I have returned my Quest, contacted the BBB and hired an attorney.Called Nissan and told them I never intend to drive the vehicle again. A/C simply will not cool the vehicle after 4 attempts to fix. The first attempt was a week after the car was purchased. Top of the line SE loaded. Sliding doors rattle, scraped paint off the outside of the vehicle due to poor alignment and the thing rattles constantly. Car doesn't even have 10,000 miles on it and it is apparently junk. I gave my car back to the dealer and bought another car until I get this settled. Will NEVER buy Nissan again. I pity the 2 dealers I have worked with. They have been ever so helpful but cannot fix a misdesigned unit.
If the noise you are talking about sounds like a deep clunking noise, I had the same problem. I have had many noises but the clunking took 4 visits to solve. They had to remove and relocate the back seat passenger side bracket. Apparently it was not welded in properly. Since this fix, no more clunking. This may solve your problem. It certainly was a noise I was not willing to live with.
We're thinking about buying a used 2004 Quest SE. I've gone through about 1/4 (!) of the problem posts and it seems that some are nearly problem free while others have a litany of problems. Still, the vehicle seems to have a very high consumer rating so people who have ones that work must be happy.
What are the specific problems that you would recommend we look for when test driving this car? I don't mind a few minor rattles and things but I'd rather not get the transmission replaced!
I think I'd wonder real hard about why they're selling a 2004. If they're happy with it, why sell a new car at a large loss? Unless they are having problems with it and don't want to deal with it?
I don't know that you could pick up all the problems with a simple test drive. But issues to look for include:
AC not working well Transmission Leaking skyroof Rattles Electrical problems Brake shudder (under load, especially downhill)
I may have missed a few issues, but I think these are the major ones. True, it does come with a 5 yr 60,000 mile warranty. If you have time to deal with your local Nissan Service (potentially a lot) it may be worthwhile.
They were able to resurface, both front and back. However, this only mitigated the vibration by about 50% Had the vehicle in 3 times for the same brake problem and the finally were convinced to put the new rotors on. I imagine I will need new ones again at 40,000. Warranty extension is nice, but it is a pain with all of these problems.
Buy another Vehicle until they can prove that they fixed all the design problems. besides, you'll end up buying a van from the original owner who was so frustrated that they sold it early!! Buyers beware
We're thinking about buying a used 2004 Quest SE. I've gone through about 1/4 (!) of the problem posts and it seems that some are nearly problem free while others have a litany of problems. Still, the vehicle seems to have a very high consumer rating so people who have ones that work must be happy.
What are the specific problems that you would recommend we look for when test driving this car? I don't mind a few minor rattles and things but I'd rather not get the transmission replaced!
Thanks for the info Tom. Hopefully it'll help me determine if a car falls into the good or bad category. If anyone else has more to add please feel free.
I've considered the "why are they selling issue" which is why I want to be very careful when looking over the car. On the other hand, after years of car buying I know people sell nearly new vehicles at a loss for a variety of reasons. Some people just don't make well thought out financial decisions.
I would be very reluctant to let the "consumer rating" enter into any buying decision. It is highly subjective, and while some of the comments may be helpful, it's based on a pretty small sample. Also, relative to other vehicles in its class, the one for the Quest isn't that high.
Based on the "problems" discussion, which I consider more helpful, I'd be pretty reluctant to buy used unless I was getting a -great- price (which heals all wounds) I suspect resale on the 04s is going to take a hit because of the issues with the van, and you should get the benefit of that. Also make sure, if you go ahead, that the issue of the warranty extension is documented for the vehicle so that you get the benefit of that.
My wife and I bought the '04 SE. We've had it for over 6 months and 8000 miles. I received the warranty notice yesterday. Summary:
THE BAD: * Rattles EVERYWHERE: passenger sliding door, back gate, overhead console (at rear), rear bench seat (clunks). We took it in for service back in May. The doors still rattle and the solution for the clunking rear seat was to wrap the lock bolts with electrical tape. How ghetto is that? The tape wore off in a couple weeks and the clunking was back so we usually drive around with the bench seat folded down. We received the service notice and will take it in Oct 4. They will have it for a week and will provide a loaner.
* Poor gas mileage: roughly 15 city, 19 highway
* Hot air from vents: I actually didn't notice this right away because it's been hot and we have always had the AC on. Now that the temps are neutral, we notice the constant hot air with the system off.
THE GOOD: * No engine or braking problems. The 5sp tranni in the SE works great, although I wish they had a manual gear selection mode.
* No leaks in the sunroof or skylights.
* No malfunctions in the automatic doors.
* No paint blemishes
* Tons of room for cargo with the bench and middle seats down. I can fit (just barely) 4'x8' sheets of plywood/drywall in the back with the gate closed.
I read in the manual, and I think a sticker in one of the doors, in the body side, that the PSI should be 35; mine were 32 and had kept them like that, but once I bumped them up to 35 my mileage went un from 16.x to a steady 19.2 in the city. Is 35 too much or is that what you are also using? I hardly do any highway tavel, or have not done any after the PSI increase so I don't know what the mileage would be in highway. The only concern I have is that sometimes when it gets hot, and I'm talking about high 80's, the PSI rises up to 38 PSI.
