Nissan Servicing: Nissan certified service worth it?

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jmorgannz

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#236385 30-May-2018 16:30

Hi All,

Picked up a Nissan Fuga (v6) a year ago (not new), and it's come around time for servicing.

I'm conflicted as to whether I should just get a generic service at Joe Mechanic™, or go for somewhere that does a certified Nissan service.

It's a nice luxury sedan so I kind of want to look after it and don't mind paying if it's worth it, but it's obviously no GTR or anything either.

Is it generally a done thing to go for the manufacturer certified service? Does it add value or is it a sham?

Anyone have experiences / suggestions here?

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#2025752 30-May-2018 16:40

How old is the car and how many km?

John

Juicytree

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#2025799 30-May-2018 17:19

I have owned several Nissans over the years and presently own a 2007 Murano which I purchased new. Recently our local Nissan Franchise holder changed hands. I took my Murano in for its annual service and made a comment around the fact that they should have access to all my vehicle's service records and would be able to assess anything that is due for replacement etc. Their response was that they have no records of my vehicle - I protested and said surely they could source my vehicle's records from Nissan. I was assured that Nissan and its franchises do not keep any ongoing vehicle records!!

I am incensed and now wonder why I've ever bothered to be loyal to the dealer franchises and Nissan in general.

I would now advise Nissan owners to simply use the most trusted vehicle servicing agent they wish because Nissan doesn't particularly care about your servicing loyalty.

alasta

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#2025843 30-May-2018 18:52

Yes, you should use an authorised dealer to service your vehicle. They are properly trained for the particular vehicle, and are accountable to the manufacturer/distributor.

If you do get a third party to service your vehicle then you should instruct them to follow the manufacturer's servicing schedule, and make sure you get servicing done at the correct intervals. The servicing schedule is usually an appendix in the owner's handbook which you should find in your glove box.

xlinknz

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#2025854 30-May-2018 19:16

In theory at a certified dealership one would like to think they are trained and have access to parts

My experiences it depends on the dealership in question, I had a major issue with one authorized dealership who would not acknowledge defect workmanship they did and refused to put it right yet another in a different town a different certified dealership for the same brand and car went beyond what I expected resolving issues every time

Using a certified dealerships does not guarantee excellent workmanship, use your instincts when you inquire, look for reviews of them on Facebook or no-cowboys.co.nz

jmorgannz

23 posts

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#2025860 30-May-2018 19:24

Linux:

How old is the car and how many km?

John

Hi John,

Its a 2005 model. I'm the first NZ owner.

It's done 145,000

Others, thanks for the input.

xlinknz

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#2025862 30-May-2018 19:31

What town are you in?

scuwp

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#2025866 30-May-2018 19:35

I use the Nissan dealer but that's mostly because we have a newer vehicle and while it's under warranty it's better to let them service it. I have found the dealer to be very well organised, great service, efficient, and to a fair degree good value for money. Yes perhaps a bit more than the local garage, but not so much that I regret having to take it there.

I use a local garage I trust for my other older vehicle. I would use the dealer but the local one is an absolute rip off (Not a Nissan)

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

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1eStar

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#2025872 30-May-2018 19:41

The car was never sold in NZ new. The dealer will have no more care for it than any average mechanic. You might as well take it to a mechanic you trust. Most cars only require an oil and filter change. And most authorised official whatever service agents will do no more and charge a pretty penny for the privilege.

jmorgannz

23 posts

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#2025889 30-May-2018 20:09

xlinknz:

What town are you in?

Auckland

1eStar: The car was never sold in NZ new. The dealer will have no more care for it than any average mechanic. You might as well take it to a mechanic you trust. Most cars only require an oil and filter change. And most authorised official whatever service agents will do no more and charge a pretty penny for the privilege.

Do you mean that since the model was never sold directly on the NZ market, then it kind of 'doesn't exist' as far as 'official Nissan NZ' goes?

dafman

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#2025900 30-May-2018 20:40

Under warranty, I would use the dealer servicing. Outside warranty, I'd go for the best value for money and customer service.

lxsw20

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#2025907 30-May-2018 20:55

jmorgannz:

xlinknz:

What town are you in?

Auckland

1eStar: The car was never sold in NZ new. The dealer will have no more care for it than any average mechanic. You might as well take it to a mechanic you trust. Most cars only require an oil and filter change. And most authorised official whatever service agents will do no more and charge a pretty penny for the privilege.

Do you mean that since the model was never sold directly on the NZ market, then it kind of 'doesn't exist' as far as 'official Nissan NZ' goes?

The mechanics won't be trained on that particular car. Not that fluids and filters are exactly rocket science anyway. I'd go to a local trusted garage.

jmorgannz

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#2025910 30-May-2018 21:04

lxsw20:

I'd go to a local trusted garage.

Yep I'm getting that distinct impression.

Thanks for input all.

Aredwood

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#2026039 31-May-2018 01:20

1eStar: The car was never sold in NZ new. The dealer will have no more care for it than any average mechanic. You might as well take it to a mechanic you trust. Most cars only require an oil and filter change. And most authorised official whatever service agents will do no more and charge a pretty penny for the privilege.

Modern cars require far more than just oil and filter changes. They also need the coolant changed as well at a minimum. Not changing the coolant causes head gasket failures. Which are expensive to fix. Especially on a modern V6 engine.

Also get the auto gearbox serviced. As sometimes degraded gearbox oil can enable worn clutch packs to keep on working. And an oil change causes them to fail. If they are on the point of failure, you want it to happen while the car is still guaranteed by the dealer you purchased from. There are also certain Nissan gearboxes that tended to fail at around 150K. I don't know if the OP has one of them in their car. But since their car is on 120K at the moment.....

Fuel filter. If the car has a direct injection engine, same as a diesel in relation to the fuel system.

Spark plugs, modern ones can last over 100K. The car might still have the same ones that it left the factory with. Spark plugs are way cheaper to replace than ignition coils or catalytic converters.

Does it have EGR? does it need to be cleaned and checked? And there is brake fluid, air filter and cabin filter.

Skimping on servicing with modern cars is a false economy. As 1 part failing often causes expensive cascading failure of other parts. There are a lot of cars in wreakers yards with good condition exterior and interior. Meaning those cars had an expensive engine or gearbox failure that wrote them off. It's an eye opener when the cars parked out the front of the wreakers yard, are in worse exterior and interior condition than the cars in the wreakers yard.

lxsw20

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#2026078 31-May-2018 08:59

Coolant is most modern stuff is good for 100k, but it shouldn't be too hard to find a service manual online for a Fuga, or something with the same engine.

The Nissan gearboxes that like to die you're probably thinking of are CVT. A gearbox "service" at dealerships will be no more than an oil flush and filter change.

There are no service items you've listed that a trusted garage could not do. The only one I can think of would be a firmware update and I know for a fact they didn't do my Mazda at the dealership until I asked, and being this is an import, i doubt they would have the firmware available anyway.

mclean

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#2026092 31-May-2018 09:40

1eStar: ...And most authorised official whatever service agents will do no more and charge a pretty penny for the privilege.

Most may be like that, I don't know. But where I live the Nissan dealership is probably the best value for money regardless of what brand of car you take there. So not always true.

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