I bought my 2006 Pathfinder new from our local dealer. About 3 months after I bought it, a deer ran into the front right quarter panel of the car. Took it to the dealer for the repairs except for the plastic lining in the fender well, which they fixed and lined up. After a few weeks, I noticed there wasn't any windshield washer fluid in the resevoir. When I filled it back up, it slowly leaked out on the garage floor. My claim is they cracked the container while fixing the fender; they said they didnt...long story short, I bought one off of Ebay for $75 (dealer wanted $225 ) and installed it myself.

I used to take my Pathfinder to the dealer for servicing, but they always wanted to sell me something "extra" wiper blades, etc. so I started just doing the service myself. Even when I brought it back for a factory recall, they tried to sell me 4 other things they thought I needed...one was the serpentine belt...they quoted me $129 so I did it myself for a $20 belt.

Long post I know, but just wondered if your dealer was the same way.?

dawgn86 wrote:I bought my 2006 Pathfinder new from our local dealer. About 3 months after I bought it, a deer ran into the front right quarter panel of the car. Took it to the dealer for the repairs except for the plastic lining in the fender well, which they fixed and lined up. After a few weeks, I noticed there wasn't any windshield washer fluid in the resevoir. When I filled it back up, it slowly leaked out on the garage floor. My claim is they cracked the container while fixing the fender; they said they didnt...long story short, I bought one off of Ebay for $75 (dealer wanted $225 ) and installed it myself.

I used to take my Pathfinder to the dealer for servicing, but they always wanted to sell me something "extra" wiper blades, etc. so I started just doing the service myself. Even when I brought it back for a factory recall, they tried to sell me 4 other things they thought I needed...one was the serpentine belt...they quoted me $129 so I did it myself for a $20 belt.

Long post I know, but just wondered if your dealer was the same way.?

All dealers, and all brands unfortunately! I've never had a dealer not try the up-sale. For that matter independent service stations do it too. I simply note the suggestions and decline.

I don't use my dealer for much...but the couple times I've stopped in they were quite pleasant. I asked them to price a rad flush and they said it wasn't necessary until at least 100k miles. Regardless whether I agree...they certainly weren't trying to sell me. I've never met a Toyota dealer that wasn't an absolute thief though. But the truth is...they're all indi of the manufacturer and have different policies/philosophies. Our last Honda dealer was terrific and I had no problem having them service our car. If they're crooks like the Toyota shop...I'll just service it myself. The only reason I don't use the Nissan shop for service is that they're not conveniently located and don't have loaners.

The Nissan dealer I bought my Used but CPO Pathfinder from was horrible. It was the worst car buying experience I've ever had. I had contacted the dealer as I saw it on their website and through Nissanusa.com in the CPO section. Told them I was very intrested in the vehicle. I sent them a 500 dollar deposit to hold the vehicle for me as I lived in another state. Told them when I would arrive the following weekend. When I arrived, the battery was dead, they had not cleaned the carpet or washed the vehicle. It took us 6 hours after the look over and test drive to finish eveything up. They gave us horrible loan, which a week after we bought it we refinanced it through a local company. They also tried selling me an extended warranty through a third party and were telling me it was not CPO. I borrowed the salesman's laptop, pulled up Nissanusa.com and showed him on the CPO site, that the vin matched and that it's a CPO. So they finally did the paperwork to run it through as a CPO.

Had I not been leaving for a deployment we would have walked out of the dealership. However I wanted the peace of mind that came with the warranty for my wife and boy while i'm gone.

The wife has since took it to another dealership for an oil change, and all they did was the oil change. No "buy this, do that" crap, so I was very pleased with that Dealership.

• Local (and selling) dealer:
  * tried to sell me new accessory "belts" (yes, there is only one) at 37k for $143 ($16 belt). 83k now, and still no signs of wear.
  * tried to sell me new front brakes at 30k, they still measured 6mm at 37k, and they were replaced due to warping at 56k
  * charged me 50% of labor cost on a Nissan NA goodwill replacement of my fuel sender out of warranty, wrote it up as an internal budget transfer - presumably to hide it from Nissan

I can't think of anything else atrocious, just little attempts to up-sell.

I wonder if I could recoup the 50% labor cost on the fuel sender post-recall - especially since the 2nd sender is now doing the same thing as the first?

I'm having so many issues right now with my VW dealer (and the VW), I really don't even know what to buy next.

jspitz wrote: I'm having so many issues right now with my VW dealer (and the VW), I really don't even know what to buy next.

