Steering Lock Failure - Reimbursed Story

KyleBucket

Hello all. I was encouraged to make this thread by fellow member "DEpointfive0" because, like him, I've read the hundreds of posts where people are getting absolutely screwed out of 1K of hard earned cash. Apologies for the novel, but if it helps 1 person, it did its job.

So, let's see. I drive an '09 Touring with 21K on the beauty. I was notified by Nissan that my warranty ran out in February of 2012. I found this out after I was stranded, obviously. I'm 23, an only child, but have great, supportive parents. I worked my *** off for my car and this thing might as well have a full legal name because it's like my child. So, like many of you, it's safe to say I was quite upset after seeing my car "break" over something I have 0 control over, what so ever. I took to Twitter with my original post saying: "@NissanSupport, you f_cking suck. PUT A RECALL OUT FOR 370Z STEERING LOCK FAILURE!" I continued to rant to a couple separate friends on Twitter who were asking, all of which Nissan Support must've seen (and I'd hope so). They then messaged me where I explained the situation and thanks to the education from this forum, informed them if they can do it for the GT-R, they can do it for the Z. They then asked me to get ahold of them with a case number once I got ahold of my Nissan dealership pricing and Nissan Consumer Affairs. After that message, I said a lot more to that account through the Direct Message feature on Twitter. They didn't acknowledge it, but I have no doubt they read it. I went into detail about my situation and said I understand doing a recall for the GT-R, you're dealing with people buying a 90K+ car. However, you're likely selling more Z's and why would you not want to appease the LARGER community? As far as Consumer Affairs, I let my dad handle that part, as he wanted to be involved because he has good enough knowledge on cars from me alone. He knew I was getting screwed, just like all of you have. However, he's a politician (nothing big, just county) - the man can talk his way out of a room with no door. It felt very good cop, bad cop (me being the bad, ranting cop).

I was too infuriated to really speak to anyone involved with Nissan. It still is ridiculous to me that this hasn't been addressed. My dad's case was "he's being punished, warranty wise, for not driving the car more than he has to (because I was under mileage warranty wise, just not year wise. I would push this point to anyone who can relate, this was vital.)?" He talked about the GT-R and also pointed out a simple Google search can bring you to one of the many threads on this site discussing it. He told me she was very nice and cooperative and said "well yes, we saw your son's tweets..." and my dad said "understandably, he was a bit upset for something he worked for" and she agreed (there was no animosity about the tweets). She said he'd get back to him within 3 days with an update. Throughout those days, I began searching for people on Twitter with problems with Nissan (a simple # search, you'll find plenty). I tweeted to those people mocking Nissan's customer service. Most involved @NissanSupport being mentioned as well or me at least hashtagging Nissan so they could see it more easily. @NissanSupport messaged me again, ironically after seeing me speak negatively about Nissan some more, and I updated them with the case number and the said they'd look into it. However, I have no clue what was said or done. Maybe they helped? Maybe they just "looked into it."

Anywho, the 3 days went by and we were notified we'd be reimbursed the full $1,085 it cost me to have it installed (towing fee wasn't reimbursed, but I didn't care at this point). I didn't take to Twitter to scream joyous songs, I didn't want to until the money was in our account. They said the check would take 3-5 weeks. It came in 4 days later. So, it was a smooth process.

I have a slight guilt. As a kid who has only gotten into cars within the past 5-6 years, I feel for good, innocent people who get **** on for no reason with their vehicle. None of us should be paying for us, but we are forced to.

Final Note: Make your voice heard. Do whatever you can. It may seem childish to rant and curse, but if it gets their attention, then you did your job. I know some feel you've done all you can and I'm sure that's the case. I may be a rare case that got lucky and had a dad who smooth talked some woman who felt sympathetic. But I think my rant on Twitter played a big role, outside of being under warranty mileage wise. Those were the two biggest reasons I think my case got reimbursed.

Case #: 1055 4655
Spokesperson: Tracy Ext: 457-387
Regional Customer Service Rep: Glenda

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tiger123

Very good. There is something to be said for persistance!!

I totally agree with you and many others here, Nissan should step up to the plate and issue a recall. I mean, it's fvcking ridiculous what is happening here. This is such an obvious problem. The fact they are addressing this issue with the GT-R's is in and of itself, admission there is a problem.

Nissan USA, are you reading this??????

Mike

Glad they stepped up, sorry it took so much effort for them to do so!

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xxAGAVExx

Congrats. I'm in the same boat, I've been posting on facebook everyday since they denied my claim. I'm gonna stick with it until they reimburse me, at least now I have some hope

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03g35coupe6mt

When i read about some of these issues that they refuse to recall it makes me wonder if nissans head is up there *** . do they not care if they lose business ? they should at the very least extend the warranty on it . nice they took care of it but it shouldnt have taken you bitching at them for it to get it done .

DEpointfive0

Hey, thanks for doing a write-up brother!


I can't believe f-ing TWITTER worked...

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SouthArk370Z

Glad to hear your got most of your money back. Thanks for posting your experience.

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KyleBucket

See, Twitter is much nicer than Facebook in the sense that anyone and EVERYONE can see it. When I'm typing #Nissan with everything, they're getting exposed to everyone. Sure, I'm only 1 person, but it's only a fact that if you get enough people thinking that way it's going to hurt the brand.

Someone asked me to post the woman's name that we spoke to. I'll get both of them (I recall there being 2) and the case number on here by Wednesday afternoon.

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DEpointfive0

... Now I'm going to open an account... My dealer is giving me the runaround on a repair

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KyleBucket

OP UPDATED with case number and spokesperson's extension.

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Jasonle

congrats man. Glad u got your money back.

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CrownR426

They said it was covered for me back in the day when this happened.
I was notified that this was a common problem occuring to not only the 09 370's but other push to start nissan's.

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KyleBucket

When I walked in and talked to the service manager, he said he just had a Maxima with the same issue (so your push to start theory must be true). Then, after getting my car towed to a separate shop, he said he had just sent an Altima to Nissan for the same issue.

It's nothing short of a joke.

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Boss_302

A fellow co-worker and Z owner of mine also had the dreaded lock failure on his 2009, was quoted $1500.00 from the dealer, through much haggling got the price down to 1K. Today he received a phone call from Nissan regarding the case he filed with them and will be getting a refund for lock replacement. It pays to make an issue and speak up.

Will I Am

Update on the steering lock failures: I get this postcard from Nissan in the mail yesterday. It was a Service Campaign, not a recall, but stated it would cover replacement of Electronic Steering Column Lock free of charge for parts and labor. Don't know if they cover any past repairs or not - doesn't say. But I have to say - about friggn' time!

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