38 shouldn't be a problem at all. The recommended tire pressures are cold pressures, and if the tires have been driven (and are warm) you're supposed to add 10psi, so 38 is actually still low.
People with these Hybrid cars are running pressures in the mid 40s to increase their fuel economy- it may affect tire wear at these much higher pressures though.
My father accidently inflated his tires to 85psi cold once! And they still didn't blow out, so as long as you don't have Firestones most tires have a large safety factor built into them. ;-)
I assume you are buying from a dealership? If the person who sold to this dealership also bought from them...the dealership should have a service record of the vehicle from the vans vin number.If your state laws allow, you could also ask the dealership to give you the previous owners name and phone number and you can call them yourself and ask about its history. I did this with a preowned Buick I recently bought.Good luck!
Just a recap on my previous posts....we bought a 2004 Quest SL in May 2004 and since day one we had the A/C problem of warm air blowing out of the front vents. At 110 degrees, the front vents would only get down to 75 to 80 degrees. The Quest has been at two different dealers for a total of 5 times with no significant change. We worked with 1800Nissan to get the A/C issue fixed but they would never return our calls or they refused to do anything. Several times they challenged us to pursue arbitration....so we did.
Here's the time line. 1. May 1 2004 -- Bought Quest.
2. June 2004 -- Quest has been at two different dealerships and worked with 1800Nissan to resolve A/C problem.
3. July 6th 2004 -- Filed BBB autoline complaint and accepted our case.
4. Aug 4th 2004 -- Arbitration hearing.
5. Aug 12th 2004 -- Arbitrator found vehicle not suitable for a hot climate like Arizona, especially having 6 month old twins, and awarded repurchase of the vehicle. However, maximum awarded is the actual purchase price minus usage, taxes, license, and other misc. fees.
6. Aug 26th 2004 -- Declined the arbitration decision to pursue the lemon law to also get the "full" amount back minus usage. Went to speak with an attorney about my case.
7. Sept 3rd -- Without using my attorney Nissan called me back and wanted to settle. I've requested everything back except the usage and license. License I'm getting back from the DMV and usage at 1900 miles was $403. I also got back my finance charges.
8. Sept 25th -- Returned my Quest back to Nissan and picked up my check.
The quest was a "very-good" mini-van except in my case the A/C. The whole arbitration process was long and somewhat time consuming. No more first model years for me. I'm sorry to hear that Tara and Sam did not win their cases. Good luck to all.
I would like to find out how did your arbitration worked out. I am in a similar situation and going to file for arbitration. Any guidance as to what and how-to-do would be of great help. Thanks.
I wanted to share my problems and ask a few questions.
First - any idea why Nissan calls the repairs in the "Cust Satis. Initiative" upgrades? I pressed the dealership on the phone, indicating that I consider these repairs rather than upgrades (one of the reading lights is failed short, please "upgrade" to the model without the short..?) but she insists Nissan considers the work upgrades. A bit insulting. Any reason Nissan wants to categorize this work as "free upgrade"? Seems sneaky...
Next: I suffer from several of the problems discussed at length on this forum - floor level AC blows HOT air, doors rattle. I also have a few other problems that I have not read about (I did not read all the postings...). - the liftgate rises too fast sometimes. Seems to be worse in cold weather. - finish on the centre console is peeling off. IMHO that finish is garbage, not even close to being suitable for automotive interior. - fan and reading light inserts fall out of ceiling, on their own. They can be pushed back in, but they are not very tight.. - during diagnosis of the failed short reading light, I removed the plastic covers of the drivers reading lights. Sadly, removing as instructed in the Users Manual caused the little plastic clips to deform and almost snap off. I figure I have 1 or 2 more removals before the cover is garbage (here's hoping the bulb doesn't burn out while I own the van!) - second row seatbelts do NOT work as they should. Although the Users Manual shows using the van's seatbelt to secure a child seat, the restricted angle of the seatbelt receptacle makes securing a front-facing child seat impossible. My dealer said I "had" to get a LATCH compatible seat, which I did, although I have a perfectly acceptable non-LATCH seat. Works fine with a LATCH seat, but that design mistake costs me $$.
Has anyone else seen these problems? Comments appreciated. I'm holding out hope that the AC fix (service bulletin 04020) fixes the hot air problem. While I can maybe live with the other annoyances, this problem makes long trips almost unbearable. I read the postings regarding arbitration with interest.. BTW, my Nissan was bought in Sept 2003, it was a dealer demo, probably on the road in July or August 2003. Thanks, Richard.
I took the family for test drive this weekend. Tried to get my 2 year old sons carseat in without latch (as neither of our current cars have it). FORGET IT. Impossible to tighten up without a Latch system. Thats plain stupidity.
Other than that the ride was quite enjoyable. Look forward to getting one (hopefully invoice price on new 2005 S) but disappointed in the carseat situation nonetheless. You would think some engineer would test an older car seat in the thing.
