Got Nissan UK to pay for new clutch

[hoopmeister]

Just wanted to let you know about the slipping clutch on my 57 (out of warranty) Adventura Manual with only 33000 miles which I got second hand privately. I got Nissan to pay so if you are interested how then please read on as it is a long thread as I included as much information to help you guys!

Before I took it in to the dealer I just thought I would check on the net to see if this was a common issue and I am glad I did as I found out it is big problem with the Navara as well as the Pathfinder. To give you an idea if you type 'Navara clutch p" into Google it suggests "Navara clutch problems" which would mean there are many people looking this up!!! Sites such as knackednavara.com, this site, and Honest John all have unhappy Navara owners complaining about clutch issues from all across the world, many are on their second, or even third clutch and having to pay for it themselves!!!

What I picked up quickly was that the dual mass flywheel is not up to the job and as a result Nissan are replacing them with solid mass flywheels when they replace the clutch, or at least giving you the option to have a solid mass version. In some vehicles the clutch pedal was not designed quite right and that lets the clutch slip slightly reducing the lifespan of the clutch as well. Also the dealership tend to do a ECU modification to stop the vehicle over-revving as you release the clutch. So basically the original set-up was not fit for purpose and only now are they fixing them on an 'as and when' basis.

Being armed with this information before speaking to the local dealer is essential IMO if you hope to get Nissan to pick up the bill. If they know you are well aware this is a problem them they will cut the BS excuse of blaming it on the owners poor driving (something I noticed from all the threads) this seemed to be standard response to anyone, normally followed by making them pay for the parts and labour. Next tell them they you expect this to be fixed by Nissan, again using the 'not fir for purpose' card. This will result in them putting you in touch with Nissan UK Customer Services to log a case. In my situation I was just out the 3 year warranty so it would not be covered, and if they did contribute anything, it would be done as a 'goodwill gesture'.... They then gave me a case reference number and told me to book it in with the dealership I had been working with so they can inspect it and provide a report to Nissan UK. The nasty thing is that you have to sign upfront that you agree to pay for the work to produce the report and regardless of the outcome you will pay!! This involves taking the gearbox out and inspecting the fly wheel and clutch and putting it back - cost was about £380.

The inspection work was done and the report sent, although I was not able to get a copy of the report to see what was said despite asking for it as I had paid for it. The decision of the goodwill gesture is seems to be based on the following factors:
1. Mileage of the vehicle (33,000 in my case)
2. The service history of the vehicle (e.g. were they done on time and by an approved dealership, in my case I had an R1 done with an approved dealership but was overdue a R2 service by 3000 miles so I booked that in at the same time and I think this helped)
3. How many Nissans I had owned before and how loyal to the brand I had been, (this was my first Nissan so my response was that depending on how Nissan deal with this will affect my loyalty going forward)
4. What the mechanic reports to be the cause of wear to the clutch.

First the dealership called me to say the clutch was worn but did not say if this was my fault or not, they were very cagey about it all, but they asked what I tow and whether I would want another dual mass fly wheel (same as what was in there) or did I want the more meatier solid mass fly wheel but warned me it would make the clutch heavier and the car a bit more 'agricultural'. I plan to tow stuff and given that so many people on the threads had repeated failures of the dual mass fly wheels which stopped when they finally got a solid mass version, I also opted for the solid mass.

Next Nissan customer services got back to me with an initial offer they would pay 50% of the total parts (which is about £1,000 for the flywheel and clutch) and I would have to pay the other 50% plus the labour (which was £380). I was not pleased with this offer and told them I was very disappointed with this especially given the massive problem they are having with them as seen on the internet, mentioned 'not fit for purpose' several times, and suggested reporting this all on the various websites (which I am doing now). The person I was speaking to was not my customer support laison officer and they said they would get her to call me back. They did and this time they came back with an offer of the full 100% of part but I pay the labour. I tried to get them to pick up the cost of labour as well but that wasn't happening so I decided to quit while I was ahead and settle with that...



Long live the internet and the power of sharing knowledge.

[gordonridley]

Hi Hoopmeister,

I have found your post on the dual-mass flywheel to be very helpful - thanks very much for detailing it.

I have attached a post I made today on the "Other Nissan faults" thread concerning my 56 Navara Outlaw having broken its chassis completely due to rust &, according to Nissan, overloading. You can see the detail if you wish in my post.

If you do read it you will see that I also had the clutch & flywheel break catastrophically on the first day of a continental holiday. This was fixed at a cost of £1024 & on I carried on my holiday. Unknown to me, the transfer box had not been checked or refilled with oil, though naturally the repairers deny this. I have had an engineer's report (costing me £224) agreeing with my statements & arguments.

Days later, the transfer box failed completely in Morocco. I was completely immobilised for 12 days while the box was replaced with a new unit at a total cost of £5000, which I paid (with difficulty & requiring 13 visits to at ATM machine some 26 miles from my base over the 12 day period).

I am having to go to the Small Claims Court in an attempt to get the repairers to pay for their inattention to detail. One could argue that this was all Nissan's responsibility by supplying a vehicle that was "not fit for purpose" and did not fit their promotional literature.

I have yet to take up the clutch issue with Nissan, though I have verbally intimated my concern to them.

Many thanks again for your post,
Gordon Ridley.

[farrierjason]

I had the clutch problem on my 55 reg aventura, first time was after 2 years and under 30000, they replaced under warranty are a little deliberation. then after 4 1/2 years it went again, about 62000 miles, i didnt even bother going to a dealer and just wrote straight to head office, they booked me in to have it looked at and i too had to sign to say i may have to pay for the inspection even though head office said i wouldnt, i just signed after saying what head office had told me and said i would fight it later if i had to, they replaced with a solid flywheel this time and obviously new clutch, all done as warranty except for one part, some washer or something which i think was about £20, they phoned me to say it would be ready a few days later, the afternoon it was supposed to be ready i didnt recieve a call so turned up to the garage anyway, when i got there the service manager looked very unhappy. when they were reprogramming my ecu it quit on them so they had to replace that as well, this took about 9 weeks to get hold of but they just gave me a van to use as i wished until it was ready, so i got a new clutch, flywheel and ecu out of them! shouldnt have come to that as should have had the right setup in the first place though