Infiniti: Worst experience dealing with the so called luxury automaker

[w_man]

I leased a 2007 G35 S this year. It's hard for me to say anything positive about the car because of the horrible experience I had dealing with Infiniti.

I got the car earlier this year and was involved in an accident a month later. I asked Infiniti where to take the car and they steered me towards Calgary Coach Works which deals with all Infinitis. At that time I was given the estimate of one month to repair the car.

I stayed in touch with the body shop and they were on schedule before they sent the car back to Infiniti to perform repairs on the airbags and suspension. It was there for a few weeks before I called to get an update. I was told at this time that they are awaiting some parts which are back ordered. This was considered normal as its such a new model. I understood and continued waiting. Another couple of weeks go by and I find out that the parts arrived but when they went in to repair the car, they realized 3 more parts are required, which are so new that they are not even in the system so they don't have a price for my insurance company. 2 week later, they still don't know the price but I am told they will do me a favor and order the parts anyways. 2 more weeks go by and the service manager at the dealership has finally gotten the information that the parts are NOT in North America and they have to get them from Japan but he has absolutely no ETA on the parts. It has been 3 months from the date of my accident. I am making payments for the past 3 months on a car I am not driving and to my surprise Infiniti still cant tell me when the parts will arrive from Japan.

I am without a car at this point and I have repeatedly asked
Infiniti's recommended body shop as well as Infiniti to help me with a loaner car. They have both refused to provide a loaner car and have simply told me they are not prepared to do anything for me. I submitted this information to Infiniti Canada and It has been over a week, I didn't even get an auto reply stating they received my concern.

I used to be in the BMW family before and they truly presented themselves as a luxury dealership. Infiniti released a product they are not prepared to support and they wont do anything to help you during the process. I have received better service from Ford.

The car itself performed well but if you are like me and are concerned about making sure the auto maker is able to support their product, then this isn't the car for you. It is a simple fact that accidents happen and you maybe left without any support or help from Infiniti for months until they finally figure out how to put your car back together.

I got my car from Hyatt Infiniti dealership from Calgary. As far as I am concerned, this isn't just about the dealership anymore. Infiniti Canada has clearly showed they are not interested in rectifying this situation. I do NOT recommend this car to anyone.

[Crymson]

I dunno, kinda sounds to me like they are doing what they can, it's just bad luck. They probalby should have figured they'd need those 3 parts right off the bat, but it doesn't sound like that would have changed the situation at all.

You're insurance company should have provided you with a rental.

[Lex350]

Originally posted by Crymson
I dunno, kinda sounds to me like they are doing what they can, it's just bad luck. They probalby should have figured they'd need those 3 parts right off the bat, but it doesn't sound like that would have changed the situation at all.

You're insurance company should have provided you with a rental.

I'm with you on this. I don;t think this is the dealers fault. I would be bitching at your insurance company for the rental...after all it in a crash not a manufacturers defect.

[roopi]

Infiniti/Bodyshop shouldn't be providing a loaner car. Your insurance should be doing this for up to 1 month.

[w_man]

They did ... even insurance companies have limited funds for rentals. Those funds are gone.

I can truly understand that they are waiting for parts but what i dont understand is how in this day and age of technology and superior communication, we cant find out when the parts will get here.

My first issue is the fact that Infiniti in general wasnt prepared to support their product before releasing it. Second is the management system in place is not connected in order to get updates on situations like parts availability. Third the lack of support they are willing to provide. Why is it so hard for them to simply provide a loaner since I'm sure this is an extra ordinary situation for them and there arent many others out there who have had their cars in the shop for over 3 months.

Its simply not what I expect from a luxury automaker.

[Crymson]

I think alot of insurance companies will go beyond a month, or else perhaps there is must be extra coverage. I know I've had friends that had a loaner for almost 6 months due to this kind of crap, the rental had to have been as much as the repair. They should have written the car off if they knew how long the rental would be.

Sure they probably should have had the right parts on hand, but mind you, it's a repair, not a defect. So there can be weird part issues. The G35 has been around for 5 years now, they shouldn't have a problem. It's probably one of those parts that in order to get one, they need to canabalize something on the assembly line because they NEVER fail, and if they do, it's because the car is a write off.

Who knows?

What i'm trying to say, is this isn't one of those situations where screaming and anger is going to do anyone any favour. They shop MAY be giving you the run around, but it's in insurance claim -- they have no reason to dick you at all. If the car could be fixed it would be.

