On 04DEC2015, I dropped off my 2009 Nissan Rogue for a warranty repair of the front right and left control arms. After previously speaking with Margo regarding the repair who told me that the bushings on the control arms were cracked, I was assured that this would fix the squeaking and crunching sounds coming from under the front end.
When I picked up my vehicle, I noticed that the sound was still present. I contacted Tri-Cities Nissan again and spoke with Dwight, and was told to bring the car back. I returned the vehicle to the dealership on 09DEC2015 and took the technician Aaron on a short drive and was able to reproduce the exact noise which he confirmed. I mentioned to him during the drive that the problem sounded like a bad bushing and was more prominent during cold weather. I also asked if they could troubleshoot the cause of driver’s seat frame squeaking.
On 11DEC2015, I called to check the status of the repair and was told that the technician could not isolate the noise because there were too many other noises inside the cabin of the vehicle, namely the driver’s side seat frame, which I was told would cost $1300 and was not covered by my warranty. I declined the repair on the seat and instructed the dealer to continue investigating the potentially dangerous problem in the front suspension.
On 15DEC2015, I received a call from Dwight, saying that the vehicle was ready to be picked up and that it was “good to go”. I picked up the vehicle around 1:30pm and was told that the front sway bar bushings, end links, struts and strut mounts were all damaged and had to be replaced. I felt this was especially odd, considering the dealer had just serviced the front suspension a week prior and the same technician, Aaron, had not mentioned any damage to these parts. I drove home and noticed that the same noise was still present.
My vehicle has a dash-mounted video camera installed which records video and audio any time the ignition is on. After seeing all the repairs that had been made to my vehicle which still failed to resolve the problem, I pulled the video footage from my camera and was shocked at the things it captured. The technicians were laughing and joking about the camera, saying they had better watch out because they were on camera. I heard the technician complaining about the vehicle because he wasn’t getting paid his regular rate. At one point after driving the vehicle around the lot, the technician says “..alright, I’m putting sway-bar bushings and sway bar end-links on it, any other clunk-clunk-clunks are his d**n hitch and I’m gonna pop him over the head with it and I’m done.” After another test drive, the technician says “okay…freaking struts and strut mounts—he needs them too. We might even have them here and I can do it, get more time for it”. Upon returning to the lot, he says “..I didn’t hear the noise but now I do…f**king piece of garbage” as he exits the vehicle.
The most telling part of the footage is from 15DEC2015 at 10:32am, about 1 ½ before I was told the vehicle was ready to be picked up. The technician is driving the car again and the noise is clearly present to which he even remarks “..what is that noise?” About 45 minutes later at 11:15am the technician and another employee are driving the vehicle again and begin their trip by making fun of the dash-cam. They talk about how much work was done on the vehicle when the technician states “..well it LOOKS like I’ve worked on it a lot”. After discussing the cost of the repairs the technician says “..we HE(the customer) didn’t pay for it, his warranty did.” About 2 minutes into this final test drive before I picked up the vehicle, the technician tells the other employee that the noise is still present stating “..so it’s pretty distinct” and as pulls onto an uneven grass surface, he says “Right here”. The noise is clearly heard on the video and the other employee says “That ‘rink’ sound?” to which the technician replies “Yep, that ‘rink’”.
After a another minute of driving with the noise still present, they begin talking about what was replaced and the employee asks the tech “Did you replace the insulators and rubbers too?” The technician replies “well the insulators are the bad old ones”. The employee says, “You didn’t put the insulator mounts on?” The technician replies “The upper mounts? No I didn’t. I should have though”. The employee then responds “Yeah, that might be it”. On the way back to the dealer, they that they’re done. The technician laughs and says “Well I hope its fixed. I’m gonna say its fixed and if it has a squeaky noise, we’ll give it to Chris”. They CLEARLY heard and ACKNOWLEDGED that the problem had NOT been fixed less than 2 hours before I picked the vehicle up, and yet they STILL let the vehicle leave the lot, and billed my warranty for the repairs.
I returned to the dealership the following morning on 16DEC2015 and explained to Corey, the General manager what had happened. I took him for a drive around the dealer lot and he confirmed that the noise was still present. He called the service manager Charlie to his office and I showed him the video. Charlie seemed more concerned with saving his own skin, than about the negligence, deceit and poor quality of work by his technicians.
After several minutes of the service manager begging me to give him another chance to fix it, I took him for a ride and he even confirmed the noise. Out of sheer kindness and against my better judgement, I reluctantly agreed to allow the dealer to keep my car again to attempt to repair it. This time, they kept it until 19DEC2015. They stated that this time, the entire subframe assembly had to be replaced due to a bad bushing. The most miraculous thing, is that my dash-camera mysteriously did not have ANY recordings at all while the vehicle was in the shop this time.
I have never been so shocked by such unethical business practice in my life. I will never return to Tri-Cities Nissan, nor will I ever purchase another Nissan again. I am forwarding copies of this letter to Nissan Corporate Office along with a copy of the video. I am certain Nissan would love to find out about all this unnecessary work being billed to its Warranty Service.
