Upscale Speed

iTrader: (18)

Glad your car is driving better. So what exactly did your mechanic change out for you? Just speak plugs? No coil packs?

Halo

Thanks for asking! Yep, just spark plugs basically, they were fouled and wet. He also cleaned the mass air flow sensor, changed the air filters, oil change, and I think he said there was a few hoses loose? Amazing how this one guy fixed my car in under 2 hours, yet the Nissan dealer told me I am screwed and need a new motor. I ended up talking to him for over an hour the other week. I was blown away with his knowledge and skills. Most of the stuff he said was over my head. Haha. He is the head mechanic for his company's race team, they do not advertise to the public. He mainly gets rich clients(I saw some really expensive cars in the shop) and just people from word of mouth. He only looked at my car cause my brother hooked me up with him. With his race team and other stuff, he is beyond busy so I really appreciated he fixed my car.

Since my wife and I were expecting to pay big money, I am now upgrading this stock car a bit. Ordered some 20" Niche wheels last week, awaiting them patiently. Ordered new rotors and pads the other day. Still trying to decide between coilovers and springs( I read a bunch on the threads here about the fortune 500 for the awd sedan)? I need to decide quick too.

I removed the front bumper last night because I was going to try a DIY mesh front grill and mesh in those 3 lower spots. Looking at the bumper(2009 G37x), it needs to be repainted. It has so many chips and the old holes from a license plate are there. Plus I absolutely hate the front end look of that bumper anyway. So I either getting an aftermarket new front bumper(most likely), or just doing the 2010+ conversion(highly unlikely).

Oh man I am sorry I got to rambling, just excited to get this car ready to look nice. I am so jealous of all these sweet rides on this forum.

Oh yeah, a HUGE thank you to BLNEWT for all your help and taking your time to assist me in fixing/modding my car up!!!

Derek

renn90

iTrader: (1)

Glad it worked out as it should.
Did you make the Nissan dealer aware of the actual solution?

It seems that if it was an honest mistake, the Nissan dealer can try to improve their service. If it was a sleaze attempt, they might think twice about doing it again.

Halo

Funny you ask. My wife is a school teacher for like 20 years now, she is very professional in everything she does. I am not! I want to talk to the Nissan dealership and explain the situation and see what they say. But my wife wants me to just move on, and forget about them. I am pretty sure it was a sleazy thing to do. I mean all they did was scanned the car? And they came to that conclusion?

So TBH I would like to make them aware of the situation, but I am not sure if I will or not yet.

renn90

iTrader: (1)

I ran into a similar situation where our local Nissan dealer was doing a full brake service to my mother’s maxima every 20K at inspection time, but I didn’t find out until a year after the latest one. It’s a fact that she is not hard on brakes and that they intentionally ripped her off. (Nissan affiliation is probably a coincidence). I would have liked to have been able to discuss the matter with them contemporaneously, and perhaps made Nissan aware of it. Think about all the good people that are defrauded when needless repair advise is intentionally given.

On the other hand, I believe a one-time bad call could have been incompetence, or just the actions of one bad apple in the bunch. Presenting the facts may help others in this case as well, because the dealer may not be aware of what is going on.

gman69

Wow just read this whole thread. Made my day... What a great ending. How's the car running?

Mattyem

iTrader: (1)

I just read this whole thread and at first I felt so bad and then it all turned around! Glad you figured this out!!

TBau651

Same thing here, just read the whole thing when I saw it pop up in the feed - Very interesting read. Sounds like everything worked out and a good honest mechanic was discovered along the way.

Halo

I still browse the forums and can not believe my old thread got revived!

Thanks for the nice comments, much appreciated. I still have the car and it is my daily driver. I have done a few mods to the car but nothing spectacular. Lowered on swifts, takeda intake, Niche 20" wheels, DIY front grill, and tinted windows. I want to get some Z1 hi-flow cats and take it to this exhaust shop over the winter to install them and to also do a custom exhaust.

One of these days I need to post a pic in the "Show off your sedan thread"!!!

Rewsta

This was a good read and even better that it had a happy ending.

I was stung once by a "trusted" mechanic who told me I needed my engine replaced on my minivan. My wife had run over something on the highway and knocked the oil filter off.
There was a loud ticking noise that he said was result of a worn main bearing.

Turned out, the noise was caused by broken exhaust manifold bolts. Nissan VG30E common problem.
But it was too late. I paid for the engine ($2K) and two months later the ticking noise returned on that engine too.
When I returned, he treated me like it was a completely new issue and unrelated to him installing the engine and that I'd need to pull the engine again to get it fixed properly.
I ended up getting it fixed for $300 at a shop that specializes in Nissans.

I also told my story to everybody that I had sent his way for business for all the years i had been going to him.

takeapieandrun

iTrader: (2)

I've had a mechanic screw over my dad by installing incorrect spark plugs in our old 96 Caravan back in the day. That definitely wasn't fun as it was in for a tune-up before our big road trip out to Tahoe. Spending the night on new years eve (no mechanics open) stranded in another town is not what you want for a nice family holiday.. made it back home on 4 cylinders with a fried ECU and coil packs. On top of that the dealership refused to admit their wrongdoing, only after my dad yelled at chrysler corporate did they get their asses moving. What an adventure lol, glad you didn't end up getting screwed by the dealer.

GodlikeRage

The Coils are numbered for each cylinder, the part number is the same but there's a cylinder number label inside in the coil that must match to the cylinder it is being put on.

JSolo

iTrader: (14)

Huh? You lost me there. What difference does it make what cylinder number is printed on the coil. So long as you connect the respective wiring connector for that cylinder it shouldn't matter what cylinder the coil is from.

GodlikeRage

Yea you’re right it doesn’t. I just noticed there is a 1-2-3-4-5-6 number label in each coil I wondered if that had any significance.

slovell1

I've got a 2004 mazda 6s that I bought new. One morning about four years ago it started belching oil smoke out the exhaust, it was fine the night before. I called the dealership and they immediately told me I had a bad piston and would need a new motor, all this over the phone without seeing the car. They even offered to send a tow truck to pick up my 6. Just didn't sound right to me so I got on the Mazda 6 Forum and started searching. $7.00 later after a trip to Autozone my Mazda was fixed and running fine. The PCV valve had stuck open and the engine was siphoning oil from the pan to the intake, a known fault with the Duratech V6. I haven't been to a dealership since that fiasco. I wouldn't let the local Nissan dealer touch my G37 as they wanted $500 to install my FI HFRC's. All they had to do was remove the non resonated FI HFC's and swap in the resonated new ones. A local guy about a mile from me did it for $100. I could have done it myself but was afraid I'd wring off the bolt from hell on the exhaust header.