:ohnoes :ohnoes
First year glitches for new models are nothing out of the ordinary. But for some folks buying a car costing close to six digits, such “minor” problems are expected to be kept to a minimum. Considering the extensive testing diligent Nissan engineers performed throughout the development of their GT-R supercar, most have been, but for an unfortunate minority, some have not.
2009 Nissan GT-R Shifter
Hitting the Web recently is one GT-R warranty-related horror story that has led to many questions by Godzilla enthusiasts and prospective customers. Earlier this week, North American GTR Owners Club (www.nagtroc.org) forum user Septskyline reported this tale to fellow members. As a result of its somewhat surprising nature, the story has spread like wildfire on a number of other automotive forums.
“I was driving my GTR two weeks ago and I heard a loud noise coming from the rear. I turned immediately had my GTR towed to Crown Nissan St. Petersburg, Florida. They didn’t touch my car only called some techs from Tennessee to look at the car and record the noise, four days later two guys [came] from Japan to download some info from the car then left. Then I get a call from the dealer to tell me the news, and they told me that the car was driven without VDC too much and Nissan will not warranty the transmission, which they said was destroyed.”
Ouch. Even worse is the $20,000 bill he claims it would cost for a complete overhaul by Nissan certified GT-R master technicians. The resulting 16 pages of replies pose many questions, but not too many answers. Of course, already pointed out in the thread are the contents of the owner’s manual and warranty information booklet. Both explicitly state what is and isn’t covered. It’s the warranty information booklet that best applies to Septskyline case and explains on page 30, under the “What is not covered” section:
“This warranty does not cover damage, failures, or corrosion resulting from… Operating the vehicle with the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC off), except when rocking the vehicle when stuck in mud or snow…”
To get the word straight from the horse’s mouth, we turned to our source at Nissan who summed up the situation: “Switching VDC off doesn’t void the warranty nor does running the Launch Control on the car. However, if someone switches off VDC, enables Launch Control, and then breaks something while doing this, we wouldn’t pay (under warranty) for the specific parts that break during this action.”
So for those owners looking to modify your state-of-the-art Japanese supercar right off the dealership lot (or engage in VDC-disabled hooligan activities), be forewarned: Read your owner’s manual, avoid a headache, and save yourself what could potentially be a hefty chunk of dough should anything snap, crackle or pop.
Source: NAGTROC and Nissan
For the complete thread, click here.
