Way cool dude!

 

Yesterday, Sept. 28, I checked in at the other tire place at 10:00am. They were very curious as to what I had to say and seemed to be determined to get to the bottom of this. I happened to mention that I was a bit perplexed as why I was sent to the other tire business when it was there product which may have been faulty. The manager promply informed my that it was the other tire factorys product. [:-]

So the first thing the guy did was go for a ride with me. We headed for the first highway, about 5 miles down the road he agreed that there was a problem. He drove on the way back. He then put the truck on the rack and I watched as he carefully inspected each tire. Next thing I knew he had lowered the truck and someone had gotten in. They took off the rear tires and did some kind of test. He asked me to come out and witness what his findings were. I happend to have a friend meet me there and he had his digital on him. The guy in the truck put it in gear and when he hit about 60mph there was a humming and then it got louder as it got faster. The tech. told me that it shouldn't do that. So I watched as he took the plug out of the rear axle to see if there was any fluid in it. There was but he said that there were metal flakes also and they shouldn't be there. Then they told me that it could affect everything from the barrings to the gears eventally. Well, needless to say that FREAKED ME OUT!!! Did I mention that I am a woman and don't know a lot about mechanics???

I asked the manager if he would call the service guy at Nissan, he did. He said that he would look into it and to have me call and make an appointment for next week. WRONG.....I drove directly to the dealership. (Just typing this is exhausting.)

I walked in and said that I was through making appointments, that I have had 3 days off this month and all 3 days were spent trying to remedy this problem and I wanted it fixed today or give me a new truck because I had research the Oregon Lemon Law. The service manager immediately got defensive, go figure, and said, "frankly he have a very weak case." He also told me when I mentioned that the truck was fine at lower speeds it was only until it reached 60-65mph that there was a problem he said to that, "these trucks aren't ment to be driven that fast and weren't tested at those speeds." O.K. this is what I'm dealing with??
At that I said, "Give me a break, he mean to tell me that you can't drive 65mph and the freeway without causing a problem??"
All this guy had to do is say, you know I don't think this is a serious problem and what ever it is we will fix to your satifaction. Now that statement would have made me feel much better than blowing me off like that. Did I mention that I have had sleepless nights and nightmares over this??

Somewhere in there my friend said one thing in my defense. (Now this is very interesting. It should have been on film so Dr. Phil could have made a point with it.)
From that moment on the manager said well he can hang around for 20 minutes, sometimes we have a customer flake off and there might be an opening. I said that I would be happy to do that. So my friend and I sat in the waiting room for a bit and decided to go to lunch. The manager peaked his head in a couple of times and each time he had something to say it was as if I was in the room. He talked to my friend, did I mention that he is a man. That was weird. He had nothing to do with the purchase of my truck he just wanted to go to coffee.

We were gone about an hour. When we got back Rick was draining the rear axle and said that he had sent pics to the tech. back east and they said everything was normal. I guess it was suppose to make that humming noise. At the sametime another kid had brough up an SE model and was swapping out the tires and rims to my truck. They were different size tires and diff. rims but they said that it was just to test the truck for now. Rick finally got everything put back together and took it for a ride. He was gone about 45 minutes. When he pulled in I was right on him asking for a report. He said, "I think it is fixed....I'm not sure.


When I took it out I immediately knew that the constant vib was gone, but there is a slight vib. at 65. The more I drove it the more I think that that is caused from it shifting into overdrive and it is the motor that is doing it. I guess being a woman does make a difference when it comes to the world of mechanics.[8D] I am still alittle skeptical but I did sleep last night.

Sorry for the book but this is also going to serve as my diary incase I need it.

 

Hmmm, don't you hate dealers[:@] So, the plot thickens. Well, I'm affraid we're at the point where i can't tell you much more without actually seeing your truck. Could be the tire guys are right. Could be the dealer's right. However, I will say it doesn't sound good. Glad to here the vib went away with new tires but I don't like what the tire guys said about seeing metal flakes in your rear end fluid. That's bad. Sounds like the dealer is giving you the run around too. I hate it when they treat women like they're stupid. Women are not stupid.

