good performer, lack of customer support from Nissan

I bought the truck new, have about 8k miles on it now. The truck performs great in terms of power and handling, but i wish I brought something else.

Nissan service and customer support suck. This is my third Nissan, and I should have known better. I was lured by the low price. See my other reviews, that is why I purchased the other cars (low price).

I purchased a Sentra new, and when the steering wheel came loose, the dealer charged me $60 for an adjustment.

I also purchased an Altima, and there was a creek in the rear that went to the dealer a number of time that they never repaired. They could never find the problem. I replaced the struts and the problem went away.

Now with the pathfinder, I have a severe vibration when I apply the brakes. It is going back to the dealer for a third time and they refuse to change the brake rotors/drums. I also have complaints about a vibrating mirror, creeking dash (worse that my first car '79 buick), locking seatbelt, and more. They won't replace any other parts either. According to the dealer, Nissan north america will not pay for replacement parts at the offset. I also contacted Nissan NA, they promised they would get on it right away. Two weeks later and I still don't know when it is going to be repaired. I hope they don't ever replace parts, because the problem will not go away without it and then I will demand they take the vehicle back under the lemon laws (four strikes and they are out). See how that goes.

The poor customer service aside, this is what you should expect from this truck.

Remember this is a truck and thus it rides like a truck. The suspension is relatively stiff and you and your passengers get tossed around on bumpy roads. This is not a problem on the highways, but in city driving it is enough to make you hate this truck. I drove a Ford Explorer and it was not as stiff, however, the ford did not handle as well as the Nissan.

The gas mileage stinks as well. Expect about 16 with mixed driving. When I use it mostly local, I have to fill it up every 150 miles or so. Can get costly since premium fuel is required.

The ventilation system leaves a lot to be desired. The AC barely worked this summer, I put a thermometer to it and got a best reading of 45 degrees F, mostly above 50 though. My Altima normally operated well below 40. Took it to the dealer, his response, that's not so bad from a truck. (bad response) They tested it and they got the same readings, but they couldn't find anything wrong so they evacuated and recharged the system. This was at the end of the summer, so I don't know if that was it. The chances are however that I will have the same problem next summer. Come to think of it, this happened with my sentra as well (4 trips to dealer and never repaired)). All the dealer would do was evacuate and recharge, and deny that anything was wrong. I never had a working AC in that car.

The truck is far from roomy, If you look at the dimensions, it does not differ from an Altima. This worked out good for me because I park in NYC and parking spaces are hard to come by for a large truck. I wanted to buy either a minivan or a station wagon, but my wife wanted something cooler. Well, just like everything else that is cool, there is a trade off. I lost from an equivalent car or minivan, comfort and space. Not a good trade off.

The things I do like is the power. It is also relatively quiet on the highway. The front seats are supportive, but the rear are a little flat. It handles supprisingly well for a truck.


update - the brake rotors and drums were replaced for the forth service, but they would not change the pads and shoes. Still have the same problem. Tried Nissan customer sercvice again. After a week of no return calls, I filed a complaint with the BBB to have the truck repurchased. Not surprisingly, Nissan called the day after the complaint offering to have its best guys take a look at the problem.

update - BBB stinks. The apparently have a deal with dealers that gives them an additional opportunity to attempt the repair (contrary to the lemon laws). I agreed to give them another stab at it, but no one has contact me to make arragements to repair in over 3 weeks. In the interim, the wheel fell off while I was driving and I have been calling and writing letters to get them to repair, but no one responds. I should have gone with the attorney general's arbitration program. Nissan pays the fee when you win and they won't give them another attempt to repair.

update - spoke to attorney and did some research, BBB autoline is definitely fixed, BBB will always gives the manufacturer another attempt to repair (about 1/3 of their final decisions = repair, 1/3 = repurchase (after interim repair decision), and 1/3 for the manufacturer). If you go with the BBB, you will likely get an interim repair decision or loose.

Nissan would not get in touch with me to make the 5th attempt to repair in over 4 weeks. The dealer holding the car for 4 weeks attempted to get in touch with Nissan as well with little success (he left messeges that were not returned). Finally threatened to take the car off the dealers lot and Nissan had a tech their the next day. In the meantime, cost for giving them another repair attempt = near $1000 for rental and tow fees. Tried to get reinbursed, but once again no one at Nissan returns call. It has been near 3 months since I spoke to anyone at Nissan despite numerous attempts. Picked up the car, brake problem still exists. Tried to reschedule BBB, they give me the run around as well. I have to wait for two months for to reconvene. Next stop, the attorney general's office and small claims court for the tow and rental car.

Nissan has been having lots of quality issues with their new cars. They have had lots of issues with customer service as well. (search consumeraffairs.com). This combination should make everyone look elsewhere especially since there are many others to choose from.