And as for the "luxury" aspect. Infitini's are nice, yes. But i'ts not a rolls royce. It's not like you exactly dropped 150,000$ on your vehicle, it IS a rebadged Nissan. I'm not tyring to crap on your car, i wish i could afford a g35, but i'm saying that as far as the luxury spectrum goes, infinity is about halfway.

[w_man]

Hey i hear ya ... they call themselves a luxury automaker and consider themselves to be in the same league as BMW.

Once again, I am not arguing the fact that they truly cant find the part. I do think for sure their technicians should have ordered these parts initially when they initially did an analysis on the damages. I do expect a loaner from the body shop or the dealership in this regard mainly because a GOOD bodyshop / dealership will loan you a car. It is an insurance claim and they are getting good money to get this work done. How many A1 autobody loaner cars do you see on the road? I had a rental for a month and a half .. I gave lots of notice to see if they could setup a car for me and nothing.

At this point, i'm not angry or threatening Infiniti with anything .. I do expect them to contact the manufacturer (even if its in Japan) and get a reasonable ETA for me .. I think that's a reasonable expectation after 3 months.

My issue isnt really with the parts not being available .. its the lack of information Infiniti seems to have from their parts manufacturer and their support to their clients in extra ordinary situations like this .... I wouldnt want anyone else experiencing what i'm experiencing ...

[Crymson]

That sucks -- you're between a rock and hard place, and I can totally see why you'd want to vent.

Look on the bright side -- it's still only a lease! You can hand them back their keys in 2 years and not have to eat the depreciation on a repaired vehicle.

Can they use parts from a recycler or does insurance require you use brand new oem parts?

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by Crymson


You're insurance company should have provided you with a rental.

should be your insurance's to be covering your loss of use. Seeing that it's a lease, I'm hoping rental will be included in your coverage.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Its funny I know a guy who bought a brand new qx56 from hyatt, drove it for a year then traded it in for a lexus just because he dispised Hyatt's service.

[pattyt]

infiniti treats me and my family like royalty. Whenever we have any problems with the car we somehow end up just getting them taken care of for free or for hardly any cost. No warranty either on one of the cars. I guess its just up to the dealer. But around here for infiniti

[infected]

Originally posted by w_man
At this point, i'm not angry or threatening Infiniti with anything .. I do expect them to contact the manufacturer (even if its in Japan) and get a reasonable ETA for me .. I think that's a reasonable expectation after 3 months.

My issue isnt really with the parts not being available .. its the lack of information Infiniti seems to have from their parts manufacturer and their support to their clients in extra ordinary situations like this .... I wouldnt want anyone else experiencing what i'm experiencing ...

By the sounds of it, you're already being treated better than the customers over at Lone Star. Just keep nagging them and they'll do something productive. Best of luck.

[gen2teggy]

maybe the parts that come in r damaged?
this guy who has his car over at CCW bodyshop
needed a new roof panal
1st 1 we got was damaged....
we told nissan canada too send us a new 1
3weeks later
it comes damaged

so 3months pass....on our 5th roof panal...no damage.

if the part has to come out of japan....it would take 3 months...if Infiniti/nissan canada doesnt have it in stock

but best of luck too u.

[T-rus]

Being in the industry myself what we have done in the past is if the customer has to wait stupid amounts of time we will use another vehicle from the lot and take the parts from it. Just recently a customer purchased a brand new suv and on the pdi I found the A/C not working. It ended up being a faulty wire harness, we were told it would take up to 2 months or so to get a new one in, so we grabbed a another new suv of same model and yanked the harness out of it. The doaner vehicle sat for almost 3 months, I just finished putting the new wire harness back into the vehicle yesterday.

Yes it may of been a pain to have a vehicle in the back lot that we could not sell but on the other hand we had a satisfied customer.

[w_man]

That's exactly it. The point here is that Infiniti doesn’t HAVE to do anything here. If they were legally bound to do something extra ordinary in this scenario, believe me i'd have my lawyer knocking on their door. These things happen and what separates a GOOD automaker from a bad or average one is when they go above and beyond to rectify a situation. I am not saying Infiniti is doing something wrong but the fact they were not fully prepared to support this car when they released it ... i was hoping they would act like a luxury automaker they claim to be and do something similar to what T-Rus said.

