I had the same thought, and in Washington, it is only three times, but when I asked the Service Manager, she said just having repair orders with the customer complaint and the issue not being duplicated at the dealership, it would not count towards the Lemon Law.
I just did a quick look up of the Washington lemon law since all states have their own but it looks pretty similar to Wisconsins. It states you need to take it in 4 times for diagnosis/repair. By them looking into your complaint would count as a diagnosis so I donât believe what they told you is correct about having to duplicate it. I found a real easy way to duplicate it though. Drive the vehicle for 20 min or so make sure the vent isnât on recirculat, park the vehicle and turn it off for about 10 min then turn it back on. The cabin will fill almost instantly with a fuel smell.
Thanks for the advice, I will try that method to duplicate it. This is my daughterâs car, so I only notice the fuel odor when she brings it home and stinks up the whole garage.
Given this is a known problem, Nissan might concede however to qualify for lemon law buy back there must be 4 failed repair attempts. Technicians are cautioned to not replace a part unless the problem can be replicated and diagnosed. Visits in which a repair was not performed do not count towards the lemon law case.
When this comes under review there will be a question of what type of âgasâ odor was the problem. The first several complaints do not state if this is an exhaust gas odor or a gasoline odor, I have had customers provide misleading information.
There was a poster here who made 7 visits to Honda dealers for a brake system malfunction warning message, however only two of those visits involved a repair. He started a lemon law case, seems like 2 years ago and was never resoled.
1 Like
Per Wisconsin lemon law guideâŠ
Get a Repair Order for every repair visit, even if the dealership service department doesnât diagnose the problem or attempt a repair. Each Repair Order should show the problem(s) you report, and the dates your vehicle is in the service department.
Wisconsin doesnât need an attempted repair. They have witnessed the issue and they know it exists.
The issue is a gasoline odor, like spilled gas.
1 Like
Yes for sure.
1 Like
That was mentioned in post 14 but not in the beginning. The point is that this must be made clear on the repair order. Customers will complain about a âgasâ smell from the tailpipe, the technician inspects the car and the exhaust smells like exhaust. Nobody is going to spend a lot of time on inspecting a vehicle if the complaint is not clear.
The customer smells gas, but what type of âgasâ?
That just doesnât sound right.
That just donât sound right, but Iâm too lazy today to look it up myself.
I gotta remember that. buy a car in Wisconsin, if I donât like it just go back 4 times with nonexistent problem complaint, no attempt to fix the nonexistent problem, invoke lemon law.
Iâm not saying the OPâs problem doesnât exist, just that the lemon law there sound really exploitable.
I can see that argument, and had the same thoughts. However, in this case, Nissan has confirmed that this is an issue with the 1.5L engine, and they are trying to find the cause to figure out a repair. In my case, Nissan sent one of their own Master Techs on a 750 mile round-trip to come investigate my vehicle, after the dealer was unable to duplicate it.
I wonder, is this car equipped with a positive pressure evap diagnostic? Some systems use a pump to produce a positive pressure in the closed system to look for leaks. Then the vent and purge solenoid tests are performed to ensure there is a rapid loss of pressure to verify they are functioning as part of the diagnostic process. The pressurized vapor is likely to have a lot of gasoline vapors. Is this what is happening? The system is burping out a bolus of fuel vapor after pressurization verification and then solenoid testing? Depending on which one opens, the vapors will belch out the vent valve (engine compartment) or purge valve (engine intake). Someone mentioned smelling it near the engine air intake? Just a thoughtâŠ
1 Like
Resistance level low today? 
1 Like
The whole point of the evap system is to keep raw fuel from getting into the atmosphere so a system like this would violate the law. If it a defect that is causing this, then the warranty would not be for the standard warranties but for the emissions warranties which is much longer and can carry federal penalties.
Just had an idea, if the vehicle is allowing raw fuel into the atmosphere, you may get a better response from Nissan by threatening them with an emissions violation through the EPA or whatever agency would get involved rather than the Lemon Law. This could bring much harsher penalties and should get their attention much quicker.
I have seen fuel pressure dampers or injectors leak intermittently, you have to be there at the right time.
Just talked with my brother and he mentioned it could be the injectors. Unless Nissan can duplicate the issue, they cannot help me. I worry about the car catching on fire.
Dealership says they check the emissions. No problems indicated
Just because the dealer canât find the problem doesnât mean that there isnât one.
2 Likes
I agree but until they can duplicate the issue there is nothing I can do but keep taking it back. Based on what we have read there are others who have the same problem and no resolution.