broke on July 16, 2000. The car only has 57K It is currently being repaired at a very high cost. They told me the crank shaft part has been improved and they had seen this problem before. Does anyone know if there is any chance of getting any help from Nissan for this problem or if anyone has investigated a class action suit?

Thanks!

llisa

Crankshaft just broke in our 95 quest... we won't bother to repair it unless Nissan pays. At 20K we had to have engine work done (gasket, oilseal to crankshaft, timing belt, drive belts), just had a new timing belt put on 8 months ago (80K), as well. Two independent mechanics have told us that the crankshaft can be damaged when the timing belt is done, or if it is replaced incorrectly. They also said a broken crankshaft was a very rare thing. the Nissan service guy said it isn't rare-well, maybe not at Nissan! Nissan guy also said the timing belt has nothing to do with it. He said "how can a little piece of rubber break a big piece of metal?" ( a little patronizing , donthcha think?) I think I'll be trying the BBB Autoline route...I know Nissan was replacing engines in 95 Quests (saw it in Consumer Reports about a year back), but supposedlly mine was a month outside the "bad car dates". Maybe they need to extend it.

stevenb1

To Lisa #441, what issue of Consumer Reports has the engine replacement info? Does it also apply to 1994 models? Also, since my engine is now sitting on the floor of a shop, I saw the timing belt, and agree there is no way that "little piece of rubber" could have anything to do with the shaft breaking.

Question to all - how much should I expect to pay to have the new crankshaft installed?

stickguy

Mazda also had some problems with crankshafts on early Miatas. What actually breaks is the keyway (think thats the right term), basically the piece that sticks out of the end where the belts attach.

It's probably not the belts doing anything that causes the problem, but something gets out of line or mis-torqued when the put things back together after replacing the timing belt. The stress than causes the part to fail.

It is a very expensive fix. In many cases it might be easier/cheaper to replace the engine if it has a fair number of miles on it.

rapowitz

UGOJP:
I have read your message and scrolled through pages of these messages. I too have a 99 Quest GLE with 7000 miles on it and it has been shaking mildly since day 1. The problem seems to be on the rear wheels (but I'm not 100% sure). I have been back to the dealer several times who blamed the problem on the tires. After re-balancing and rotating the stock Generals, the problem still persisted. They blamed the problem on the tires and replaced them with Michelins, which improved the ride and handling significantly, but did not fix the shaking.

The van still shakes mildly at 75 mph and up and drives me crazy. I have been to the dealer 3 times already on this and they seem committed to fixing this, although they are not very successful. I will be taking it back asap for a 4th time, but would like to hear back from you or others to see if you have found a solution. Other than this problem, we love the van. There are no mechanical problems yet and the stereo and sunroof are wonderful.

Please help!!

pocahontas

You've been to your dealer 3 times. At this point I would try another dealer service. Some are better than others.

Before you take it to another Nissan dealer, you should call and speak directly to the service manager (not just the advisor). Explain your situation in detail....

Also, let him know that you only want their best certified Nissan mechanic working on your vehicle. Good luck.

Pocahontas,
Community Leader/Coupes, Convertibles, and Sportscars Conference

mdeng

rapowitz,

Click the hyperLink: "see all responses"
on top of this page.

Use your browser do a seach on "vibration" or "mid-seat". You will find all the information regarding this issue.

What you need to do is:
1) send a complain to Nissan Customer Service. They will send some Service Guy test your Van. I I almost sure they will tell you "It is Normal Operation."

2) After you got this answere, file your complain to BBB Autoline. They will set up an hearing for you no charge.

The previous posting in this disscussion group have them all.

I have just been through this. My advise to you is be patient and fight for what you think is right for you.

good luck.

mdeng

pat84

Are you now on your third Nissan Quest ?

mdeng

excuse my grammer. i mean i have been through this not long ago.

i am in the process drop the Quest back to dealer, and get my money back. this should be done next week.

digger7

We're thinking very seriously about buying a 1997 Nissan Quest (we were going to talk price today!). All this talk about crank shaft problems has me worried. Does anyone know if the problem was corrected before the 97's came out? The van is loaded...leather and all extras and in immaculate condition...40k miles...sticker price $17,900 (which is very much in line with the blue book value). We're hoping to get down to $16k. Ok, all you experienced Nissan people...please help!!

dc52

In response to #356, I'm new to this site and we are considering buying another Quest because of great performance we have received. We have 105K on the '94 and have definitely gotten our moneys worth, but we have been experiencing this same intermittent problem for the last 9 months. As usual it works perfectly for the mechanic. We have tried the normal stuff, such as tune ups, fuel filters, O2 sensors, idle bypass valves, etc. There are no codes being registered on the computer. It also does not seem to be an electrical problem (high probability w/cars this old), but inline with a fuel problem. We have also tested the fuel pressure and it seems to be fine, too.
This is the first real problem with the car, but my wife is getting scared to drive it (that's why we are looking). If I could get this fixed, we would keep the car for another 100K.
Any other suggestions?????

dhoff

I'm guessing it's your fuel pump. i have heard of intermittent stalling problems with Quests of that vintage due to a bad fuel pump or clogged pump screen.

