New Sentra Owners' Experiences
txn_egl_sct
Member Posts: 20
in Nissan
When I picked up my car ('07 2.0 S) this past week I didn't notice then being it was dark, but now I have noticed that I hve two issues.
1) The clear plastic edge strips on my doors are coming unstuck and peeling off. This is not noticable on the outside of the vehicle yet, so far it is only on the inside edge of the door. Are these supposed to be there after customer delivery?
2) My window sticker shows the dealer apparently added wheel locks for ($89). I have the steel wheels and plastic caps. There are no "locks" as I know them installed, like what would be used on custom or alloy wheels.
Should I be peeved about this? One sales-rat tried to convince me they "lock" the caps to the wheels. He then scurried off when he figured out I knew what I was talking about.
1) The clear plastic edge strips on my doors are coming unstuck and peeling off. This is not noticable on the outside of the vehicle yet, so far it is only on the inside edge of the door. Are these supposed to be there after customer delivery?
2) My window sticker shows the dealer apparently added wheel locks for ($89). I have the steel wheels and plastic caps. There are no "locks" as I know them installed, like what would be used on custom or alloy wheels.
Should I be peeved about this? One sales-rat tried to convince me they "lock" the caps to the wheels. He then scurried off when he figured out I knew what I was talking about.
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Comments
Meanwhile, let's drop the name-calling, okay? Maybe you'd like to stop by our Dealer Ratings & Reviews page to share your experience with other consumers in your area? That would be great!
Is anybody else seeing this type of a wear problem? :sick:
Is anybody else seeing this type of a wear problem?
Unfortunately I don't see this as a defect so much as just unfortunate. The friction from rivets on jean pockets, tooled leatherworking on belts, and buttons on back pockets can scratch and scuff the interior trim just as easily as it will the paint on a fender or quarter-panel. I would recommend bringing this up to your dealer regarding premature wear on trim surfaces and try for a replacement. You never know they might fix it.
The soft touch paint that is used on the interior trims can be rubbed off to show the molded plastic in whatever base trim color it was manufactured in. Typically you see this coloring on dashes and consoles. This is also why one trim area won't match another in color or tone exactly.
The weatherstrip failure itself is directly related to being pulled by the friction of you entering the vehicle. This will eventually tear the "pillow" portion of the strip away from the retention base. Most of the time you will see this on the bottom door sill where people exiting the vehicle will drag their feet on the weatherstrip till it eventually tears.
The only thing I can suggest is try not to rub on the door opening while getting into and out of the car. I don't know of any other remedy for what you are describing. I would bring the premature wear up to your dealer to try for a warranty replacement though.
Hope it works out for you.
Corkscrew
I do not have a lot of experience: is this just an alignment problem? I took it to the dealer and he said there is no problem, just the steering is a bit stiffer than in other cars and it has to do with the road being tilted. But I am not satisfied with the answer: sounds like BS.
It is kind of irritating since I do not have to do all that on my 12 yrs old Toyota.
barpye: I would appreciate if you keep me posted with your progress. I might follow suit.
Please send any documents you have as I will submit to court
Thanks
John
email - capac@optonline.net
I yet have to produce documents. I'll go early January to another dealer to see what they say and then (after the dealer sells me BS) I plan to contact Nissan USA. I only have an invoice on which it's mentioned that I inquired about the problem but I think that's it.
I'll let you know when I have some progress.
Will keep all posted. And I agree that in light of the Toyota fiasco that Nissan should want to jump at the chance to shine with their customers....
I bought the car from a non-nissan dealership and returned it to see if they could fix it. After they tried alligning and rotating tires they did not know why it was still having problems, but they mentioned it could be a "torque pull" where the left tire is working harder than the right - causing it to pull. They suggested taking it to a nissan dealership since it is still under warranty. I will do that soon, and I also look forward to hearing outcomes from nissan and lemon law suits.
In the meantime I've been reading the Corolla forums and seems like they have the exact same problem: the car is wandering all-over the road. They suspect it is the Electric Power Steering causing this problem. I think they are right: the change from hydraulic PS to electric PS is what we feel. The EPS is praised all-over the internet for its technological advantages, by engineers most likely. It is unbelievable how these idiots can ignore how consumers feel about this stupid EPS.
Implications: this seems to be a design flaw, not an execution flaw. It means the dealers cannot do anything. There are no better parts to put in place.
What I plan to do next:
- file a complaint with NHTSA (www.nhtsa.gov) to make them and Nissan aware of the problem. I really do think this EPS (the way it is tuned now) is a safety problem: if you take your eye off the road for 5 sec, you may end up in the other lane. It is also a downgrade in driving comfort: I got Hulk's forearms from correcting the fcking steering every 2 sec.
- try to get a brand without EPS. Maybe one with hybrid PS (hydraulic and electric).
I recommend that we all do file with NHTSA, otherwise we will not get noticed. Coupled with Toyota's complaints, it may have an effect. If we get at least 20 complaints on the same topic they may investigate. Last time I searched their database I only found 1, from 2007 I believe.
I think we will not be able to change much: changing the power steering on each Nissan (and Corolla) would be quite expensive. Car makers will pull out the big guns. But at least we send a signal to either improve the EPS or switch back to hydraulics. In the meantime I have to accept that my $3k '97 Toyota is a more pleasant driving experience than my $15k '08 Sentra. :mad:
I have submitted a complaint with the NHTSA.gov and like mad3cat, I'll try to keep away from Nissan. Sound impossible but I'll keep away from electric power steering as well, although it will be more and more difficult as all car makers seem to be heading that way.
I almost got the SR with its alloys and sporty trim, but the dealer that offered the best deal had only one, in black, and I don't like black (too hard to keep clean). But they had several S models, including silver (first choice), and I like that it has side moldings to help keep dings off the doors. Also the wheel covers are some of the better looking plastic covers I have seen, so I won't miss the alloys (which just seem to get scuffed up over time).
I'll post more when I have more experience with the car. Averaged 38.5 mpg on the way home from the dealer, if the trip computer can be believed. Given the low revs on the car, when driven with a light foot, I can believe that number.
Went to court - both side had expert witness and drove the car - mine said it was a safety issue - Nissan said it was fine - Nissan asked the judge to drive it - She drove and said it was not bad enough to cause the lemon law to be used and ruled she would not have Nissan repurchase the car.
in summary - do not let the the judge drive the car -
Nissan is being allowed to sell a car with defects - I hope no one gets hurt.
My sympathy man.
So my friend was saying that probably the premium cars (Altima, Camry) will not have this problem. I guess trading in on a more expensive car is the only way out.
If it was in a court of law, you could appeal the case, maybe demand a jury trial next time.