GTR Tranny Blown. Nissan denies warranty, because stability control was turned off

[amgthis]

Whoa. I still like the GTR somehow. Maybe I'll move to Japan and buy one so no worries!

[TK-421]

I'm happy that Nissan didn't tarnish the Skyline name by giving it to this half of a car. As far as I'm concerned, the R34 was the latest, greatest Japanese car produced.

[josephr25]

Originally Posted by E82tt6

Won't they not give you a free clutch if you use it more than 20 time, or something along those lines?

Either way,not getting a free clutch (something that usually isn't free period), versus having your driveline warranty voided is a HUGE HUGE difference.

I don't understand how it's even legal for them to do this. It'd be like including 7 gears in a gearbox, but telling the customer their warranty would be voided if they used gear number 7. Or having a rain sensor, but telling customers they were SOL if they used it. Hell, it's like the plug-in cupholder on the 1/6! It's available, but if you plug in the cup holder, bye bye warranty!!

I don't see how Nissan has a leg to stand on legally. I don't think you can void someone's warranty for using an advertised feature, much less turning off traction control. Pretty sure Magnusson Moss covers this, but I could be wrong...

A quick search on the web showed that the Euro E46 M3 gave you 30 LC launches before they voided your warranty. I guess they also never gave that here, or they gave a modified version. I thought there was a "secret" way to get LC, from what i thought I remembered I read years ago.

...

The Nissan "shady dealings" is an unfair blanket statement (this is not a reply to the quoted post). That was your personal experience and the way you stated it made it sound like the company as a whole is guilty. My dealership treated me and my car well even after I modded it. It sounded like BMW has been guilt-free for ages.

There's some other stupid, ignorant comments on this thread, too, but there's no point in pointing that out.

[Rusty's508whp]

Wow that really sucks!

[Sticky]

Originally Posted by sambonator

This "Launch Control" is done by turning off VDC. Here's what Nissan says about VDC. Nissan warns you not to drive the vehicle with VDC turned off.

My attorney would say I was launching myself out of mud.

[vAnt826]

Originally Posted by Seminole

I wasn't questioning their reliability was I? I didn't say the cars were shit, I said shady dealings. Don't read what you want to see, read what I wrote.

Really now?

If I'm dead set on getting something Japanese then I'll go with a Lexus. At least you can drive those into the ground.

Third, with all those cars the Nissan dealers we dealt with were extremely unhelpful and didn't care about the customer. In the sales process they were excellent, but when it came to service they blew. One time the manual recliner lever in one of the Maximas broke and instead of replacing it within warranty they tried to blame my dad for abusing it. If you guys knew my dad and how he takes car of cars you would understand that is bullshit. The 300 was unreliable according to my mom who drove it. Some of my friends that have Nissans also have to fight with the dealers to get stuff fixed. To me, that is shady dealings. You may have different experiences, thats wonderful, but I won't own a Nissan product.

You can have your opinions on dealerships, just like half of PACNW forums agrees that BMW of Bellevue blows.

I don't hate my 335i more because a dealership sucks, but if you want to hate a brand because of their non-owned dealerships then so be it.

[Year's_End]

So...could BMW or any other manufacturer put a NAWZ button on their cars that executes like a 200 shot of Nos? Only catch is you'll lose your warranty and destroy your tranny.

[Big Windy]

Originally Posted by amgthis

Whoa. I still like the GTR somehow. Maybe I'll move to Japan and buy one so no worries!

Now that's passion

[hks786]

Originally Posted by sambonator

This "Launch Control" is done by turning off VDC. Here's what Nissan says about VDC. Nissan warns you not to drive the vehicle with VDC turned off.

It looks like Nissan might have just covered their ass legally because of this little note.

It still sucks though. I think what we need to confirm is if Nissan gave their performance figures with VDC turned OFF. If they did so, then they advertised the full performance of the car that is useable and therefore if the customer did the same (legally and safely, of course) then it might give the customer a leg to stand on when it comes to appealing against Nissan's decision.

I dunno. Any lawyers in here? I'm sleepy and thats the best I could think of lol.

[ik999]

Originally Posted by zetaxi165

Imaging having a computer and being told you cannot use it at the maximum performance setting without voiding your warranty.

exactly

if you overclock your processor past the default speed, you will have voided any warranty.

you may (this is not even substantiated, btw) achieve a higher level of performance with VDC off, but you would be forfeiting your warranty.

Nissan has given the owner choice over the matter. you have full control, but the warranty has its limits

also, don't forget that the VDC is not an on/off switch. it has default, race mode and off. if you are racing, then use race. that is how the car is designed to be used, and won't break your warranty terms.

[Seminole]

Originally Posted by vAnt826

Really now?

I wasn't meaning that as in Infiniti's reliability blows, but rather the dealer experience for Lexus is much better (My mom has an RX before you question if we've ever owned a Lexus), and the cars will last a really long time.

I also will base cars I buy off the dealer network. Nissan USA, BMW USA, etc. don't service my car, do warranty work on my car, etc. You never even really deal directly with Corporate. So, if the dealers suck (who I have to deal with all the time) then I won't buy the car.

[footie]

I'm on the i-phone at the minute, waiting in the dealers for them to finish with the software upgrade, isn't 3G wonderful.

Anyway back to the Nissan. Has anyone (motoring press) looked at what the manual states regarding this and asked the question to Nissan?

