What to do now - dealer/customer relationship broken (again!

[Teknaman]

I've swithered about posting this here, but I am hoping someone out there can give me sound advice on where I stand.

I'm going to summarise the best I can -

End April - used X Trail 7 seat NTec dci AWD purchased, but over 4 months we suffered a long list of faults inc warped front discs (from pickup), noisy rear brakes, key error faults, stop/start faults, and aircon which packed in (Condensor - which wasn't available for almost 2 months) to name just a few. I lost my patience & asked the dealer to take the car back as I didn't feel it was of acceptable quality.

They agreed to straight swap it for a Qashqai 1.6 dci Tekna 2wd (clearly worth less but I was desperate to get out of the X Trail so agreed to it) with just 12.5k on it which was coming from Nissan. It duly arrived, but on pick up I spotted it only had 3mm on one from tyre & less than 3mm in places on the other, a kerbed alloy, and a big 12"x6" scuff mark on the NSF wing. There were a few other marks on the bodywork that I felt they could have rectified before I picked it up, but it felt like they'd prepared it in a rush (around 1st Sept) & on the cheap. Having obtained a copy of the workshop report it showed the car had scratches on both front wings noted, along with others & the tyres were noted as 3mm each, and the actual tyre size scribbled on the report - suggesting to me that the tech felt they should be replaced. I selectively & lightly polished the scuff (I think it may have been machine polished & pushed down too hard) & other scratches with some degree of success. I also noted during one of the washes that the end caps on the roof bars showed the crazing noted by others on here.

Anyway, long story short, further dialogue ensued where I was told that 3mm is acceptable tread depth for a Cared 4 Nissan, and photos of the alloy damage & scuff damage on wing were sent in (but initially ignored). Not in my book it's not, having paid almost £22k for the X Trail I expected much better quality & service than I've had.

Someone then told me that my old X Trail had been put up for sale at more than I'd originally paid for it, despite me getting a sob story about how they were losing money on my deal now.

The salesman then agreed to take the car in for replacement of the front tyres & alloy, along with further checks of the bodywork and where required rectification. I also reported the crazed end caps, but they wouldn't replace without warranty approval.

I tried to request confirmation of the checks that a Nissan Cared 4 car goes through & also that the tyres would be replaced with like for like (Conti Sport Contact 5 tyres).

It was then that things started to take turns for the worse. Initially my email was ignored, and when I followed it up, the salesman confirmed arrangements were in place to pick up the car tmrw. However then another quite bizarre email followed from the garage boss advising that he felt that they'd bent over backwards to appease me & that I wasn't being 'reasonable' . Basically he is now saying he plans to have the car reinspected & he will then decide if they are going to replace the tyres (only if both are below 3mm !) & as far as he is concerned it's a used car so most 'reasonable' people would accept its used condition, and the damaged alloy, bodywork defects etc etc.

The tone of the email is quite frankly shocking & he seems to forget I am a customer of his garage & Nissan. He even suggests if I challenge the quality of what they've sold me, the best I'll get is the return of my traded in X Trail.

My relationship with the dealer is now well & truly broken, having teetered on the brink a few weeks ago, but the email and the arrogant attitude really is the finally straw. I also have a service plan that I no longer would feel confident using.

I am at the end of my tether & I'm not sure what to do next. I'm considering putting off the pickup (due tmrw) until I seek further advice....anyone got any suggestions?

[Gel]

A sorry tale.

What registration years were the X Trail & QQ; latter is still in Nissan warranty presumably?

Is the service plan a Nissan one or a dealership one; if former, you can get it serviced at any dealer.
(Add your location in signature area, and others can advise of some other good local dealerships).

Many dealers within the Nissan network, have no concept of customer service.

