<p>We have a 1995 Nissan Quest at 75,000 mileages that is well maintained and runs very smoothly. We dropped off the car to Apple Nissan in York PA on 11/26/07 for a preventive maintenance (change of timing belt, water pump, thermal stat, all driving belts) of its engine. After we paid $848 and drove it less than 50 miles after the service, its crankshaft broke and the whole engine was destroyed. We found the coolant in the reservoir was empty. The Nissan dealer blamed Nissan had designed the crankshaft too small so the shaft was easy to break, while Nissan USA said the warranty was expired so it could not do anything about this. After doing research on the internet, I found that there are many broken crankshaft cases on the same engine model in 93~95 Quest/Villager. It is apparently Nissan realized the faulty design problem but hided the fact without notifying its first owners, and stated that improper drive belt tension and improper tension of the timing belt can cause this problem. Basically, neither Nissan nor its dealer would take any responsibility whether it was a faulty design or improper service or both. As a result, we became a victim who lost our car ($4500 value before the service). Is there anything we can do about this? Any organization or law in US can protect consumers? Thanks!</p>
<p>Not a lawyer, but I will take a guess at this. I would say that if it is out of warranty it is out of warranty, so no luck there. If the dealer touched the crankshaft, did not notice a problem with it as they were working on the car and should have noticed a problem with it (?-I don’t know since I am not a mechanic and know nothing about cars), or should have noticed an empty resevoir, there might be some liability with the dealer. It will be interesting to read opinions from lawyers.</p>
<p>I have 2 similar stories with happier endings … but I don’t know if they will help.</p>
<p>My Dodge Durango had an oil pump fail at 50,000 miles (out of normal warranty) and blew the engine. The dealership insisted that it was a ‘faulty sensor’ and that it was safe to drive the car. I had an extended warranty. It was repaired under warranty and I drove it another 100,000K miles.</p>
<p>My H’s Infiniti I30 was flooded on the dealer’s lot when the dealer parked it in the wrong spot during heavy rains. Eventually, our insurance company totalled the car, due to water damage and mold, which we’d only had 2 years. The dealership worked with us, including free loaners and a really nice deal on a G35X.</p>
<p>I would ask the dealership if there is anything they can do to help you out.</p>
<p>Look around for a good used engine–should be around $1000 and hope for the best. The rest is a waste of time unless there is a classa ction suit already.</p>
<p>I would suggest nicely trying to negotiate an equitable settlement with the dealer. This could mean trading the car in or a different motor. Maybe they could meet you halfway since they should have ensured the car was roadworthy when you picked it up.</p>
<p>Key concept - be reasonable and nice but persistent.</p>
<p>If that fails, maybe an attorney would hear your facts and give you an opinion. Failing that, I’d ask Nissan for possible solutions - again in a reasonable manner.</p>
<p>If none of this works then maybe filing a complaint with the BBB and the state against both the dealer and Nissan would help. You should know all your rights in this area before you start your negotiations. Businesses hate well articulated bad reports of their service. Reputation is important to them.</p>
<p>Above all, do not lose your cool and be reasonable. Make sure you see their side of the issue and are ready to accept compromise. It sounds as if there will not be a 100% victory for you, but 50% is better than zero.</p>
<p>
“easy to” doesn’t mean “it’s okay if I do it.” Sounds to me like Nissan is right - a properly replaced and tensioned timing belt probably would not have caused the shaft to break, but there’s not much margin for error. Even so - sounds like dealer error broke your engine to me. I’d give the dealer a chance to repair or replace the engine (at their cost) and if they don’t, take them to small claims court (assuming they have small claims courts in PA)</p>
<p>Thank you for all your opinions. Improper tension at drive belts and timing belt will add significant bending and twist load to damage the crankshaft, and I know this is the key factor for the broken crankshaft based on my knowledge with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. The problem is that the Nissan dealer just blamed the Nissan for the improper design and our choice is either paying additional $4,670+TAX for them to install a rebuilt engine or letting the car towed to a junk yard (with a new pair of tires installed three weeks ago). And if we have them install a rebuilt engine and the crankshaft breaks again with less than 50 miles drive, we will loss another $4,670+TAX since the dealer can still blame Nissans poor design without taking any responsibility. We are also frustrated that Nissan USA recommends the service done by an authorized Nissan dealer and when a preventive maintenance service problem occurs, they just can not do anything to help customers. We paid the $848 service with a credit card. Do you think we should ask credit card company not to pay the improper service fee since we already lost the car due to the service?</p>
<p>Parent2noles, may I ask what is BBB? Thanks!</p>
<p>Better Business Bureau:</p>
<p>[US</a> National BBB.org: Home](<a href=“http://www.us.bbb.org/WWWRoot/SitePage.aspx?site=113&id=6cda12e2-5967-437f-876e-bd452a591b91]US”>http://www.us.bbb.org/WWWRoot/SitePage.aspx?site=113&id=6cda12e2-5967-437f-876e-bd452a591b91)</p>
<p>I second looking into going the small claims court route. Sounds like the dealer is not going to cooperate. I would ask an independent mechanic provide his opinion about fixing things around those pesky Nissan crankshafts and use it as support of your claims.</p>
<p>Or you can try calling a local TV station or writing to a local paper about shoddy dealer’s practices to give them a bad rap.</p>
<p>We just had a similar unpleasant experience with replacing an O2 sensor in my H’s truck. Dealer said the truck needed a whole new manifold after they tried to screw in a new O2 sensor and could not, but H took the truck to an independent mechanic for a second opinion. That mechanic simply cleaned out some debris, and had no problems installing the sensor! Sounds like the technicians at dealeships are very inexperienced, and they make a lot of costly mistakes with the ultimate victim being the customer!</p>
<p>H’s car with 60K miles on it had an engine blow up. The dealer wanted over $3,000+ to put a new engine in it. He got an engine from a junkyard and had a reputable independent mechanic put it in. A LOT cheaper…and the car is still going strong.</p>
<p>fftd - If they have small claims courts where you are, why not file a claim against both Nissan and the mechanic, and let the judge figure out who is at fault? There are a lot of ways an engine could break after 75,000 miles without manufacturer’s or servicer’s error, but a broken crankshaft wouldn’t seem to be one of them.</p>