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Comments
-juice
I was initially told a delivery date of the end of February and that came and went. I was then told about the delay from the lack of LE wheels and that my unit would ship March 10th. Looking for delivery the end of this month. What is the latest you've heard on your delivery?
Will post here again when I hear something.
Regards,
Robo Rig
Jumpvid
We got home, I turned off the engine, started it back up and readjusted it to the normal settings. Suddenly, it worked normally.
Maybe a bug in the software?
This site has been so negative on the Armada, I wonder how many people have problems as opposed to how many are happy with their purchases? I believe people who are happy are not as likely to post messages as people who are not happy.
I also wonder if some of the problems are with the first vehicles produced, maybe there are fewer problems on the vehicles manufactured over the past couple of months.
Based upon my experiences I personally would recommend the Armada to others.
By the way, we love our Armada. Have had it for a month now and all is well. Drives like a dream, comfortable, roomy, and has lots of power!!
Thus far, we've had 3 minor issues (rattle in second row passenger seat, slightly out of aligned passenger door latch and one cracked overhead console) and 1 issue that I thought could lead to something major. That particular issue was a weird "clicking/clacking" noise coming from my rear axle area. The noise would occur for about 5-10 feet as I accelerated from a stop OR whenever I passed the shifter THROUGH the reverse gear. ALL OF MY ISSUES HAVE BEEN FIXED (except the overhead console... which should be at the dealer this week).
We took the vehicle to the dealer last Monday to have them check out the "clicking/clacking" sound. We've driven the vehicle more than 600 miles since then and the sound has not returned (fingers crossed :O)). To fix it they pulled the axle, cleaned the splines, lubed it with a silicone lubricant and retorqued an outer nut. While they were at it, they also checked to see if any of my rotors were warping.......each one was fine. I wasn't having any warped rotor issues, but since they already had the back wheels off they checked all my rotors for me. They retorqued the lug nuts on each wheel to the recommended 98 ft lbs.
Sooooo, eventhough some folks are starting to report that they are becoming unhappy with their Armada due to different problems, not all owners feel that way......i'm one of the happy ones! With that said, I sincerely hope that ALL folks with Armada problems can get them fixed in a timely manner. I truly want everyone to enjoy their ride the same way I'm enjoying mine!! Oh yeah, just to point it out, my Armada is 4x2 LE with upgrade package and 2nd row Captains Chairs.
Guess I better get it checked to be sure.
No other problems, other than I need to get the sunroof adjusted a bit, and get an airleak fixed on the rear passenger door.
Anyway, to any Nissan employees reading this board- what's the latest word on the resonance TSB?
I heard it really bad this past weekend- now I know what everyone's talking about. It's unmistakeable. My friend commented out of the blue - "Man, that sounds like a Star Wars sound effect! What is that?" It was loud.
Coincidentally, I accidentally moved my rear luggage support this weekend while washing my ride. I moved it back to where it was before the wash yesterday (2 inches forward of the rearward most setting) and the resonance disappeared again. Anyone try moving their supports around to change the airflow up?
Also to you Nissan engineers, since it's a sound issue why not, in addition to glueing the supports better, insert some rubber matting like dynamat or something thicker between the roof and headliner? Sound can't transmit through thick, dense material like rubber. Just an idea.
-=Nathan
with all the problems, how did you get a "great trade in value"???
if it was soooo horrible, a dealer would have hung a crucifix on the door to keep you away.
however...
most manufacturers will still buy back a lemon for P.R. purposes.
Steve, Host
Fortunately, my uncle (who works for Nissan in another town) informed me of a TSB coming out very soon for this issue. He claims that a ton of Titans and Armadas have this issue. He claimed that a team of technicians are going to some odd amount of major cities to help get this problem fixed.
Has anyone else noticed this?? I have no idea how long it has been doing it... I had never had a reason to watch it, but we took a family trip out to the lake. A friend and I sat in the truck for a while to rest - our seats were laid back, so the sensor was in direct view...
A message is supposed to be sent out to us owners pretty soon, but it's odd to not hear anyone else with this issue.
