Nissan engines breaking after a recall: how do they compare?
Discussion
It seems that anyone with a 1.5dci Nissan Quashqai needs to be careful.
Anyone thinking of buying one may want to think again.
It is not the first time this kind of thing happens to a manufacturer, nor will it be the last. It is how a manufacturer responds to these things that makes the difference.
It is a simple story - it seems that the timing belt on many of these cars is suddenly prone to failure, usually resulting in a wrecked engine requiring total replacement. They even issued a recall notice to have cars belts inspected. Many cars passed the inspection only to have the belt fail anyway and their engines completely destroyed..
Nissan, predictably, are hoping it will go away, even thought they are clearly bang to rights considering this was the subject of an earlier recall. But judging by the growing evidence of problems I don't think it will go away.
There is a Facebook page in play now: https://www.facebook.com/NissanUK/posts/5233366043...
Nissan are not currently responding very well to this. Growing numbers of unhappy owners are popping up.
This got me thinking: While Nissan currently appear to be in denial, I was wondering if this is the standard response from makers ( i.e pretend it isn't happening until enough people shout loud enough) or if other makers are rather better at handling these things?
From dodgy coil packs and CVT boxes in Audi's, to Porsche GT3's requiring new engines, what is the experience of the PH collective about different makers?
Do you have experience of manufacturers owning up early and facing the music?
Or do all manufacturers pretend it isn't a problem until they appear on Watchdog on the telly?
And regarding Nissan, given that they share engines with Renaults - do they have the same issue?
Anyone thinking of buying one may want to think again.
It is not the first time this kind of thing happens to a manufacturer, nor will it be the last. It is how a manufacturer responds to these things that makes the difference.
It is a simple story - it seems that the timing belt on many of these cars is suddenly prone to failure, usually resulting in a wrecked engine requiring total replacement. They even issued a recall notice to have cars belts inspected. Many cars passed the inspection only to have the belt fail anyway and their engines completely destroyed..
Nissan, predictably, are hoping it will go away, even thought they are clearly bang to rights considering this was the subject of an earlier recall. But judging by the growing evidence of problems I don't think it will go away.
There is a Facebook page in play now: https://www.facebook.com/NissanUK/posts/5233366043...
Nissan are not currently responding very well to this. Growing numbers of unhappy owners are popping up.
This got me thinking: While Nissan currently appear to be in denial, I was wondering if this is the standard response from makers ( i.e pretend it isn't happening until enough people shout loud enough) or if other makers are rather better at handling these things?
From dodgy coil packs and CVT boxes in Audi's, to Porsche GT3's requiring new engines, what is the experience of the PH collective about different makers?
Do you have experience of manufacturers owning up early and facing the music?
Or do all manufacturers pretend it isn't a problem until they appear on Watchdog on the telly?
And regarding Nissan, given that they share engines with Renaults - do they have the same issue?
BMW didnt do to well with the cam chain issues on some of their earlier (N47?) diesel engines either did they?
When such things arise, the public's confidence in the marque diminishes. However, if one considered toyota who regularly issue recals on vehicles from present to maybe 10 years ago, it is a public statement of "we failed, bring us your car back and we'll fix it" which also leads to diminished confidence in a product.
What is a manufacturer to do? People expect turn-key reliability, and any admission of fault is only negative however the manufacturer may handle it.
Granted though, this does not advocate these particular marques for not doing all they can to adress issues such as a failing cam belt - such an item is a tried-and-tested part and should not be failing at this day and age unless the vehiclular owner is really, really passed the replacment interval.
When such things arise, the public's confidence in the marque diminishes. However, if one considered toyota who regularly issue recals on vehicles from present to maybe 10 years ago, it is a public statement of "we failed, bring us your car back and we'll fix it" which also leads to diminished confidence in a product.
What is a manufacturer to do? People expect turn-key reliability, and any admission of fault is only negative however the manufacturer may handle it.
Granted though, this does not advocate these particular marques for not doing all they can to adress issues such as a failing cam belt - such an item is a tried-and-tested part and should not be failing at this day and age unless the vehiclular owner is really, really passed the replacment interval.
The dash pod on my Audi TT started to fail (would eventually leave car unusable).
It was out of warranty but it had been an issue affecting loads of cars and therefore on BBC Watchdog a year or two before and there were loads of posts on the web forums and youtube.
Audi response:-
"We've never heard of, or seen this issue before"
Turned out to be lies of course as they let it slip that they had done several replacements recently.
They came good eventually and replaced it FOC.
And so they should; it was an inherent fault due to poor components and would have rendered a 3 year old car totally useless.
It was out of warranty but it had been an issue affecting loads of cars and therefore on BBC Watchdog a year or two before and there were loads of posts on the web forums and youtube.
Audi response:-
"We've never heard of, or seen this issue before"
Turned out to be lies of course as they let it slip that they had done several replacements recently.
They came good eventually and replaced it FOC.
And so they should; it was an inherent fault due to poor components and would have rendered a 3 year old car totally useless.
thatdude said:
Granted though, this does not advocate these particular marques for not doing all they can to adress issues such as a failing cam belt - such an item is a tried-and-tested part and should not be failing at this day and age unless the vehiclular owner is really, really passed the replacment interval.
