Is my car a lemon?
 

I traded my car in, for a new Z last week. When I originally went into the showroom, I intended to do a test drive, and quickly get my car evaluated on a trade in. I actually really liked the offer, and realized it was time for me to upgrade, and I thought the 370Z made perfect sense coming from my G35 Coupe, which I loved, but had just finished paying off a loan (and began having some problems with the transmission out of original warranty). I wanted a new car... Was shopping around, and ended up finally looking at a Z when I realized I could afford it and really wanted one.

Anyhow, the car was not available for test drive, so I had to go back, and I signed an agreement that pending a test drive, I could agree to a tentative deal we setup.

They called me up, told me they had to replace the battery and a cable, and the car was ready (took a few days). I thought nothing of it, took it for a spin: car drove fine.... I bought the car right there.


Anyhow --
On the way home, car had no audio... I was looking for the mute button. I realized something was wrong and went straight back! Showed it to them, and he sent me to a service department. So as I went in, the guy said I had to leave the car with them! No idea what was wrong... Anyhow, i said screw that, I'll bring it in monday, let them fix the audio then, I want to drive this thing. So I did... Drove around for 3 hours... what a huge mistake. As soon as it was night time I discovered the headlights didn't work.

Anyway I brought it in next day, they never changed the head light fuse (or checked). Headlights now work -- Still no audio, had no idea why. I had to go back in on Monday.

Today I brought it in, and they told me they are ordering a new bose amp and that it was dead.

It seems clear to me they have no idea what happened with the car.... I think something was shorted out, and damaged the fuses, battery, and cabling somehow. I'm guessing this, because they haven't said anything. Everything worked fine but the headlights (and bose audio) as far as I can tell.

One other comment -- I had to have them fix a ding I found on the car, and touch up some paint. They agreed to fix this though.


I love the car, and now we know what's wrong, but, but I really wanted the opinion of some of the people on here if they feel I should claim this car as a lemon, having no idea why the electrical system failed? Would this happen again?

I want to have it checked over by a real expert, and really don't trust any of the Nissan dealerships on Long Island. Plan on bringing it to Vinny Ten or someone around long island. Please any comments?

You have to look up what's considered a lemon for your specific state. In a lot of states it's not considered a lemon until you bring it in for the same problem a few times. GL

hopefully its a minor wiring/fuse error. And you sure the car is brand spankin new? The dings and the scratch sounds fishy to me.

Yikes, what dealer did you buy this from?

sounds like you got a little excited and jumped in before going over the car
before signing any papers. that being said if you bought it from a decent dealer
they should take care of everything for you in time.

i think you said it was on the show room floor. kinda makes you wonder how they put a small dent in it..

plus a dead battery and replace cable they shorted some thing out...

anyway welcome and enjoy your new ride you will love it.............

It was a leftover, 2010 on the showroom floor. They said they disconnect the Batteries on car in the show room, which makes sense... They do that at car shows also, so people can't mess with the cars I guess.

I had a look at NY lemon law, and spoke about it with my lawyer a bit tonight actually. He told me the dealer hasn't screwed me enough for it to be a lemon yet, and I have to allow them the opportunity to fix it get fixed. This is in such a short period of time, and if they fix everything (and nothing continues) I don't have a Lemon.

The car had less then 50 miles on it... I do feel it's very fishy. It was a chip on the bumper (not a scratch), and a smudge of black, which may or not be a scratch i could not tell near the wheel well. There was a small ding on the passenger door. Maybe it happened while it was being prepped? Rest of the car looked really nice.. I did spend a lot of time looking at it in the show room, but didn't notice any of this at the time. I noticed it after the test drive.

I have some crappy luck I guess. I do like the car a lot, I'll give this some time I guess... I still feel it's important to have the car checked over by someone else, I'm a bit paranoid at this point LOL.

Disconnecting the battery isn't all that unusual with cars that sit. They probably had a kid do it and he f'd up when reconnecting and shorted it out badly taking some of the more sensitive vehicle electronics with it. I would check everything electrical in the car to make sure there is no additional damage.

if it was on the show room floor, more than likely someone or something bumped into it. When I purchased my 2011 Z (not show room car), it had a dent on the side door and a scratch over it which i didnt catch until i signed the paper. so i guess its just accidental damage since its a 2010 and everyone sits in it that walks in the dealership.

well first off, i would NEVER buy a car without test driving the exact car i would pay money on unless it was a special order car. if the car was in the show room, i would tell them my mind is 99% set, but not 100% until i take the car out for a spin.

then i start signing papers.

anyway it sounds like the car was jumped incorrectly or battery hooked up backwards polarity, overloaded/shorted many things. i would review each and every feature of the car while it's still there WITH the tech. take a note pad and jot everything down for them to fix.

I really like your idea. When they contact me to tell me the car is ready for pick up, I'm going to say I'd like to review it with a tech, each electronic feature. I'm actually supposed to go pick up the owner's manual, they forgot to put that in the car as well LOL. Should make them go page by page with me.


I kid, but I will do something like this. Thanks again for the advice everyone!

Nah, its a Nissan 370Z

This is what I did as well... I test drove the Z they had available at first... than I decided I wanted to buy the car.. They told me my configuration I wanted was available on the lot in white and black... I said Id like to take a look at both... they each had all the plastics still on them, and I still insisted on test driving my exact car and went over the whole car. I chose white and saw that the bumpers did not match to my expectations. They threw in a spoiler for free (i got a base model, but have since upgraded everything) for my troubles and agreed to have the body shop respray the front and rear bumpers.. I am not so against paint work as the shop they use is the same shop I always use and they do great work.. I could of said I wanted white and took the car without driving or looking at it, and wouldnt of had a free spoiler and had trouble getting the respray.. They want you to buy the car so you have extra leverage before you sign the papers...