It all sounds very funny/fishy that all of these cars has been tested and no one has noticed this problem of not allowed to use launch control without voiding warranty.

Maybe a short letter to Autocar or the likes is in order to hear the reply.

[quagmire]

Originally Posted by ik999

exactly

if you overclock your processor past the default speed, you will have voided any warranty.

you may (this is not even substantiated, btw) achieve a higher level of performance with VDC off, but you would be forfeiting your warranty.

Nissan has given the owner choice over the matter. you have full control, but the warranty has its limits

also, don't forget that the VDC is not an on/off switch. it has default, race mode and off. if you are racing, then use race. that is how the car is designed to be used, and won't break your warranty terms.

How is overclocking even similar to turning VDC off? A better analogy is having the CPU at 100% usage will void the warranty. How many BMW owners turn off DSC? Should their warranties be voided then? I don't care if BMW wrote it in there. Should it? No, because it doesn't necessarily mean the person abused the car. Just because a GT-R owner may turn off VDC, doesn't mean he will abuse the car. He may not like the computer nannies, etc. It shouldn't void the warranty.

Now if the guy did abuse it, then yes the warranty should be rightfully voided. But, just because he turned VDC off is not enough evidence to void the warranty.

[astris]

Originally Posted by sambonator

I'll quote McDuck from the GTR Forum:

"Launch control is NOT a feature and is NOT an option. For it to be either, it would have to be documented in writing by Nissan. Nowhere in their sales literature, manuals, service documentation, or anything else from Nissan does it say the car has LC. So, it does not qualify as an "option you can't use".

It is more like a cheat code for a game that you're not supposed to know. The company is never going to provide documentation of its existence, so you use it at your own peril. "

Sneaky bastards. That might hold up on Nissan's end then.

I was only speaking in regards to the BMW launch control.

[MJC///M3]

would have never bought a 70K nissan in the first place..

this just reinforces my opinion.

[Los Angeles]

I'm not sure that the OP's post is credible.

The OP of the GTR site.

[addy85]

Hmm if the post on the nissan site is real then thats pretty shitty. My bro passed up on a nissan gtr in fear that if he drove like he drove his vette then his warranty might get voided which lead him to pass up on the gtr. I'd never buy one either because of the warranty issue. I don't get it, nissan makes a great product and then tells you that you can't use its full potential. Makes no sense.

[Ryan(e92)]

Originally Posted by addy85

Hmm if the post on the nissan site is real then thats pretty shitty. My bro passed up on a nissan gtr in fear that if he drove like he drove his vette then his warranty might get voided which lead him to pass up on the gtr. I'd never buy one either because of the warranty issue. I don't get it, nissan makes a great product and then tells you that you can't use its full potential. Makes no sense.

It makes perfect sense. Nissan noticed during the testing phase that their tranny wasnt holding up to repeated launches with VDC off. Instead of going back to the drawing board and designing a new tranny to better handle that kind of stress they threw in a clause that if you use that feature your warranty will be voided.

[NewSong]

If I'm spending that much on a high performance car I expect to be able to push it to its limits when I want to. This is definitely shady.

[darkphantom]

I knew it was too good to be true

[BMW F22]

Here's my $.02.

It is similar to BMW's warranty. If you mod the transmission, for example, then the warranty for it is, technically speaking the warranty can be voided. The problem is that the Moss-Magnuson law, in my interpretation, states that it can't simply be voided unless the dealer can prove that the mod caused the problem. That's why people still mod their cars without having to worry about the warranty.

In the Nissan case, if the act of turning the VDC off more than required (getting out of mud, etc.) will damage the transmission and they have proof for it (testing, data, etc.), then the other guy is out of luck. IMO it is fair since Nissan did state that turning off VDC will void the warranty in the manual. It seems like the guy knew that and did it anyway because he didn't think that he would get "caught" (so to speak).

As for the computer analogy, my take on it is this: if the manufacturer claims that a computer could achieve certain performance limit but the only way to do that would be to overclock it. It also states that if is is overclocked, the warranty will be voided. If the owner overclocks it and the CPU burns out, he has no recourse in the matter. Same thing applies in this case.

[vAnt826]

Originally Posted by Kenny@JleviSW

Here's my $.02.

It is similar to BMW's warranty. If you mod the transmission, for example, then the warranty for it is, technically speaking the warranty can be voided. The problem is that the Moss-Magnuson law, in my interpretation, states that it can't simply be voided unless the dealer can prove that the mod caused the problem. That's why people still mod their cars without having to worry about the warranty.

In the Nissan case, if the act of turning the VDC off more than required (getting out of mud, etc.) will damage the transmission and they have proof for it (testing, data, etc.), then the other guy is out of luck. IMO it is fair since Nissan did state that turning off VDC will void the warranty in the manual. It seems like the guy knew that and did it anyway because he didn't think that he would get "caught" (so to speak).

As for the computer analogy, my take on it is this: if the manufacturer claims that a computer could achieve certain performance limit but the only way to do that would be to overclock it. It also states that if is is overclocked, the warranty will be voided. If the owner overclocks it and the CPU burns out, he has no recourse in the matter. Same thing applies in this case.

Nice. The same happened when Saleen and Ford unveiled the Focus N20 which has nitrous onboard. They state in the manual and make you sign a statement saying that if you use the nitrous then the powertrain warranty is void.