Instead I don’t have anyone calling me to give me updates. It's been over 20 days since I last talked to someone at Infiniti and over a week since i submitted my concern to Infiniti Canada. They haven’t even made it a point to call and update me on the situation. I emailed my sales person to ask what it would take to simply get rid of my Infiniti because I am not happy with my experience and as professional as he is, he hasn’t even returned my email (he used to write me back rather quickly before this incident). Once again .. they don’t have to call me or do anything ... but I guess I have been spoiled by BMW.

I'm almost inclined to simply stop making payments on the car, letting them write it on my credit history .. going over and grabbing a BMW ....

Any suggestions ...?

[trieuth]

were you at fault in the accident?

if you weren't there should be no max for a rental car cause it all ends up getting billed to the other persons insurance company. if it is your fault, then you have a max on the rental vehicle. 9/10 after the insurance company stops paying you can get the shop to pay.

that forces them to work on the car faster, so they arent losing as much money

i work with a car rental company that does insurance replacements, i know how most of this works

[w_man]

Yup, my insurance company covered for the maximum amount. They even told me recently that if I had gone with their preferred body shop, they would still pay for a rental if it took this long but because I picked CCW, they can’t do anymore for me. I picked CCW because Infiniti uses them ... that’s my mistake of course .. I regret going to CCW for this work let alone purchasing this car which is so high maintenance apparently.

I would expect them to cover the cost of a loaner / rental after my insurance funds depleted but nothing!!! The owner of CCW said no and Infiniti bluntly said no.

These are simple courtesies you sometimes expect from a 'luxury' dealership and its affiliated body shops.

[ZyaL8R]

If it's drivable why not pick it up and do the work at another shop? Hell I gave Sunridge (worthless dealership) an HOUR to fix their alignment fuckup before getting my key back and going to CMS. 3 months is being way too patient!

[w_man]

I wish i could ... They are saying the parts are related to the suspension ...

I agree ... I have waited 3 months considering the parts issue and labour shortage in Calgary ... After 3 months when you are told 'unfortunately we dont have an ETA on the parts' ... would drive anyone crazy.

I thought i'd discuss it here .... always get a good perspective talking on beyond.

[The Cosworth]

Originally posted by w_man
That's exactly it. The point here is that Infiniti doesn’t HAVE to do anything here. If they were legally bound to do something extra ordinary in this scenario, believe me i'd have my lawyer knocking on their door. These things happen and what separates a GOOD automaker from a bad or average one is when they go above and beyond to rectify a situation. I am not saying Infiniti is doing something wrong but the fact they were not fully prepared to support this car when they released it ... i was hoping they would act like a luxury automaker they claim to be and do something similar to what T-Rus said.

Instead I don’t have anyone calling me to give me updates. It's been over 20 days since I last talked to someone at Infiniti and over a week since i submitted my concern to Infiniti Canada. They haven’t even made it a point to call and update me on the situation. I emailed my sales person to ask what it would take to simply get rid of my Infiniti because I am not happy with my experience and as professional as he is, he hasn’t even returned my email (he used to write me back rather quickly before this incident). Once again .. they don’t have to call me or do anything ... but I guess I have been spoiled by BMW.

I'm almost inclined to simply stop making payments on the car, letting them write it on my credit history .. going over and grabbing a BMW ....

Any suggestions ...?

I agree with you here, I understand that the dealer doesn't HAVE to do anything but they most likely should. I also understand that they can't help parts and different things, but I would like to know how many cars go home with the employees of the dealership every day. I dont think you are wrong in thinking this one bit. The only real way to tell is by they way you feel once you walk out of the dealership, I once had the same sort of problem at Crowfoot Ford with my Stang but I left feeling they were trying to fix it the best they could. So I couldn't have been happier with them and they hadn't done shit to my car

Originally posted by w_man
Yup, my insurance company covered for the maximum amount. They even told me recently that if I had gone with their preferred body shop, they would still pay for a rental if it took this long but because I picked CCW, they can’t do anymore for me. I picked CCW because Infiniti uses them ... that’s my mistake of course .. I regret going to CCW for this work let alone purchasing this car which is so high maintenance apparently.

I would expect them to cover the cost of a loaner / rental after my insurance funds depleted but nothing!!! The owner of CCW said no and Infiniti bluntly said no.

These are simple courtesies you sometimes expect from a 'luxury' dealership and its affiliated body shops.

Look at it this way though, your insurance would have covered it but when you tried to trade it back in they could have said "hey this was in an accident and you didnt get it fixed at the dealer (or dealer approved place) like it says in your lease" I know my lease says you HAVE to fix all problems (minus oil changes) at a Mitsu dealer or authorized shop