In your situation something def seems up with the electric and I wouldnt of taken delivery on the car until it was fixed, I hope you atleast have a loaner and hope everyting gets sorted out for you. I am sure it will but I bet its aggrivating... best of luck to you !

just curious what type of tranny issues did you have with your G35? how many miles and yr?

mine was...see sig....

was heart broken to say the least

Now way this thing is a lemon.

It sounds more like a lot of bad luck OP.

As with any new car, keep a detailed record of all the repair work and service done to the car. You might need it down the line.

If you still feel they sold you a lemon, I would insist on the dealership covering an extended warranty at no-charge to you. To be honest, a few blown fuses only means those failsafes worked. It is disheartning when the car is freshly off the lot though. Like everyone said, they likely shorted something out while re-installing the battery.

What dealership was this?

Glad you got a Z and wish you the best sorting this all out. Personally, if a dealer made me sign that before a test drive I would laugh all the way out the door. Learn a lesson from that part of the deal...

Actually, I only signed a tentative agreement prior to the test drive, I put $100 just to put have the car reserved for me. I didn't agree to accept the car, until I made the test drive. I could of backed out at that point. Sorry probably didn't explain that right.

Even so -- I didn't notice those problems, I was more interested in how the car drove. I also didn't realize I could use this as a position to leverage to re-negotiate the price after we agreed on an initial number, or get free stuff like a spoiler LOL.

Hopefully I'll hear back about everything tomorrow. I do think I learned something this, I'm optimistic it will be sorted out.

Not trying to come off like a jerk. Seriously, I wouldn't accept that. A dealer should never add a condition to a test drive, period. You should never sign anything prior.

I'm in NY this week and would be happy to bash you (in a friendly way) over a beer. :D

Yeap, definitely sounds like some noob swapped polarities on the battery when rehooking things up and blew up some stuff when doing it. Don't believe your soundsystem should poo, because it was a showroom car afterall. UNLESS...... the mechanics there decided to turn the dealership into a night club using the car's sound system on a regular basis..... LOL

I deserve it too...

Things took a turn for the worse today, when I found out this dealer had this part on back order (and wouldn't give me a time estimate, or better solution other then We'll let you know). That wasn't really what pissed me off, it was the fact that they scoffed at the idea of having a tech look over the car with me, just the sales kid (who didn't check if the headlights worked, or wasn't familiar with the packages on the car). They just don't have the time he said -- "we don't do that". Just like they don't do inspections on cars that leave the show room apparently.

I confronted them about the fact they still have no idea about what's wrong with the car, they had no answer for it, no excuse, and no real apology whatsoever.

This dealership is Legend Nissan. Avoid it at all costs. I've now heard a few personal horror stories with their dealings, and I didn't really want to make this thread about attacking them, but I've had it. Left a message with the owner of the dealership (no call returned), and the next step was a call to Nissan North America to open up a case

Just read about these slime balls:

Consumer complaints about Legend Nissan, Syosset

What the hell? Legend? They're the best dealer I've ever dealt with. I bought my 350Z from them, and my 370Z. They gave me a great deal on my 350Z trade-in. They also gave my friends and family the lowest lease deals around. They're actually one of the highest rated Nissan dealers on dealerrater.com (4.7/5.0) when it comes to sales. They fired some of the managers from there and replaced them about 18 months ago. I'm reading the complaints you posted, and I know a lot of those guys don't work there anymore.

BUT...their service department does not have a good reputation and I am not surprised by their behavior.

Who did you deal with in sales? Have you tried them?

After this situation is handled, I'll put up a fresh complaint for you Arnold.

Best of luck sorting this out. It's covered under warranty so at least the cost of the repairs isn't your deal. Still sucks...

I'll have a toast to you at one of the many random pubs in Times Square tonight. Ok, maybe 7-8 toasts. :D

I'm not doubting you, by the way. Sometimes it takes one bad apple. I'd like to know who you're dealing with. Send me a PM. Are you dealing with only service people? Or are you dealing with sales as well? I can try and help.

Sounds to me that their "battery issue" was the start of their mess up. The battery might have needed a jump since it was sitting in the showroom. Sounds like they tried to jump the car with the + and - reversed. You can do serious damage to a car.

My buddy tried jumping his car awhile back using his mother's car as the jumper. He connected them backwards and car wouldn't turn over. Well a minute or so went by and then I began to smell some burning and then lots of smoke coming from the dash. Needless to say, most of the electronics inside the car wouldn't work.

Connecting the cables correctly minutes later the car started right up.....

So magically, the part became available the next day after contacting nissan consumer affairs, and I have my car back. I was promised by the owner of the dealership I'm getting a 3 year extended warranty. I'd like to see it in writing of course, but that will hopefully happen on monday.

Things are looking better, appreciate everyone in this threads comments and advice. I drove around for 2 hours tonight, think I'm headed out again after I eat. Love driving this thing!

So I take it your headlights and audio are fixed? Hope you got a good deal for all your troubles!

Congrats, dude! Looking forward to seeing you again after all these years. :tiphat:

Maybe you bought one of these?
[IMG]<a href="http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r16/wrxblu/?action=view&amp;current=Japan1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r16/wrxblu/Japan1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>[/IMG]
LOL JK!

:iagree:

I believe I see a number of 370s in that picture... upper left?

Yes.