[mikeyrider]

In a couple of threads, I've seen mention of a Nissan policy of doing chassis alignments free for one year. I don't find this mentioned in the warranty book that came with the car, so I was just wondering about the source of this information. Is it an unwritten policy or "hidden warranty"? The written warranty on the whole car is 3/36. Will the dealers ordinarily say that alignment problems are maintenance issues and not warranty issues? If so, do they relax this policy in the first year?
I'm working on resolving a slight pull to the left that my '04 SL AWD has had since new in 09/04. So far the dealer hasn't told me it's not covered, but just wanted the information in hand if it comes up.
Thanks.

 

[zebelkhan]

I do not know if the "one year" period is written anywhere. It is just that with a new car, it is easier to convince the dealer that the alignment problem is not the fault of the driver. Many alignment problems are created as the result of road consitions. As mileage increases it becomes harder to prove (especially if there has not have a proir history) that a manufacturing defect requiring warranty service is involved. In your case the alignment has been ongong since new and therefore no question that it should be covered under warranty. Actually I believe that if any warranty problem remains unresolved by the time the warranty runs out, the coverage still continues for that particular problem.

 

[Eric L.]

It is part of the initial 12 month / 12,000 mile "adjustment" period.

 

[jaak]

If the alignment's out, it can burn up your tires faster than normal. I'd consider this to be a problem, that should be covered under warranty. If your dealer doesn't agree, go ask Nissan what their policy is.

A friend of mine just discovered this week, why his Maxima is burning up rear tires. Not only was the alignment out, but it's not possible to adjust it to spec. Nissan maxed out the adjustments at the factory, and it was still out. Now there's a headache!

A slight pull to the left should be easily resolved.

 

[GripperDon]

Wouldn't it be neat to make an alignment indicator that we could read from the dash. Now that would be, at least for me, a great gadget. Hmmm might not be that hard actually. A few strategically placed strain gages, a cool alogrithm.......

 

[mikeyrider]

Just to follow up on my original post: The dealer did a four-wheel alignment and the problem seems to be gone. When the service manager called to say the car was ready and I asked him about the pull to the left, he told me they had found the alignment out of spec, and he volunteered, "You get one alignment during the first twelve months." This must just be the Nissan "policy," because it isn't written down anyplace that I've seen. From my unscientific survey of messages on this forum, it also seems that Nissan isn't too careful about delivering their cars with the chassis alignment properly set up.

 

[Michael-Dallas]

Vehicles should come from the factory aligned. However, while it's en route to the dealership, the alignment can sometimes get out of whack (i.e. if the vehicle is strapped down too tight on a cargo carrier).

The burden is on the dealer to ensure that vehicle alignment is correct when a vehicle is delivered to a customer. If the dealer did an alignment on EVERY vehicle that gets delivered, then less time is spent on higher-paying non-warranty work.

Michael.

 

[Eric L.]

Vehicles should come from the factory aligned. However, while it's en route to the dealership, the alignment can sometimes get out of whack (i.e. if the vehicle is strapped down too tight on a cargo carrier).

The burden is on the dealer to ensure that vehicle alignment is correct when a vehicle is delivered to a customer. If the dealer did an alignment on EVERY vehicle that gets delivered, then less time is spent on higher-paying non-warranty work.

Michael.

I would imagine that the dealer would want to charge for an alignment, and not get the lower paying warranty rate from Nissan.

 

[zebelkhan]

Vehicles should come from the factory aligned. However, while it's en route to the dealership, the alignment can sometimes get out of whack (i.e. if the vehicle is strapped down too tight on a cargo carrier).

The burden is on the dealer to ensure that vehicle alignment is correct when a vehicle is delivered to a customer. If the dealer did an alignment on EVERY vehicle that gets delivered, then less time is spent on higher-paying non-warranty work.

Michael.

I agree. Dealers are supposed to do a "prep work" on the cars before they deliver them to the customer. All my other new cars had them done. I personally do not have an allignment problem with my MO (nearly 10k miles now) but I am watching it.

 

[jaak]

I know of a current gen Maxima that can not be aligned to factory specs. Even from the factory, the adjusters on the back, were maxed out to get as close as possible.

I've not heard of that on the Murano, fortunately, but I'd fight for a free alignment, if it wasn't right from day one. Or the steering rack was loose and shifted.

So far, so good on mine. Almost two years of driving, and not always kind to it. It celebrated it's build month, back in October, so it's been together as a Murano for over two years. And I still love it!