I purchased a new 2017 Nissan Pathfinder SL on December 2016 from a Nissan dealership. With it I received two years of free oil changes and other goodies. Because it was my wife’s main vehicle, and she’s more organized than me, she made sure I always took it to get an oil change ahead of its due date. That service ended December 2018. Since then, I’ve been doing my own oil change every 4-5k miles.
Early this year we started to see blueish-white smoke when we accelerated after being idle for 45+ minutes (waiting in line to cross international border). Then, we would see it from time to time when we turned on the car in the morning. Now, we see it almost every time we turn it on. We took it in to a nice shop to have them check out what the problem was, and they said they found sludge stuck on the spark plugs. In fact, based on what they saw, it appeared as if my vehicle had never had an oil change EVER (their words). They say that the piston rings could also be damaged.
Obviously, by now all warranties have expired. But, if it turns out that after 46 months my dealership-purchased suv does not have proper lubrication and burns a lot of oil due to inadequate maintenance, can I hold the dealership liable?
PS: one month before the engine and transmission warranty ran out, we started hearing strange sounds from the engine. We took it in about two weeks before it expired, and they said everything was perfect, nothing to worry about. I don’t think they were being honest.
The dealership should have showned you the maintenance history of the vehicule and you should have ask for it before you bought this vehicule.Without it,there is no way to tell for sure if anything major happened. You could try getting the carfax history report but unfortunately work that are done outside a dealership are seldom showned on these reports.You are on your own.
This is a 3 year old car. Nissan has a 5 year 60K mile warranty on the powertrain. Are you beyond the 60K miles? … you didn’t tell us the mileage. If you aren’t over 60K you should make a claim with the dealer and Nissan. All the oil changes at the dealer should be on record and any maintenance notes you made when you did the changes will be important. You should also contact Nissan corporate. The number is in your owners manual. A lawyer that specializes in this might be helpful.
You know they’re wrong, since you’ve been changing the oil for the last two years. How many oil changes have you done? The next step is to get a compression and leak down tests to see if the smoke is from worn rings or worn valve seals.
The legal system is all about proof.
Unfortunately, even if it is true that the dealership falsified the maintenance records and failed to actually change the oil, proving that truth will be difficult–at best.
But there’s no actual evidence the dealer failed to perform the oil changes. How could the OP prove it? Now the owner has the problem (assuming the car is still under the power train warranty) of proving that the owner did the oil changes for the last two years.
Did you DIY those later oil changes?
Going forward, whenever you have a shop doing oil changes check the dipstick before leaving to verify the oil level and that it’s new, clean oil.
Do a visual inspection, if possible, for other services.
I had a friend have problems with his 1987 Toyota because the shop wasn’t doing the services:
Corroded cooling system because coolant wasn’t changed.
Timing belt slipped because it wasn’t changed, and it stretched.
Did you receive a copy of the repair order on these free oil changes? Even if the dealer was doing them free of charge to you there should still be a paper trail as a repair order is always written up no matter who gets billed for it.
If the Used Car Dept. for example sends a used trade in back to service to have the front brakes replaced there will be a repair order written up and billed to the Used Car Dept.; albeit with a discounted parts markup and discounted labor rate.
What would I recommend you do? Go in and have a sit down with the service manager. Keep it civil at this point and maybe with the cell phone “inadvertently” left on Record. Ask him to produce copies of those ROs right then and there. If he cannot produce them then I’d say they were pulling a fast one and the next step (letting the SM know this also) is that you will be contacting corporate Nissan and drag them into this problem.
Don’t let the SM know that anything that was said is recorded at this point in case some tit for tat comes into play later.
If the dealer hasn’t performed the maintenance during the last two years it is unlikely that they will take responsibility for the current condition of the vehicle.
Truth is- while somewhat unusual, it IS possible the dealership service department committed fraud. The problem is going to be PROVING it.
But another thought- how many oil changes have you done yourself since the dealership “deals ran out? It’s hard to imagine so much sludge that the mechanic things it’s never been changed.
Sludge? More like carbon, ash, or oil. Smoke on start up usually indicates valve seals. Blue/white smoke while running usually indicates piston rings. IF these parts have failed, there is probably no coralation with possible maintenance issues. Ive seen late 2000’s vehicles have piston ring failure from design failure even with regular and proper maintenance. Is your engine using oil? Go to the dealer and tell them your issue/complaint and ask them to set up an oil usage chart. They will most likely have you pay for a fresh oil change, and then document your oil consumption when you return weekly or bi-weekly for and oil level check. Keep the document in your vehicle. Also ask for any documents on your vehicle that may result in oil usage or ANY other engine issues. If they find nothing, or even if they do find something, go to other sources for documents (manufacturer bulletins and recalls). Plus get copies of all your oil changes from them. Paperwork paperwork paperwork. I worked at a GM dealership repairing engines and transmissions and this is the way the game was played.
As Mustangman pointed out, depending on the mileage this may still be under warranty so we first need to know the mileage.
Next, since you’ve been doing your own oil changes for the last 2 years can you get some sort of support from your records or credit card statements to backup your oil change claims?
Finally, assuming you’re over the warranty mileage, how much over are you? 10,000 miles? 100,000 miles?
Then once you get your ducks in a row, take it back to a Nissan dealer, explain the problem and see what they say and here’s the important part …
Remember that “all business is personal” so instead of "going in with both guns blazing, simply explain the problem (NOT WHAT MECHANIC #2 OR WHAT ANYONE ELSE SAID) and "remember the phrases, “can you help me?” and “I need your help.”
If you start out accusing them of fraud and theft, the normal reaction is to “circle the wagons”, “lawyer up” and say NO.
But if you appear to be a reasonable person and simply ask for help, people will generally bend over backwards to give you a hand so the problem’s solved although you may have to push it up to a higher level.
As just as important, when buying a new car that’s under or near under warranty, spend the extra couple of bucks to have the service done at the dealership. Yeah, it’s not legally required but it’s going to eliminate a lot of “who struck John” when you’re under warranty and buy you some loyalty if you have a serious problem.