Nissan Consumer Affairs Oil Cooler Response

alan93rsa

Nissan must be living in the 4th dimension. People are only asking to do something that will extend the engine life.

Maybe Nissan knows something else about this engine and they don't want to deal with cars with repeated/extended runs above 5000 rpm's.

I think having fun with cars on track ended with the air cooled Porsches. Since then it's been a cat and mouse game with the manufacturers.

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ChrisSlicks

Legally they cannot void your warranty unless they can prove that the part you install lead to a failure. With an oil cooler this would have to be because of a failed oil line, restricted flow, etc.

F'em - that's all I have to say. Time to go class action.

dszombiex

Wow. Thats pretty harsh. I'm kinda surprised they won't honor their warranty. My oil temps have got pretty high just sitting in traffic.
Not even on a particularly hot day for Los Angeles. I wonder whats gonna happen when it gets like 113F out here how hot my oil is gonna get?

I'm starting to feel like they did misrepresent their product.

TN370ZLC

That might be . . . .

Franklin, Tennessee


It might be time to let Bill O'reilly handle this matter.


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xiven

That wouldn't be a bad idea. Any press to exploit this might stir the pot a bit more

6MT

OK guys, start thinking like a lawyer. If that was indeed the response from "Nissan consumer affairs", then you need to get that in writing to prove in court. Then the "documented failures" must be proved. I'm not sure there has been any (yet).
All I'm saying is that, yes, we are all pissed off that our oil temperatures are quite high. Is this a real problem or a percieved problem that might lead to "something" undisireable happening. Don't get me wrong, I'm just as "concerned" as all of us are. BUT, does this mean that Nissan is at fault for not prviding a solution to something that has yet to cause any "damage"? Does this mean that Nissan is at fault for owners using their cars in a "reck-less" manner (not sure that's the correct term, sorry)?
Again, I'm in agreement, oil temps are high. But is there any legal opinion out there that would agree that there's "a leg to stand on legally"?

(please don't flame me too much)

TheWeatherman

Odd... My guy with the Quality Control Department said there would be the one specifically designed for the 370. He said as long as it was installed by the dealer, it would not void any of the factory warranties. I have not heard of its release yet. They said they'd call me immediately when it comes out and would make it quite public. Have your guy call the Midwest Quality Control engineer. It's not out yet, so I don't know if your guy knows much about it yet. The Quality Control guy said they are still working on it. (2.5 weeks ago.)

Wally, so you just heard something different than you posted in the Oil Temp sticky? I think the Nissan one will be warranted.

wstar

If the only interaction between Nissan and the consumers was the purchase of the vehicle itself, they would have a (crappy) leg to stand on with this stance.

It's not hard for them to basically say "Our new engine is very advanced and different, and we painstakingly engineered our lubrication system to exacting standards, and an oil cooler is a significant modification of that system, which was not accounted for at the factory. Therefore, we will attempt denial (and fight in court) on any engine warranty claims with an oil cooler installed."

Three things go in our favor though, and I honestly think courts would side with us:

1) Any expert witness on the subject would easily attest that colder oil, within reason, protects an engine better than overheated oil. From this it's easy to show that a functioning oil cooler should be beneficial, not detrimental, to an engine's life. If Nissan wants to claim the opposite is true, they would need to prove this. In addition, since such a claim would fly in the face of conventional knowledge about automobiles, there's something to be said for the fact that they haven't informed consumers of this technical fact.

2) This is a sportscar, from a long line of sportscars, which is very obviously and overtly marketed to performance-oriented drivers. This makes the "You're driving it too hard if you need an oil cooler" defense pretty lame, moreso than the same claims about a Prius or a Tercel.

3) In their own (succesful) attempts to market this car to an enthusiast driver crowd, they hosted media events to show off the car, in which the press was invited to track the car. That alone speaks to the idea that this is marketed at people who will take cars out for track events. They know damn well how the Z's sales would look if they publicly stated "This car cannot be driven on a racetrack of any kind or your warranty is gone". On top of that, the press event cars at the tracks were equipped by Nissan with add-on oil and differential cooling systems, which the subsequent press articles claimed would be available from Nissan, without any mention of warranty issue. Nissan never refuted or attempted to correct any of this press information if any of this was misinformation. Going further with this particular item, it also speaks to the earlier points, as it clearly shows that Nissan considered an oil cooler to be both necessary and safe on its press event cars for serious driving.

Someone just has to pony up the lawyer's fees.

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6MT

Thanks! Nice post.

wstar

Just to be clear, are they saying they will not honor any warranty work on the engine itself if a cooler is installed, or just that they won't warranty their own cooler against its own defects (as in, if a bracket starts rusting or whatever)?

In any case, we need things like this in writing, and if that really is the official stance of Nissan's legal department, they should have no problem with stating it in writing, either.

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