cwalkero Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Hey Guys, I am new to this forum. I upgraded myself from a MG TF (yeah I know) to a 350Z convertible 2005 (66k miles) car earlier this year. Its always been my dream car and I got it About a few months ago when out driving I started to notice that my clutch pedal was popping back out promptly after pushing down on it. It started getting worse where it would just sit at the resting point and I woud have to pop it back out with my foot. I took it to my trusty local mechanic who said he lubricated the clutch to see if that would work. After driving it for about 20 minutes in traffic it did it again. He said that I would be best to take it to the nearest Nissan Dealership and have their mechanics look at it because he doesnt have the computers to reset the electrics etc if he has to dig deaper as he said there was some oil leaking as well and he assumed it was the rocket cover. He also said he thinks the slave cylinder is probably the fault.....fair enough as is a good honest mechanic. I took it to my local Glasgow Nissan dealership. I left it with them a few days and they call me back. I told them what my mechanic advised regarding the rocket cover and the slave cylinder. I left it with them a few days. They came back to me saying that I needed about £2500 of repairs. The head mechanic also wanted to strip out the gearbox etc and check the clutch which would cost additional labour costs. I said okay as long as we get this stick clutch pedal sorted. So they billed me for the following...... New rocket Cover £60 Supplied and fitted tie rod end (socket kit-tie and assy-socket 99) £259 Supplied and fitted o/s/f lower arm bush £90 Supplied and fitted n/s/f lower arm bush £90 Rod Compl-Tensi £256 X 2 4 Bridgestone Tyres £780 Supplied and fitted rocker cover gaskets £220 Now the head mechanic said that the clutch was the issue and it needed replaced. So I said lets do it as long as it would sort the problem. New Clutch kit £761 So all in including labour it costed £3200. So I went along after them having the car for almost 2 weeks (no courtesy car provided) and feeling financially broken, I was happy that my car was in top shape. They provided me with their checklist with had a green tick for everythig on the car. 1st day I had it out I was driving around in a busy supermarket trying to find a space when i noticed the clutch sticking again. You can imagine how I felt after spending all that money especially on the clutch replacement being told that was the issue. So I rang them back and they sent someone out to pick the car up. They had it a few days and rang back. They said they had lubricated the clutch......hang on didnt you replace the whole clutch so why would it need lubricating? They went back and said that they then flushed out the system (whatever that meant) and that should do it. I asked them if they had actually done anything with the slave cylinder as I had done a lot of reading on forums and it seems to be a common problem. They said no. I advised them that having no use of my car for over 3 weeks was becoming frustrating and I had suggest it in the first place so why wasnt it checked/replaced. The head mechanic said something about rear wheel drive 350z's dont really have that issue but he would replace it for free. Fair enough I was happy. They drove the car back to my house but I noticed that my petrol was pretty low and it was near enough full when I first gave it to them. I didnt bother me as I assumed they did a lot of testing on the car. So I hopped into my car, pushed the clutch down and felt it wasnt right. I didnt even pop out. I just sat at the resting point. I honestly couldnt believe it. Someone drove it from the garage with the clutch constantly sitting at the biting point and never bother to say anything. After all this time and money I had enough. I called up Nissans complaint department but a cheeky man started asking a lot of nonsense questions as to why I didnt buy it from a dealership and why I bought it from private seller. I advised them that they kept this car immaculate with a full Nissan service history with everything that had been done to the car. He was no help whatsoever. I rang the garage back and spoke to the head mechanic. He told me I would have to make my own arrangements to bring that car in (ie, pay for a breakdown truck to take it to them). I advised him that this was not on and that I wasnt happy he had okay'd this car going out with clutch pedal in a much worse situation than what it was before the work was done. I also advised him that no documentation had been provided to confirm that the slave cylinder had been replaced. I said I was buying it when they told me they had lubricated the clutch initially and thats when he got very stroppy. He told me their garage pays thousands of pounds training their mechanics up to the nissan standard. I asked him why after £3200, my cars fault is worse now than why I originally handed it in. He said to bring the car in and if its a problem relating to the clutch then they will pay the breakdown service and the labour costs however if its not clutch related then I would have to pay for everything. Guys I dont really know whats going on but I am now beginning to question if the clutch ever did need replacing and why he told me this was definently the issue. The pedal does not pop back up when you press it down and thats how they left it when they brought the car back to me. I dont really know much about 350z's but I really could do with your advise before this dealership start charging me more on a "lets change this and that and see if it fixes it" basis. I dont have that sort of money to pay out again. Please help, I would really appreciate it. 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ZMANALEX Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Simple fix mate, just swop out the clutch slave and fit a braided clutch line and flush out oem fluid and replace with something like Motul RBF 600. This should fix your issue, but as you have had a horrendous time of it, you should perhaps swop out the master cyl as well. Your clutch peddle issue is very common. If you want me to have a quick look then I am only up the road in Perth. Alex. 