Infiniti/Nissan fails to honor warranty

Infiniti is refusing to honor the Powertrain coverage for my 2011 G37s.
Between 2015-12-18 and 2015-12-25 my wife, my daughter, and I traveled from MO to CA. We were moving. I had maintenance done to my 2011 G37s before the trip. Things still went wrong, as they do.

To start, I have been an excellent customer, and advocated for Infiniti a lot since I git this car. I take my car to the dealership for regular maintenance. Each time I approve all maintenance. I say, "Just do whatever," and I am taken care of by the dealer Infiniti of Kansas City.

However, on the trip my clutch lost its ability to engage. I limped into Cheyenne, WY. From there, to continue being a loyal customer, instead of taking it to a shop in WY, I called Infiniti roadside assistance and paid hundreds of dollars to have the car towed to Rickenbaugh Infiniti in Dacono, CO.

Before the car got there I was able to do some research. It turns out, they problem I was experiencing was very common in this model. Based on hundreds of posts in online forums the concentric clutch slave cylinder had gone bad. It seems this is a very badly manufactured part and regularly needs replaced after 40k-60k miles. I also found a service bulletin about this problem which suggested the fluid may be the cause, though I found no reports of this elsewhere.

The dealership suggested that we try the fluid first, in spite of my knowledge that the part was almost certainly bad. They thought this was a good first step. However, knowing the part regularly had trouble, they replaced the fluid with GT-R fluid rather than the recommended fluid due to a different viscosity. This did seem to fix the problem for only a few hundred dollars.

Back on the highway, down the road a bit, the problem was back. I limped the car into Salt Lake City, UT. The following morning I got the car to Tim Dahle Infiniti in Murray, UT.

Here we knew the problem. The part was replaced. It cost just over $1000 to do so, because the part is around the input shaft in the transmission housing. According to the technician it is an "internal component".

This makes it clear to me that this is covered by the Powertrain Coverage. I'll share the text that makes this clear. Nevertheless, the dealership neither reads nor interprets the warranty. They look up the part in a system. According to the system, the part is erroneously reported as only being covered by the Basic Coverage. They suggested I contact Infiniti consumer affairs, because they understood, and suggested they would do whatever they could to help. They provided a print out from the erroneous system, but could do no more.

I did contact consumer affairs. They took days to respond, and needed to call several times before ultimately telling me that in spite of what the warranty says, it was only covered by Basic Coverage.

Here is the text that they refuse to acknowledge.

From POWERTRAIN COVERAGE:

"TRANSMISSION AND TRANSAXLE - Case and all internal parts, torque converter and converter housing, automatic transmission control module, transfer case and all internal parts, seals and gaskets, clutch cover and housing, and electronic transmission controls.

DRIVETRAIN - Drive shafts, final drive housing and all internal parts, propeller shafts, universal joints, bearings, seals and gaskets."

This part is mounted directly around the input shaft within the transmission housing. You know it is internal for two reasons. First, the transmission must be removed to replace the component. Second, because the maintenance technician confirmed it is an "internal component".

What disappoints me the most is not that Infiniti is failing to stand behind they're product, but that, even though they are aware that this part it badly manufactured, they continue to install it knowing it will fail long before it should and have issued no recall. It is not only a question of not supporting the warranty, but putting people's lives in danger.

Infiniti owes me $1000.24, not counting the tow and wrong fluid.

Consumer's Desired Resolution:
Infiniti owes me $1000.24, not taking into account the tow that should be covered and the unnecessary replacement with incorrect fluid. I would like to see that money sent to me.

