[hfelknor]

Well, NEITHER TSB fixed my rattles.
They said they did both.
They show both on my service sheet.
The admit the rattles are still there.
In point of fact "Maybe" a bit WORSE, if possible.

They did do the TSB for the steering rack and unfortunatly tightened the rack with the steering wheel off center!
They want it for another day to fix that.

The car brakes squealed so loudly that several people, including the service writer, heard it, as I backed up to leave!
They had earlier told me, they could not reproduce the problem.
The service writer said he could get it looked at "now that he had heard it".
I told him the next time somebody from Nissan even insinuated that I was lying, I would punch them out. And I , who often preach that peace is better than war when dealing with people from whom you want something, meant it.
How DARE Nissan tell me that just because some hophead service writer heard the squeal, that maybe it exists! :14:

I am about to declare my MO a POS.

I am very close to trading it away. I am very disappointed. I really wanted this to work out. I held great hope for the TSBs on the rattle and popping.
I don't want to, but I can probably fix the brakes myself.
But the car is embarrassing.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away......
I owned a Datsun 810. With about 30,000 miles on the clock I was going to work one morning when something caught my eye. It was the heat gauge moving up as i watched it!
I pulled over and shut down as quick as I could. The car never "erupted" but the damage had been done.
Cause? A stuck $2 thermostat.

Diagnosis:
Car was 6000 miles from warranty expiration but slightly more than 3 mos outside of 3 yr warranty.
Judgement - NOT in warranty

Aluminum head warped - non repairable. (Iron block)
Total bill for car estimated to be worth $6000 at the time was $2650. Almost HALF the value of the car.

I vowed to never buy a Datsun again.
Over the years as I bought different American cars, all of which worked out just fine, all I heard and read was how great japanese cars were.
So I thought..............


Sigh.


Homer

 

[esemes]

no one has any replies to this??


i do, but will remain quiet (for now)..........


is this an epidemic??? (tap, tap, pop, pop)

 

[Doombringer]

Well, I'm sure the expected reply would be...

"Sure, trade in the MO."

I, however, will not say that. I see a trade-in on a new vehicle as taking an unnecessary loss. You're welcome to do it - it's your money - but it is largely foolish.

Your problems are, from what I can tell...

Popping windows.
A misaligned wheel.
Squealing brakes.

Now, if you had a major mechanical problem... an alternator that fails thrice in a row, say, then I would say you should look into the lemon law. If the law applies or not, a trade-in (getting rid of the MO) would effectively make sense. Not the case here, though.

The steering wheel/alignment is probably the most serious problem there. I'm not sure why the brakes are squealing... for years I've heard that can be a result of anything from them being adjusted too tightly to standard dust to them being wet... and also bad design.

But anyway. Apparently the alignment problem is fixed, and the wheel needs to be adjusted. Very good.

If you place enough importance on the remaining items to justify (in your own mind) trading in the MO.. nobody will talk you out of it. Like I said, I think it is over exaggerating two fairly minor problems. Yes, the rattles are annoying, as is the squeak. But these problems do NOT make your Murano and Piece of S**t.

My opinion.

It's also my opinion to not go around on a Murano board pushing users to trade-in a buy a FX (or anything), simply because this is a MURANO board. I know I certainly don't go back to my Ford boards and talk about how great my new Murano is, it just isn't respectful. But anyway.

Your luck with American cars is surprising. I'm not sure if the whole story is here or not, but as a previous "Buy American!" guy I can sadly say that our quality is no better than anyone else's. My two Exploders were solid little vehicles but they also had their problems... rattles, a quirk here or there... but no major mechanical problems. So far, from what I've seen of the MO, it's the same deal again.

I plan to stick with my MO. Not only do I love the vehicle beyond any current problems (rattles!), I cannot POSSIBLY afford to just ditch it for "Something Better".

 

[Dookie]

What number is your Murano? I bought mine in Feb 03 and don't have any rattles that seem to amount to the ones you have.

 

[hfelknor]

My Murano has a build date of 6-03

Good thought but it doesn't work in this instance.
Not all MO's have all the problems.
It's very random.
It just doesn't follow build dates.
Even "some" 04s have the rattles. And the pops.

Right now I have three problems that bug me.
Rattles. And popping noises. And brake squeal.

The TSB for the steering has been done but needs to be done again.
Just flat out poor service. But once the Rack is tightened at least it seems to be a solid fix. (As well it should be).

As you read my post, understand that a lot of what's wrong here is the fact that service is poor.
I really don't like being called a liar by anybody connected with Nissan.

I am not loooking for a reco to trade it nor even "approval". I don't need either one. If I want to do it, I will.
I would still prefer not because of the expense.
But I will not drive a car like this for an extended period of time.
Maybe when it is 5 or 6 years old, but not while it is brand new.
But that is me.
I'm fairly well off and can afford it. Don't want to afford it, but could.
Other people cannot afford to or really wouldn't want to even if they could. I respect that. I also ask for respect of whatever decision I make.