As for resale value--many have posted on this issue--and while I generally agree that the resale value of Nissans and Toyotas are better--hopefully the longer Dodge warranty will help this time around. Also, I would not want to own an '04 Armada if 5 years down the road, that's the year people are told to avoid--hearing instead that the '05s (or late '04s) are the ones to buy.
Make no mistake, I like the Armada (and probably would have gone for it were it not for some of the issues raised here)--but I went with the Durango (based mostly on its ride, the fact it's a second generation vehicle, and price) and have no doubt it will serve me well.
I also have no doubt that Nissan will fix whatever problems exist sooner rather than later--and that the Armada will serve it's owners just as well.
Though I have no buyer's remorse or worries about the Durango (for me it was a real close decision), I'll be keeping a close eye on the Armadas and will definitely consider it when its time to buy again.
As for the Armada--if I could have waited, I would have held off buying anything (Durango or Armada) until September/October and may have bought an '05 Armada.
Like I said, the decision for me was real close--but ultimately, I just wasn't comfortable buying an '04 Armada and preferred the ride of the Durango--plus I wound up with a comparably equipped Durango for approximately $5,000 less--which on a percentage basis was was hard to ignore.
Only time will tell whether the immediate savings pays off.
1. the dealer gave more for the truck KNOWING its faults?!?! ive never heard of that before.
2. if you didnt disclose the problems to the dealer you traded with, what kind of buyer are you?
What is your point!
Have you EVER run in to a dealer that was 100% honest? Highly unlikely. In my 35 or so years of buying vehicles I can only remember ONE that didn't try to put the screws to me using ever imaginable trick possible. I'm not saying that a buyer should be dishonest, but it is up to the dealer to inspect whatever vehicle they are accepting and make an offer based on that. In MOST cases they give the lowest possible trade-in price, usually BELOW a wholesale value.
I work it this way when trading in my vehicles - it doesn't take long in the negotiation process to figure out if the dealer I am working with is trying to take advantage of the deal we are working on, and if they are being dishonest. I am well prepared with wholesale/retail value ranges of both vehicles and have bought enough cars and trucks from enough different dealers to pretty much know when they are trying to take advantage of me.
IF they are being dishonest with me, then I would certainly have NO problem being dishonest with them per details on my trade-in. In most cases the vehicles I have traded in have been in excellent shape so this does not come up often.
Most dealers are not stupid when it comes t trade-ins, they buy cars all day long, from customers and from auctions. You'll NEVER come out AHEAD when making a vehicle transaction with a dealer. NEVER in a million years. Most are too smart to allow that. One way or another, they will come out ahead. And to some extent, they are entitled to that of course, they have overhead like every other business.
Besides, wouldn't the Armada still be until factory warranty? So whoever bought it from the dealer would not be getting screwed, at least the problems would be taken care of.
As far as "Dodge" resale value, I wouldn't necessarily lump ALL Dodge vehicles into that category. The new Durango is proving very popular, especially models with the Hemi. Reliability has been excellent the past few years, and so have the crash test reports. The new Durango is going to hold its resale value pretty well in my opinion. And if the new Armada continues to be plagued with problems like it has been you can bet the resale value on these first-year models will be awful. Chas made a wise decision.
freddy1, can you please explain this, then?
Nissan incentives: (in addition to 0.9% financing)
2004 Nissan Altima $1,500.00
2004 Nissan Frontier $2,000.00
2004 Nissan Pathfinder $1,500.00
2004 Nissan Sentra $2,000.00
2004 Nissan Xterra $1,000.00
You mean the one coming out SIX months from now? Yeah, better hurry up and clear them out NOW!! What about the Pathfinder? New look for that one in 2005? And the Sentra? New look in 6 months? What about the Frontier?
You can bet that there will soon be incentives on the Armada, no doubt about it. No doubt whatsoever.
Nissan made its name on it's small cars, original Z and the 3.0 - 3.5 V6. It has no experience with full size trucks let alone large displacement V8's.( my wife has a brand new I35...great car but it's not an Armada!) Betting it all on a brand new factory? It appears that Nissan went overboard on its styling and did not do adequate vibration or or prototype road testing. The resonance is a big deal! Also the French styling influence with the overdone roof console and plastic bins has lead to manufacturing headaches and annoying squakes and rattles.(same problems in the Quest!!)