BBB Processing

01/12/2016	  web	BBB	Case Received by BBB
01/12/2016	  	BBB	MORE INFO RECEIVED FROM THE CONSUMER : I spoke with William Johnson, a supervisor with Infiniti Consumer Affairs at 1417 2016-02-12. He confirmed that they would not be honoring the warranty. He said that the text of the warranty is irrelevant, but rather only what the warranty department decides is relevant.
	He also said that the reason it wasn't covered was because the part is a normal wear and tear part. It isn't. He was mistaking the part for a clutch. Here is the text from the "WHAT IS NOT COVERED" section.
	"This warranty does not cover normal maintenance
	services as specified in your Owner's Manual such
	as wheel alignment, headlight aiming, replacement of filters, lubricants, coolant, worn clutch
	discs and brake pads."
	He did confirm that the part was internal, but said it didn't matter in this case.
01/12/2016	  KWB	BBB	Member Complaint Reviewed by BBB Operator
01/12/2016	  Otto	EMAIL	Send Acknowledgement to Consumer
01/12/2016	  Otto	EMAIL	Inform Member of Complaint
01/18/2016	  WEB	BBB	RECEIVE BUSINESS RESPONSE : Thank you for contacting Nissan North America and allowing us the opportunity to review Mr. Sock's concerns regarding his 2011 Nissan G37s.
	In order to provide Mr. Sock with the best service possible, an Executive Specialist will contact him to further discuss his concern no later than Tuesday, January 19, 2016. Should he have any questions or concerns before being contacted by our Specialist, Mr. Sock is welcome to contact Infiniti Consumer Affairs at 1800-647-7261 (Option 7) and reference case number 21206512.
	Thank you.
01/20/2016	  KWB	EMAIL	Forward Business response to Consumer
01/20/2016	  KWB	BBB	RECEIVED CONSUMER REBUTTAL : I just spoke with Asia with Infiniti Executive Office. Asia confirms that the part will not be covered by the powertrain warranty. She seems to have checked with some internal departments. It seems that this part is not internal according to those departments. She said is was external because it was "inside the bell housing". I find this interesting since bell housing is simply another term for clutch housing which is specifically listed in the powertrain warranty.
	To be clear, they are suggesting that they cover the clutch housing and internal components, but the concentric clutch slave cylinder isn't covered because it is inside the clutch housing. I am baffled.
	However, Asia has offered to reimburse me for the replacement with the GT-R fluid at the dealership in Dacono, CO, which is nice. She asked me to agree to such a reimbursement. I said that I was happy to be reimbursed for this, but is did not satisfy my complaint at all.
	She said she has no way to confirm that several of these parts have gone bad between 40k and 60k miles, because they could be lies on the internet. It seems untrue that they can't see how many they have replaced and the mileage of the cars in which it was replaced, at the time of replacement.
	Nevertheless, I am pleased that they have made an effort, though I suspect they know very well that they are responsible for the usage of a badly manufactured part and are refusing to honor the warranty to defer the costs onto their customers. As a result, I intend to leave this claim open until I am reimbursed for the warranty covered part and possibly seek legal redress.
	I hope that other customers will consider not purchasing from Nissan given their refusal to stand behind their product.
01/20/2016	  KWB	EMAIL	Forward Consumer Rebuttal to Business
01/28/2016	  WEB	BBB	RECEIVED BUSINESS' REBUTTAL RESPONSE : We are sorry to learn of Mr. Sock's dissatisfaction with our position and we appreciate his patience during our review.
	We apologize for any inconvenience Mr. Sock may have experienced due to the concern with the Slave Clutch Cylinder in his 2011 Infiniti G37. According to our records, Mr. Sock spoke with an Executive Specialist on January 20, 2016, who explained the Slave Clutch Cylinder is an external part and would not be covered under the warranty, and referred him to the warranty booklet for more information. In the interest of customer satisfaction, the Executive Specialist offered Mr. Sock a reimbursement of $181.80 for the previous clutch fluid flush.
	At this time, our goodwill offer stands as is, Nissan is not in a position to offer a reimbursement for the Slave Clutch Cylinder as the vehicle is 13 months outside of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty.
	We appreciate Mr. Sock's patience during our review. Should he have any questions, he is welcome to contact the Executive Specialist directly and reference case number 21206512.
	Thank you
01/29/2016	  KWB	EMAIL	Send Consumer Rebuttal - No New Offer - ANSWERED
01/29/2016	  Otto	EMAIL	Inform Business - Case Closed ANSWERED
01/29/2016	  Otto	BBB	Case Closed ANSWERED
01/29/2016	  KWB	BBB	MORE INFO RECEIVED FROM THE CONSUMER : From: My Sock
	Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2016 5:36 PM
	To: Better Business Bureau
	Subject:  Re: BBB Complaint Case# 37127353
	Importance: Low
	The only response shown in this complaint is one in which they say they will call. They did. Beyond that there is no written response. I have been very detailed in the followup after the call, but I want to be clear that I am not satisfied with the response from the company.
	My Sock
01/29/2016	  	BBB	MORE INFO RECEIVED FROM THE CONSUMER : I am certainly glad to hear that this complaint will stay open so that other potential buyers can see that the position Nissan has taken is unjustifiable. They say they referred me to the warranty booklet, which is funny because between myself and Nissan I can only be certain that I read it.
	I hope other customers will realize Nissan's refusal to stand behind their product or honor their warranty, and hesitate to purchase products from them in the future. I'm glad the BBB has provided this forum to remind people how badly consumers are treated by some companies even after years of handing them lots of money. I'll be glad to hand it to other companies from here forward.