My experience over the years (and owning just about every brand) is VW is the worst ever. Toyota is a close second. I've never found a VW dealer I felt was worth two squirts. I have to drive about an hour for a Toyota shop I can stomach. What kind of VW are you having trouble with? There's a lot of good Indi's out there for VW.

They don't call 'em stealerships for nothin'

Btw, you haven't seen shit until you've been to an Acura dealership (wow!)

skinny2 wrote: My experience over the years (and owning just about every brand) is VW is the worst ever. Toyota is a close second. I've never found a VW dealer I felt was worth two squirts. I have to drive about an hour for a Toyota shop I can stomach. What kind of VW are you having trouble with? There's a lot of good Indi's out there for VW.

Apologies to the OP for hijacking

The car is an '06 Passat 3.6 4motion. We bought it 3 years ago with 14k miles on it. Issues up to this point have been numerous and would have been expensive - probably half of what we paid for the car, but all covered by warranty. Do you have a recommended VW shop on the East side of Cleveland or in Geauga? How is Smith's in Auburn?

Besides body shop issues (fender damage inflicted by the dealer, and door damage inflicted by one of their customers). I'm still not sure the engine is 100% after $4k in engine work due to an oil pump bolt failure. The ticking at idle is louder than I remember, and the idle is a bit rough - and I only have 5k left on the CPO.

webmastir wrote:They don't call 'em stealerships for nothin'

Btw, you haven't seen shit until you've been to an Acura dealership (wow!)

Don't tell me that - I was just beginning to get over my fear of Honda (3 bad transmissions in my '99 Accord) and was considering an Acura TL SH-AWD!!!

I don't know anyone up that way for a Passat. Ask around or check out a Passat/VW forum and I'm sure someone will know someone. Thought maybe it was a TDI...I know a lot of folks in those circles.

Acura dealers are hit and miss...kind of like Honda. There's a great Honda dealer down below Canton. '99 was a terrible year for Honda trannies...I assume it was a V6. I have a buddy that buys/fixes/sells old Hondas and he avoids those. Tried like crazy to get the wife to buy the MDX over her van...the SH-AWD is pretty sweet for what it does.

skinny2 wrote:I don't know anyone up that way for a Passat. Ask around or check out a Passat/VW forum and I'm sure someone will know someone. Thought maybe it was a TDI...I know a lot of folks in those circles.

Acura dealers are hit and miss...kind of like Honda. There's a great Honda dealer down below Canton. '99 was a terrible year for Honda trannies...I assume it was a V6. I have a buddy that buys/fixes/sells old Hondas and he avoids those. Tried like crazy to get the wife to buy the MDX over her van...the SH-AWD is pretty sweet for what it does.

The Accord was a V6 - total garbage transmission. They extended the warranties on the 2000+ models, but not my '99 which was built in the last week of production. After a long fight, Honda ate all but $1600 on my first replacement. The second replacement was free, and when it started slipping, I paid the dealer $90 to tell me there was no problem with it, took it across the street and traded it in to the same dealer's Nissan franchise for the Pathy. No guilt here - they told me it was fine

webmastir wrote:They don't call 'em stealerships for nothin'

Btw, you haven't seen shit until you've been to an Acura dealership (wow!)

I used to have an RSX. Loved that car. The dealership where it was purchased in Spokane Washington, and were I had some other service done in SLC Utah were great. Always had a clean car when it came out of service. They never tried to push a higher service that I didn't want.

jspitz wrote:

skinny2 wrote: My experience over the years (and owning just about every brand) is VW is the worst ever. Toyota is a close second. I've never found a VW dealer I felt was worth two squirts. I have to drive about an hour for a Toyota shop I can stomach. What kind of VW are you having trouble with? There's a lot of good Indi's out there for VW.

Apologies to the OP for hijacking

The car is an '06 Passat 3.6 4motion. We bought it 3 years ago with 14k miles on it. Issues up to this point have been numerous and would have been expensive - probably half of what we paid for the car, but all covered by warranty. Do you have a recommended VW shop on the East side of Cleveland or in Geauga? How is Smith's in Auburn?

Besides body shop issues (fender damage inflicted by the dealer, and door damage inflicted by one of their customers). I'm still not sure the engine is 100% after $4k in engine work due to an oil pump bolt failure. The ticking at idle is louder than I remember, and the idle is a bit rough - and I only have 5k left on the CPO.

With how things are going for your VW, I would trade/sell it prior to the CPO ending. To me, that's just a sign of $ being spent as soon as the CPO expires. I wouldn't keep it. Wish you the best.