robertrmass

My independent mechanic diagnosed a front end rattle in my 2003 Murano with only 55K miles on the vehicle as a leaking strut and advised both be replaced. The struts are the original equipment parts from when the vehicle was purchased new. The warranty booklet for the Murano indicates that the shocks/struts are warrantied to the person who bought the parts for both parts and labor. I contacted Nissan to confirm this and they replied with the following that I am confused by since it seems to refer to parts that I replace but not the original Nissan parts. Has anyone had a similar strut repair on a vehicle out of the standard warranty period covered by another warranty or program?

"With regard to your concern, we have contacted our warranty claims department and we have verified that the lifetime warranty applies to the genuine nissan original equipment muffler assemblies, genuine Nissan vehicle suspension system shock absorbers and strut assemblies installed on the vehicle as a replacement to the original equipment manufactured part. The lifetime warranty applies only if the parts are purchased and paid for by the owner of the vehicle on which they are installed, and only if they are installed by an authorized Nissan dealer"

Robert R
Brookline, MA

FriendlyNismoTech

Warranties are tricky, if you're not the original owner there are several warranties you can lose. You'll retain the basic's but any special warranty program will now longer apply. Are you the original owner?

robertrmass

Yes, I am the original owner. This was not a special warranty program that I purchased in addition to standard vehicle warranty. The language they quoted is exactly as it is in vehicle warranty booklet. It's very confusing--depending on how you interpret it could be saying that if you replace an original equipment strut with a genuine Nissan part then it has a lifetime owner warranty. But does the original strut delivered with the new vehicle also qualify? Might just have to bring it to a local dealer and keep my fingers crossed

smj999smj

Nissan vehicles come with a 3 yr/36000 mile base warranty and a 5 yr/60000 mile powertrain warranty. Suspension componants are covered under the 3 yr/36000 mile warranty. The only way they would be covered beyond that point is if you purchased an extended warranty that covers said parts beyond those limits, or, if a campaign or recall is created that would cover those parts.

Some genuine Nissan replacement parts that are installed by a Nissan dealer, including struts and mufflers, carry a limited lifetime warranty. Nissan "premium" brake pads also used to be covered under the lifetime warranty, but I'm not sure if they still are. Nissan also carries "Key Value" exhausts and brake pads that are made by OEM suppliers but at a cost that is competitively priced to the aftermarket alternatives; these "Key Value" parts carry a 12 month/12000 mile warranty, which is the same coverage as the majority of parts purchased from Nissan.

Another form of warranty is "Good Will" warranty. This is at the discretion of the dealer and usually reserved for cases where a part fails just after the warranty has expired and/or for exceptional customers (those that have purchased at lot of vehicles at a particular dealer or who has done all of their service work at a dealer, for example). In some cases they may cover the whole expense of the repair, or adjust the cost of the repair. For example, they may cover 50% of the repair bill if you have it done at a Nissan dealer or pay for the parts if you assume the cost of the dealer's labor to install them.