How I Got Nissan to Pay for a Major Out of Warranty Repair
When a Big Corporation Does the Right Thing
My wife drives a 2003 Nissan Sentra, an unassuming but decent enough car. Near the 74,000 mile mark her engine started having problems. The car would occasionally shake a little, and seemed to be burning more gas and providing less power than it used to. We took the car to a local shop where they diagnosed the problem as a "blown" head gasket. The head gasket, for those who don't know, is a thin, complex shaped band that goes between the engine block and the engine "head", to provide a good seal. This prevents the pressure formed by the engine's internal combustion process from escaping before it drives your car down the road. The head gasket does wear down over time, but in a decent car one would expect such a failure to occur well past the 100,000 mile mark. Replacing the head gasket requires disassembly and later reassembly of the engine head, which as you may imagine requires a fair amount of labor. With the hefty hourly rates charged by most automotive mechanics, especially those at dealerships, this lead to an estimated repair cost of $1600.
2. A call for help
At 74,000 miles, the Sentra was far past the 36,000 mile warranty. However, "nothing ventured, nothing gained" goes the saying, so I tried calling Nissan's customer service department. "I realize our car is out of warranty and that you are not legally obligated to do anything for us" I told the rep. "However, I'm sure Nissan would not want to foster the impression that a head gasket in one of their cars should be expected to give out after 74,000 miles. Is there anything you can do to help us out?" The representative took down our details, including contact information and the Sentra's vehicle identification number or VIN. She then suggested we call back after a week or so. The process was a little more involved than just calling back once to get an answer. Before it was all done I had called back another four or five times over a period of two or three weeks. Throughout the process, and as time went by, I had a sinking feeling that success was becoming less and less probable.
3. Nissan does the right thing
To our great delight (and I must admit, some surprise) Nissan came through! We were told to take the car to the local dealership, where the repair was carried out promptly, and at no cost to us. Nearly a year and 20,000 miles later, the Sentra is still running well. Who says big corporations don't care about doing the right thing? All it takes is a courteous request, framed in language they understand.
Published by Opher Ganel
Researcher, teacher, photographer, storyteller. Creativity is my escape from the day-to-day. View profile
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- A 2003 Nissan Sentra has a blown head gasket at 74,000 miles. Although far past the 36,000 mile
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6 Comments
Post a CommentHead gaskets when sealed properly should have the car run like a new car . There may be other problemswith the car if not running correctly. I have had a 83 sentra and a 87 sentra .Both ran beautifully until somrthing happened
I'm delighted to hear that, Nia. Congratulations.
Took your advice and it worked. I was very polite and patient. It wasn't easy and took a lot of phone calls, but in the end Nissan did the right thing and I am very grateful!
I'm certainly not qualified to render an opinion on the overall reliability of Nissan cars or those of any other manufacturer. For that I refer you to the Consumer Reports car issue (I believe that comes out in April each year). I spoke with a rep at Nissan USA's consumer relations. It is possible that they have a certain leeway at the first level which is limited to (possibly) $500. It is worthwhile whenever dealing with any rep who declines to give you what you ask for to ask a simple question: do you have the authority to give me what I'm asking for? If the answer is not a straightforward "yes" you should ask for a supervisor and repeat the question. I would recommend always being polite and positive with phone reps. After all, they are not the ones who made the car, or who have in any other way damaged you. Also, their good will is the only way to get what you want. Finally, they're fellow human beings and worthy of polite treatment. Good luck with your Altima.
I'd like to know who you spoke with at Nissan as I had very little success. I was the original owner of a 2002 Xterra with 39,800 that was diagnosed with blown head gaskets. The vehicle was 5 years and 3 months old so the power train warranty had expired. The repair estimate was for at least $1,500. I contacted Nissan Consumer Affairs and asked if they could help with what I felt was a premature failure of a head gasket. After 3 weeks and numerous unreturned phone calls I finally received a good will offer of $500 towards the repair. I told
them in a not so polite way what they could do with that offer and traded the vehicle the next day for a new Jeep. I am also the original owner of a 2000 Altima that had the intake manifold gasket replaced at 38,150 miles. Today the car has 51,240 miles on it and guess what...the intake manifold gasket needs replaced again to the tune of $870. I am officially done with Nissan. In my experience they are the
most unreliable vehicles on the road.
Wow, congratulations on the success.