Universal City Nissan Nissan North America Incorporation Lies, deceit, negligence, incompetence, it just never ends at Universal City Nissan in Los Angeles California

Lies, deceit, negligence, incompetence, it just never ends at Universal City Nissan.  AVOID THEIR SERVICE DEPARTMENT LIKE THE PLAGUE! AND AVOID NISSAN CARS LIKE THE PLAGUE Nissan does not stand behind their cars they are a despicable disreputable company and corporation and corporate allows their Dealerships to run amok and lie and cheat and steal from the customers and employ incompetent mechanics and technicians and they don't stand behind anything they do or anything they say, and they all contradict each other and have absolutely no integrity.  Oh boy, can you tell I'm a little pissed off.

So here's a summary of all my problems with Universal City Nissan:

Over the past 3 years, I've had my 2002 Nissan Sentra SER Spec V into Nissan 15 times for service. They have yet to fix it. Every 1-7 months I have to bring it back. The car has shut off and stalled on me in traffic, which is very dangerous. The ECM has been replaced twice, the Throttle Position Sensor 3 times, the Idle Air Control Reset 3 times.

Many others have reported problems with the ECM on my specific car online I believe it is bad, as well as other parts, and Nissan needs to issue recalls on these parts, and possibly the car itself.  I have filed reports with the BBB on both this location and Nissan Corporate, the California Department of Consumer Affairs, the CA Attorney Generals Office, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and my next step is the TN Attorney General's Office, because that's where Nissan Corporate is located.  I believe my problems began when these parts and my car were still under warranty, but due to Nissan's negligence and incompetence, they failed to properly diagnose my car and fix it.

I've had three files open with Nissan Corporate and they have yet to correct the problems with my car.  I've been lied to by Eric Diaz and Juan Beccera (Service Manager) at Universal City Nissan; I've had offers reneged from David Larush (866-799-1690 x1476, fax. 615-967-2047), the Regional Specialist assigned to my case; David has contradicted things that Matthew (866-799-1690 x1660, FAX: 615-967-2735) the previous Regional Specialist assigned to my case back in December 09, told me.  Eric Diaz lied to me back in July 2009, quoting me a price higher on a part than Uni Nissan's own parts Department. 

Eric Diaz lied to me again, in writing - when I brought my car in 11/06/10 they fixed a wire - he wrote on the invoice "If light comes back, need to replace ECU [same as ECM] under warranty."  Then 1.5 weeks later when my car shuts off on me 4-5 times in rush hour work traffic on the way to work, I bring it in, and for two days I have to argue with Eric, Juan Beccera, and TJ over the ECM being covered under warranty.  I miss the days that Mel Lamus and Stacey were service manager here because at least they tried to help.  This dealership's service department has been through at least 3 Service Managers in the past 3 years, which really tells you something (as opposed to Chris at the Santa Monica Nissan Service Department who's been Service Manager for quite awhile and he even hinted to me that he didn't trust Uni Nissan).

On further lies, Eric first says my car was built in PA, then Juan says CA on 11/17/10 in morning, then Eric calls back and says no it was built in Mexico. This is important because apparently if a car is a CA car, the warranty is different than a 50 states car, which makes no sense because Nissan should stand behind all of their cars, or not have them built somewhere else (I.e. Mexico).  Finally Juan gets warranty dept. to authorize replacing the ECM.  But it doesn't end there. 

On 11/19/10, three days after I've brought my car in, I get a call from TJ and he says  "I see the ECM came in, it's not under warranty, so it's going to cost you."  I was outraged because this had already been taken care of by Juan.  So I call Juan and he says, "So sorry, Eric Diaz is no longer with us and TJ is taking over and he didn't know, I just walked in.  Everything is ok, it's covered.  Eric Diaz was let go by upper management. (I just called there today and Eric still works there, so another lie Juan told).  I ask Juan if he'll cover the car rental for my trouble and he says he'll look into it.