Is your pump noisy? This might be a sign that it is on it's way out.

Check out the Villager/Quest forum at www.egroups.com . There has been some discussion of just this issue recently.

Dave

lgorbonosov

I have Quest GXE 1999 with 30k on it. Very happy with it so far.

1. About 3 month ago after I've changed breaks, I noticed that every time when I release breaks at traffic lights, they make a king of a grinding noise. Very definite noise. My dealer says it is normal and caused by friction of metal parts and he cannot do anything about it.

2.Also he told me that there is no air purifying filter on Quest 99. They exist only on 2000 models. From previous posts I thought I've read that someone changed them on 99.

Any ideas would be appreciated.
Larry

pmahony

***COMING SOON***

For anyone who has suffered through the broken crankshaft problem, or has otherwise been "Shafted by Nissan":

www.nissanshafted.com

s_m_s

I was just quoted $4000 off MSRP for a 2000 SE w/cloth & comfort/convenience package. Final price is $21718. First, is this a good price? Second, are there rebates currently available? Edmunds doesn't have any listed, but there must be some rebates and/or incentives factored into this price. Thanks, from a dad w/ 2 kids and only 1 small car.

krazychyx

Hi, I have a 97 Quest GXE with 31K on it, and am experiencing a few problems: 1) the "swishing" noise coming from the steering wheel and it's also very slightly loose (?) where it attaches to the steering column (2) The "Check Engine" light just came on and stays lit (3) the stock CD player/changer has a mind of it's own - I think it's an electrical short...it just goes "off" when I hit a bump in the road and some of the rear speakers also come and go with bumps in the road. also the CD player will sometimes say "No DJ" when I try to turn it on, even though the CD changer stack thing is pushed in firmly.
Anyone experience any of these and have any advice?
Also how long to you suppose the "original equipment" tires that come on it new, will last? I have Goodyear Eagle LS which as "new" last 60,000 miles, but mine are looking a bit worn at 31K.
thanks to anyone who can give some advice!
Holly

llisa

To stevenb 1-sorry I can't find the relevant Consumer's Report. We are having our engine replaced with a remanufactured engine. Nissan gave us 20% off the parts, the dealership gave us 25% off the labor. We aren't as happy as they think we shoud be! The service dept. insists they put our belts on correctly...and, well, who's to know? Its not like they keep a record of the specifications they used to tighten the belts. They did squeal on start up, a bad sign, I think, but not unusual, the damn things were aways squealing a little! So, it was take them to court and jprove they screwed up or eat it and trade the damn thing in as soon as possible. According to all the people I complained to at Nissan, the only possible reasons for a broken crankshaft were 1) one of those things, 2)off market parts 3) overtightened belts. They admitted that courts expect cars to go for 100K, rather than 84K, so #1 probably wasn't it, #2 wasn't an issue cuz we had it serviced by Nissan, so # 3 seems most likely. Those little pieces of rubber shouldn't hurt a big piece of metal, but in a Quest engine they can! I hope pat Mahoney means business about a class action suit, cuz I am irritated. A little bad publicity alone woud make me sleep better!

johnwng

We have a '99 Quest. It is under 10,000 miles. About a month ago, it starts to unlock all doors by itself during driving. This has happened many times. I heard about people locked out because of Quest's "auto" doorlocks. I am wondering if anyone has experienced "auto" door unlocks? I am not sure how to say to the dealer if it does not happened during their inspection. Appreciate advises. JW

duke87nuke

I have a 97 Villager with a similar problem. About 2 months ago (of course just after my warranty expired) I started finding the car locked in the garage when I know we left it unlocked. Then it would sometimes lock whenever a door was slammed. It's gotten progressively worse - now it locks by itself all the time and when you unlock it with the remote it will instantly relock 2 or 3 times until it stays unlocked. It always randomly locks though - never unlocks. I thought it might be due to the remote battery dying or sending out a random signal but I eliminated that source. I took it to my Mercury dealer who couldn't find an obvious source (they suspect a ground obviously). They have an active service bulletin for Villagers randomly locking and unlocking while driving. Mine never does it while driving but we think the bulletin applies anyway. However the fix is basically a wholesale replacement of a bunch of places where a short could be. The bulltin lists a whole slew of places where water could have gotten in and caused a short to ground. My service advisor said they'll just replace switches and relays until they find one that makes it stop. He ordered parts for me which I'm waiting on. It could get pretty expensive out of warranty but he said Ford/Mercury would pick up part of the tab out of goodwill. He said I'd proably have to shell out about $100 as my share. We'll see.....

llisa

Fiday last week we decided to get our 95 Quest engine replaced due to a broken crankshaft. We hammered out a deal with the service manager at Neil Huffman Nissan (Louisville KY) and my husband signed some order, they said the engine couldn't be ordered at 4 on a Friday, but they'd order it Mon. and we would get out car back the following mon. (long enough, hey). Here's what happened:
Mon. husband gets a call at work to call them back. They don't call me at home (first number on their order). He calls back, lame service guy has lleft for the day and no one else can tell my husband why he was contacted.

