Accident due to throttle surge while braking
01-06-2010, 11:07 AM
#1
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Accident due to throttle surge while braking
The following was posted as a reply to a thread in the TSB section. I have received no response so far. Hopefully somesone will respond to this and tell me if it happens to anyone else. I was told by the dealer that the TSB mentioned only applies to 08 Coupe and not to 09 Sedan.
My G37XS was bought in Aug 09 and it now has 3600km on it. Never had an issue with it until last Wed (Dec 30). While coming to a red light with a Altima stopped in front of me. I slowed down as usual until less that 10 feet away from the Altima. I then realized I was no longer slowing down and my rpm went up despite my foot is on the brake. I pressed on the brake as hard as possible but it was too late. The Altima was pushed forward (not by momentum). The G finally stopped after pushing the Altima a couple of feet. I put the shifter to P and the RPM went back to normal. I initially thought maybe there was ice on the road, but then none of the ABS or Traction Control lights come on. The road was fine! After exchanging insurance info, my wife and I continued on to Costco. While I was waiting for a parking spot (foot on brake) at Costco, my wife commented what was going on as the engine was revving!! I quickly shifted the car to P and the RPM went down to normal again.
First thing I did after that was I went to a mechanic that I trust to confirm it was not the winter mat. It was re-confirmed by the dealer that it could not have been the mat. I then took the car to the dealer. After an hour, they said they found nothing wrong. At the third stop at the body shop, I was told there was a 07 G35 at the shop for a similar cause.
The estimate on the Altima was Cdn$1700 and mine was $4700. After talking to my insurance broker, I was advised to pay for the damages myself as I would be considered at fault. Therefore, I did not report this incident to the police.
There is a TSB posted on this thread. Does anyone know if there is one for Canadian 09 car?
As this is a fault should have been known to Infiniti, I will demand they pay for all damages and buy my car back. My car is dangerous. I considered myself lucky that it was an Altima that I hit, not a child crossing a crosswalk.
What should my course of action be?
Thanks in advance for any advice.<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
KCM<!-- / message -->
My G37XS was bought in Aug 09 and it now has 3600km on it. Never had an issue with it until last Wed (Dec 30). While coming to a red light with a Altima stopped in front of me. I slowed down as usual until less that 10 feet away from the Altima. I then realized I was no longer slowing down and my rpm went up despite my foot is on the brake. I pressed on the brake as hard as possible but it was too late. The Altima was pushed forward (not by momentum). The G finally stopped after pushing the Altima a couple of feet. I put the shifter to P and the RPM went back to normal. I initially thought maybe there was ice on the road, but then none of the ABS or Traction Control lights come on. The road was fine! After exchanging insurance info, my wife and I continued on to Costco. While I was waiting for a parking spot (foot on brake) at Costco, my wife commented what was going on as the engine was revving!! I quickly shifted the car to P and the RPM went down to normal again.
First thing I did after that was I went to a mechanic that I trust to confirm it was not the winter mat. It was re-confirmed by the dealer that it could not have been the mat. I then took the car to the dealer. After an hour, they said they found nothing wrong. At the third stop at the body shop, I was told there was a 07 G35 at the shop for a similar cause.
The estimate on the Altima was Cdn$1700 and mine was $4700. After talking to my insurance broker, I was advised to pay for the damages myself as I would be considered at fault. Therefore, I did not report this incident to the police.
There is a TSB posted on this thread. Does anyone know if there is one for Canadian 09 car?
As this is a fault should have been known to Infiniti, I will demand they pay for all damages and buy my car back. My car is dangerous. I considered myself lucky that it was an Altima that I hit, not a child crossing a crosswalk.
What should my course of action be?
Thanks in advance for any advice.<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
KCM<!-- / message -->
01-06-2010, 12:23 PM
#2
Arm flailing tube man
The TSB you are referencing is only for 2008 models with AT. I had to take mine in for it and they reflashed the ECU. Some have had to have their ECU replaced due to the problem returning. Your situation seems a lot more severe than just a slight RPM surge and I haven't heard of it being common on the 2009 models. Have you tried calling corporate to discuss this issue?
01-06-2010, 12:42 PM
#3
time for an attorney, with that recall on the 08 they would be hard pressed to prove they fixed the problem.( i highly doubt it) you ARE GOING TO BE BLAMED FOR THIS. I WOULD STRONGLY ADVISE YOU TO CONSULT ONE BEFORE IT GETS ANY WORSE FOR YOU.
Your agent is a dumba55, he is telling not to report the accident.This is the part where he is supposed to look out for you,and earn his money he makes off you all year for doing zero.In NY if there is over $1,000.00 example $1,001.00you must report the accident.It is a chargable crime & insurance carrier may waive any rights for liability. What if the guy in the altima jerks you and reports the accident.Your gonna have a major headache.
