Any Mod Friendly Dealers in MD Area?
 

So I found out that my car has the trunk hatch issue so I have to take it to a dealership to get it fixed. I have heard that some dealerships are more mod friendly than others. I don't have any performance mods at the moment, but I figured I might as well start building a relationship with one that is. It might help me down the line when I do decide to get them. Any thoughts/experience would be very appreciated. :tup:

Whats the trunk hatch issue, is that a recall or something?

It was a technical service bulletin (TSB). The trunk hatch is supposed to open with one push of the button that's underneath it, but mine doesn't. I have to push it twice and hold it while I lift the hatch myself. I always just thought it was a stupid design choice by Nissan, but I found out from another thread that it was an issue a lot of people were having. I guess it's kind of like a recall, but less severe of an issue. The dealership should fix it for free though :)

Yeah, TSB is a little different than a warranty issue, as it is a known factory defect. Essentially when Nissan issues a TSB for a car, it's them saying, 'we screwed up somewhere, and if your car does this, it's our fault and we'll fix it.' Regardless of your modifications, any Nissan dealer should repair this for you for free, without question. Sorry if that may have come across the wrong way; I'm not trying to diminish what you've done to your car, just pointing out the fact that you have not done any extreme modifications to the engine, drivetrain, or electronics or any modification that would cause factory parts to fail.

For warranty work, you'd want to find a mod-friendly dealer. Sheehy Nissan in Annapolis have been pretty good with our GT-R guys. Keep them in mind, along with any other dealers recommended by other Mid-A members.

-J

Thanks Jon! Yeah I haven't done any performance mods yet, but plan on doing some in the future. I thought it would be more beneficial to me if I find a mod-friendly dealership now and start building a relationship with them. This way, when I do eventually get the mods they will be cool with it and more likely to help me out than if I was just some random guy with a modded 370Z looking to get some work done.

BTW the plan for my performance mods include: hfc, intake, exhaust, and maybe a pulley kit. Nothing too extreme, but I want to avoid experiences like Tony's when a dealership told him to never come back there because he wanted to get hfc's installed.

Lol, yeah I remember that. Brown's Nissan I think; I'm sure Tony will chime in and let us know. Basically, a dealer's worst nightmare the following scenario; If they have a modified car in their repair facility one of the dealer employees ends up damaging a part that THEY can't replace(i.e., factory Nissan part they can grab off the shelf), they have to come out of pocket to replace the aftermarket part. And building a good relationship with the service writer/technician is a really good idea. One of our GT-R customers has a such a good relationship with his dealership, he avoided being 'blacklisted' when he was having trouble with his GR6 transmission. They repaired the problems he was having under warranty, even though his car is far from stock. Nissan have, and will blacklist GT-Rs VIN numbers nationwide if they feel the owner is in violation of 'engine safe' modifications.

Most dealers shy away from lowered cars, cars with body kits, titanium exhausts, etc. for this exact reason. It's much cheaper to replace a factory Nissan part than it is to replace a Powerhouse Amuse VESTITO kit on a show car. Some dealers are an exception, but most will exercise their right to refuse service to you. You should be ok with your basic intake, hfc, and exhaust, but just to be on the safe side, look over everything before you pull off the lot. If you can, keep an eye out for 'joy-riders' as well with your Z. Lots of 17-18 year old lot attendants or service apprenticeships looking to take advantage of the opportunity to drive a Z for the first time. I've no problem with that, just do it on one of the dealers cars, not mine. :tup:

Just my .02

-J

Dude, you guys RULE, I enjoyed reading the prior posts, very good information!

Thanks again for all the great info Jon! I'm gonna give it a few more days for some other Mid-A people to give any suggestions, if not then Nissan of Annapolis is the way to go. Will definitely stop by to check out the shop if I end up there. :tup:

I had one salesman at Tischer Nissan in Laurel take me on a test drive in a manual 370Z just so he could drive it. I had told him that I can't drive manual and am only looking for an auto, but he insisted on showing me the SRM feature and the capabilities of the LSD. Of course by this I mean he went to a nearby empty parking lot to do donuts. :icon17:

Passport Nissan of Alexandria was the shop that told me to get out. And yet all the salesmen love my car.....go figure!

