dealer "tire expert" insists tires are fine

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I recently took our Rogue to the dealer for an alignment, since the outside edges of the tires were feathering. the Service writer stated that he did not know anything about tires, but that he would get a tire expert. (not sure why - I wasn't asking for a tire expert, I was asking for an alignment) Their tire "expert" insists that my tires are not feathered - that is siping on the tires. I inform him that I know what siping is (and I point to the siping) and state that you can see and feel that the leading edge of each tread block is lower than the trailing edge of the tread block before it - usually indicating that the toe-in is off. He explains again that my tires are fine and that he has worked with tires for 12 years - and walks away stating that I don't need an alignment.

Why argue with a customer? why not simply check the alignment?

Then I am informed that I will need to bring my car back for another appointment because they have to order a new door handle, which was peeling. (I asked when I made the appointment that they order the part in advance)

my dealer is 60 miles away - so I am less than happy at this point.
apparently it's their policy to inspect warranty parts before ordering to ensure that they don't get stuck with parts if the customer does not want to pay for it if its not warrantable.

The dealership manager stepped in and told them to put my car on the alignment rack, get me a loaner - and they actually delivered my car to me when it was done. Yes, the toe-in was off - which likely caused my tires to feather with only 9k miles on them.

A few questions:

- why did I have to complain to the dealership manager to get proper service?
- if they can't handle a simple diagnosis of feathered tires, how can they diagnose something complicated? (like their CVT? )


oddly enough, one of the recent surveys that I got from Nissan asked if I would purchase tires from the dealer... lol
 
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Nissan has a lot less dealers here in the Midwest. 60 miles is not bad. 90 is the closest from me. If not warranty issue I would find a local shop.
 
They *do* have to document bad parts for warranty work. Same as if you called in with an OBD-II code-- they have to scan it, order the part, send you packing, and have you make another appointment for later.
 
You will probably get a survey about your visit. Be very honest in your answers. Also most of the surveys are rigged so anything other than a 5, 10, or completely satisfied counts as a complete fail for the dealer.

FWIW we have a service writer who claims he is an "expert" because he worked at Firestone, he has no idea what a speed rating or load index means.
 
Originally Posted By: mclasser
Was the alignment covered under the bumper-to-bumper?


Usually alignments are only covered under 12/12 under an "adjustments" warranty.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
They *do* have to document bad parts for warranty work. Same as if you called in with an OBD-II code-- they have to scan it, order the part, send you packing, and have you make another appointment for later.



The issue here is a peeling door handle surely he could email them a photo rather than make a 120mile trip twice.


Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: mclasser
Was the alignment covered under the bumper-to-bumper?


Usually alignments are only covered under 12/12 under an "adjustments" warranty.


except subaru for example.. which includes even brake pads and wiper blades in their warranty.
 
Any employee at dealership will call themselves an expert.

I would have paid for alignment locally and not drive 120 miles to deal with dealership idiots.
 
Unfortunately, you encountered an idiot who ignored the evidence and showered you with his 12yrs of stupidity and condescension! Fortunately, the GM recognized the obvious.

Perhaps an appropriate response is to duct-tape a copy of the alignment rack report around said idiot's head so he can read it up close?

Idiot..........
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Any employee at dealership will call themselves an expert.

I would have paid for alignment locally and not drive 120 miles to deal with dealership idiots.


Yeah a lot of the local chains have 3-5 year alignment warranties. They range anywhere from $150-$200. NTB, Goodyear, Firestone, etc.
 
Originally Posted By: bioburner
Nissan has a lot less dealers here in the Midwest. 60 miles is not bad. 90 is the closest from me. If not warranty issue I would find a local shop.


Wow! They are everywhere around here. And they all lease cars for $100 a month
 
Locally it $40 for alignment check and another $60 to perform at a competent shop. I'd do that any day instead of wasting the time and energy of 120 miles round trip unless you have another good reason to visit that town.

I don't think I'd buy a new car if a dealer was more then 15 minutes from my home. So I'd never own a Lexus or Infinity or Mini.
 
yes - the alignment was covered under warranty. The door handle needed to be replaced. yes, there are Nissan dealers closer, but the pre-sales experience at the closest two was insane. (one wanted to add $5000 to the TrueCar price; the other didn't have the time to sell us a car - said they would check inventory and call back in three days - which they never did)
 
my brand new F150 saw the dealer 4 times for tire issues........I threw in the towel and went to a local shop
who fixed my problem. The dealer does not know how to balance a tire and kept stacking weights on my rims
IMO dealers do a so so job at best
 
Here's my take. If you were going to have to pay for the alignment check/alignment, thinking they would have gladly done it for you without too much hassle. For warranty work, giving a hard time for alignment check/alignment is SOP.

Guess I'm not really surprised they didn't order the door handle either. Explanation does seem reasonable though imo.

Kudos to the manager for doing the right thing after all. That said, it would have been nice not to have to take it that far. And so much for the "tire expert."
wink.gif
 
Just an FYI:

"Feathering" is a matter of degree. EVERY vehicle tends to feather the tires to some small extent.

Don't believe me? Go out to your car and feel the tires. First, be careful to use a glove. I don't want anyone hurt doing this - but feel the tread rubbing both in the direction of rotation and against it. I'll bet at least 50% of the time, you will feel it. The other 50% of the time, it hasn't developed yet, but it will eventually. That is one of the reasons to rotate tires (although that's not as big of a deal compared to the difference between the wear rates, front to rear.)
 
Originally Posted By: tomcat27
apparently it's their policy to inspect warranty parts before ordering to ensure that they don't get stuck with parts if the customer does not want to pay for it if its not warrantable.


This is becoming more commonplace. We once owned a 2007 Town & Country we bought new and became rather familiar with the service manager. They would often give me a very hard time about warranting parts because Chrysler corporate will actually stiff the dealer if the parts aren't something close to COMPLETELY BROKEN when they're shipped back. This is why I started replacing stabilizer bushings myself on the van -- the dealer would refuse to warrant them. Yes, they're visibly worn and egged-out and ragged after only 6 months, but they're not BROKEN, so ChryCo won't warrant them.

It was really frustrating as a vehicle owner, and it's a major factor in why we sold the van and haven't bought another Chrysler since. Though, to be fair, I'm sure every automaker has a similarly strict policy on warranty work these days.
 
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