PM me ill help you with whatever i can. I was involved in a accident where i was rear ended at traffic light.
Your agent is a dumba55, he is telling not to report the accident.This is the part where he is supposed to look out for you,and earn his money he makes off you all year for doing zero.In NY if there is over $1,000.00 example $1,001.00you must report the accident.It is a chargable crime & insurance carrier may waive any rights for liability. What if the guy in the altima jerks you and reports the accident.Your gonna have a major headache.
PM me ill help you with whatever i can. I was involved in a accident where i was rear ended at traffic light.
Last edited by RISKY GUY; 01-06-2010 at 12:56 PM.
01-06-2010, 01:10 PM
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sorry to hear about your accident but glad to hear everyone is ok.
I don't know anything about the TSB or chronic issue because I've only had my '09 for a month and haven't heard about the issue.
What I can say is that I think that something is up with your agent. You have $6,400 in damage between the two cars and he recommends against filing a claim!!!! I could see if the claim is at or slightly above the deductible but $6,400 is about 10x what I would consider a claim worth filing. Using that logic, you should not carry collision coverage because you're paying for something you'll never use.
I don't know anything about the TSB or chronic issue because I've only had my '09 for a month and haven't heard about the issue.
What I can say is that I think that something is up with your agent. You have $6,400 in damage between the two cars and he recommends against filing a claim!!!! I could see if the claim is at or slightly above the deductible but $6,400 is about 10x what I would consider a claim worth filing. Using that logic, you should not carry collision coverage because you're paying for something you'll never use.
01-06-2010, 01:52 PM
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^I'm with Colburs^ Plus settling "below the radar is an admission of guilt" and good luck with any recourse now. At least if you had some witness or police report with an accident statement to work with you would be in a better legal position to place some of the blame on the vehicle. Right now it's your word only.
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01-06-2010, 02:04 PM
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I'm thinking the same. It's not like s/he was driving 60 miles/hour. The car cannot surge too much for 10 feet to cause a big accident...unless the gas pedal was pushed instead of the brake OR both the gas pedal and the brake were pushed at the same time...but I might be wrong.
01-06-2010, 02:11 PM
#9
the old rpm flare TSB at the most is 360-500rpm. it wouldn't be a constant spooling of rpm unless there was a throttle issue. You should probably work closely with infiniti/nissan specialty shops as well as your dealership to figure out the issue. I don't think the 09 has the flaring issue you speak of as of yet. the flare we see are during acceleration when the AT goes for a gear and blips the RPM slightly. it's fairly hard to reproduce tho... I'm pretty close to the shop guys at my dealership about issues that they've seen and they haven't seen this particular issue as of yet. you might want to get this on video so you can have evidence of the occurence if they can't replicate it.
(esp if you can go from simply P to D and it'll occur)
like others would say, info like speed, road type, visibility, and driving conditions would be good information. I haven't done the math yet but my concerns actually aren't about what the car did but what was going through your mind when the burst of rpm occured. unfortunately you're going to need a little more to support the argument cause I think as of right now it's fairly "weak"? I think since you can say the altima stoppes suddenly and you only had 10ft of space left... sadly 10ft plus 1.5 seconds of reaction time is a collsion in my mind... granted the car kicks a$$ when it comes to braking. but I think even 10ft for a 20mph is cutting it pretty close. cause it's not taking into account that the object in front of you has already stopped and driving conditions. (i think even in ideal conditions, the deceleration rate of the car is probably at best 36fps)
if there is a mechanical issue there could be like a mal-functioning valve... I'd like to know what the dealership checked to be honest. granted the car is complex enough to be able to monitor every sensor in the system but it's really like in medicine, the diagnosis is only as good as the hardware they're using to do it.
I think your insurance is acting illegally... at least by US standards... I think the company is legally obligated to report the accident if they are aware of it... I mean it might be diferent for Canada but the states, even if you don't fix it, the accident that totals over like 1000 in damages needs to be reported or risk losing your license. irregardless, 7k is a lot of cash to pay out of pocket. you pay luxury car premiums, and you're entitled to use it. they can't bump your insurance that much higher (i mean it'll probably go up 100 bucks a year) unless you're a documented reckless driver. I mean you're married, probably have stacked insurance coverage (multiple cars, home, life) and are in your 30s? I would doubt they'd stick you with like 3k premium for a fairly minor accident. (your repair costs are high cause it's an infiniti, the nissan I would say is fairly typical: 700 bucks to repaint a bumper from a above average repair shop, probably 300 bucks for anew bumper if there's any physical damage, labor, etc)
... now i realize riskyguy already made this point... ha but yeah your best course of action to establish something wrong w/ the car and get nissan to pay for damages... other than that it might be a hard case to win.
