Having not bought many new cars over the years I decided after working hard to treat me and my family to a nice big seven seater SUV ie, Nissans N-Connecta 1.6 X-Trail with all the trimmings. Was lovely to look at, great to drive (at first anyways!) and was very comfy and luxurious with electric sunroof panoramic glass etc..I was doing average to low mileage but had plenty of blasts on the motorway at over 60mph for more than 30 mins regularly enough car never seemed to have an issue until about 6 months in at around 3,000 miles.
I saw and engine warning light on amber.... thought nothing of it at first as the car was purring away without any notable issue then literally week later it was red and car would not run! I called Nissan and the AAA and someone came out and the AAA guy told me that this was a blocked DPF filter... he cleared it by running the engine hot for 30-40mins so visit to main dealers avoided! I didnt think much of this but for a brand new car with only 3K on the clock was a bit surprised. AAA man explained you need to take them for a blast to keep the DPF from clogging up which I did.
However much to my dismay at about 7,000 miles I had the same problem only this time the power was really diminished as soon as the engine warning light came on. On this occasion I booked it into Nissan main dealers I brought it from Westway Nissan in Manchester. I was called by Nissan to say the DPF was blocked and it would need a 'regen' and that I would be charged as it was because of the way I was driving the car..! I was making some short journeys of course who doesn't however I was always at least once every week or so going on longer 30min plus journeys on the motorway over 2,500 rpm fifth gear etc.. mindful of what the AAA had said to me. I complained and refused to pay the £200+ they wanted the cars less than 2 years old has done around 7,000 miles and they wanted me to pay! I was not impressed. Eventually main dealer didn't charge me.
Then finally last straw was for a third time it happened after a long 3 day drive to South Wales over 400 miles with about 3/ hours day driving at over 60mph it did exactly the same this time amber warning light came on and severe lack of power. I limped home booked it in again and this time had serious falling out with Nissan and they told me it was my driving style again I even had an email from them stating how I should take the car for a blast over a certain period of time etc.. which when I explained that I had just driven the car solidly for a week covering 750+ miles they had no answer for other than it was probably driven incorrectly beforehand. This time they did not want to rectify the problem so I complained directly to Nissan and started to ask for a refund.
Totally unimpressed with the DPF and engine the customer care was not very good and by the time I got some sort of offer of reconciliation from Nissan and the dealers I had sold the car ( fastest depreciating vehicle I have ever owned !!) cost me about £800 with depreciation! Paid £36k for a hunk of junk that obviously had a defect but got NOTHING from Nissan and Westway had no concept of customer care and offered me paltry sum on trade in. They even offered me less than most other dealers to add insult to injury. Completely dissatisfied will never go anywhere near a Nissan again. Avid these cars the engines DPF's are an nightmare.. even when you follow Nissans guidance they get blocked up the engine is rubbish the service is rubbish and Nissan are crap at customer service just good at insulting your intelligence.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Having not bought many new cars over the years I decided after working hard to treat me and my family to a nice big seven seater SUV ie, Nissans N-Connecta 1.6 X-Trail with all the trimmings. Was lovely to look at, great to drive (at first anyways!) and was very comfy and luxurious with electric sunroof panoramic glass etc..I was doing average to low mileage but had plenty of blasts on the motorway at over 60mph for more than 30 mins regularly enough car never seemed to have an issue until about 6 months in at around 3,000 miles.
I saw and engine warning light on amber.... thought nothing of it at first as the car was purring away without any notable issue then literally week later it was red and car would not run! I called Nissan and the AAA and someone came out and the AAA guy told me that this was a blocked DPF filter... he cleared it by running the engine hot for 30-40mins so visit to main dealers avoided! I didnt think much of this but for a brand new car with only 3K on the clock was a bit surprised. AAA man explained you need to take them for a blast to keep the DPF from clogging up which I did.
However much to my dismay at about 7,000 miles I had the same problem only this time the power was really diminished as soon as the engine warning light came on. On this occasion I booked it into Nissan main dealers I brought it from Westway Nissan in Manchester. I was called by Nissan to say the DPF was blocked and it would need a 'regen' and that I would be charged as it was because of the way I was driving the car..! I was making some short journeys of course who doesn't however I was always at least once every week or so going on longer 30min plus journeys on the motorway over 2,500 rpm fifth gear etc.. mindful of what the AAA had said to me. I complained and refused to pay the £200+ they wanted the cars less than 2 years old has done around 7,000 miles and they wanted me to pay! I was not impressed. Eventually main dealer didn't charge me.
Then finally last straw was for a third time it happened after a long 3 day drive to South Wales over 400 miles with about 3/ hours day driving at over 60mph it did exactly the same this time amber warning light came on and severe lack of power. I limped home booked it in again and this time had serious falling out with Nissan and they told me it was my driving style again I even had an email from them stating how I should take the car for a blast over a certain period of time etc.. which when I explained that I had just driven the car solidly for a week covering 750+ miles they had no answer for other than it was probably driven incorrectly beforehand. This time they did not want to rectify the problem so I complained directly to Nissan and started to ask for a refund.
Totally unimpressed with the DPF and engine the customer care was not very good and by the time I got some sort of offer of reconciliation from Nissan and the dealers I had sold the car ( fastest depreciating vehicle I have ever owned !!) cost me about £800 with depreciation! Paid £36k for a hunk of junk that obviously had a defect but got NOTHING from Nissan and Westway had no concept of customer care and offered me paltry sum on trade in. They even offered me less than most other dealers to add insult to injury. Completely dissatisfied will never go anywhere near a Nissan again. Avid these cars the engines DPF's are an nightmare.. even when you follow Nissans guidance they get blocked up the engine is rubbish the service is rubbish and Nissan are crap at customer service just good at insulting your intelligence.
- G D., Salford, UK