Good thing I'm in MD and not VA :icon17:

So Tony, when are you gonna make it out to one of the Mid-A meets? I think you're the only one I haven't met in person yet. I also want to check out the Smurf in person :tup:

Soon......shes getting the last little bit of the upgrades done. Hoping it won't take too long but I'm guessing I'm looking at about 2 weeks. The hood is going to take awhile because this body shop doesn't want to paint it and install it just willy nilly......they are going to do a lot of fitment and fabrication, if needed before finally painting and installing it. And there's going to be a total dash tear down to swap the amber dash lighting out with blue. I hope to have the Z back on the road before the end of the month....at least that's the goal. :tup:

:excited:

......oh, and the Central 20 side skirts are going on, too. From what 370ZTune told me, I'm the only one to purchase those side skirts in the US and also the same goes for the AbFlug rear bumper. The bumper is expected to arrive in California on the next container ship! :woot:

Tony.. why arent you coming down for march 19th...

:drool:

If I had spent as much money on my car as you have on yours, I'd have a GT-R, lol. It looks good though, sounds like Smurf version 6.0 is going to be even better. Now to go look those parts up and see what they look like.

Edit: I like the side skirts, but I'm not a big fan of the rear bumper. If you like it, that's all that matters. I personally like the Amuse kit.

I wouldn't argue that point. I originally started off looking at and wishing for a GTR. In the end, who knew I could have actually just said screw it and purchased one! However, the monthly payments would be killing me!! :bowrofl:

One of the guys on the board here did a photoshop of a 370Z rear in Monterey Blue with the AbFlug rear:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...treme/rear.jpg


Forget the rear wing in the photo.....I'm keeping the Mine's rear CF spoiler add-on.

All you need now it a TT kit to justify not getting a GT-R :tup:

It does look a lot better without the wing. IDK I don't like the blocky look of it. I like my baby to have its sexy curves, lol.

Yeah, we'll see how it goes. The body shop doesnt really want to install it. They say it will screw up the current look (like you sorta said) so if I decide not to install it, they will debadge the rear and mold the EVO-R CF license plate area into the stock rear bumper for me. So either way.....I will end up with some type of unique look in the rear. ;)

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. :tiphat:

BTW, I'd still appreciate some input from anyone about the mod-friendly dealerships in MD.

Frederick nissan is also mod friendly.

Thanks! Annapolis is 20 mins closer to me so I think Sheehy Nissan of Annapolis is still at the top of my list. There's a Sheehy Nissan in Glen Burnie, like 5 mins away from my house. Anyone know how they are?

Tony, your car is going to be insane. I always loved ABFlug. Ever since I saw this car way back in 2001, I was hooked:

http://www.mkiv.com/mkivregistry/of_...it/abflug3.jpg

Still love it to this day actually. Tony, you ought to try to get your car shot for Speedhunters, Canibeat, or Fatlace.


So to threadjack Blades. ;)

It's cool I don't mind. I kind of derailed it myself when I started talking to Tony about his car.

Also that's an awesome pic, what kind of car is that?

its a corvette

It's actually a MKIV Toyota Supra. Doesn't look it though does it? This was one of my favorite Supras back in the day.

http://www.cars-10.com/photos/341-Is...-toyota-02.jpg

:yum:

i just got :owned:

side profile really looks like a corvette to me

Yes Tony, it's blue. We all know you get a hard-on over modded blue cars :roflpuke2:

It's AbFlug......can't wait until the next container ship arrives.......1 of 1......:excited:

One of my favorite body kits evar.

The used to have this kit (in spirit anyway) in the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series. It's gorgeous.

First thing that comes to mind is Fast & The Furious :roflpuke2:

Well, no doubt, but if you accept the ricey nature of it, it's an attractive body kit imo. Take the "good taste" factor out of the way and let go. :roflpuke2:

:facepalm:








:bowrofl:

You're right! Ok, time for me to geek out. I used to play this game until my fingers bled back in high school. Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero was my favorite. Man that brings back memories. Part of the reason I'm in the industry in the first place.

Dude, that Supra is sick.

An update on my situation:

Scheduled and appointment at Sheehy Nissan of Glen Burnie for next Thursday morning. They are fixing the hatch and doing an oil change. I was told I needed 5 qts and that they would charge me only $20 for the filter and oil change :happydance:

I decided to go with Nissan of Glen Burnie since I live only like 5 mins away. If I ever have any problems, I can always switch do a different dealership. Besides, this is where I always go to test drive Nissans for fun. :)

I loved that game. Rollin' around Tokyo, challenging gang members to races, and then racing the "demons". lol it was fricking awesome.