The First Visit

Any topics related to 2005-2012 R51

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Jegan
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Location: Terrebonne, QC

The First Visit

Postby Jegan » Wed Jun 05, 2013 4:09 am

Hi everyone,

I am going to be brining in my pathy to the dealership in a weeks time for its first checkup. Its a 2012 S that I purchased about 5 months ago. In Canada they recommend maintenance intervals of 6000km or 3 months. Now, I haven't even done 5000km in 5 months.

At the first checkup is there anything above and beyond the standard 6000km list that I should ask them to do?

6,000 Km Schedule 1 Service
Replace engine oil and filter
Inspect all lights
Inspect automatic transmission fluid
Inspect brake fluid level
Inspect differential oil
Inspect engine air filter
Inspect engine coolant level/top off
Inspect engine drive belts
Inspect power steering fluid/top off
Inspect radiator hoses
Inspect tires/adjust air pressure
Inspect washer fluid level/top-off
Inspect wiper blades

Should I ask them to put Mobil 1?

Thanks again everyone.


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deermjd
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Postby deermjd » Wed Jun 05, 2013 5:09 am

Looks pretty good to me. Perhaps see if they'll throw in a tire rotation? I use Mobil 1 synthetic in mine and go 5-6000 miles between oil changes (mostly highway driving).

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disallow
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Postby disallow » Wed Jun 05, 2013 5:32 am

It goes against my principals to pay someone to do all that 'inspecting'. And usually that 'inspecting' is very expensive, and might not even be done. On my 08 civic, a service like this usually set me back about $200.

Its a good list though.

skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Wed Jun 05, 2013 5:44 am

Who recommends that interval? That schedule is in the manual to help dealers generate revenue. Stick to the 2nd or 3rd schedule for more typical use.

Personally...unless they're doing all those inspections for free...I'd swap oil/filter and slam the hood shut. Knowing what I know about Canadian dealerships....they're going to charge you dearly for a once-over on a brand-new vehicle.

Synthetic? Great idea if you're going to extend the oil change interval. If you're going to stick to that 6km schedule it's a complete waste of money. The manual allows for up to 7,500 mile intervals on non-synthetic (what is that....12,500 Canadian?) so you could easily go that using synthetic. I stuck to 7,500 mile intervals using synthetic during warranty and oil analysis showed that was still very conservative. I've now bumped up to 10k miles and the last analysis still looks very good with 95k miles on the clock.

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disallow
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Postby disallow » Wed Jun 05, 2013 5:55 am

skinny2 wrote:Who recommends that interval? That schedule is in the manual to help dealers generate revenue. Stick to the 2nd or 3rd schedule for more typical use.

Personally...unless they're doing all those inspections for free...I'd swap oil/filter and slam the hood shut. Knowing what I know about Canadian dealerships....they're going to charge you dearly for a once-over on a brand-new vehicle.
LOL, yes we get screwed up here. Its a tough call as it feels like you are risking losing out on your warranty with a new vehicle. Most manufacturers recommend the 'Severe' duty maintenance schedule due to the low ambient temps in winter, harsh road salts, and higher percentage of gravel roads.

So does one do as you suggest and go for oil changes and forego the expensive visual inspections? Thats what I did on my 08 civic, and in fact after a couple years I didn't even bring it in for oil changes. Kept my bills for the OE oil filter and 5w20 oil. Never had any major warranty issues, but then again, never had anything major really fail on me.

The flipside would be my boss. He takes his new and not-so-new Honda's to the stealer for all recommended service and required repairs. They treat him like freakin' gold, and even go so far as to offer increased values on trade-ins, and definitely give him less grief on warranty and service bulletins than I got, simply because they know every last little thing that happened to his vehicles and he has a relationship with them. He told me he even gets a discount on services now. I still think I'm ahead using my train of thought though. The cost of taking my vehicle to a place that charges $140/hr is just too damn high.