I couldn't get that link to work, but found the info at: http://www.nissanusa.com/content/0,,sctid-51117,00.html The compatibility info is linked from that page. BUT: it is not helpful. Quote: "When available, the LATCH ... System was used for installation in the rear seating locations.". But the Users Manual depicts installation of non-LATCH seats in those locations. My (previous) seat (Cosco Touriva, pre-LATCH) cannot possibly be safely installed in the second row because of the seatbelt receptacle design - yes, that seat is shown as "compatible". And what I read from the Nissan Fit Guide is that Nissan did not even attempt to fit non-LATCH seats if the current model seat is available with LATCH. Maybe it is not unreasonable to expect all parents to upgrade to LATCH seats (they are clearly better), but this isn't what is shown in the documentation. Quite frankly, I consider the design of the 2nd row receptacle to be in error; clearly, the steps outlined in the documentation (installation of non-LATCH seats) were not verified or even backed up in the Fit Guide (only LATCH seats tested). Nissan: please update your documentation or change the seatbelt receptacle! Richard.
The HVAC system is designed so that if you turn it off, you will get warm airflow to the bottom vents. When the system is 'off' the coolant still flows through the heater coil and as air naturally passes through, you get heat. If you leave the system in 'auto' mode, or vent mode and adjust the temp down you will be OK. On cool mornings we can leave it off and are comfortable. On warmer days, we have to have the vent on, temp set to 60, and fan on lowest setting to prevent any perceptable heat.
If your child is small enough to require other restraints besides the standard seatbelt/booster seat, I would suggest the LATCH system. This is the new standard that is being phased in by NHTSA. It is much safer and easier to use. I'm not sure of the exact dates of full compliance for LATCH, but eventually all carseats will be LATCH compliant. Car makers have been installing LATCH in new designs since early 2000. The LATCH equipped carseats have been available from retailers, such as Wal-Mart, for around 4 years now. I agree, if you have a standard 5 point carseat, they are hard to secure. They must match the contours of the seat and require excessive force to make them tight in the seat. They will work, but, not easily. When we purchased our Quest, I donated our old 5 point carseat and purchased a new LATCH carseat for my youngest. If you have a toddler, over 30lbs, he/she can ride in a booster seat using the standard seatbelt. http://www.nhtsa.gov
Ok, I have read over a bunch of the issues on this board. I bought my SL in June (2004) and have not had many complaints. There was a rattle in the rear-passenger side which just correct itself after a week of annoying me. The weather stipping on the driver side sliding door fell off and they corrected that. Otherwise, the AC has been fine, the power and size have been great, etc.
Today, however, my wife called just ticked-off that the van stopped at an intersection, would not accelerate, although the engine was still running, and the check-engine light came on. I suspect TRAN, but who knows. Now I read the problems of others and I wonder if buying the Quest was a huge mistake. I had to literally YELL at the dealer to get them to send me a rental car at their expense to handle my wife and 2 small daughters who were going to be stranded while they figured this problem out. Van is less than 4 months, old, 3800 miles, and should NOT be showing any problems of this sort. I just spent 6 terrible years driving a Plymouth voyager that we bought new, and I was determined to never buy American again, but now I wonder if Nissan was an equally bad choice.
Should have bought a Honda... my brother loves his.
I will post more as this fiasco plays out. Anyone else have problems of this exact nature?
I am sorry that your wife had that problem. That particular problem has affected a few people on this forum. Many people say that after turning the car off and restarting they correct the problem. Nonetheless, this is a bad problem. I wanted to respond to the statement you made on the Honda. My sister owns an o'03 Ody and though it is very nice and overall reliable, they still have their own set of problems. She also has a transmission problem with hers that when she took it in to correct they told her all their vans suffered from it and there was nothing they could do (she finally got the tranny recall a month ago). At least Nissan has been actively trying to correct the Quest tranny problems. I also read extensively the Sienna problems when trying to make my purchasing decision and found they had numerous recalls on their mechanical systems including tranny and GAS TANK! IMO ALL the van manuf. have had their set of problems. I chose the Quest and to this point dont regret it. I admit that there are problems since people on this forum obviously are posting them, but go to the Odyssey and Sienna problem forum and you will find the same story there. Actually I felt as though the Quest had much less Serious problems than the other two and based my decision on that. So far knock on wood, I have had a good experience and hope to continue that way. Here's hopin'.
Richard, I have a forward facing carseat that is LATCH compatible, but I dont use it (the LATCH system). I have a "First Years" clip type attachment that goes on the seatbelt by the seat and it secures VERY TIGHTLY the carseat in place. My previous car was not latch compatible so that is why I have this device. It was not expensive at all and extremely effective. I understand that the carseat manufacturers will all eventually use this system, so you can either replace the carseat or use one of these adapter type devices. I am very happy with mine and have no problem at all. Actually I think they are much more secure than any LATCH system I have seen. I will try to find out it's actual name and post either a link or what it is called. Hope that helps. Even though I understand that a vehicle manufactured for families should not have this flaw, I think that Nissan was looking into the future when the LATCH system would be pretty much universal.
We have a SE and I had a LATCH seat and a non Latch seat. I was able to install non LATCH infant seat in the second row. I subsequently bought a new Britax Marathon seat for my infant and it fits great. My other Britax Husky booster also fits great. The LATCH system is worth looking at because it is much easier to install and assure a correct fit. Spend the money on a new seat! Your children's life depends on it! PS We are happy with our Quest!