Chasmanz28 made the right call.. in dumping the Armada. I have been looking at it for several months and reported on this board that I had driven 7 examples of Armadas each having resonance problems....actually it was a sampling of 12 over 4 months! All had the problem, I wanted to buy one if I could find one without. Nissan is good on paper but needs serious structural changes and manufacturing refinement. Dodge is an old fashion American Truck/SUV. I'm waiting but if I had to make the choice today ..Call me old fashion!
Per the resonance problem, there is no excuse whatsoever that this should have got past initial testing. How could they have possibly missed something so obvious? For so long people have trashed domestic vehicles and gloated about how good the imports are. Well, after reading about all of the 4runner problems and now those of the Armada, American cars don't look so bad after all.
For the 2005 Pathfinder, they fix the 3rd row seat (I am sure they will do the same to '05 PFA as well). They also avoided the drop-roof styling. How about the door handle, Nissan?!
Mentioned 5 issues:
1. Sounds like a panel van from the 3rd row back on rough roads.
2. At idle, sounds like a mini-helicopter sound (Rotor wash) the driver front under the hood.
3. The fan on high, either does a rattling noise, or a high drone. This morning was a high drone.
4. Mentioned how there is a clicking sound on the right rear, but it is not constant.
5. Asked him to check the brakes and rotors.
Brought in the info from this forum about the rotor and rear hub. He already knew and said the Titan and Armada were having issues with the rotors and he already has 2 on backorder. He'd rather not turn them, but wait until they come in if that was OK with me.
I love this vehicle even with minor issues. Styling is a matter of taste. I like the high rear handles. I have 6 sons and would rather they don't get in there and jump around unless I'm in there. It's a matter of 1 extra second for me to open it for them, so no big deal.
Make sure you make your comments known to Nissan when they call from customer follow-up. Corporate called and asked what I liked, disliked, and any improvements. I mentioned some of the issues, such as resonance, even though I don't have it, so maybe they'll look into it harder the more people they think have it.
The one design thing I mentioned was that I almost picked the expedition over the Armada for the 3rd row split. They need to get that.
Regarding the Dodge/Nissan: If it comes down to driving a vehicle with nausea-inducing, migraine-numbing resonance, with no split 3rd row seat, and rear door handles you have to open for your average 7 year old vs a Dodge Durango Hemi..I'll take the Hemi each and every day and worry about my resale value 10 years down the road versus having to vomit and take Immitrex after every single ride.
About the only thing I don't like (style-wise) is the big opening in the bumper that leaves the big fan and exposed. They could've atleast covered it with a grille insert just like the "criss-cross" patterned one up above that area.
I honestly don't think any of the styling is so overboard...its just different and still very functional. I'm only stating my opinion and its not meant to argue with anyone.
Some pics at:
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/547845
Added a Trenz grille, some American Racing 20's, tint, and a brushed aluminum dash kit.
Anybody add a K&N filter or aftermarket stereo yet? I'd like to put in a DVD screen and aftermarket audio, but I've never done it in a foreign vehicle. The radio seems to be separated into different segments, so I don't know how that works.
My apologies to those of you who have already seen the pics.
-N
I've got a 4wd SE, no resonance at almost 4k miles and 14.6 mpg on the last tank (combination of my normal freeway/surface street driving). I'm happy with the thing so far and definitely feel for those of you with the major problems.
On a side note, does anybody have any recommendations for seat covers for this thing? Or are seats/seat covers pretty much generic? I can't see spending the long hot summer here sweating and sticking to these leather seats.
I love how the whole body blends together, especially the rear handles. Being 18, it isn't a problem for myself or anyone that rides in the back to open the doors, though... Maybe a different story if I had a family.
Every time I see her interior, I am reminded of the main reason I bought her. As shallow as it might be (I'm a guy, I can't help it), I was more attracted to her looks than anything. That is, until I test-drove one
On a more negative note, is anyone else having continuous issues with the windows? So far, drivers front has gone off track and fixed twice, the passenger front has a random roll-up issue, and the back two are getting the regulators replaced. Lately, a lot of wind noise has entered the driver front...
Also, I have an odd squeak coming from the very back when I turn, hard or soft. Sounds like twisting plastic...