I'd be very wary of accepting your car until you're100% totally happy but don't think Nissan HO Customer Service
will be much help in your case.
Your dealer hasn't subscribed to Nissan's used car promise:

[gvmdaddy]

Sorry, no help at all, but a couple of thoughts...
How old was the QQ before you took ownership of it, because its quite conceivable that it could have been worth around the £22k you paid for your used Xtrail, not 'clearly worth less' as you suggest.
Of more concern though, I cant believe you agreed to any kind of deal/swap of vehicles without first having sight of, examining and test drive of the replacement vehicle.
Cared 4 Nissan cars are, at the end of the day still secondhand vehicles. Warranty wise you would be fine, but regarding the tyres, scuffed alloy and scuffed bumper, then im afraid these issues should have been noticed and resolved, at least in writing, before you exchanged the vehicles.

[Teknaman]

Gel - Both are 2015. Service plan is dealer specific, although a Nissan one if that makes sense ? I can cancel it, although I'll lose further money doing so.

gvmdaddy - 18 months old. I fully appreciate all the points you make. I am usually very cautious & fairly obsessive about how I deal with my purchases in general and more so cars due to the value involved. To give you some background I ironically traded a pretty reliable 5 year old XC60 in for the X Trail in order to reduce my exposure to potential reliability issues as the XC aged (I'd had a previous XC90 that became more unreliable from around year 6). The X Trail seemed a reasonable deal, but in the short time I had it, it was hugely unreliable to the point we were stuck in Penrith 250miles from home for a short while as it failed to recognise the key. Then there was all the other issues.

In order to get out of the X Trail I agreed to straight swap it. I know I know...what was I thinking of buying a car I'd not seen or driven. I've never done that before & will never buy a used car that way again. This whole experience has just led to even more stress when I least need it. I've had health issues & job issues (potential redundancy) and whilst it's not an excuse, my focus hasn't been as good as it should have been on what was arguably a less important issue.

When I went to pick the car up, they had it parked against the showroom window/wall, so I didn't see the alloy/wing damage until I'd driven it away. I allowed the blacked up tyres to distract me from the lack of tread on the front tyres. I still struggle to accept any of that is acceptable on a '£22k' car?

I need to decide what to do tmrw, but cancelling the pick up of the car until I can get further reassurances over what will be done & might also consider taking advice over how this has all been dealt with.

Either way, I'm done with the dealer, done with Nissan & can't see me keeping the QQ long term, it's a nice enough motor but it just feels like damaged goods & just isn't a car that I can lavish my usual weekly dose of TLC on.

[Bros]

I feel your pain and frustration my friend. What a horrible experience you have had.
I do think you have probably not helped matters ie, car checks prior to driving away.
I would imagine the 3mm is quite legal for them to do so I think you could lose that one. Scratches scuffs etc are as said previously are part of a used car, so again if you have nothing in writing your up a gum tree legally I would imagine.
My own take on this is that you either bite the bullet and get done what you can and move on.
Or, take legal advice. Or start with a letter to the CEO.
Your issues with both motors have went on for months now and must be very stressful.
At the end of the day the car can be sorted, tyres etc Scuffs & scrapes can be sorted easily enough.
Okay, this will cost you a few hundred quid to get the looking good etc
It ain't worth the stress & worry my friend your health is way more important, I too have health issues so I would probably take the easy way out.

Good luck, please let us know how you get on.
Bobby

[Teknaman]

Thanks for the reply Bobby. All sensible advice...

[Gel]

When visiting your shoddy dealer, take a letter addressed to CEO outlining, in specific detail the remedial actions
they must undertake before you will accept the vehicle.
List them all outlining the defect, & the remedial action needed.

Ensure too, to include a specific date for them to remedy the defects or give them option to make a cash settlement,
including refund of the dealership service plan.

[Teknaman]

Thanks Gel

[gvmdaddy]

Going in there all guns blazing and making demands is neither wise or courteous. Tread lightly, remain calm and give them good time to conclude the matter without resorting to mud slinging. Youve already admitted that youve made mistakes in all this so you now may have to accept that both parties will have to back down to keep it amicable.

[Gel]

When the dealer deliberately hid the damaged bodywork from view it shows they are not playing by Marquess Of Queensberry rules IMO.
It's prefectly reasonable for Teknaman to detail in writing what his requirements are so that both
sides are absolutely clear & hopefully a way forward is agreed & more importantly implemented.