People keep alluding that Nissan is trying to correct the transmission problem? What have they done? By the way, to the "Quest 04 just stopped" post, what is your gas mileage? I have always thought the poor gas mileage is related to this transmission problem. Tara
Just as a follow-up on my problem, the dealer towed it, played with it for an hour, said they could not initially find anything wrong, then finally had the stall happen to them. The service engine light came on. Turns out one of the fuel injectors is failing. (I am not sure I have seen that particular problem on this board yet.) Also not sure why that made the entire van stall... I have had injectors go bad before, (on MUCH MUCH MUCH older cars) and they still operate in degraded mode.
Anyway... they are fixing it and hopefully that is the last of it.
Turns out it was NOT the tranny. Instead, bad injector.
But, my mileage has been in the 17 to 19 range all the time, which I have considered low, but in reading this board today, I am going to bump up my tire pressure and see if that might help. Pressure been around 31 to 34 most of the time.
Still, a bad fuel injector might cause mileage issues as well.
We just had to have our 2004 Quest towed to our Nissan dealer by AAA yesterday morning because we weren't able to get it started first thing in the morning. Had the same problem maybe 6 or so times before, in the last 6 months, but after a few minutes it would start up. Not this time though! Just had a call from the dealership to say that they still can't locate the problem. They haven't managed to get the van started, and that's after 2 days in the garage! They have just given us an extended warranty up to 5 years/60000 miles so I guess we'll wait and see. No other problems with the van though. Love it.
17-19 in mixed city and freeway use. Noticed as high as 24 on a couple 100 mile trips to the in-laws. Been as low as 14 at one point when we spent an entire tank of gas just around the city.
The floor level heat problems I experience are only on "long" trips (> 1hr). I've concluded that if _either_ the front or the rear temperature control is not on full cold (i.e. all the way counter-clockwise) then coolant is allowed to mix in the heater coil. This results in hot air from the floor vents - this air is hotter than outside air, so it is clearly being heated by coolant. The situation is this: I enjoy cool air, but my wife wants it a little warmer. So we set the temp selector to "mid-blue" - A/C on, vent mode. This resuts in comfortable cabin temp, but really hot for the driver's right foot (passenger is free to move her foot away from the vent). I find no way around this, except to use full cold. As you say, the air seems to be just naturally flowing from the floor vents, I don't believe it is forced by the fan in vent mode. I think my S has a different HVAC system than your SE, since I don't have the ability to set particular temperatures (is that 'auto' mode?). Richard.
Pembo, Perhaps you've already seen this (it was talked about earlier in this same thread), but just in case: there is a service bulletin related to (non)-starts after "cold soak". It is number 04021, you can see it (and other bulletins) at this link: http://www.nissanhelp.com/Bulletins/Quest/2004/3.htm Seems unlikey that your dealer would not be aware of this bulletin, but it's probably worth a question. Also, I'm not sure if yours qualifies as a "cold soak", in fact I'm not really sure what they mean by that. How cold? For how long? BTW, on the first really cold morning my quest experienced (~ -15 C), it did not start on the first crank. It started on the second crank, and was not a problem again... Richard.
I am going to take my car in later next week to have them look at the issue. There was one instance when the car would not start after even 8 or so cranks. I kept thinking that I was ruining the car. If you could keep me informed about what you find out, I would appreciate it. Thanks and good luck.
Hi Tara. My service shop told me he had found out about a bad valve body issue in the transmission system on the Nissan "Mechanics web site". They ordered the part and were about to install it when Nissan called him and told him NOT to install it. Apparently this valve part has been replaced in many units and it has NOT solved the problem. So, I am back to square one with Nissan engineers STILL trying to solve this known problem. Strangely, we have not had the problem for weeks now -BUT the H2S odor still crops up from time-to-time. Anyone else had this odor problem.
goes into a little more background about the warranty extension - also mentions you can get a full refund on any extended warranty purchased.
i bought my quest in 8/03 and have 14k miles on it...1 transmission replaced completely and the rest of the issues mentioned on this board...haven't gone in for the "free upgrade" yet
funny, i didn't really notice the h2s smell until i read about on this board.
i have the 7yr/100k extended warranty...part of me says that i should get the full refund b/c i can't see myself owning this more than 5 yrs...but then again, my wife loves the van so much regardless of the problems...sigh
never to buy a first-year run again...i really wanted the new mazda3 but will wait until next year for those kinks to get ironed out.
overall..i think i've gotten used to all the little issues with the quest and have basically just gotten tired of going to the dealer (which is why i am in no rush to get the customer satisfaction upgrade done...actually afraid it might make things worse than the usual stuff i am used to dealing with currently in the van)
we just welcomed our second daughter into this world last week - and i tried to install the infant car seat (2 years old and without latch) into the van and was fighting with the van for about 30 min...wondering why i couldn't get the thing to be as secure as it was in my old maxima...
then a few days later i saw the postings on this board (timely)...sigh...yet another issue.
guess i have to the get the latch conversion kit for my car seat
hi tom...about the "HVAC dials are sluggish to light up at night" issue...
i have this happen to me periodically (not as often during warm months but quite often last winter) and the way to get around it is to just move up/down the interior light dimmer (i don't know the technical name of it) - it's the "rolling thing" next to the interior light on/off switch...when i just moved that the hvac lights came on...so it probably is a loose connection thing but of course the dealer can never reproduce it.