Saturday, 11/20/10 I don't get a call to say if my car is ready.  So Sunday I call in to find out it is, I go to pick it up, and I get hit with a $111.50 car rental bill.  I assumed since Juan didn't get back to me, that was going to be taken care of.  So I call Juan and explain the situation:    

After I dropped my car off in the morning on 11/16 I ask receptionist if I should take the bus, or if the shuttle will leave soon.  She says the shuttle will leave in 20 mins.  The next shuttle takes 2 people, skipping over me to the next person, even though I would be first on his route.  Then another employee there offers to take me, but he doesn't have the keys to the car he wants to drive (so apparently in a large Nissan dealership there is no other car available they have the keys to) and I wait for a good 20 mins.  I seriously thought I was on candid camera or Punk'd.  At this point, I'm already over an hour late to work, I had to do something to get there, because I had no idea how long it was going to take to wait for the next shuttle, or if they would skip over me again, or how long it would take these guys to find keys to apparently the only car on the lot they could drive me in..  So my only option was to get a rental.

Juan didn't care.  I even offered to split it with him.  Nope.  He says "we can't continue fixing your car for free."  When I counter with, "I've had it in there 15 times in the last 3 years, it's still not fixed."  He had nothing to say other than, "We're done helping you, we're done."

So regarding the file I open with Nissan Corporate, David Larush calls me on 11/30/10 and offers me an extended warranty, 7 yr/100,000 miles whichever comes first.  So I ask when does the 7 years begin, and he says when my car was originally sold, 2002.  Um, it's now 2010, 8 years past. Nope, sorry, the warranty is already expired.  So this guy is so imcompetent and negligent that he didn't even know the year of my car, even though it is listed on the 15 invoices I sent him.  I ask if they can waive the 7 year part and cover it up to 100,000 miles and he says he'll ask.  2 days later he calls me back - nope, that's the only warranty they offer.  All he can do is reimburse me for the car rental - which I appreciate - and actually received just yesterday..  But he called me on Tuesday with an offer of an extended warranty for all the trouble I've had, then he totally reneges the offer on Thursday.  All he can offer is $250 off my next service (yet every part that Uni Nissan has told me is bad is over $800).

I call back Nissan Corporate and they say there's nothing else they can do for me.  The Regional Specialist has the final say.  The rep says my next step is to go to the BBB.  So I have, and every other agency I can find.

These people at Nissan are slimeballs and liars and take absolutely no responsibility for their product, their employees, or their actions.  I contacted one attorney who sued Nissan in a class action for falsely setting their odometers wrong to screw customers out of lease miles and warranty work, and he told me he was done with Nissan, he couldn't deal with them anymore.

STAY AWAY FROM NISSAN to avoid all this nonsense.

Here's a list of all the times I've had it in:

Problem # / Date / Problem / Solution

#1 1/31/08/Service Engine Soon (SES) Light/Recall R0712 - Reprogram ECM (update of the software).  Evap Leak (#1),  Resecure fuel cap
#2 8/23/08/SES/Idle Air Control Reset (#1): Performed Idle Air Relearn, Reset ECM set idle, Adjust Idle Control Valve.   $165
#3 1/9/09/Car won't start/Codes P0605, Po183, P2128, P1229, P0122.  Replace ECM unit (#1) due to pulling too many codes // Main harness pin test, repair fuel pump wire in main harness, $449.00
#4 1/28/09/SES / Code P0455 Evap gross leak (#2).  Repair Fuel lines, replace "O" Ring,  $302.00.
#5 6/6/09 / SES, stalls on highway / Code P1456 Evap very small leak (#3), recurred gas cap.
#6 7/12/09 / SES, no power / Code PO233, replace Throttle Chamber (#1)
#7 7/21/09 / SES / Code P1456 Evap small leak (#4), replaced vent control valve
#8 7/28/09 / Car shuts off in traffic / Performed air idle learn (#2)
#9 12/2/09 / Car shifting hard / Santa Monica Nissan determines there is no communication between the sensor and the ECM (computer), which means it's an electrical problem, and they want to do a pin test for $575
#10 12/7/09 / SES / Replaced Throttle Assembly (#2)
#11 12/24/09 / SES / replace radiator
#12 4/24/10 / SES / Diagnostics showed TP Sensor, performed Idle Control Learn Volume (#3)
#13 5/12/10 / SES, car stalls / Replace Throttle Body Sensor (#3)
#14 11/6/10 / SES / Repaired Ground Wire at ECM
#15 11/16/10 / car shuts off in traffic / replace ECM, charge $111.50 for car rental

In addition to all the places I've filed complaints, I'm seeking a lawyer to file a class-action lawsuit against Nissan. Anyone else with a Nissan Sentra with these troubles should contact me.