Tues. my husband calls, they say he needs to sign something, so they fax him the same document he signed already. He signs it and his secratary faxes it back.

Fri. I get a call at home from service guy saying they havent ordered the engine because they need a signature. I call my husband's secretary and she refaxes the tired old document. I call the service manager and complain. He says he thought we werent' sure what we were going to do on the previous Friday, (but remembers my husband giving him a 10% coupon for oders placed!)and that they hadnt's done anything wrong. So I did the 1800Nissan1 thing and asked where my complaint would go. She said the manager of Neil Huffman. Well, I called him and he acted like, gee, your husband realy screwed up, didn't he? I'm going to pay these guys $3500 after they most likely messed up my belt replacements and this is their attitude? Then he told me maybe I shouldn't replace the engine after all, and I could come in to test drive another fine Neil Huffman product. As if!

Nissan, pease change your service dept name to something more accurate, like "Nissan Screwyou Dept"

rickroz

I have a 99 SE with 23,000 miles, its been great so far except at higway speeds (65mph + ) the driver side mirror starts to shake and vibrate making every thing blurry. The dealer replaced the mirror assembly once, but this didn't fix the problem. Has anyone experienced this problem??
My overall gas mileage has been so-so, a pretty steady 18 to 18.5 mpg since the day I bought it.

sanandton

Those of us with Nissan Pathfinders are having a similar problem with the driver side mirror. Several of the posters have had the mirror replaced without any improvement. I just stuck with the original equipment. I hope some corrosion will develop eventually to tighten it up.

dhoff

I have a 99 Quest and they do it too. I had the service department look at them, and they pronounced them "normal". They had 3 new Quests on the lot, and those were all loose too.

I think these mirrors are out of the Ford parts bin, or made by a Ford supplier. I took a trip with a friend this summer in his Expedition and his mirrors vibrated on the highway just like mine.

This is not an earth shattering problem, but is annoying. I'd be even more annoyed if I had the problem on a $40,000 SUV though.

Dave

jkrolak

My 99 Quest GLE has absolutely no vibration in any mirror. Mirror vibration normally comes from out-of-round tires, worn tires, unbalanced tires or anything in the undercarriage that is not absorbing enough of road vibrations. If you WELDED the mirrors to the body, they would shake all the time. I've had Cadillacs that had badly shaking mirrors...some cars do and some cars don't. The worst car I had for shaking mirrors was a 78 Volvo.

akangl

I have a 99 Quest SE that the driver's side mirror shakes also. It drives me nuts, but I had it at the dealership yesterday for some warranty stuff and a couple recalls. The tech told me that he didn't notice any excessive shaking and that they all shake a little. I guess I'll have to learn to ignore it, its still better than the mirrors on my hubby's diesel truck, those things are enough to make you sick. I also had a problem with the sunroof rattling when it was tilted, Chuck (the tech) called Nissan tech line and they told him that all Quest sunroofs rattle, its normal. They didn't have the parts in for the 2 recalls, so I have to take it back at some point, no biggie. But Chuck is pretty sure he figured out why the van was locking me out, he said there was a break in the harness, so he replaced that section and said it shouldn't do it again. I used to work at this Nissan dealer, so I know everybody, kind of helps sometimes. I have known Chuck for 3 years and he is one of the best Nissan techs I have ever seen. Its nice that he is the only one who ever touches my Quest. I am glad that this Nissan service department is excellent, since the only other Nissan dealership in the state is 300 miles from my house.

stickguy

I have an SE. No rattles, no shakes in or out

pocahontas

I haven't noticed anything unusual with my mirrors; I'll pay more attention. Talk to you later. ;-)

Pocahontas,
Town Hall Roving Host

2000questvan

my 2000 quest is making an unusual humming noise that can be heard (and felt) inside the cabin when the a/c is running, especially around 1400 rpm's as the engine is dropping back down toward idle..the dealership said that this is normal and that they checked a demo van and heard the same noise at a little higher rpm -- and that replacing the compressor wouldn't help since all quests seem to make this noise..the noise is most evident when the car is first cranked and seems to lessen or spread out over the rpm range after the a/c runs for a couple of minutes. if you check for this on your van, make sure that the doors are closed and the fan is on the lowest setting -- the sound should seem to resonate from the drivers side behind the dash. i suspect this is a bad or binding compressor causing alot of resistance, especially since the van seems extremely sluggish when the compressor is running.
i'm hoing that a few other owners could check for this noise so i'll know whether to have it checked out again.