OK, for what it's worth, this is what I would do. First, contact your local BBB and bring them up to speed on what's going on. You might need them and they can be your best friend. Second, I think you need a second oppinion on your truck so go to a reputable repair shop and have them check it out. Tell them the whole story. If it were me, I'd open up the rear end and LOOK. If there's metal in the fluid, there's gonna be a whole lot in the bottom of the case. If there is, the dealer needs to rebuild it immediately. Oh, unfortunately, just because changing the tires made the vib go away it doesn't necessarily mean your out of the woods yet. Not with metal in the fluid. Changing the tires (with different size ones) could simply make the problem seem to dissapear for a while. You said it still didn't seem perfect so maybe it's not. Thus, you need another oppinion you can use as a baseball bat if necessary.

Well, that's what I'd do anyway. Keep in touch and hope all goes well.

Brad

 

I think I must be loosing it. I got this weird idea to take my truck out on a brand new paved highway section last afternoon. There was something gnawing at me. Maybe it was the fact that I am sure the service manager has lied about several things so far and I trusted the guys at the place that told me there were metal shavings in the rear differential. (sp) So.....there was the vib again.

I talked to a guy that I have worked with, he has his own body shop and has been fixing wrecked cars for 30 years. I told him my sad story and just so happens that his wife had just filed a grievance through the BBB with the same service manager that I have been dealing with. Go figure, he was less than honest and treated her like a second class citizen. What a small world. He also told me that a brand new vehicle shouldn't have any vibration in the gas pedal, seat, door or sterring wheel. I suppose if I could reach the rest of the truck I would feel it there too. So once again I was energized to deal with this guy.

I call him up again, told him that the problem was still there, and that I was getting very discouraged with the progress. He informed me that the first tire business that he had sent me to had tested the four tires and wheels on a very expensive machine. He also said that they were the only one in the county that had this machine. Apparently, according to him the Nissan company requested this. They require a score of 15 or less with each tire that they put on there new vehicles. (Some of you may know what they check for but I don't.) He told me that one of the tires that came off my truck scored 16, two of them scored 32 and the last was a whopping 65. I told him that that was all good and well but my truck still vibrates, not like it was, but there is something wrong. This is the punch line. He told me the reason why my truck still shakes is because the tires and rims that they put on it were not balanced for my particular truck.

Now am I nuts.....or is this guy for real. I'm almost not sure anymore. It was at that point that I new I was just beating my head against the wall....after all what do I know??

I politely ended the conversation and immediately call the Dealer that is 50 miles away and made an appointment then I called the Nissan Consumer Affairs Department.

I have an appointment for Tuesday, Oct. 4th. Please wish me luck!!

 

There is one last thing that is really puzzling to me. I just don't know how this guy can tell me what is wrong with my truck since he has NEVER taken a test ride![:@]

 

You go girl. You handled yourself extremly well in a very difficult situation. And I'm sure you would have been laughing at him had you not wanted to strangle him first. "not balanced for your truck." Balanced is balanced no matter what they're on. And "the only one in the country with this machine." Rich I tell you, RICH. I wonder if that guy is for real too. Well, I'm sure that other dealer will take care of you now and I hope Nissan's Consumer Affairs will take care of you know who. So, what else is there left to say now besides, Keep On Truckin!

Brad

PS smack him one for me too.

 

Sorry on the update delay.

I did make my appointment with the other dealer. WOW, what a difference in service. I told the guy that there was a vib in the rear and a noise coming from the axle when it was at speeds of 65-70. That was when the tire company tested it anyway. I told him that my friend and myself had hear it along with about 5 other guys and the service manager had denied that there was any noise at all. So he said, "let's go for a ride." He must have checked different points of the cab several times each as we went down the freeway. There again, the other S.M. didn't even offer to go for a ride in the truck. This guy said that he could feel a slight vib and that he would take another Frontier out when we got back to compare while the machanic worked on my truck.

My friend and decided to go to lunch as he had gained 10 times the trust in a few mins as I had for the other guy.

When we returned he told me that the noist that we heard was characteristic for the rear axle as it didn't have a load on it and it was perfectly fine....no signs of defects or damage to the bearings or the axle itself. (Well that just about took 3,000lbs. off my shoulders right there.) However, what they did find was that the left rear tire had a 1/4 inch wobble in it and that was causing the slight vibration. Now remember this is the second set of tires that were put on the truck temp. until the new tires come in and are mounted on my original rims. You would think that Nissan would put a better stock tire on these vehicles.

So I left there feeling quite relieved and happy that I had found someone that treated me as if I were a real customer.

So to fast forward now. Tonight I went back over to the dealership because I was told that I would receive a free tank of gas if I filled out the survey that was to come in the mail. I did receive it several days ago but wasn't in the mood to fool with it. I sat down and filled it out to the best of my ability and sealed the envelopeThere were questions about the sale, salesman, service, service depart. etc. I gave the salesman a good report but needless to say the sales manager didn't get that lucky.