I haven't gone in for the Customer Satisfaction Initiative yet (even though I qualify for all but 1 of the fixes and have been dealing with the rattles/squeaks since day 1), but I was wondering if those who have gotten the initiative done could reply simply by saying if it did or didn't definitively solve the rattles/squeaks (plus any other comments about the initiative you might have...i.e. was it worth it, any new issues as a result, etc)
Yeah, the light issue is strange. It's not even all the HVAC lights, and it's not consistent. Thanks for the tip on the dimmer- I'll try it next time. I had the dealer order the parts for the customer initiative, but now that my van is rattle free I'm hesitant to let them do anything. Oh well, no risk, no reward. ;-) I'll report back when it's done in a week or two.
We had ours in. Since then we have not had any problems, except... (dum... dum... dummmm...):
The Airbag light came on / stayed on. We had not even left the dealership. They had it for 1 more hour and said that was just the system re-initializing itself, not to worry. I would have worried less had they actually had it re-init for them first. Two weeks and no repeat light.
Got rid of the third seat rattle while we were there.
No more rattles for two week (yea)!
This last initiative brings us to 22 days in shop since 1/04. I have given this to my lemon law lawyer and see what we can do. NJ only allows up to 20-days without a buy-back. We shall see what we shall see...
Has anyone had problem with people stealing the silver valve caps for the tires? I have now had mine stolen 1 1/2 times. First they stole all four. The they stole two of them, with the third most of the way off.
They only cost about $2.00, it is just a d**n annoyance.
Hi All...I must say we have all the same problems as have been mentioned (rattles, wouldn't start, transmission stuck in drive, warped rotors, etc.). I have been tempted to post here many times out of frustration but just lurked.
I'm curious if anyone else has had problems with the windshield. My wife was removing the windshield sun shades and the rearview mirror fell off. Not only did it fall off but a CHUNK of the windshield came out with it. The dealership replaced the windshield.
Now, as I was driving it...a tiny little rock (I guess...it honestly didn't sound like anything hit the windshield) hit the windshield and immediately a 12" crack formed. We get windshield replacements for no cost through our insurance so that's not the issue...it just seems like the windshield (along with the rest of the vehicle) is cheap/defective.
My CSI took 1 day, probably because it did not include any seat removal or airbag stuff. I got the door rattle, new shift lever, middle seat, rear hatch fixes. I believe the door rattles are gone, even though my biggest complaint was a cold weather squeak. So I'm waiting for winter before I claim victory on the doors.
Otherwise, my biggest issues were the cold door not closing (recall fixed it) and a rear hatch leak which also appears fixed, so I am happy with this September 2003 built SE.
The dealer had my 04 Quest SL for one day today and did the following (rattle on third row seat, replace 2nd row seat adjustment, replace rear hatch strut ball studs, install squeak rattle kit, applied structural adhesive to rear hatch hinge, replace power sliding door actuator). They gave me a rental car from Enterprise for the day.
When I went to pick up my car at 5pm, the sliding door and rear hatch would not open/close automatically anymore. The service advisor came out and took a look and felt very embarrassed as all his mechanic has gone home already. I will have to take it back tomorrow morning and get them to look at it.
Another thing, is the fix they had for the rattle on the 3rd row was to wrap the latch with foam tape to dampen the vibration. A chunk already fell off. The vibration is gone but I wonder how long it would last? For those who have had this problem fixed also, can you fold down your seat and see if they also taped up the U-shape latch on the side of the car?
Thanks Richard. I hadn't seen that service bulletin. Our dealer ensured us that they were up to date on all the problems that have been outlined on the web, yet they were still unable to locate the problem. They've asked us to notify them as soon as it happens again! Its running fine now. As you mentioned, I too have no idea what a cold soak is! We have the van in a garage, so there's no chance of the engine getting soked through rain water! A number of our non-start problems happened in the middle of July when it was pretty hot even at 8 in the morning. So not sure what they mean by that. Thanks again. KP
Hi "emmittobie". They weren't able to locate the problem and have asked us to contact them as soon as it happens again. Its running fine now. They kept it an extra day to see if it was an early morning problem, but came up with nothing. Guess we'll have to wait and see. KP
This may have been answered, but tire pressure drops when temp drops, about 1 PSI for every ten degrees. You'll likely get this little reminder every Fall :^).
so, more follow-up, but the van has been at the deal for 7 days now to fix an injector. I was supposed to get it back today, but when I called it turns out that after replacing injector #1, they found out that injector #5 was bad as well, and so they will have it for a few more days.
Someone that knows more about this than I, help me out. I can accept that perhaps a mfg. defect or install problem might cause a single bad injector. But 2? What would cause injectors to go bad so fast? And since this does not seem to be a common problem on this board, I wonder if a larger problem is lurking...
