I wanted to share our experience of yet another exploding sunroof concern. My wife was attending a course out of town in Spruce Grove, Alberta last Thursday when without warning on a secondary road with no other vehicles nearby - and a passenger as a witness - the sunroof exploded outward without warning. As reported by many other people, the sound was not unlike a gunshot going off. My wife almost lost control of the vehicle, and fortunately they were both unharmed yet shaken by the incident. Our vehicle is a well maintained 7 month old car with 14,000 km.
I contacted Royal Oak Nissan on Friday to describe what had happened. Without seeing the vehicle the sales manager and service advisor blamed the incident on a rock striking the sunroof. How could they know? They hadn't seen the vehicle or the damage yet. The sales manager contacted their warranty advisor by email and advised I would have to go through insurance and file a claim. Warranty does not cover glass. The cost of repairs is in the $1500-$2000 range. They offered to reduce the expense by a mere $200-$300 which is pointless if I have to file a claim and pay a deductible.
When my wife returned, we brought the car to the dealer Wednesday. I filed a complaint with Nissan Canada Customer Relations that day. They took my information and gave me a file number. They advised me to call the dealership's service department to request an inspection of the vehicle to help determine the cause of the incident. They advised it will take up to 5 business days to act on my request and by that time my vehicle might already be repaired (?!??) I followed their instructions and called the dealer. Their service department had no idea what I was referring to and said call back when the supervisor was in.
I called Thursday. Supervisor is dealing with another customer and not available. Called today. Telephone tag several times, and the only reason they actually needed to reach us was to get the approval of paperwork for insurance claim. Supervisor said there is nothing they can do regarding investigating cause of incident as they have almost completed the repairs. So what was the point of my complaint?
I received a message to call back Consumer Affairs with Nissan Canada. Called them back and same story - warranty doesn't cover glass. Once again, what was the point in repeating this complaint?
I've been a loyal customer (begrudgingly) due to my wife's love of Nissans. She purchased a 2001 Nissan Sentra from Sunridge Nissan after university, and it was relentlessly faithful until it was written off for hail damage. We purchased a brand new 2013 Rogue for her from Royal Oak Nissan which was also written off for hail damage ($22,000+). Even after the hail, the sunroof stood up to the abuse even though the windshield and rear window were destroyed. After that vehicle was destroyed in the Airdrie hail, my wife insisted on a new 2014 Rogue. Now 7 months after buying this vehicle I'm refused coverage under warranty and forced to file an insurance claim. I even paid for an extended warranty on the vehicle. And the dealer still insists that a rock struck the sunroof. Trying to show online accounts of other people with the same issue made no difference to them. Most complaints support the theory of poor quality glass, airtight interior cabin compartments causing pressure issues (hence exploding from the inside out)- or both. Neither of these is the fault of the customer.. It's poor materials and poor design on the manufacturers part in my opinion... And there should be a recall in place for such a thing.
They have permanently lost our business and I will never buy a Nissan again. We will probably sell it as soon as it makes financial sense to do so. Loyalty means nothing to some manufacturers. Out of all the online complaints I've heard... A few makes have made goodwill gestures and covered the expense, but I repeatedly see Nissan as a manufacturer that leaves their paying customers in a lurch.