I pulled up in the parking lot and the kid that sold me the truck was standing right there. I told him I had brough my survey over and that I would like my fuel now. He ask me if I had it with me......I said yes it is in the truck. I'm thinking to myself, this is weird, he looks like he's going to get sick or something. So I go to the truck and get it. He said, "is it already filled out?" I said, "ofcourse it is."
Then he tells me that he can only give me a tank of gas if we sit down and fill it out together. By now he can tell that I'm getting a little perplexed and he said that he would go talk to the sales manager. So he comes out about 5 mins later without my survey that he had taken from me and said that they didn't have access to the gas card. I then told him that I wanted to talk to his manager. I walked past him and headed for the secret door that goes where nobody knows. He quickly brushed past me and asked me to take a seat in one of the conference rooms and someone would be right in. O.K.

I sat there for another 5 mins and here come this guy that I had seen before and he informs me that he was just promoted and was working under the sales mananger. (Here I go getting worn out again!!) He told me that the fuel was offer to me for my time to come over and fill out the survey with the salesman. Not a bribe for filling it out.

Here's the kicker.....one of the questions ask why did you decide to fill this survey out? My answer was: because I was told I would get a free tank of gas if I did.

How would they know the answer to that if they hadn't opened the survey already??

He then wanted to know if I was happy with the salesman and that the survey was a report card for him. I told him that I was very happy with the way he handled the sale but was very unhappy with the S.M.

He just had to ask.....so I yet again told one more person the whole story. His comments were that the S.M. was a nice guy and that it was unfortunate that my experience buying a new truck wasn't a good one and ofcourse that they wanted to make it up to me.
So he once again went to talk to the S.M. and left me sitting in the office for about 8 mins. (Notice that I was watching the time.)

He came back into the room and said that he had good news and bad news. The good news was that they were going to fill my tank because they believed me and the salesmans man apparently "dropped the ball". The bad news is that they didn't have the fuel card and if I would come back tomorrow they would have no problems filling the tank. Oh and if I could come in the afternoon before 5:00pm we could sit down with the S.M. and get things staightened out. I wanted to say.....Holy Hell....it will be a cold day before I try to talk to that guy again. I did not respond to that remark but I did ask what was going to happen to my survey. He assured me that it would be sent in. I got up and left....very quietly and politely.

I have decided that all I want is to get the right rims on my truck with the new tires that they promised me and they can wave goodbye to my taillights.

One more call to Nissan Consumer Affairs Depart. to make sure that they get the whole story and to follow up on my survey and possible a call to the BBB and I am done with that dealer.

Thanks again for giving me support.

 

Man I wish I had been a fly on the wall to see that one. WooHooooo. Clenched jaw... Cold stare... You gave another impresssive presentation of yourself. I am really ticked I missed it. Still, it came out well for you and that's what counts. Oh, one last thing to remember. You could call consumer affairs and tell them you refuse to have anything more to do with "THAT DEALER" and demand that your new tires and wheels be sent to the other dealer immediatly. If for no other reason that to put the icing on the cake, you know what I mean. Might feel good to rub there nose in it a little too. Not that you would want to do that.

Congrats,

Brad

 

Great

 

Well I finally got two tires yesterday....after I was promised 4 new tires and rims...then it was 4 new tires and what I ended up with was two tires. When I went to the tire place to have them traded out I noticed that there was a white frontier se in the parking lot. After the guys switched the wheels I went to lunch with a friend. When I went back out to the truck I inspected the job. One of the wheels was damaged quite a bit. I could see where some sort of tool had carved a groove in it all the way around the rim. The other one had 5 or 6 dings in it. What the hell is going on. Is there no one out there that has respect for a new vehicle. I promply call them back and said I would be right there so they could check the rims. The guy took responsibility for the one rim right off but the other one he said didn't look like they had done the damage. I told him that it wasn't like that when it was on my brand new truck and I sure haven't changed the tires!!!! So he got out his digital camera and took pics of both the rims. He told me that they could get a professional painter to fix it. I ask about the digs in the other one and he just blew me off.

MY TRUCK STILL VIBRATES. I'M TO THE POINT OF NO RETURN!!!!

I want to keep my truck but they are giving me no choice here. They either can't fix the problem or they don't give a damn.

What do you think??