(esp if you can go from simply P to D and it'll occur)
like others would say, info like speed, road type, visibility, and driving conditions would be good information. I haven't done the math yet but my concerns actually aren't about what the car did but what was going through your mind when the burst of rpm occured. unfortunately you're going to need a little more to support the argument cause I think as of right now it's fairly "weak"? I think since you can say the altima stoppes suddenly and you only had 10ft of space left... sadly 10ft plus 1.5 seconds of reaction time is a collsion in my mind... granted the car kicks a$$ when it comes to braking. but I think even 10ft for a 20mph is cutting it pretty close. cause it's not taking into account that the object in front of you has already stopped and driving conditions. (i think even in ideal conditions, the deceleration rate of the car is probably at best 36fps)
if there is a mechanical issue there could be like a mal-functioning valve... I'd like to know what the dealership checked to be honest. granted the car is complex enough to be able to monitor every sensor in the system but it's really like in medicine, the diagnosis is only as good as the hardware they're using to do it.
I think your insurance is acting illegally... at least by US standards... I think the company is legally obligated to report the accident if they are aware of it... I mean it might be diferent for Canada but the states, even if you don't fix it, the accident that totals over like 1000 in damages needs to be reported or risk losing your license. irregardless, 7k is a lot of cash to pay out of pocket. you pay luxury car premiums, and you're entitled to use it. they can't bump your insurance that much higher (i mean it'll probably go up 100 bucks a year) unless you're a documented reckless driver. I mean you're married, probably have stacked insurance coverage (multiple cars, home, life) and are in your 30s? I would doubt they'd stick you with like 3k premium for a fairly minor accident. (your repair costs are high cause it's an infiniti, the nissan I would say is fairly typical: 700 bucks to repaint a bumper from a above average repair shop, probably 300 bucks for anew bumper if there's any physical damage, labor, etc)
... now i realize riskyguy already made this point... ha but yeah your best course of action to establish something wrong w/ the car and get nissan to pay for damages... other than that it might be a hard case to win.
Last edited by mw09g37; 01-06-2010 at 03:04 PM.
01-06-2010, 02:57 PM
#10
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If the G is like every other modern car, you should be able to floor the throttle and brake at the same time and the brakes will hold the car in place. Try it and see (in a safe place with some room in front of the car) before making any legal, insurance or other claims.
Of course in the litigiously-insane USA, this still didn't prevent all the lawsuits against Audi and others over the years. The powerful brakes held those cars in place, too, back in the 1980's.
Of course in the litigiously-insane USA, this still didn't prevent all the lawsuits against Audi and others over the years. The powerful brakes held those cars in place, too, back in the 1980's.
01-06-2010, 03:16 PM
#11
eople ratio? I think in certain cities/counties it's like a 12 lawyers for every 1 person... ha ha ha and I think if you took into account every person in america, it was 1 lawyer for every 300 people.where as doctors are 1 per 1000 people in populated areas and 1 per 10000 in non-populated. ha ha sorry didn't mean to lose focus
01-06-2010, 03:19 PM
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an airbag
a headlight- the most expensive part of all- around 1k
a bumper and the support foam
a hood
a side fender
a grill
an alignment
...all for a little over 5K.
01-06-2010, 03:23 PM
#13
When I hit a deer at around 40-50 MPH w/ my '05 coupe about 3 years ago...they needed to replace/do the following:
an airbag
a headlight- the most expensive part of all- around 1k
a bumper and the support foam
a hood
a side fender
a grill
an alignment
...all for a little over 5K.
an airbag
a headlight- the most expensive part of all- around 1k
a bumper and the support foam
a hood
a side fender
a grill
an alignment
...all for a little over 5K.
ahh luxury car ownership. good times... but at least was pretty again?
01-06-2010, 03:34 PM
#14
Registered User
I have the AT 08 coupe, and when I switch to Fake manual and shift down to 1st gear i get a randome surge when coming to a stop. I always thought one day I might hit someone infront of me in traffic or at a light. I have never had to slam the brakes because of this but if you dont put enough preasure on the brake pedal, the surge will over power the brakes easliy. Additionally, the surge pushes the driver back, not by a whole lot, but In enough effect you cant put enough preasure on the brake with your foot. I believe the OP Story is very possible with this defect, its an unexpected thing because when you slow down, you dont expect your car to launch out of no were and are not prepared. I would talk to a lawyer.
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01-06-2010, 03:35 PM
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Haha, actually I hate and never trust a repaint car. So, I traded it in as soon as I got it out from the body shop. The Infiniti body shop was really impressed w/ the repairs and asked me which body shop did the repairs.
BTW, the reason I post about my accident is that it's not easy to cause 4.7K damages.
BTW, the reason I post about my accident is that it's not easy to cause 4.7K damages.