The BEST "Z" dealership in the Ottawa area

Shep43

Hey Everyone,

Long story…..but not happy with my dealership. I've been contemplating calling / writing Nissan Canada all winter, but I think it won't get me that far as I think each dealership makes their own rules as to warranty terms etc.

My 370Z is in storage until the snow melts but I'm hoping to find a new dealership that will respect my Z like a $50K sports car should receive. I’m trying to find the BEST dealership in the Ottawa area, which will go out of their way to resolve my 2 problems.

P.S. I'm not getting into details here as I don't want my dealership suing me for slander, as its probably really easy to figure out where I live from my other posts in 2 years.

P.S.S. Info on the best detailer in Ottawa area would be nice also, I need a clay, polish, and wax....I won't say "back to showroom" 'cause my dealership gave me "swirls" I still can't get rid of the day I drove it off the lot 2 years ago.

Any advice would really be appreciated.

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2012 - 6MT - Touring Sport - Black Rose

N0SL3N

The only advice I can give, not being from Ottawa, is that if you want to have anything done properly do not get it done at a dealership. This includes oil changes and other general maintenance which they usually find a way to screw up.

If you are looking for some sort of paint restoration I would say your best bet is to take it to a place that actually knows what they are doing and either pay for it yourself or try and get the dealer (not easy) to pay for it.

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| Akuma | Motordyne | Z1 | NST | CNT | Stillen | Avant Garde | RJM | Performix | Tint | LED | GTR | Nissan |

Ire

i work at a dealership. dont get detailing done there, most guys are paid flat rate meaning its in their best interest to do the work as fast as possible and take another job. the detailing guys also get yelled at if they take their time and are too slow.

that said, when i detail, i do it myself because if you want showroom quality paint correction, expect it to cost several hundreds of dollars ($500 minimum). we're not talking about a simple wash and quick wax tho. please do the research as to what you want done. My Z is black so anything done even slightly wrong is immediately apparent when i pick up my car. I used to be really picky about my paint (and thus who i allowed to work on my car) and thus far only one person in town is even remotely close to being able to do the work i expect. barring him, only i work on my car. remember, there are guys that get paid a thousand dollars an hour to detail cars. If you want good quality work, pay for it. don't expect an 80 dollar detail job at a dealership to be all that good.

also you can describe what happened to you without mentioning names and not get into **** for slander. most customers expect a level of work that their money simply does not buy (not saying you're one of those) but if you let us know what happened maybe it can help

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KanataZ

Subscribed. Also interested in hearing what other have to say about the 4 dealerships in Ottawa. Frankly, my experience post sale has been limited and not great.

Come on Spring!

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Also drives: '01 Maxima AE 5sp, Yamaha V-Star 1100 Custom

Shep43

Thanks to all who replied, I would of thought there would be more 350 / 370Z Ottawa area owners on this forum. Anyways zakimak PM'd me and gave me some good advice and said try Huntclub. Unless others chime in before the snow melts I'll try them. Info on reputable detailers in the Ottawa area would be nice also.

Ire - do you detail "on the side" and if so how much for a clay, polish, and wax.

NOSL3N - how can you avoid the dealership's every 6K warranty checks without voiding the Nissan bumper to bumper warranty ??? I'm sick of Nissan 1 to 1 calling me every 3 months, sorry but I'm not opening up my wallet every 3 months to the stealerships 'cause Nissan "recommends" it. The dealership sees my Z every 6k kms.

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2012 - 6MT - Touring Sport - Black Rose

KORRUPT

I have been to Tony Graham in Bells Corners, 417 Infiniti and Hunt Club.
417 was really good until the new manager got here a few years back then they went to crap.
Tony Graham is very mod unfriendly and I find the service advisors lacking a lot of knowledge about the 370z they sell. I do use the quick lube however, they seem nice and they are fast.
Hunt club was the best that I have dealt with so far. When I first got the car I went into fuel starvation and had the car towed there, I found out via this forum what the problem was before they had any idea. They however did not charge me for the check of the car and did not try to sell me some other ******** line. They said they had no idea what the issue was .They seemed to be honest at least to me so if I need work done by a dealership I will go back there.
These are purely my personal experiences so hope they help.

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N0SL3N

Sorry I didn't see this post until now.

