Karmart, Nissan USA, National Warranty Corp, Karmart Nissan Unethical sales, wrong extended warranty Burlington Washington

My story started in Aug 2006. I went to Karmart Nissan in Burlington, WA to buy a 350Z. I admit that I was not as informed as a consumer than I am currently. I co-signed for the car and left the lot after doing all the paperwork. I traded in my 2004 Hyundai Accent. A sales rep followed us home to pick up the car as we hadn't driven it to the dealership. I was called a week later and told that they found a credit union to finance us but I would have to come in a re-sign. I ended up going back twice to re-sign. The sales rep advised me that they were going to add gap insurance and an extended warranty for my vehicle. At the third visit, I was going to give the car back and cancel the whole thing. The sales guys re-worked the amounts etc and I ended up keeping the car. Biggest mistake of my life.

I bought the car at 20,813 miles. I was assured that the car was in pristine condition and taken care of by the previous owner. I knew that the price for repairs, tires etc would be more than my Hyundai. I was also told that if for some reason I couldn't afford the car later on that the sales department would let me trade it in and they'd get me into another car.

So for the first 6 months of driving the car, I had to get the soft top replaced, the 6 disk CD player replaced, the passenger seat air bag replaced , and the navigation system door replaced, which fortunately, were all covered under manufacturer's warranty. After the soft top was replaced, it didn't fit quite the same and the auto repair dept assured me it was just "tight" since it was new. I didn't undo the material to look at the bar at that time.

After about a year, my clutch went out. I had my mechanic (Zsport in Everett) take a look to make sure that was the issue. He confirmed and told me to take to dealership as my car was under 30,000 miles and he said they'd most likely cover it. I took it up to Burlington and they gave me a rental car while the looked at it. They called me a few days later and confirmed the clutch and fly wheel needed replacing. They quoted me over $2000 as it wouldn't be covered by the manufacturer's warranty or extended warranty. I then called Nissan USA to get more help and see if they would compromise since my car was only at 30,000 miles.

After talking to multiple people, including the manager of Karmart (I think his name was Jim), I got absolutely no where. So a week later, I dropped off the rental car and towed the Z down to Zsport in Everett, WA. They gave me a great deal and I only paid about $1000 for a new clutch and machined fly wheel.

At one of the follow up appointments I had at Zsport, I had my mechanic look at the soft top as it was still acting up. He said that whoever installed it, bent the middle bar to get it to work. I went back to Karmart to get them to fix but since it was about a month after my warranty was up, the mechanic said that I would have to pay out of pocket. So I went back to Zsport (as I never paid Karmart a penny except for 1 oil change...) and he quoted me an hourly amount to fix the soft top, I asked the mechanic to see if my extended warranty would cover it. He called National Warranty Corp and they advised him I didn't have the proper plan for a convertible. So the original sales person/finance person who did my paperwork didn't even give me the appropriate warranty, which I paid $2899 for (according to my paperwork) which he told me they were including to get the bank to finance me.

I still have the car but it is parked as it needs new rear tires (I already replaced the front tires), new brakes and new rotors as whoever owned the car before me ripped them apart. It's been parked for about 1 year since I do not have the money to pay for all of that out of pocket. I currently drive a 1984 Toyota Cressida.

One more thing, I did try to trade in the Z twice. The first time I went back to Karmart to get them to take it back, as the sales manager promised me. They gave me a new Nissan Altima and a week later was told to return it as they couldn't get anyone to finance the trade (this was 6 mos after owning the ). 6 mos after that I took it to Performance Nissan in Everett, WA and they took one look at the numbers and told me I was completely screwed by whoever sold me the Z. I was upside down in my financing by about $8,000-10,000. No one will finance a trade in when there's that much of a gap. Someone told me that the only way I'd ever get out of the Z is if I got in an accident that totaled my car and gap insurance would cover the difference.

It's wonderful to have a $32,000 loan that I can't do anything about or even drive the car that the loan is for...

I have bad mouthed Karmart Nissan (and all Burlington Karmarts) since going through this huge mess. I won't ever buy a Nissan even though I love their cars. I will never again buy an extended warranty from National Warranty Corp as I've heard bad experiences from their consumers as well. All of my friends, family and coworkers know of my experience and will not be a customer of Karmart. I work in customer service and have for 8 years. I can't understand Karmart's position or sales strategy. I will go back to Hyundai of Everett as their cars are great and their warranties are awesome. Their customer service and maintenance department is wonderful, unlike Karmart. And believe me, I went up as high as I could go in trying to fix this mess. If only I knew about this website before, I would have posted this in 2007.

Chelsey
Marysville, Washington
U.S.A.