Comments
Sliding doors rattle, scraped paint off the outside of the vehicle due to poor alignment and the thing rattles constantly. Car doesn't even have 10,000 miles on it and it is apparently junk. I gave my car back to the dealer and bought another car until I get this settled. Will NEVER buy Nissan again. I pity the 2 dealers I have worked with. They have been ever so helpful but cannot fix a misdesigned unit.
What are the specific problems that you would recommend we look for when test driving this car? I don't mind a few minor rattles and things but I'd rather not get the transmission replaced!
Thanks!
5by5
I don't know that you could pick up all the problems with a simple test drive. But issues to look for include:
AC not working well
Transmission
Leaking skyroof
Rattles
Electrical problems
Brake shudder (under load, especially downhill)
I may have missed a few issues, but I think these are the major ones.
True, it does come with a 5 yr 60,000 mile warranty. If you have time to deal with your local Nissan Service (potentially a lot) it may be worthwhile.
Good luck!
tom
What are the specific problems that you would recommend we look for when test driving this car? I don't mind a few minor rattles and things but I'd rather not get the transmission replaced!
Thanks!
5by5
I've considered the "why are they selling issue" which is why I want to be very careful when looking over the car. On the other hand, after years of car buying I know people sell nearly new vehicles at a loss for a variety of reasons. Some people just don't make well thought out financial decisions.
Thanks again!
5by5
Based on the "problems" discussion, which I consider more helpful, I'd be pretty reluctant to buy used unless I was getting a -great- price (which heals all wounds) I suspect resale on the 04s is going to take a hit because of the issues with the van, and you should get the benefit of that. Also make sure, if you go ahead, that the issue of the warranty extension is documented for the vehicle so that you get the benefit of that.
THE BAD:
* Rattles EVERYWHERE: passenger sliding door, back gate, overhead console (at rear), rear bench seat (clunks). We took it in for service back in May. The doors still rattle and the solution for the clunking rear seat was to wrap the lock bolts with electrical tape. How ghetto is that? The tape wore off in a couple weeks and the clunking was back so we usually drive around with the bench seat folded down. We received the service notice and will take it in Oct 4. They will have it for a week and will provide a loaner.
* Poor gas mileage: roughly 15 city, 19 highway
* Hot air from vents: I actually didn't notice this right away because it's been hot and we have always had the AC on. Now that the temps are neutral, we notice the constant hot air with the system off.
THE GOOD:
* No engine or braking problems. The 5sp tranni in the SE works great, although I wish they had a manual gear selection mode.
* No leaks in the sunroof or skylights.
* No malfunctions in the automatic doors.
* No paint blemishes
* Tons of room for cargo with the bench and middle seats down. I can fit (just barely) 4'x8' sheets of plywood/drywall in the back with the gate closed.
Jason
Is 35 too much or is that what you are also using? I hardly do any highway tavel, or have not done any after the PSI increase so I don't know what the mileage would be in highway.
The only concern I have is that sometimes when it gets hot, and I'm talking about high 80's, the PSI rises up to 38 PSI.
People with these Hybrid cars are running pressures in the mid 40s to increase their fuel economy- it may affect tire wear at these much higher pressures though.
My father accidently inflated his tires to 85psi cold once! And they still didn't blow out, so as long as you don't have Firestones most tires have a large safety factor built into them. ;-)
tom
Thanks, Tara
Here's the time line.
1. May 1 2004 -- Bought Quest.
2. June 2004 -- Quest has been at two different dealerships and worked with 1800Nissan to resolve A/C problem.
3. July 6th 2004 -- Filed BBB autoline complaint and accepted our case.
4. Aug 4th 2004 -- Arbitration hearing.
5. Aug 12th 2004 -- Arbitrator found vehicle not suitable for a hot climate like Arizona, especially having 6 month old twins, and awarded repurchase of the vehicle. However, maximum awarded is the actual purchase price minus usage, taxes, license, and other misc. fees.
6. Aug 26th 2004 -- Declined the arbitration decision to pursue the lemon law to also get the "full" amount back minus usage. Went to speak with an attorney about my case.
7. Sept 3rd -- Without using my attorney Nissan called me back and wanted to settle. I've requested everything back except the usage and license. License I'm getting back from the DMV and usage at 1900 miles was $403. I also got back my finance charges.
8. Sept 25th -- Returned my Quest back to Nissan and picked up my check.
The quest was a "very-good" mini-van except in my case the A/C. The whole arbitration process was long and somewhat time consuming. No more first model years for me. I'm sorry to hear that Tara and Sam did not win their cases. Good luck to all.
I would like to find out how did your arbitration worked out. I am in a similar situation and going to file for arbitration. Any guidance as to what and how-to-do would be of great help. Thanks.
First - any idea why Nissan calls the repairs in the "Cust Satis. Initiative" upgrades? I pressed the dealership on the phone, indicating that I consider these repairs rather than upgrades (one of the reading lights is failed short, please "upgrade" to the model without the short..?) but she insists Nissan considers the work upgrades. A bit insulting. Any reason Nissan wants to categorize this work as "free upgrade"? Seems sneaky...