Its a freakin' racket, that is for sure. Now I have older vehicles, and I don't really miss it. Car payments, blech. High insurance premiums, blech. Paying $200-300 for some greasemonkey to look at my car and not even turn any wrenches every 3-5 months, blech!

t

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Jegan
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Location: Terrebonne, QC

Postby Jegan » Wed Jun 05, 2013 6:00 am

The dealer said that my first 4 oil changes were free of charge with the purchase of the new truck. We'll have to see if the rest is included in that. I doubt it.

I would like it to be inspected however as I am taking the family on a 2300km road trip with our 4500lbs 23foot camper a the end of june. I don't want any truck surprises while we are out on the road.

Good point about the the tire rotation! It is however part of the 12,000km checklist. With the amount of driving I do (very little) I might wait until then.

skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Wed Jun 05, 2013 6:23 am

My bigger point was regarding the schedules. While most manufacturers offer two (normal, severe), Nissan goes a step further and offers THREE.

1. Premium Service @ 3,750 miles: Description says this is for ALL owners who just want the very best for their vehicle. In other words....this gives our dealers the opportunity to recommend expensive service.

2. Schedule 1 @ 5,000 miles: This reads like a normla severe service schedule. Idling, short trips, extreme temps, towing, etc.

3. Schedule 2 @ 7,500 miles: For anyone that's not subject to schedule 2.


Hey if the service is free, then by all means let them go at it. I just know from experience (family used to own a dealership) that service and used cars is where you make your money. The temptation to be aggressive in the service dept. is too much for many dealerships and they'll happily bend you over. It's not uncommon for them to offer free services to get you coming in the door. Traffic at a dealership is a good thing and it gives them a chance to upsell you. They likely have less than $15 in materials/labor for a free oil change so that's pretty cheap marketing.

Just watch what they charge for the inspections (if it's not included). That's a very basic once-over and shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. Most of it you could do yourself in the driveway as it's just visual inspections.

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FLiPMaRC
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Postby FLiPMaRC » Wed Jun 05, 2013 10:25 am

I've had my Pathy for a little over a year. I currently have around 12,000 miles and I've done 3 oil changes, all with my dealer. Why? Because the first two were free and included tire rotations. My 3rd one was last week. I received a coupon in the mail from them for a $20 oil change and tire rotation. :lol:

I've been changing my oil every 4000 miles or so. I think I'm going to stay with regular dyno oil and keep that interval.

I use Mobil 1 in my Eclipse and change it every 3-4000 miles, which comes out to be about once a year :D

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FLiPMaRC
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Postby FLiPMaRC » Wed Jun 05, 2013 10:34 am

skinny2 wrote:Just watch what they charge for the inspections (if it's not included). That's a very basic once-over and shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. Most of it you could do yourself in the driveway as it's just visual inspections.
I've seen those "Multi point inspections" included in most oil change services. Whether they actually do the inspections is another question :lol:


These are the service "specials" at my dealership: http://www.route22nissan.com/specials/service.htm


Here are the service specials at a dealership that's closer to where I live (less than a mile away). Notice the $55 charge to replace the cabin filter :lol: :lol: :lol:
http://www.hudsonnissan.com/service-specials-1.aspx

skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Wed Jun 05, 2013 11:30 am

Yep, many dealers offer very cheap oil changes and such as I mentioned above. Then $55 for an air filter as you mentioned! I just swapped my airfilter yesterday for $22 using the best NAPA filter and it took a whopping minute to swap.

I've been taking my wife's Acura to the dealer for service. They charge $24.99 for an oil change if you bought the car there (price for lif) and basic stuff is pretty cheap. $15 tire rotation. I'm not pulling out the jacks for that. They also send free coupons for A1 service (oil change, tire rotation) on a regular basis. So far they've been very good about not trying to upsell me on anything but I'm prepared to say no if I don't like the price of something. Many people would surely just say "ok" and that's that. Of course Acura/Honda service is far less convoluted than Nissan because they have the on-board computer that tells you when you need what. Since it's based on driving style/conditions, it's less ambiguous than the mileage based schedules.


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