Tri-Cities Nissan Reviews
On 04DEC2015, I dropped off my 2009 Nissan Rogue for a warranty repair of the front right and left control arms. After previously speaking with Margo regarding the repair who told me that the bushings on the control arms were cracked, I was assured that this would fix the squeaking and crunching sounds coming from under the front end.
When I picked up my vehicle, I noticed that the sound was still present. I contacted Tri-Cities Nissan again and spoke with Dwight, and was told to bring the car back. I returned the vehicle to the dealership on 09DEC2015 and took the technician Aaron on a short drive and was able to reproduce the exact noise which he confirmed. I mentioned to him during the drive that the problem sounded like a bad bushing and was more prominent during cold weather. I also asked if they could troubleshoot the cause of driver’s seat frame squeaking.
On 11DEC2015, I called to check the status of the repair and was told that the technician could not isolate the noise because there were too many other noises inside the cabin of the vehicle, namely the driver’s side seat frame, which I was told would cost $1300 and was not covered by my warranty. I declined the repair on the seat and instructed the dealer to continue investigating the potentially dangerous problem in the front suspension.
On 15DEC2015, I received a call from Dwight, saying that the vehicle was ready to be picked up and that it was “good to go”. I picked up the vehicle around 1:30pm and was told that the front sway bar bushings, end links, struts and strut mounts were all damaged and had to be replaced. I felt this was especially odd, considering the dealer had just serviced the front suspension a week prior and the same technician, Aaron, had not mentioned any damage to these parts. I drove home and noticed that the same noise was still present.
My vehicle has a dash-mounted video camera installed which records video and audio any time the ignition is on. After seeing all the repairs that had been made to my vehicle which still failed to resolve the problem, I pulled the video footage from my camera and was shocked at the things it captured. The technicians were laughing and joking about the camera, saying they had better watch out because they were on camera. I heard the technician complaining about the vehicle because he wasn’t getting paid his regular rate. At one point after driving the vehicle around the lot, the technician says “..alright, I’m putting sway-bar bushings and sway bar end-links on it, any other clunk-clunk-clunks are his d**n hitch and I’m gonna pop him over the head with it and I’m done.” After another test drive, the technician says “okay…freaking struts and strut mounts—he needs them too. We might even have them here and I can do it, get more time for it”. Upon returning to the lot, he says “..I didn’t hear the noise but now I do…f**king piece of garbage” as he exits the vehicle.
The most telling part of the footage is from 15DEC2015 at 10:32am, about 1 ½ before I was told the vehicle was ready to be picked up. The technician is driving the car again and the noise is clearly present to which he even remarks “..what is that noise?” About 45 minutes later at 11:15am the technician and another employee are driving the vehicle again and begin their trip by making fun of the dash-cam. They talk about how much work was done on the vehicle when the technician states “..well it LOOKS like I’ve worked on it a lot”. After discussing the cost of the repairs the technician says “..we HE(the customer) didn’t pay for it, his warranty did.” About 2 minutes into this final test drive before I picked up the vehicle, the technician tells the other employee that the noise is still present stating “..so it’s pretty distinct” and as pulls onto an uneven grass surface, he says “Right here”. The noise is clearly heard on the video and the other employee says “That ‘rink’ sound?” to which the technician replies “Yep, that ‘rink’”.
After a another minute of driving with the noise still present, they begin talking about what was replaced and the employee asks the tech “Did you replace the insulators and rubbers too?” The technician replies “well the insulators are the bad old ones”. The employee says, “You didn’t put the insulator mounts on?” The technician replies “The upper mounts? No I didn’t. I should have though”. The employee then responds “Yeah, that might be it”. On the way back to the dealer, they that they’re done. The technician laughs and says “Well I hope its fixed. I’m gonna say its fixed and if it has a squeaky noise, we’ll give it to Chris”. They CLEARLY heard and ACKNOWLEDGED that the problem had NOT been fixed less than 2 hours before I picked the vehicle up, and yet they STILL let the vehicle leave the lot, and billed my warranty for the repairs.
I returned to the dealership the following morning on 16DEC2015 and explained to Corey, the General manager what had happened. I took him for a drive around the dealer lot and he confirmed that the noise was still present. He called the service manager Charlie to his office and I showed him the video. Charlie seemed more concerned with saving his own skin, than about the negligence, deceit and poor quality of work by his technicians.
After several minutes of the service manager begging me to give him another chance to fix it, I took him for a ride and he even confirmed the noise. Out of sheer kindness and against my better judgement, I reluctantly agreed to allow the dealer to keep my car again to attempt to repair it. This time, they kept it until 19DEC2015. They stated that this time, the entire subframe assembly had to be replaced due to a bad bushing. The most miraculous thing, is that my dash-camera mysteriously did not have ANY recordings at all while the vehicle was in the shop this time.
I have never been so shocked by such unethical business practice in my life. I will never return to Tri-Cities Nissan, nor will I ever purchase another Nissan again. I am forwarding copies of this letter to Nissan Corporate Office along with a copy of the video. I am certain Nissan would love to find out about all this unnecessary work being billed to its Warranty Service.