This is gonna be long.........dynamix said:
Bought the 01 new, had no problems with it at all. Paid it off 2 years ago and recently hit 94k miles on it.
Seeing that we were going to keep it, I brought it in for the 90k mile service, fuel system cleaning, and timing belt.
2 weeks later I am driving back from NJ after picking up my son (been in the truck 4 hours) and decided to stop and get gas even though I really didn't need it.
Pulled in next to the pumps and smoke was coming out from the hood. I pop the hood and there's 10 to 12 inch flames coming off the manifold under the fuel rails. Kid at the gas station hit it with an extingiser as my son is jumping out of the truck.
Call AAA and get towed from NJ to the dealer who did the service in DE.
General Manager and the guy who sold us our 05 Altima were there so my wife talked to them while I'm helping the tow guy push the X into a spot.
She explained as calmly as she could that the 01 was there 2 weeks ago for service, etc etc etc.
They told us to come back Monday (this was on Saturday) and they would have a loaner car waiting for me, and if this was caused by anything they did they would fix it.
Monday the shop foreman calls me very apologetic. Tells me a O ring on one of the injectors had a nick on it which caused the injector to spray onto the manifold. Says in his 30 years in the buisness he has never seen that happen.
They call me later to tell me the truck is misfiring now. The only known damage from the fire was melted wiring harnesses for the injectors. There was no damage to the hood so we must have caught it in time.
They replace all the plug wires which resolves the issue.
I go on Tuesday to pick it up only to be told that now the speedo doesn't work. I ask them what will happen if I continue to have problems, and they tell me to keep bringing it back. They would rather fix it then have to deal with an attorney.
I'm like WTF? To me (though they have not admitted fault) that told me they f'd up.
They also reimbursed me for my tow.
Talk to my wife that night who was still shaken up about it. We decide to just get rid of it. Neither one of us wants to take a chance with the kids in it. Especially when we have a 2 year old who is strapped in a car seat.
While all this has been happening, she emailed the GM requesting a meeting with him to come to an arangement suitable for us and them. We were thinking that because of the fire, any resale value we had was now gone. He read the email, but never replied.
I search their inventory and find the X model at a good price so I submit the "contact me" form.
My plan was to see what I could get it for and then go to the GM and see if he would work it some more.
Well, he saw me walk in and came right over. He was "more then willing" to work with me and "very thankful" the fire wasn't worse then it was.
I told him I don't want a new vehicle, but I DO NOT want my wife and kids in the 01 anymore. I don't care if they "fixed" it. I'm not taking a chance with my familiy.
To cut to the chase, I got full book for the 01 and the 06 for what a new Sentra would have cost.
Of course they gave me the crap that they were not making any money on the deal.
through the entire fiasco, I never once threatened them or blamed anything on them. I gave them the chance to do right and fix the 01.
Honestly, I was going to leave it at that and keep it. But the more I thought about it the more it concerned me about having my family in the truck.
After we bought the 06, my wife contacted Nissan Consumer Affairs who is now involved to try and get us back the $1450.00 we spent and paid cash with for the service on the 01.
They've been quite helpfull, but because the dealer is just a reseller of the product, they can't make them give us the money back.
We'll see what happens.
I'm still happy I decided to stop for gas when I did and happy it was not worse then it was.
I've never had a vehicle catch on fire, so I'm sure I'm over reacting a bit.
Thanks for the welcome everyone BTW.