I have never heard of 6K warranty checks, sounds like a scam to me. Is this some special aftermarket extended warranty or through Nissan? What if you don't live near a dealership, they expect you to drive there 3-4 times a year. I would call Nissan Canada or whoever has your lease and ask them what the deal is. I never brought my car to Nissan once while it was leased, only when I tried to buy it out and that was the most miserable experience of my life. If I had to deal with theses idiots ever 6k i would sell the car and walk.

And in terms of warranty work, you are better off paying out of pocket and having it done with parts that won't break; csc, diff bushing, etc.

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| Akuma | Motordyne | Z1 | NST | CNT | Stillen | Avant Garde | RJM | Performix | Tint | LED | GTR | Nissan |

zakimak

I doubt your 6000 visit has anything other than regular oil changes and checking of the vital fluids and adjustments as necessary when in the bay. For a new car, it rarely is an issue. That said, these visits do boaster the dealer/owner relationship if issues do occur and it can also intercept potential break down in the future. IMO most cars never have any issues until around the 50 000kms mark provided it is driven normally. Usually you're looking at brakes, fluids, tires, alignment (should be done every time you change tires) and various adjustments. Minor items and those are non-warranty items anyway as they are considered consumables.

Voiding of warranty is only applicable when it is proven that the mods or lack of maintenance is the direct cause for the issue. Beyond that, it is not within the best interest of everyone to piss off the customer. As I mentioned in our PMs. Warranty work always is in the best interest of the dealer to deny it. Bottomline is the dealer gets more money and less problems from the customer than from Nissan (parts overhead, discounted labour rates and headache of filing with Nissan). That said, good dealers would always work with and for the customers. Once you lose a customer, you're likely lose not only his/her business, you're likely looses his friends and his/her decedents.

BTW you do not have to have to do ANY work at the dealer for warranty to be applicable. The purpose of the warranty of the product is 'manufacturing defects'. Saying that, if there is the proof of negligence on the part of the customer to the warrantied part(s), Nissan has a good position to deny the claim. Obviously a Turbo kit or you don't do any fluid changes per recommendation or maintenance, then you are putting the engine pass it's designed parameter, hence no warranty if the engine goes as it is considered a direct cause. They can't deny you an OEM stereo replacement even if you have TT and Nos, etc and haven't change your oil in 45 000kms though if you're bumper to bumper still applies. The stereo has nothing to do with the mods or maintenance.

What we are talking about here is the oil changes and stupid maintenance stuff. Again, you don't have to do it through the dealership provided you have proof that you've done the maintenance per recommendation.

So why Mister Lube is 'warranty approved'. It is because engine failures are rarely the issue of fluids deficiencies. So in the event the engine fails and it IS proven that the fluid or fluid change was the culprit, then Mister lube would cover it. - This is so unlikely that it is a non-issue.

But that does not mean that some stupid kid at Mr. Lube would not cross thread the drain bolt and then it became the problem that could be more problematic. In this scenario, you're dealing with more parties to get the work done...all costing time and headaches. With the dealer, you drop off the car and tell them to fix their mistake.

Again even though it can be expensive, it is another form of peace of mind. Some of us think it is worth it while other think it is not. The call is up to you but again, like I said, good dealership will work with you. Remember they are in the business of making money too.

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What doesn't kill you might make you a cripple so chose wisely.

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Shep43

Below is from the "Service and Maintenance Guide"

As a condition of your vehicle’s warranty, you are responsible for properly maintaining your vehicle. In maintaining your vehicle, you should follow either Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 as listed below. Use these guidelines to determine which maintenance schedule to use.

SCHEDULE 1 (more severe operating conditions), every 3,750 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first

SCHEDULE 2 (less severe operating conditions), every 7,500 miles or 6 months, whichever comes first

I've chosen every 3,750 miles (6k kms) and have ignored every 3 months (refer to earlier post about "opening wallet").

Well that's 2 votes for Huntclub, hopefully they will rectify my 2 problems which are a "splash guard" install (1 of the 4 does not fit well), and a replacement passenger door window seal install (new part either doesn't fit well or a improper install). My present dealership re-ordered the parts a 2nd time and stated the new ones didn't fit any better than the 1st replacements and put those back on. I expect the dealership to resolve these issues and I feel are not unreasonable requests....I paid for the genuine accessory and the bumper to bumper warranty. It also looks like Huntclub has a 'bodyshop" as these parts should be installed by a "body-man" and not a mechanic !!!

There's a few other things that happened last summer at my dealership with the Service Manager and my mechanic, but the two above problems and lack of resolution were the "last straw". (see my post on Most Stupid Thing Heard From a Nissan Dealer)

Thanks again for everyone's candor, advice, thoughts, and most of all your time taken in responding.

