I had 3 other cars prior to the G and I was never assessed a diagnostic fee. Matter of fact I don't remember previous service visit to infiniti where I was informed of such fee until recently. Is this a new practice all the dealership are adopting or just infiniti?

Let me state the obvious to get it out of the way, dealers are in the business to make money and the car manufacturer have warranty to cover manufacturer defects in order to sale cars. Next obvious statement is, how would you know what's cover under warranty unless you bring it in? If its not cover under warranty you are charge $129 for a diag fee but will be waive if you opt to have it service at that location. The fee is determine by each dealership. Trying different dealership might not be an option for everyone due to geographic . Infiniti consumer affairs is a hit or miss base on what I read.

Please this is not a rant thread but rather trying to be an informed consumer and what are our options.

Thanks for keeping it civil.

 

I called Infiniti Consumer Affiars too and they indicated they have no policy and the fee is completely up to the dealership. Best thing to do is ask about the fee before bringing the car in. I've never been charged when the car was under warranty or for a recall.

With my Nissan (problem car) I was charged every time when not under warranty.

brian

 

Is your car under warranty? if its under the factory warranty then they shouldn't charge a diag fee, unless you're bringing in the vehicle for something that the service writer knows isn't covered under warranty. (brakes, tires, battery)

Infiniti has to pay the dealership for warranty items. The dealer isn't doing the work for free.

If you have a grinding noise then the writer knows that could be a brake issue, brakes aren't covered after 12000 miles. The tech spends an hour to diag your grinding noise, finds it needs rear brake pads. You say " I'm not paying $300 for rear brake pads, I'll take it to Midas for $99". Now the dealership has to pay that tech for his hour instead of Infiniti paying the tech.

 

The average person like myself will not able to know what the problem is and if that problem is cover under warranty.
Let's take brakes as an example. Its would be normal wear and tear so not cover under warranty. Unless you are an educated consumer and look for a tsb that's cover your vin/model , otherwise you're SOL.

See this example(sorry op) . The symptoms described as possible brake issue but turns out to be something else. Thankfully the issue was resolved and was cover under warranty.

https://www.myg37.com/forums/brakes-and-suspension/240384-g37x-brake-issue.html


The cards are stacked in dealers favor. They can decide to keep the customer
happy or play the penny pinching game. They nickel and dime on oil change charging me for rags, refilling washer fluid (I already filled it previous week) etc. Now I buy Pennzoil
ultra and have local shop do it for $15.

I want to be an informed consumer and seek advice on how to navigate around this practice.

 

My car is still under warranty. Good point and I get what you saying.
Kinda like buyers beware. Make the appointment, have service agent tell you if he thinks your issue is cover. Guess they trying minimize the free loader. Or its another way to nickel and dime you.

If you are unfortunate to get an inexperienced agent I can see we will be paying for work that's cover warranty.

 

What's wrong with the vehicle? We can probably help you better than the dealer!

 

Appreciate that I know I can count on this community to help. Just trying to see how everyone is handling this, what advice or things to say to service agent. I am a believer in learning how to fish instead of hand fed .

 

Is anyone being told they will be assess a diag fee if your problem is not cover under warranty?

 

Every dealer is different, every service advisor is different, every service manager is different.

Heres how I play it;

Within the first 12/12(12 months, 12,000 miles) I'll say everything should be covered under warranty, no diag fee to apply.

After, There will be $135 diag fee for any repairs IF NOT covered under warranty(IE; I feel a brake judder and my mechanic just replaced the pads, I have aftermarket suspension and I hear a rattle...)

If the car is out of warranty, certainly will apply a diag fee normally $135, if electrical or something more serious/multiple issues, it will jump.

Soemtimes the advisor will cut the fee in half or waive it if work gets done.

 

Most people would not have to be told this. If a problem is wear and tear related then it stands to reason that a diagnostic fee will apply - unless you have the dealer do the repair typically. As has been explained above, the dealer has to cover their cost of labour somehow. If Infiniti won't reimburse under warranty then the customer pays for the service. Makes sense to me.

 

I don't disagree dealer needs to cover their time spend if car not longer under warranty. But if car still under warranty and you feel the car is not performing normally, you should able to have it look at without being charged if its not warranty work. My point is, other than wear and tear item how is the average Joe know what the problem is without bring it in.

 

Thats why Infiniti has service advisors to advise you of these types of problems.

What do you do for work? Do you work for free?

 

The dealer isn't doing the work for free.

 

I've found two dealers within 15 miles of each other that have opposing policies on this, so I agree it's not Infiniti-imposed.

I'll only be taking my car to the one that does not have this policy. See, free markets work!

 

I had to pay a Nissan dealership a similar diagnostic fee to tell me they were unable to experience the third gear grind I was experiencing...