In Nissan's case what is even worse is that they knew they had a problem - they issued a recall to have engines inspected. Nissan are bang to rights in this example; clearly Nissan became aware that there was a problem with timing belts ( maybe it was a dodgy model year / supplier ) and they instructed all owners to bring their cars into the dealer for inspection. To have previously inspected engines destroy themselves after inspection is rather embarrassing, to say the least..It probably ranks up there with BMW's dodgy keys in the "cock up" stakes I suspect..
Mini cooper r56 model's with the N14 engine have a reputation for poor cam chain tensioner and high pressure fuel pump failures, they have issued several design changes in the tensioners to try to cure the death rattle on cold starts, with limited success, and always denying there is any fault at all with their product, main problem being its a worldwide issue and they have differing responses to where the customer actually resides, in America there have been several class action lawsuits filed against BMW/mini, which have resulted in them offering hugely extended warranty periods (ten years for the fuel pump) on these items that fail with great regularity, in most peoples minds a timing chain set that has no set service life should last the life time of the engine, not be rattling itself to death at anything from 15k upwards, and have that fault reappear when its been replaced with equally faulty componants.
In the uk you get diddly squat cover as our legal system is not the same as in the state's, and there has not been similar pressure exerted on them to offer any where near the same amount of care and cover, its not just a mini issue by the way, as the "prince " engine in the Cooper is also fitted to several Peugeot and Citroen model's as it was a joint venture, all three manufacturers deny there is issues with it.
In the uk you get diddly squat cover as our legal system is not the same as in the state's, and there has not been similar pressure exerted on them to offer any where near the same amount of care and cover, its not just a mini issue by the way, as the "prince " engine in the Cooper is also fitted to several Peugeot and Citroen model's as it was a joint venture, all three manufacturers deny there is issues with it.
Toyota regularly get flamed for recalling cars, but seems the only manufacturer to actually care about their customers. I know of someone who complained that their 7 year old Toyota had a recall for something minor, but shut up when it was pointed out that other car makers would've ignored the issue and left them to it. I've owned a BMW with a serious design /spec issue with the steering column,which was a safety issue, IMO, but only fixed when under warranty and if complained about. ALL other customers were left to replace it themselves ( a £2,500 fix). Apart from Toyota, it seems that as soon as they have your money, you're on your own.
skyrover said:
Renault engine isn't it?
Yep. The little 1.5 unit. Never realised that it had a rubber timing belt. Also never realised that the timing belt has a life of 5 years / 75,000 miles as a guideline from Nissan.
Also never realised that Nissan thought something was amiss because lots of owners had recalls to make sure the belt was checked. It seems that people had the belt checked and then were sent on their way. Then the belt snaps and the engine is totalled. A complete write off. Nissan clearly knew something was wrong ( hence the recall ) but effectively did nothing about it because the belts were not changed.
It seems that 2010 Quashqai's are ticking bombs waiting for the moment when their engine tears itself apart. This is a £5,000 job.
I would think that Clios/Meganes etc may be affected the same way?? Don't know if other years of manufacture are also affected or not.
Deisel Weisel said:
Does this effect 2014 models?
If the engine is the same then one could assume so, ultimately. Cars are failing with only 30-40,000 miles on them in some cases. Engines are wrecked and beyond repair - a new unit is needed.I think its gonna be on Watchdog at this rate.. Facebook is filling up with irked owners and Nissan are playing the silent routine. This is a very popular car, so they may have a problem on their hands..
Kentish said:
The dash pod on my Audi TT started to fail (would eventually leave car unusable).
It was out of warranty but it had been an issue affecting loads of cars and therefore on BBC Watchdog a year or two before and there were loads of posts on the web forums and youtube.
Audi response:-
"We've never heard of, or seen this issue before"
Turned out to be lies of course ...
Colleague of mine had a timing chain fail on her Golf - I think it was a 1.5 turbo 'GT' or something similar. Dealer said they'd never seen the issue before but said they'd give her a good part-ex on her knackered car if she bought a new one. A quick Google revealed that this was a common problem on that particular model.It was out of warranty but it had been an issue affecting loads of cars and therefore on BBC Watchdog a year or two before and there were loads of posts on the web forums and youtube.
Audi response:-
"We've never heard of, or seen this issue before"
Turned out to be lies of course ...
The way manufacturers respond seems to be based on a "do as little as we can get away with" attitude. You only have to look at how the levels of compensation for self-combusting Porsche 911s has varied between countries to see that it's consumer law in any given country, not a globally consistent manufacturer brand ethic, that dictates how you are treated. If I were put in charge of consumer law in the UK car manufacturers would be in for a really nasty shock!
bimsb6 said:
toppstuff said:
Yep. The little 1.5 unit.
Never realised that it had a rubber timing belt. Also never realised that the timing belt has a life of 5 years / 75,000 miles as a guideline from .
That seems a hell of a mileage for a belt .Never realised that it had a rubber timing belt. Also never realised that the timing belt has a life of 5 years / 75,000 miles as a guideline from .
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff