My daughter has a 2008 Sentra with 31000 miles on it and the transmission blew up. She purchased Nissan’s Extended Warranty, so called to have the car towed to them to repair the tranny. She was told that the transmissions in the 2008 Sentra’s are NOT under the warranty and she has to pay $3000 for a new transmission (which is again, not under warranty) AND $67 for the tow!!??? She doesn’t have $3,000 (a new mom) and bought a “new car” for “safety reasons”. Anyone out there know why Nissan doesn’t warranty their transmissions? Shouldn’t one last more than 2 years??? Does she have any recourse?
Something is not right here. The car should be under normal factory warranty in addition to the service plan. Nissan also extended warranty coverage on all of its CVT transmission equipped cars (including the sentra). Goggle CVT warranty extension for more details. It is possible that the transmission was damaged by an impact or water damage, which would not be covered.
We need a bit more info.
The '08 Sentra probably had two transmission choices, depending on the motor.
Regardless, the car should be under factory warranty until the 36k mile mark for the bumper to bumper warranty, and to either 60k or 120k miles for the transmission, depending on which one, under the power train warranty, and then whatever the extended warranty covers.
Take the car to a different Nissan Dealer, if this one is not going to be helpful.
What happened to the transmission, and has she ever had the transmission serviced in the 31k miles?
BC.
How about providing the rest of the story as Paul Harvey would say. If the transmission “blew up” this would be cause by lack of lubricant.
If warranty is being denied it may be for a problem someone else caused.
Who has been servicing the car as to oil changes, fluids, and whatnot?
Your comments are the same as mine to her! She is bringing me her warranty contract tomorrow and we will review it. I’ll also get the “Paul Harvey” and post it tomorrow. Thanks for the additional info. I’ll be sure to ask those questions as well.
That should definitely be covered under the 3/36. My girlfriend has an 08 Sentra I’ll check out her paperwork and see.
transman
Well, the car is an '08 so it could have been sold in '07. The factory powertrain warranty is for 60k miles I think and everything else is 3 years/36k miles other than Emissions, etc.
My opinion is that this should be a warrantable powertrain repair UNLESS there’s evidence of someone else being involved with it in some way or there is evidence of abuse.
It’s not known if the transmission is an automatic or manual but I’m assuming it’s an auto and one would think there is a legitimate reason why they’re not wanting to warranty a 31k miles transmission.
As was already stated, there is more to this story than has been presented so far.
Even if the car has been in service long enough for the Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty to have run its course, the Powertrain Warranty (which always includes the transmission) runs for 5 yrs/60k miles. As a result, engine or transmission problems would be covered under at least one of this car’s original warranties, even before considering coverage under an extended warranty. Extended warranties don’t kick in until the original warranties have expired.
There is definitely more here than meets the eye.
The additional thing is that if this is a Nissan CVT Transmission, it has had its warranty extended through 10 years, 120k miles by Nissan.
Read this site:
They can’t even deny the warranty for lack of servicing, because right in the maintenance manual, the car would only need CVT serviced at 30k miles if the owner towed trailers with the car, or drove on muddy roads.
The only thing that can void the warranty is if the transmission was serviced, and a fluid other than Nissan’s fluid was used.
Here’s the line about the transmission servicing, straight from Nissan’s warranty booklet they give every vehicle:
Transmission Fluid/Oil, Differential
Oil, Transfer Case Oil
Visually inspect for signs of leakage at
specified intervals. If towing a trailer,
using a camper or car?top carrier, or
driving on rough or muddy roads, replace
the fluid/oil every 30,000 miles or 24
months (60,000 miles or 48 months for
Altima, Altima Coupe, Maxima, Rogue,
Sentra, and Versa CVT fluid).
BC.
She should not need to change transmission fluid this early on. As such, any fluid loss would be the result of a leak, and therefore a mechanical failure which should be covered under warranty.
Ok. The Paul Harvey and the rest of the story… I hope you all are ok with me going into details. Dtr. purchased car in March, 2008. A week later, she went back to dealership and asked about the “transmission”. When she drove it, the RPMS ran really high before finally dropping and she thought something was wrong with the tranny. The dealer explained the CVT Transmission runs off “pressure” and the car was fine…it’s a hydraulic system…no gears…better for car…bla bla bla
Anyways, she had oil changes done at Jiffy lube and inspections and emissions done at Nissan dealership. She was very particular to take it to the dealership for inspections, just in case…
So…she comes home last week (no trouble with car…all running fine) and goes to park her car in the driveway, when it was put in reverse, backed into space and smelled something. When got out of car, there was transmission fluid all over drive.
So, naturally, she calls Nissan and they gave her a number for the towing company they use to schedule a pick up. The towing company showed up that same day and towed the car to Nissan Dealership. A few hours later, she gets a call saying that they found a hole in the side of her transmission and they would not cover under warranty because it looked like “abuse”. Her husband went to the dealership to talk to the service manager to find out what “abuse” meant. The service manager then said it was because they found remnants of rubber under car. The manager also said there was no damange or scratches on the undercarriage. Since her husband is familiar of the mechanics of vehicles he asked a few pointed questions that they could not answer. One of the mechanics there went as far as to say that her son (who is 3 months old) might have taken it out for a joy ride.
Now I think that they are trying to get out of paying for this tranny. Is there a condtion that would cause a hole in the transmission? Is the burden of proof on the owner to say no she hasn’t abused her car or the dealership? How do you do that? She is not a race car driver. She is very particluar about her car. I dont know how to help her because I am ignorant to these situations. Do I fight it? Do I get an attorney? Any help would be appreciated.
There are still details missing but there’s a good chance what they mean by hole is that there is a plug or bolt missing.
Going to Jiffy Lube was possibly a huge mistake. Younger, inexperienced guys servicing cars under a hurry up business model like this leads to a lot of errors. Without being able to see exactly what this hole is and making a bit of a wild guess here, my gambling money would be that someone at the JL committed a mechanical faux pas.
If this is the case then warranty should not cover it at all but she could go against the JL; something which many people have done.
It’s also possible to hit road debris and knock a hole in the transmission, which will then lead to loss of fluid and a ruined transmission.
To all of us here, the hole needs to be clarified a bit as to whether it was human or debris inflicted.
As usual, ok4450 has defined the probable situation very well.
For the OP’s benefit, she has to be aware that if there really is a “hole” in the transmission, that would be the likely result of having driven over rough terrain or possibly just hitting something substantial on the road. Automotive warranties do not cover either type of damage–and that is true for every company in addition to Nissan.
On the other hand, if the “hole” is actually a missing part, that would just serve to give more reinforcement to what most of the veterans of this board firmly believe, namely NEVER entrust your car to a quick lube place. Their employees are poorly trained and poorly paid, are not actually real technicians in most cases, and are pushed to the limit to get cars in and out as fast as possible. That type of business model might be really good for JL’s bottom line, but it is frequently disasterous for customers, as shown by the frequency of “JL ruined my car” complaints on this board.
Either way, Nissan bears no responsibility here unless you can introduce some new evidence to the contrary.
Edited to add:
I would like the OP to tell us how recently her daughter had her car…ahem…“serviced” at Jiffy Lube.
If it was in the care of JL just a day or two before the transmission leak, then it is easy to believe that they left the transmission drain plug slightly loose. (Of course, they would have no business touching the transmission drain plug on a car with a CVT, but mistakes are VERY frequent at these quick lube places.)
If more than a few days elapsed between the most recent oil change and the current problem, then impact with an object in the road is the most likely scenario.
Please give us the timeframe for the last service and also please get clarification regarding the “hole”. Is this a missing part, or is it literally a hole in the transmission case?
Let me add one more thing, if the hole is caused by road debris, her insurance may cover the repair, minus the deductible.