Why I posted.
Mainly to tell everybody about my experiences with the two rattle/pop TSBs.
They are not a cure all apparently.
And then, because I've had a bad day. I got a little carried away, perhaps.
But I am not going to sugar coat my experiences with my Murano.

If other people decide that even if the things rattles and pops and can't be fixed, that that's OK......then that's fine with me.
It is not OK with me

and who knows? maybe Nissan will fix it.

It does have to go back in for the steering wheel.
They Have noted that the TSBs don't work so they DO owe me a repair. Maybe........?????

If they fix everything else, I will fix the brakes myself.
I've replaced enough brakes in my life to be very comfortable around them And there are all kinds of tricks including sanding, goop, springs, new pads, scored pads, etc.

Wouldn't it be nice if Nissan could get past this stage?
The car is still dyno-mite to drive.

Homer

 

[Dookie]

I feel your pain. My fronts started sqealling around 10k and have since then stopped. I read one post about how someone got on the brakes really hard and seemed to help. I never did this, but it may be worth a try??? Who knows? The only squealling I have is when I back out of my garage and tap on my brakes when they are cold.

I really hope you get the rattles fixed because I am the same way you are--at least is seems like it. If I had rattles that would drive me nuts, and I'm sure I would drive the wife nuts in the process.

 

[Eric L.]

If the dealer cannot reproduce the problem, then they cannot repair the problem. Now it would be great if the techs there knew the Murano's common problems inside out, but as the Murano is a fairly new vehicle, this should not expected at this point. It is unfortunate that they did not repair your steering wheel problem correctly, you would imagine they should also perform an alignment after tightening the bolts. That is, unless you took your vehicle in without steering problems, and just had them address the TSB as if it were a recall. In that case, then they have no obligation to perform an alignment since the TSB's clearly state that the repairs will be performs if customers have the symptoms of the problem. I for one would be happy if a dealer performed a TSB repair and my car did not exhibit the symptom for that problem! As for the squeaky brakes, I only notice them in the morning when I first drive the car. Now, if you take your car to the dealer, does it sit long enough to simulate a morning drive? Probably not. They should not accuse you of lying, but in my opinion, "problem not reproducable" does not come anywhere close to an insinuation that you are dishonest. After all, why would you take your car to the dealer for a non problem? Who actually ENJOYS going to the dealer???

I cannot speak for Nissans in particular, but I can say that as a whole, I do believe Japanese cars are more reliable than domestic or european cars. Now, you may have had good experiences with a Ford or Chevy. Well I am glad to hear that. Just think about how many 10 year old Ford Tauruses you see on the road. Ok now think about how many 10 year Accord and Camrys you see. Thats just my perspective.

BTW, Nissan has a one year /12000 mile "adjustment period" in which you can take your car to the dealer to have your ECU settings adjusted (for example, the autolock feature), or to get a wheel alignment for free.

Good luck resolving your Murano problems. Its a Nissan, it will rattle more than a Honda or Toyota. Thats something that should have been apparent on all the message boards when you researched the vehicle. However, theres still probably no better vehicle for the money than the MO so lets all drive happy and enjoy the ride!

 

[Doombringer]

Eric has some great points.

And believe me, I have been greatly saddened by the window popping in my own Murano. Look back and you'll find a post where I mentioned how EMBARASSED I was to drive a friend in my car because I knew they'd hear the rattle. That was one of the single worst feelings I've had in the past few years, being almost ASHAMED of my otherwise very spiffy and 'big-bucks' vehicle because of a sound that screamed "cheap!"

And I'm still facing the rattles. They'll go away on a super cold morning, only to return towards the end of my commute. They'll rattle like mad when things warm up a bit, but if it gets really hot out they'll go away. Not only is the problem chronic, it is sporatic. I DREAD taking my Murano into the dealership because I fear they'll "not be able to reproduce the problem".

I had a service manager sympathize with me on that... about reproducing problems. It's how they're told to do their jobs. Not only is it procedure, but it is a requirement of them writing up an expense for a fix. I couldn't argue with that, no matter how pissed I was by KNOWING my Murano had the problem.

I'm hopeful they will apply the TSB even if the rattle is quiet or not there (it likes to get silent in my passenger window, only appearing 1 out of 10 times) because the procedure is fairly simple and they've done similar procedures for me in the past, trying to fix this. All that, and the TSB thankfully matches my build date (12/02) and VIN. But there's still the fear that they won't do it, or the TSB won't fix it!

But nevertheless, I motor on. I realize that the Murano is a great vehicle for many more reasons than its faults. It is fast and stylish and smooth and without other problems. It just fits me, and that's why I bought it.

I also look to other luxury owners and see the problems/complaints they have, even with their supposedly stellar build quality and excellent service. Repeated problems plaguing their model of vehicle, everything from engines getting gunked-up or leaky windows... hearing that, I know that I made the right choice. Imagine how we'd all feel if we were FX owners and we had our first series of TSBs come out and they didn't solve the problem...

For what it's worth.