(The photo really has nothing to do with this blog, I just liked it.)
Last Friday I surprised our local Nissan dealership, Nissan of Santa Monica, by showing up with our 2009 370z. It was about due for an oil change (couple of hundred miles early if you must know), and that broken door sill panel was really bothering me.
The car was ready only a couple of hours after we'd dropped it off. This service was expected to run about $90, that includes the oil change and a bunch of inspections, but came up slightly short at $78.04.
Parts for the broken bits were not in stock and are on order.
The only surprise came at the end. Our service advisor let us know that the brake pads are low and will need to be replaced. Remember back when we first tested this car? When the brakes cooked on only two stops and scored the rotors? Well that's likely a factor in such short pad life. Also a factor is this car's speed, weight and attitude. It gets run pretty hard and the brakes get used harder than do, say, the brakes in the Focus. Pads are about $80 and we're thinking of saving a couple bucks and doing this one ourselves.
Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant @ 3,568 7,307 miles
iceman0918 says:
06:19 PM, 06/ 8/09
Just wondering, isn't their an all inclusive warranty for oil changes and brake pads and broken door sills and the like. For example, I thought BMW has a 4 year "no cost" warranty and I assumed less chic brands would also do the same thing? Apparently not though....? and if that is the case +1 for 1 series
slickersdrip says:
06:58 PM, 06/ 8/09
Definitely +1 for the 1 on the break situation... my SRT-4 has 41,000 miles on it and the brakes are still going strong, even after several auto x experiences.
slickersdrip says:
06:59 PM, 06/ 8/09
brake*
Please, edit function?
billt9 says:
06:59 PM, 06/ 8/09
iceman0918,
VW and BMW are the only two brands I know currently offering maintenance cost included in the initial vehicle sale price.
Everybody else is doing the pay as you drive maintenance.
Oil change is maintenance. It's not warranty.
Parts expected to wear over the life of the vehicle are not covered under warranty. Parts such as oil filter, oil change, fluid changes and refills, tires, struts, shocks, cabin air filter, engine air filter, cabin air filter, light bulbs, transmission clutch, chassis lubrication, wheel alignment, serpentine belt, tire rotation, windshield wipers are not covered under any warranty.
Those things are called "maintenance". All moving machinery are expected to break down, and need periodic repair and preventive repair.
jaguar36 says:
04:46 AM, 06/ 9/09
Anyone else think these $80 oil changes are getting a bit ridiculous?
dougtheeng says:
05:51 AM, 06/ 9/09
Those rims look tacky. Shame about the brakes, but I guess its been driven hard. Still, 7,500 seems like a very short amount of time. I wonder how many of those kms are "track" kms? Or is this a case of Nissan skimping on the stock brakes?
sgude says:
06:16 AM, 06/ 9/09
Jaguar36 -- With the expected reliability of many components on cars these days, the service departments have to make their money somewhere, right?
indy_mistert says:
07:12 AM, 06/ 9/09
I'm with Jaguar36 - I'd be expecting about half that figure.
I hate handing the keys over to about anyone else, but IMO a dealership's oil change is not much better than a quick service outfit (i.e. valvoline instant oil change). I expect to pay no more than $35 there. Dealerships around Indy seem to have separate oil change sections and techs (who I figure are probably paid less and are less skilled than their other techs).
btw - even with track testing, etc I'm amazed at how quickly those pads burned through!!
stingray454 says:
08:14 AM, 06/ 9/09
7,500 miles for brakes is ridiculous, unless the car was tracked 80% of the time, which this one wasn't. What is it with Nissan and short brake pad life? It's like they make their pads out of bicycle pad rubber. The same thing happened with the '03 - '05 Infiniti G35 with the standard brakes (non-Brembo). Also happened on the FX35.
I got 30,000 miles out of the first set of brake pads on my '02 Z06, and that's with 2 hard track days, 3 auto-Xs, and thousands of miles of hard canyon driving in SoCal. Still on the original rotors at 46k (although the rears have some heat cracks now).
audisport says:
08:19 AM, 06/ 9/09
Honestly, you guys should complain about this as a faulty part/warranty issue. You shouldn't have had the original issues with the brakes in the first place. This is a performance car, not the focus. I could see if you cooked the brakes on an economy car, but not the Z. You probably should have taken the car in right after you cooked the brakes. They should have been replaced under warranty with so little miles on the clock. And this thing isn't the GT-R, it's the Z. Something isn't right when you need pads after 7500 miles, UNLESS it is constantly tracked.
joefrompa says:
12:27 PM, 06/ 9/09
Absolutely agree that this pad life is ridiculous and should be covered under, at minimum, a 1 year/12,000 mile wear-item warranty (I have that on my Honda).
Also, my Subaru Legacy GT has a 3 year, 36000 mile warranty on wear items INCLUDING the battery, trans clutch, windshield wipers, brake pads, and brake rotors.
Have you guys inspected those pads yourself? Should be easy with those big wheels. My 17" let me inspect them through the wheel usually.
Hard use = 20,000 miles in my book, off a set of front pads.
kingkhalas says:
06:16 PM, 06/ 9/09
A couple of hours? For an oil change?
That's way too long.
boxermike says:
04:06 PM, 06/10/09
"By kingkhalas on June 9, 2009 6:16 PM
A couple of hours? For an oil change?
That's way too long."
I left the car there and told them I just wanted it back by the end of the day. 2-hours is a good return on that sort of request.
-mm
ace47 says:
05:52 PM, 06/10/09
Why so many complaints about the brakes? Sure they wore out quickly but this cars stops quicker than a ceramic optioned 911 Turbo. 80 bucks is nothing you will lose sleep over.