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2012 - 6MT - Touring Sport - Black Rose

N0SL3N

All they are saying is that if you neglect service on your car, and that neglect causes something to break, they will not warranty it. Sch 1 and Sch 2 are just basic outlines of when they recommend service to make it easier for the average Nissan owner. You can get service at a dealership, Mr Lube or in your own driveway; as long as you can prove the service was done (receipts) you won't have a problem.

My advice is to get a good synthetic, motul or redline, perform a change after 5-6K and send a sample to Blackstone. I just did this and they will tell you how much longer you could have run or if you should have changed sooner.

I like to advocate for people doing their own maintenance because if you take your time you will know it is done right, uses the best parts/fluids and you can get to know your car.

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| Akuma | Motordyne | Z1 | NST | CNT | Stillen | Avant Garde | RJM | Performix | Tint | LED | GTR | Nissan |

MrSir

Nissan/Infinity dealerships are pretty darn useless. When i was having problems with my engine chocking up due to water getting on my MAF sensors. These guys couldn't figure out anything. I found the problem myself on the forums and resolved it. Also when they open the hood and see aftermarket intakes and anything else that isnt stock the first thing out of their mouth is "with all those aftermarket parts i am not sure the warranty will cover anything" aka " you are paying for anything we do". Plus most dealership shops have 2 maybe 3 actual mechanics that know their ****, and the rest are kids still learning. So its a lost cause. You get un-resourceful vehicle analysis, done by inexperienced individuals for more money. Since i bought my car i have only been to a nissan dealership once and i ended up paying for them to tell me they don't know what the problem is. So look for a good mechanic shop instead of a dealership. I am sure people will know of some in the mod scene in ottawa.

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zakimak

If you got water onto your MAF because of your aftermarket intake (I am assuming your AEM were on when you drove it through the water), how is it their fault? They are trained on OEM Nissan set up not aftermarket set up. Experience guys will figure it out while some will not. Could they finally figure it out? probably, but then they would have to charge you for it.

Think about it for a second. You drive in and have X problems. They looked at it and say **** this will take some time to figure out because customer has different set up. I will have to run a diagnostic and maybe search some Service Bulletins,..... Forums, which will be 2 hours but Nissan will only allow 1 hour for it, I am losing money. **** it, I am not touching this unless customer pays. Advise customer, customer is pissed off and drive off.

There are fix parameters for any warranty work and if you go beyond it, you will need approval and justification to get paid. Nissan will never allow that to happen unless it is their stuff that's being worked on.

So now you have an aftermarket set up, they need time beyond approved parameters, Nissan ask why....uh because he has some weird **** here that not OEM stuff...Denied.

I am not advocating that maintenance stuff cannot be done on your own and by others instead of dealerships and in honesty, if you're mechanically inclined and efficient, it's better to do it yourself. But some don't want the aggravation and just have the dealership do it. You definitely pay more but those free coffee, shuttle services and rapport cost money.

They are running a business and yes they usually have several mechanics that are experienced and the rest are apprentice learning their trade. EVERY shop does the same thing to save cost. The best ones do the same thing, it has nothing to do with the competence of a shop, it has to do with the competence of the individual at a given job. Little **** will always be done by the apprentice. Major issue by the shop lead then the manager, so on so forth. Every one of them expects to be paid. When Nissan only approve at certain portion, you can't expect them to lose money to deal with your issue when it is YOUR fault.

That said, when you do have rapport and history with them, they will do what they can.


BTW in relationship to Warranty work, I'll quote Outrun's post which is very to the point


A dealer cannot deny warranty simply because you have changed a part. Basically, a dealer has to honor the warranty unless they can prove the part you changed caused the fault. e.g. altering your wheels & tires should not effect a warranty claim on the a/c. This sounds straightforward but often things fall into a gray area. For example, supercharging the engine and then trying to warranty a transmission failure. Did the transmission fail because of the extra engine power? Much depends on the relationship with your dealer

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Ire

^ on point

i work at a dealership and for guys making flat rate, if you bring a car in some of the time the mechanic is losing out. They dont want to give you back the car unfixed but sometimes they have to in order to break even.

You're also right that in most shops its 3-5 licensed guys and the rest are kids still in school. That said, they won't give tough jobs to the kids.

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remo1356

Hunt Club Nissan. Great service!!! For detailing go see Warren at Tint FX Motorsports in Orleans. Tell him Remo sent you. He is the best around!