Sailorguy

I could have submitted these comments to the 2005 X-Trail & Pathfinder threads on rear hatch handle rust issues, but the key focus is on how Nissan Canada handles (or doesn’t handle) warranty concerns, so I am posting this as a new thread in the “General Discussion” forum…

My issue is simple: I reported an issue of rear hatch handle rust to the local Nissan dealership, before the vehicle warranty expired. However, the dealership had recently changed ownership, and most of the staff, including the service department staff, were very new to their roles. Perhaps because they were so inexperienced, they were unaware that Nissan had issued a bulletin acknowledging that this problem was associated with a known manufacturing defect, and that Nissan would pay for associated repairs under warranty. In any event, the dealership simply attributed the problem to the original operators of dealership not applying fallout to the vehicle before delivering it to me. Bottom line, the rust problem was not properly addressed, even though Nissan was routinely accepting warranty claims for proper repair of this problem in other 2005 X-Trails and Pathfinders.

As time went by, the problem became worse. Where the rust was originally only in the chrome, it was now also in the paint. At around this time, I stumbled across this website, and learned that this issue was recognized by Nissan as a manufacturing defect that they were prepared to address under warranty. However, at this point, the three-year factory warranty had expired. When I tried to seek warranty coverage anyway, I was politely advised by Nissan Canada that the warranty had expired, so the rust problem would not be covered by Nissan under warranty.

My frustration is that this kind of problem could still happen! My powertrain warranty is still in effect, but unless either I or the dealership recognize an emerging problem as an issue that would be covered under warranty, the problem may once again not be fully recognized until after the warranty has expired! Whose responsibility is it to recognize that a problem will be covered under warranty? Is it my responsibility? If so, why doesn’t Nissan issue their warranty bulletins to me, rather than to their dealerships? If it’s the dealership’s responsibility to recognize and properly address reported warranty issues, doesn’t Nissan have any interest/responsibility to ensure that they do so? Doesn’t Nissan have any responsibility to ensure that dealership staff are properly trained and qualified, especially when dealership ownership changes and staff is inexperienced?

Sailorguy

Two additional points that I should have made in my original post:
1) This manufacturing defect is not being covered under warranty, even though I purchased an extended warranty (84 months/120,000 km) at the time that I originally bought the X-Trail. At this time, the vehicle is still less than 5 years old, with about 60,000 km on it.
2) As well as being the original owner of the X-Trail, I am also the original owner of a 2002 Maxima. Obviously, I like the Nissan product! However, am I likely to purchase another Nissan product given that the Nissan Canada warranty folks are refusing to address a manufacturing defect issue that was originally reported within the three-year basic warranty period? It just seems like really poor business practice by Nissan Canada.

Has anyone had any success working a similar issue with Nissan Canada? If so, what contributed to your success?

Thanks!

Faja

Am I missing something here? you said you reported the rust problem before the warranty expired, correct? How did Nissan respond to that?

Sailorguy

Yes, I reported the problem to the Nissan dealership before the warranty expired. However, the dealership folks (perhaps because they were new at their jobs) did not recognize the problem as a recognized manufacturing defect that would be covered under warranty. Instead, they (incorrectly) attributed the problem to the original operators of dealership not applying fallout to the vehicle before delivering it to me. Unfortunately, I only learned that this issue was due to a manufacturing defect when I visited the Nissan Forums website, which was after the basic 3-year warranty had expired (although my extended 84 months/120,000 km extended warranty is still in place...). Since the basic warranty had expired when I tried to work the issue as a manufacturing defect, Nissan Canada has refused to correct the problem under warranty.

Faja

I pretty well understood that from your original email but the fact that you reported a problem within your car's basic warranty and nothing was done (doesn't matter whose fault that was), Nissan should have honored that whether it was a manufacturing defect or not and fix it as a goodwill gesture but I guess "c'est la vie". At least by telling your story, others will have learned something from your misfortune.

Sailorguy

Well, I'm actually hoping that by participating in forums such as this one, I may catch the attention of some senior person at Nissan who will agree that my concerns should be further investigated...thanks for keeping this thread alive and in the forefront of this forum!

From what I've read, Carlos Ghosn is pretty proud of the Nissan product, yet also recognizes that Nissan must not only deliver a good product, but also deliver good customer service. Perhaps my concerns would interest him! Does anyone know his email address?