Where to get the D40 serviced? SE Melbourne

[Vigilante]

I am in the SE Melbourne suburbs (East Bentleigh/Moorabbin area) and looking to get the 10,000 km service done in about 1 month or so.

Does anyone have any solid recommendations? I am not too keen on getting it done at Nissan... too many bad reviews. Used to get my old car done at Ultratune just down the road and they seemed OK but as I purchased this car new I want to maintain it to the 'enth degree! Would prefer to go with an owner operator company not a franchise this time around. Maybe http://www.shrauto.com.au/index.php ?

Any recommendations welcomed

Thanks in advance!

 

[Cobez]

Personally id go to Nissan until the warranty expires. If something blows on it within warranty and anyone bar Nissan have serviced it, they'll tell you to shove it, and leave you to fork out to get it fixed.

And i certainly wouldnt go to Ultratune. I wouldnt even let them wash my car. I use a local independant mechanic who is my uncles best mate, or i just do the work myself.

 

[KraftyPg]

That's not true, any qualified mechanic and even an unqualified owner can do the work and Nissan can't blame failures on the work without proof. Anyone who thinks they are saving themselves from warranty hassles because Nissan do the work and kidding themselves and just playing the game dealerships want. No manufacturer wants to pay out on warranties and will do all they can to avoid it Nissan are no different.

Realistically the 10K is little more than an oil change, oil filter change and blowing out the air filter, the rest are just checks. Any mechanic can do it. I don't know anything about SHR but given that 10K is such a minor service if they are convenient to you I would suggest you try them out and see how they go. Talk to them about the service and suggest you want a long term local mechanic for the car and see what they say. There is very little they can/should do to stuff things up and if you check what they did you can them gauge whether they are worthy enough for you to continue to work a relationship with.

I didn't know my mechanic 10 years ago yet there is few other people down here I would trust to do anything on my car, sure price makes a huge difference given that if I do most of the work he doesn't charge me and he gives me trade price parts but there is no reason why you can't work towards the same thing and you have to start somewhere, SHR may as well be the first step.

 

[fleety]

With regards to non-nissan servicing, my D40 is at 80k and never been serviced at a nissan dealer. I have had 3 or 4 repairs done under warranty and not once has the fact that nissan do not service the vehicle been mentioned. as long as the stamp is in the book, your warranty is still valid.

 

[Cobez]

But a non Nissan stamp in your log book would be grounds for them to try and avoid big repairs such as timing chains, diffs etc i would have thought?

 

[KraftyPg]

I've had one warranty claim but it had nothing to do with a service related item, was the plastic peeling on the steering wheel and they replaced the entire steering wheel.

If they were worried about non dealer serviced cars claiming warranty I can't see them replacing the entire steering wheel priced at $1200 when they could have just replaced the plastic like they did on most other peoples cars. For me they may well have done it to try and convince me to service with them I don't really know, but there was no question despite the service sticker being out of date (still got the 1000km sticker on the window to this day) and no dealership servicing.

But a non Nissan stamp in your log book would be grounds for them to try and avoid big repairs such as timing chains, diffs etc i would have thought?

Some suggest it is but they still have to prove that the work done caused the problem, they can't just say that your mechanic stuffed up and your warranty is void. The other side of the argument is the number of people who've got dealer servicing and still been knocked back on warranty because it was deemed their fault and not a fault of the manufacturer or dealership.

 

[Cobez]

Ah good point. I guess it just comes down to the dealership and the person you deal with

 

[KraftyPg]

That is the biggest factor. Some claims the dealership handle themselves knowing they will get their costs back but other claims must go through Nissan Australia and they have the final word, so there is times where Nissan Australia will deny warranty despite the fact that you're best mate with the dealership owner. Sometimes the dealership might be the issue and they don't bother passing on the claim to Nissan Australia because they don't want the hassle or don't think the claim will be upheld, but at the end of the day (it's night) just having a Nissan stamp in the book will mean so little in relation to successful warranty claims that if one can find a decent mechanic they trust whether it's a Nissan mechanic, a Toyota mechanic or the bloke down the street it's better than using someone they don't trust because of some delusion about warranty.

 

[Cobez]

Very true now i think about it. I tend to buy used dealership vehicles with low kms, more or less due to early recal issues being already sorted.

Was lucky with mine, bought it with 120xxx on the clock, only problem that i got fixed was the axles were re-packed on the rear, that was coversd under used warranty. Havent had a single problem and im up to 147xxx kms.