Next: I suffer from several of the problems discussed at length on this forum - floor level AC blows HOT air, doors rattle. I also have a few other problems that I have not read about (I did not read all the postings...).
- the liftgate rises too fast sometimes. Seems to be worse in cold weather.
- finish on the centre console is peeling off. IMHO that finish is garbage, not even close to being suitable for automotive interior.
- fan and reading light inserts fall out of ceiling, on their own. They can be pushed back in, but they are not very tight..
- during diagnosis of the failed short reading light, I removed the plastic covers of the drivers reading lights. Sadly, removing as instructed in the Users Manual caused the little plastic clips to deform and almost snap off. I figure I have 1 or 2 more removals before the cover is garbage (here's hoping the bulb doesn't burn out while I own the van!)
- second row seatbelts do NOT work as they should. Although the Users Manual shows using the van's seatbelt to secure a child seat, the restricted angle of the seatbelt receptacle makes securing a front-facing child seat impossible. My dealer said I "had" to get a LATCH compatible seat, which I did, although I have a perfectly acceptable non-LATCH seat. Works fine with a LATCH seat, but that design mistake costs me $$.
Has anyone else seen these problems? Comments appreciated.
I'm holding out hope that the AC fix (service bulletin 04020) fixes the hot air problem. While I can maybe live with the other annoyances, this problem makes long trips almost unbearable. I read the postings regarding arbitration with interest..
BTW, my Nissan was bought in Sept 2003, it was a dealer demo, probably on the road in July or August 2003.
Thanks,
Richard.
Other than that the ride was quite enjoyable. Look forward to getting one (hopefully invoice price on new 2005 S) but disappointed in the carseat situation nonetheless. You would think some engineer would test an older car seat in the thing.
The compatibility info is linked from that page.
BUT: it is not helpful. Quote: "When available, the LATCH ... System was used for installation in the rear seating locations.". But the Users Manual depicts installation of non-LATCH seats in those locations. My (previous) seat (Cosco Touriva, pre-LATCH) cannot possibly be safely installed in the second row because of the seatbelt receptacle design - yes, that seat is shown as "compatible". And what I read from the Nissan Fit Guide is that Nissan did not even attempt to fit non-LATCH seats if the current model seat is available with LATCH. Maybe it is not unreasonable to expect all parents to upgrade to LATCH seats (they are clearly better), but this isn't what is shown in the documentation.
Quite frankly, I consider the design of the 2nd row receptacle to be in error; clearly, the steps outlined in the documentation (installation of non-LATCH seats) were not verified or even backed up in the Fit Guide (only LATCH seats tested). Nissan: please update your documentation or change the seatbelt receptacle!
Richard.
If you leave the system in 'auto' mode, or vent mode and adjust the temp down you will be OK. On cool mornings we can leave it off and are comfortable. On warmer days, we have to have the vent on, temp set to 60, and fan on lowest setting to prevent any perceptable heat.
Mark
2004 Quest SE
6000 miles and still loving it
I agree, if you have a standard 5 point carseat, they are hard to secure. They must match the contours of the seat and require excessive force to make them tight in the seat. They will work, but, not easily. When we purchased our Quest, I donated our old 5 point carseat and purchased a new LATCH carseat for my youngest.
If you have a toddler, over 30lbs, he/she can ride in a booster seat using the standard seatbelt. http://www.nhtsa.gov
Today, however, my wife called just ticked-off that the van stopped at an intersection, would not accelerate, although the engine was still running, and the check-engine light came on. I suspect TRAN, but who knows. Now I read the problems of others and I wonder if buying the Quest was a huge mistake. I had to literally YELL at the dealer to get them to send me a rental car at their expense to handle my wife and 2 small daughters who were going to be stranded while they figured this problem out. Van is less than 4 months, old, 3800 miles, and should NOT be showing any problems of this sort. I just spent 6 terrible years driving a Plymouth voyager that we bought new, and I was determined to never buy American again, but now I wonder if Nissan was an equally bad choice.
Should have bought a Honda... my brother loves his.
I will post more as this fiasco plays out. Anyone else have problems of this exact nature?
I have a forward facing carseat that is LATCH compatible, but I dont use it (the LATCH system). I have a "First Years" clip type attachment that goes on the seatbelt by the seat and it secures VERY TIGHTLY the carseat in place. My previous car was not latch compatible so that is why I have this device. It was not expensive at all and extremely effective. I understand that the carseat manufacturers will all eventually use this system, so you can either replace the carseat or use one of these adapter type devices. I am very happy with mine and have no problem at all. Actually I think they are much more secure than any LATCH system I have seen. I will try to find out it's actual name and post either a link or what it is called. Hope that helps. Even though I understand that a vehicle manufactured for families should not have this flaw, I think that Nissan was looking into the future when the LATCH system would be pretty much universal.
By the way, to the "Quest 04 just stopped" post, what is your gas mileage?
I have always thought the poor gas mileage is related to this transmission problem.
Tara
Anyway... they are fixing it and hopefully that is the last of it.
