[Poppa Deaux]

Elderly neighbor has 2006 truck with roughly 95,000 miles that had the SES light come on. Took it to independent shop and they diagnosed it as being something to do with a rear brake part. They supposedly couldn't get or find said part and recommended to take the truck to the dealership. Did so and dealer says it needed a new trans. Allowed them to replace trans and do a bunch of other minor things that they claimed should be done considering the mileage. Final cost: $5,700. He gets the truck back and all is fine for about a week. SES light comes on again and brings it to the dealer. This time, they claim there is a misfire and change the #2 coil pack assembly. Final cost: $288 (including a $167 discount for accumulation of "points"). Pickup the truck, I'm driving, and not even 5 mins. away from the dealer @ 55 MPH there is a hard jerk/stumble/hesitation (felt like hitting a bump, but there was none). Did this at least 5-6 more times randomly all the way back to the house. Don't know what to do now. Would love feedback on what you folks think is going on and did he get taken by the dealership?? Thanks.

 

[Poppa Deaux]

Got ahold of the service printouts and here's some info from them:

Dealer Visit # 1: "Found codes P1757, P1754, and P0744. Internal failure of A/T assy."

They also replaced the valve cover and gasket because supposedly there was an oil leak from there. Changed the spark plugs. Replaced the drive belt (supposedly worn) and air filter (supposedly dirty and had previously been installed backwards). The cooling system was flushed (recommended @ 100k miles). And, changed the oil and filter (claimed this was overdue, but owner disputes this).

I personally don't believe the trans needed replacing. How did we go from the SES light being on for an elusive, itty-bitty part for the rear brakes, to the light being on because the trans was bad?! And, if you notice, the dealer didn't replace/change anything brake-related. Seems like they had no regard for someone on a fixed-income bank account.

Dealer Visit # 2: "Found code P0302. Cyl 2 Misfire. Replace cylinder # 2 ignition coil."

Service advisor claims they went ahead and changed ALL 4 coils because it's "recommended", but the printout reads that only 1 was actually replaced.

After all that, as stated in original post, truck is still not "fixed".

 

[lomax4388]

Originally, when the check engine light came on, was there any drivability issues? Or just the code? Is the behavior being experiencing now the same as when the SES light first came on, prior to replacing the transmission?

Is there an SES light on right now?

Considering that there has already been about $6K spent trying to fix problems, I would turn right back around and go to the dealer and have them figure it out and defend their past repairs.

I would not let them just keep throwing the parts catalog at trying to fix the issue. They need to explain why what has been diagnosed, repaired, and paid for up until this point has not fixed the problem.

My gut feeling is that I do not like this dealer. I get the vibe they are just throwing parts at it and not thoroughly diagnosing the problems.

I agree about your thought on the replacement transmission. I would have gone to a couple independent transmission shops before letting Nissan put in a new transmission, but that's water under the bridge now.

 

[Poppa Deaux]

lomax4388, awesome reply!

My apologies for not including this in original post, but, yes, owner stated that truck had "sluggish acceleration" for awhile before SES light originally came on. Independent shop didn't provide code, just stated that it was related to something with the brakes. Believe the behavior now is totally different, unfortunately.

No light on currently, but I suspect it will appear again as he logs more miles.

I wanted to turn right around and go back to the dealer, but he wasn't having it, as it was late in the day.

I told him that he should try an independent shop next, because if it's been to the dealer twice and it comes out with issues both times, why would you want to keep taking it there...

 

[Poppa Deaux]

Let me throw this out there as well: Any opinions on if it would be in the owner's best interest to just unload the truck now, with the way the market is, and recoup some, or all, of what he's put into it within the last week???

 

[lomax4388]

If the behavior is totally different, there is possibility that the person working on the truck knocked something loose or didn't put something back together correctly during the previous work.

 

[TexasLilly]

The dealer needs to fix the current problem for sure under the coil replacement. Take video of the problem to the service writer. Never let this owner talk to a service writer again. Period. Honestly, not even with a chaperone.

He is so past the SES now it isnt even funny. Im still not sure why the very first shop didnt offer to clear the code and let him see if it comes up again?

 

[Poppa Deaux]

Truck is back @ dealer as of this morning for the frequent miss/hesitation. Will post what they come up with this time, when the repair is alledgedly "complete"...