Advice wanted on dealing with Auto-Dealer Service Dept

[petegz28]

So I bough ta new Maxima back in June. Ever since I've had the car I have heard a ticking that goes with the wheels. You can really hear it in a garage because of the echo and such. So, I mention it to the dealer one day when I was getting the oil changed. He said they heard it but wanted me to bring it back when the suspension guy was working. Ok, fair enough.

Time goes by, and I start noticing the CVT (Transmission) is a little louder than it had been. So I call the dealer and take it in yesterday and told them about what I think is the transmission noise as well as the ticking. All day goes by and I hear nothing.

I call them this morning and they said they saw nothing wrong and couldn't hear the ticking that they claimed they could hear before. I said bullshit. This was at 10:00am this morning. So they said they would look again, 2:30 rolls around and I hear nothing so I call and ask them what's going on so I can make arrangments to get the car if I need too. The guys says he hadn't heard anything and he would go talk to the foreman and call me back. I told him I was getting ready to leave work in about an hour.

45 minutes later I still haven't heard anything back one way or the other and now my patience is starting to get a little thin.

Would you be talking to the Manager or play the wait and see?

[Easy 6]

If you really feel you're being dicked around, schedule an appointment with the stores general manager.

State your case firmly but calmly, the gm can make things happen when no one else can or will.

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Gonzo

Anything can cause that click, really. CV joints, a break pad, a defect in the tire or even a slight warp in the wheel. If you have plastic wheel covers, that'll certainly cause it. The possibilities are endless man.
If it gets progressively worse, take it back until they fix it.
Posted via Mobile Device

they did fix the ticking noise, or so it seems. They said it was a cotter pin that wasn't secured. But they tried to tell me at first they couldn't hear it and I told them to check again and voila, they heard it.

[jjjayb]

Originally Posted by Gonzo

Service writers can be as bad as used car salesmen. They work on commission too and if their techs are working on warranty vehicles, they're not making money.
That being said, you're physically going to have to go down there and replicate the prob lem with the service writer or manager. This sounds a helluva lot like CV joints to me.
Sauto? Your thoughts?
Posted via Mobile Device

Good thing not all of us Car salesman are paid on commision. ;-)

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Gonzo

Anything can cause that click, really. CV joints, a break pad, a defect in the tire or even a slight warp in the wheel. If you have plastic wheel covers, that'll certainly cause it. The possibilities are endless man.
If it gets progressively worse, take it back until they fix it.
Posted via Mobile Device

Looks like you covered all the basics here buddy.

I was going to say check the center caps first myself.

A loose cotter pin doesn't sound right to me though. Was the noise at "wheel speed"?
Posted via Mobile Device

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by petegz28

thankls for the feedback. I went in, guy was kissing my ass. Had him take me in another car so he could hear the difference. He could hear one but he said he didn't think it was that much of one. I talked to the Manager and told him I think something is wrong. He assured me they went over everything more than once. I told him about the ticking noise with the cotter pin they said they couldn't find until I told them to look again.

Anyhow, I got a free air filter and car wash out of the gig and it has been noted in detail in my record should the problem get worse.

Honestly and this may be my imagination, but the noise didn't seem as bad after they had it for two days though they swear they saw nothing and did nothing.

You did good to have them put the complaint in your records. Sometimes you can get them to fix it even out of warranty when you do this.
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[hometeam]

I work for Nissan as a salesperson. I run into problems like this from time to time.

That being said, go to your salesperson first. They are your advocate at the dealership and many times you can get something accomplished just by asking your salesperson to light a fire under thier ass.

If its me, and im your salesperson, and you have a problem. I get it handled, end of story. No dick moves needed, no stress inducing worrying etc. Just plain and simple ask your salesperson to get it done. Nissan is HUGE on customer satisfaction, and actually PAY the dealerships which get high makrs on surveys for both service and sales. IF your salesperson cant or wont help you, talk to the service manager and threaten a bad survey. If you get in the pockets of the dealership, shit will get handled.