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 (edited) Top man Alex Sounds like further investigation is required too. Edited November 21, 2015 by glrnet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M1 6RYF Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 I'd also look into small courts claims about getting your money back from nissan as they have not provided the service that you have paid for. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 What a shambles. Sorry to hear this mate Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodyboarder81 Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 That's a flipping joke man!!! Get it over to Alex and get him to take a look . Gutted for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sargara Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 I took it to my local Glasgow Nissan dealership. So they billed me for the following...... New rocket Cover £60 Supplied and fitted tie rod end (socket kit-tie and assy-socket 99) £259 Supplied and fitted o/s/f lower arm bush £90 Supplied and fitted n/s/f lower arm bush £90 Rod Compl-Tensi £256 X 2 4 Bridgestone Tyres £780 Supplied and fitted rocker cover gaskets £220 How are they even related to the fault you took it in with unless you missed a step in the story!? Now the head mechanic said that the clutch was the issue and it needed replaced. So I said lets do it as long as it would sort the problem. New Clutch kit £761 Yeah I bet he did. You could have sourced a Flywheel and Clutch kit for that! Please help, I would really appreciate it. Thanks Stop using Nissan dealerships for starters! On a car this age, the costs of having "full Nissan service history" far outweight what little bragging rights they add when it comes to selling. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Do take up Zman's offer - no one knows Zeds like Alex does and he has his own workshop and it will be sorted out once and for all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopedmark Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 As everyone has said take to Alex but that garage is having you on mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veilside z Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Disgusting service and attitude, but unfortunately that's main dealers. Who gave them the right to fitting new tyres? :scare: :angry: :rant: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilscorp Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Infinity Glasgow or Nobles Nissan in Edinburgh are the only Nissan garages that know these cars, the independent you had first look at it would have been better trained. Alex is the man to see for parts and if your lucky enough to have him work on your car it's like having god as your doctor. Expensive lesson learned, but as above I would be trying to claim back money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMT Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 (edited) Get it to Infiniti Glasgow Widely used by a lot of us up here. Very friendly and helpful..ask for David . And for people in the know...that stamp from them means a lot more than a Nissan one! Edited November 21, 2015 by AMT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payco Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Sorry to hear all your troubles.Rule number 1 is never go to a Nissan Main Dealer for any work on your z.For starters their technician costs per hour are outrageous and secondly their knowledge of our cars is not great at all.Take it to Alex as suggested as he knows the cars inside out and won't rip you off.Hope you get it fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon Chris Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Sorry to hear all your troubles.Rule number 1 is never go to a Nissan Main Dealer for any work on your z.For starters their technician costs per hour are outrageous and secondly their knowledge of our cars is not great at all.Take it to Alex as suggested as he knows the cars inside out and won't rip you off.Hope you get it fixed. Yes to let Alex give you a proper diagnosis (not sure Alex actually offered to actually fix it or not) and perhaps an opinion on what did and didn't need changing. But perhaps Infiniti Glasgow might be a good place to get a second opinion if you want to have a go at Nissan for poor diagnosis and failure to fix. Implying slave cylinders with on 'rear wheel drive 350z's don't really have that issue' is just silly as any car can have this sort of problem and your symptoms do point to this. as a likely source. However, you have had a lot of other work done and whether you have paid top money for the parts and labour is another conversation. Its easy to knock dealers on this but they make no bones about pricing and for any type of car they are never cheap - nothing new there and a lesson everyone learns at some point. By my calculation you paid £1,100 for a clutch kit and the labour to fit it. This strikes me as a normal (haha!) dealer price so yes you should have expected them to correctly identify the slave rather than simply replace the clutch, but providing they eventually fit the slave at no cost as they said they would, and providing this fixes the issue then I'd say you have no complaint, other than the ridiculous delay, attitude and service. If its driveable get it to Alex first to be 100% sure where the problem is. If its not then get it back to the dealer - you have no choice. Write a letter to the manager to take with you but its the failure to fix, poor diagnosis, service and delivery back in an obviously dangerous and unfixed state that are the points to make, not the cost (other than you have paid a lot so expect decent service). Clearly its the clutch so don't be concerned about that extra price to get it back to them as the work is effectively under guarantee. Make sure you say the mechanic said he