If the only interaction between Nissan and the consumers was the purchase of the vehicle itself, they would have a (crappy) leg to stand on with this stance.
It's not hard for them to basically say "Our new engine is very advanced and different, and we painstakingly engineered our lubrication system to exacting standards, and an oil cooler is a significant modification of that system, which was not accounted for at the factory. Therefore, we will attempt denial (and fight in court) on any engine warranty claims with an oil cooler installed."
Three things go in our favor though, and I honestly think courts would side with us:
1) Any expert witness on the subject would easily attest that colder oil, within reason, protects an engine better than overheated oil. From this it's easy to show that a functioning oil cooler should be beneficial, not detrimental, to an engine's life. If Nissan wants to claim the opposite is true, they would need to prove this. In addition, since such a claim would fly in the face of conventional knowledge about automobiles, there's something to be said for the fact that they haven't informed consumers of this technical fact.
2) This is a sportscar, from a long line of sportscars, which is very obviously and overtly marketed to performance-oriented drivers. This makes the "You're driving it too hard if you need an oil cooler" defense pretty lame, moreso than the same claims about a Prius or a Tercel.
3) In their own (succesful) attempts to market this car to an enthusiast driver crowd, they hosted media events to show off the car, in which the press was invited to track the car. That alone speaks to the idea that this is marketed at people who will take cars out for track events. They know damn well how the Z's sales would look if they publicly stated "This car cannot be driven on a racetrack of any kind or your warranty is gone". On top of that, the press event cars at the tracks were equipped by Nissan with add-on oil and differential cooling systems, which the subsequent press articles claimed would be available from Nissan, without any mention of warranty issue. Nissan never refuted or attempted to correct any of this press information if any of this was misinformation. Going further with this particular item, it also speaks to the earlier points, as it clearly shows that Nissan considered an oil cooler to be both necessary and safe on its press event cars for serious driving.
Someone just has to pony up the lawyer's fees.
Last edited by wstar; 06-05-2009 at 11:36 AM.
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