But, my mileage has been in the 17 to 19 range all the time, which I have considered low, but in reading this board today, I am going to bump up my tire pressure and see if that might help. Pressure been around 31 to 34 most of the time.
Still, a bad fuel injector might cause mileage issues as well.
I think my S has a different HVAC system than your SE, since I don't have the ability to set particular temperatures (is that 'auto' mode?).
Richard.
Perhaps you've already seen this (it was talked about earlier in this same thread), but just in case: there is a service bulletin related to (non)-starts after "cold soak". It is number 04021, you can see it (and other bulletins) at this link: http://www.nissanhelp.com/Bulletins/Quest/2004/3.htm
Seems unlikey that your dealer would not be aware of this bulletin, but it's probably worth a question. Also, I'm not sure if yours qualifies as a "cold soak", in fact I'm not really sure what they mean by that. How cold? For how long?
BTW, on the first really cold morning my quest experienced (~ -15 C), it did not start on the first crank. It started on the second crank, and was not a problem again...
Richard.
They ordered the part and were about to install it when Nissan called him and told him NOT to install it.
Apparently this valve part has been replaced in many units and it has NOT solved the problem. So, I am back to square one with Nissan engineers STILL trying to solve this known problem.
Strangely, we have not had the problem for weeks now -BUT the H2S odor still crops up from time-to-time.
Anyone else had this odor problem.
goes into a little more background about the warranty extension - also mentions you can get a full refund on any extended warranty purchased.
i bought my quest in 8/03 and have 14k miles on it...1 transmission replaced completely and the rest of the issues mentioned on this board...haven't gone in for the "free upgrade" yet
funny, i didn't really notice the h2s smell until i read about on this board.
i have the 7yr/100k extended warranty...part of me says that i should get the full refund b/c i can't see myself owning this more than 5 yrs...but then again, my wife loves the van so much regardless of the problems...sigh
never to buy a first-year run again...i really wanted the new mazda3 but will wait until next year for those kinks to get ironed out.
overall..i think i've gotten used to all the little issues with the quest and have basically just gotten tired of going to the dealer (which is why i am in no rush to get the customer satisfaction upgrade done...actually afraid it might make things worse than the usual stuff i am used to dealing with currently in the van)
then a few days later i saw the postings on this board (timely)...sigh...yet another issue.
guess i have to the get the latch conversion kit for my car seat
i have this happen to me periodically (not as often during warm months but quite often last winter) and the way to get around it is to just move up/down the interior light dimmer (i don't know the technical name of it) - it's the "rolling thing" next to the interior light on/off switch...when i just moved that the hvac lights came on...so it probably is a loose connection thing but of course the dealer can never reproduce it.
Thanks,
Dan
Yeah, the light issue is strange. It's not even all the HVAC lights, and it's not consistent. Thanks for the tip on the dimmer- I'll try it next time.
I had the dealer order the parts for the customer initiative, but now that my van is rattle free I'm hesitant to let them do anything. Oh well, no risk, no reward. ;-)
I'll report back when it's done in a week or two.
tom
The Airbag light came on / stayed on. We had not even left the dealership. They had it for 1 more hour and said that was just the system re-initializing itself, not to worry. I would have worried less had they actually had it re-init for them first. Two weeks and no repeat light.
Got rid of the third seat rattle while we were there.
No more rattles for two week (yea)!
This last initiative brings us to 22 days in shop since 1/04. I have given this to my lemon law lawyer and see what we can do. NJ only allows up to 20-days without a buy-back. We shall see what we shall see...
Has anyone had problem with people stealing the silver valve caps for the tires? I have now had mine stolen 1 1/2 times. First they stole all four. The they stole two of them, with the third most of the way off.
They only cost about $2.00, it is just a d**n annoyance.
I'm curious if anyone else has had problems with the windshield. My wife was removing the windshield sun shades and the rearview mirror fell off. Not only did it fall off but a CHUNK of the windshield came out with it. The dealership replaced the windshield.
Now, as I was driving it...a tiny little rock (I guess...it honestly didn't sound like anything hit the windshield) hit the windshield and immediately a 12" crack formed. We get windshield replacements for no cost through our insurance so that's not the issue...it just seems like the windshield (along with the rest of the vehicle) is cheap/defective.
Otherwise, my biggest issues were the cold door not closing (recall fixed it) and a rear hatch leak which also appears fixed, so I am happy with this September 2003 built SE.
When I went to pick up my car at 5pm, the sliding door and rear hatch would not open/close automatically anymore. The service advisor came out and took a look and felt very embarrassed as all his mechanic has gone home already. I will have to take it back tomorrow morning and get them to look at it.
Another thing, is the fix they had for the rattle on the 3rd row was to wrap the latch with foam tape to dampen the vibration. A chunk already fell off. The vibration is gone but I wonder how long it would last? For those who have had this problem fixed also, can you fold down your seat and see if they also taped up the U-shape latch on the side of the car?
KP
Nay
Someone that knows more about this than I, help me out. I can accept that perhaps a mfg. defect or install problem might cause a single bad injector. But 2? What would cause injectors to go bad so fast? And since this does not seem to be a common problem on this board, I wonder if a larger problem is lurking...
Help!