would replace the slave at no cost and he hasn't. that he said the breakdown return would be covered and that if it isn't fixed at no charge you will raise a complaint and seek to recoup the money for the unnecessary clutch change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Where abouts in Glasgow are you? Did you take it to Nissan in Darnley? I have heard good and bad about them but mainly bad lol A few of us use automek in East Kilbride if it's not driveable to Perth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstraw Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 That's really crap. I've found the Nissan Darnley "High Performance Centre" to be a joke! Small claims court 100%. It's too much money. They will back down and refund the money I've personally not had the best experience with automek. I've went there on 3 separate occasions and each time there was a thing or two I was cut short on but still paid for the work. I would go to Alex. I didn't even know Alex was in Perth else I would have used him myself. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Id be writing to Nissan UK and asking them if they consider this to be standard dealer behaviour - the cost is what it is, but repeatedly returning the car without anything having been fixed is not on. If a bunch of lads on a web forum know that its the slave cylinder its pretty scary that Nisan themselves dont. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy_Baton Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 As a guide, I paid £990 for a new clutch, flywheel, slave, braided lines and labour. The parts weren't OEM but they were as like for like as you can get without paying for OEM. This was an independent garage (forum trader). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillywig2 Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 They drove the car back to my house but I noticed that my petrol was pretty low and it was near enough full when I first gave it to them. I didnt bother me as I assumed they did a lot of testing on the car. I really hope you get this sorted, but this^ made me think of Ferris Bueller's Day Off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilscorp Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Also to add to injury, it's common knowledge that you should replace the flywheel at the same time as the clutch on high mileage cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Also to add to injury, it's common knowledge that you should replace the flywheel at the same time as the clutch on high mileage cars. Any why for the love of poodles would you not change the slave! Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwalkero Posted November 29, 2015 Author Share Posted November 29, 2015 Hi Guys, Thanks for the advice. I was waiting to hear back from Nissan before replying. The car was picked up and dropped back off at Nissan Glasgow on Wednesday morning and they said that "the master tech" would look at it on Wednesday afternoon. Its Sunday and I have had no call or anything. Had to walk to gym yesterday in the pissing rain as I dont have a car and I was thinking to myself "wtf is going on". The local mechanic I used was a great guy and he said straight off it must be the slave cylinder but he mentioned something about the electrics etc and he didnt have the computers to be able to reset the electrics or whatever it was.........the mechanic died a few weeks ago, very tragic :( I really am at the mercy of Nissan and now. This whole fiascal has totally taken the joy out of this car for me and its that damn Nissan dealership thats done it. The one thing that really gets under my skin is that after taking my money they had one of their guys drive the car with the clutch pedal sticking down the whole way without thinking "hey the clutch shouldnt be doing that". I honestly thought that by taking it to a Nissan dealership that they would know their stuff. As I said previously to the Service Manager when he said "we bled the air out of the system" and to my reply "I didnt buy that when you told me it, and look, the problem is worse than below".......his response being "Let me stop you there Mr Walker.....we pay thousands of pounds to train our Mechanics to the Nissan standard level!!". Well clearly they have wasted their money as much as I have wasted mine. Do you guys think I have a right to ask for money back that was maybe not need doing? They did tell me that the clutch was issue for pedal sticking and by replacing it, it would solve the issue. I reckon they are going to come back to me and say it was something else and then tell me its going to cost a grand or so to fix it.....not including the recovery truck costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Do not give them anymore money. If it's not sorted when you get it back from them this time I would take Alex up on his offer to diagnose your problem , he knows his stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 If it's not working flawlessly when you get it back and they ask for any more cash, tell them to bite it and go and see Alex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwalkero Posted November 29, 2015 Author Share Posted November 29, 2015 I am not going to let Nissan off the leash for this one. Either the dealership sort it or Nissan step in. At the end of the day the dealership need to ensure that the customers of Nissan are happy. If those mechanics dont have a clue how to fix this issue then the dealership may lose the Nissan contract (think arnold clark used to have the nissan contract but lost it due to many complaints). The funny thing is, when I spoke to the Service Manager I told him that I hadnt been offered a courtesy car (something that the Nissan customer service line told me I should of had) and I think that must be around 4-6 weeks now without a car to drive. I am actually hoping that they dont call me tomorrow. The longer they drag this out the more I have against them, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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