Well, you’re thrown a wrench into the works with saying you have the oil changed at Jiffy Lube. As others have said, it is possible that they removed the drain plug for the transmission (if it has one), and dumped in regular ATF fluid instead of the Nissan Spec fluid.
Or something caused the transmission case to crack.
Could be a flaw.
Could be an internal part broke, and punched a whole into it.
Only way to know that is to have someone else look at the car, as quickly as you can.
And yes, the dealer is trying to get out of repairing the transmission.
Force them to prove that the case is damaged because of either abuse or impact.
TAKE PICTURES to protect yourself in case someone at the dealer starts smacking it with a hammer to have proof.
BC.
To further this, if their shop keeps saying that it was caused by impact, call your insurance company, if you have comprehensive/collision coverage, and have them deal with the shop.
BC.
"A few hours later, she gets a call saying that they found a hole in the side of her transmission and they would not cover under warranty because it looked like “abuse”.
If the hole was caused by hitting debris in the road, it’s not going to be a warranty repair. If the hole was caused by something coming loose inside the transmission, it should be covered…A careful investigation should pin-point the cause…
Kathy, I Think This Has Been Figured Out, Sort Of.
[list] A hole from a missing plug could point back to an oil change service and their fault. [/list]
[list]A Hole in the transmission case could possibly be from a factory defect, flaw, or internal damage and Nissan’s responsibility. [/list]
[list]A hole in the transmission case could possibly be from road debris or more likely driving the car into part of a hoist that wasn’t down completely, for example, and some service department’s responsibility, but probably covered by car owner insurance. [/list]
[list]There were “remnants of rubber” found under the car. What type of rubber remnants ? Tire pieces from a steel belted truck tire ? Rubber from a pad on an oil change hoist ? [/list]
[list] I agree with Keith and Blade cutter. I hope the daughter has a real human insurance agent and not an “E-gent”. I’d get an estimate for a transmission installed or repairs from the Nissan dealer and then I’d call my agent and file a road hazard claim under comprehensive coverage. This should not increase insurance premiums (It’s like hitting a deer). Let the adjuster investigate and O.K. the claim or find out on what grounds it would be possibly be denied. [/list]
CSA
hey i own 08 sentra with CVT tranny. my CVT is lack of response and drive engine up to 3000 rpm for acceleration. so i took it the local dealer (i leave in hamilton, ON, Canada) and they take the car to check. later, they said that they did transmission diagnose test whtever that is, and they didn’t find anything wrong. and they still charge me 110 bucks for that one hour for no result.
so i took it to my local garage and everyone there told me that my transmission is the problem.
so is my tranny under the warrenty of powertrain? (in my case it is 5yrs/100,000kms)
if they wanna charge me huge amounts, i rather switch the car off.
Regarding the OP and the original question:
Apparently she decided to not update us on what actually was discovered when the transmission was examined.
Oh well.
You’re welcome Kathy, even though you never thanked any of us for our attempts to help.
Regarding today’s post from chromeheart2.0:
Rather than hijacking this thread, you should really begin your own thread if you want to get as many responses as possible.
Regarding your question–“is my tranny under the warrenty of powertrain? (in my case it is 5yrs/100,000kms)”–we can’t answer that because you failed to provide the odometer mileage for your car!
However, you can answer the question yourself. If your odometer mileage on this 2-3 year old car is less than 100,000kms, it IS covered by warranty.
But, it is possible that you have to “read into” the statement from your local garage, i.e.–“the transmission is the problem”. They may just be giving you some reality regarding CVTs.
The reality is that CVTs do allow the engine to turn at very high revs, which is one reason for general dissatisfaction with them. That, however, does not mean that the transmission is malfunctioning. It may just be doing exactly what a CVT was designed to do.
As to the “lack of response”, that is a frequent complaint with the Nissan CVT, especially with the smaller displacement engines. The problem is the transmission, but it just may be acting exactly as Nissan designed it to act.
If you are not satisfied with what the Nissan dealer told you, then you may want to pursue the issue with Nissan Customer Service. Contact information can be found in your Owner’s Manual.