[umytbnext]

Greetings fellow Armada owners-

Well as much as it kills me to admit it - I'm getting fed up with my Armada. Brake judder hit me just a week after I posted on here how strange it was that I had 6,000 miles and no problems when everyone else was having them... Then the small squawks started coming in. Floor on drivers side seems to separate from the frame like it's taped on (makes a strange sticky noise when you step on the drivers side floormat). Then the rear seat hinge cover comes off every time you fold the seat. Then I noticed some flaws in the paint (one was a HAIR in the paint - that drove me NUTS).

And of course the rattles and noises started. Like that vibrating sound out of the center mounted tweeter housing. And the passenger side seatbelt making that sound like someone's pulling it all the way out when you're driving around.

Then came the alarming problems. A puddle of oil in my garage. It's coming from the right front area of the engine. The entire underbody in that area is covered in oil. Then - I'm wiping the beloved 'Mada dry after a wash and I notice - RUST - on the door sills around the top of the window. RUST. On an '04. Not in the wheel wells either. I was NOT pleased.

Then there's the clunking noise that started recently. Start her up, put her into reverse, back out of a parking spot, put her into drive and BAM - a clunk that shook the car like a quake. What the hell is going on here???

SO I took it to the dealer. That was nearly two weeks ago. I still have no Armada.

They tell me that 1. The brake judder is back - so they'll grind down my rotors AGAIN. There are no new parts available for this right now - it could be WEEKS before they get the new, improved brakes in. 2. They've ordered $5,500 in parts for my Armada - including new differentials. Mine completely came apart (so how the hell did it make it to the dealer under it's own power???). 3. The rusty door and the paint flaws (one on the drivers pillar next to the windshield, then there's the hair on the right side rear door) are going to be fixed off site at a body shop. The vehicle has been there for a week now. They do NOT intend to repaint the entire vehicle. I can't imagine not being able to see these types of repairs in the paint.

Now for the record - they did give me a 2005 Altima for a loaner, even though they say that "Nissan does NOT offer loaner cars". I think they're just trying to make themselves look good here.

I'm wondering - do I have a Lemon? Should I pursue this any further or just be happy that I have a loaner car while my Armada is in the shop for weeks? The Armada has 14,700 miles on it!

One thing they asked me was about towing - they asked if I tow airplanes with my Armada. I do own a company that works on 727's but come on - let's NOT get crazy here. A 150,000 lb jet? No. A 3,500 lb trailer? Yes. And even then - I don't tow it very often (maybe once a week - over a 10 mile stretch). Should that blow out my differentials? God I hope not. Not on a vehicle with a 9,200 pound tow rating. :damn:

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Drew

 

[WestK]

Boy when the S**t hits the fan it hits hard. You didn't get a 7,000 miles warranty did you? It's like it was timed or something.
I know I wife would be ballistic if more then a few things that happened to you happened to us. I hope you will get your Armada fixed or replaced. I would think you could try for a lemon law thing but I really have no idea. Good Luck

 

[llajumpvid]

Sounds like maybe the differentials didn't have enough fluid. This was a problem on the early Titans as well.

 

[Tien]

I get that clunk when i'm on an incline. When I'm on a level area and put it in reverve it doesn't go clunk but if i'm on an incline, it'll clunk when i put it in reverse. That's not normal is it?

 

[umytbnext]

Tien - that's what mine was doing - but it was happening on level ground. It was erratic though - sometimes it didn't do it, sometimes it did. Weird.

Spoke to the dealer today. It seems that Nissan "has a great deal of paint issues going through warranty, so they are taking a long time to approve the body work". They say this is because they (my local Nissan dealer) do not have a body shop of their own, and Nissan has to approve a repair before an outside facility does the work.

They tell me that my new differentials arrived today, and will be installed tomorrow. I can pick up my Armada tomorrow, but it has NOT had the paint and body work done. They will reschedule it later when Nissan approves it. When Nissan finally does approve it - I must be prepared to be without my vehicle for ANOTHER week or two. They've already had it for two weeks now. I'm paying damn near $1,000 a month for this crap.

Needless to say, I'm steaming now. I use this vehicle for work. They tell me that "they're doing me a favor" by giving me an Altima to drive. The Altima is nice - but it won't tow my 4,000 pound trailer full of equipment around. What the hell am I supposed to do? I asked them if I could use another vehicle, and they said their insurance won't allow it. I informed them that MY insurance would cover it - they still won't budge on the issue. Their attitude is "OH well, too bad."

I'm starting to lose my patience. I wish I would have never traded my 2003 Pathfinder in on this thing. I bought it new - and 32,000 miles later it drove exactly the same way it did the day I picked it up. Never had a SINGLE problem out of it.

 

[art326]

Lemon

Contact a lawyer who specializes in Lemon Law litigation.

 

[seabass20]

Well i hear ya i have an 04 with exactly 3,146 miles had the rotors turned once already new drivers side window motor,new rear window,rear end work done for clicking sound.soon to be going in for brakes again.seems like everytime i either tow my boat or my waverunners brakes get worse and worse.maybe they will get em right some time

 

[KLONDIKE_x5]

Well i hear ya i have an 04 with exactly 3,146 miles had the rotors turned once already new drivers side window motor,new rear window,rear end work done for clicking sound.soon to be going in for brakes again.seems like everytime i either tow my boat or my waverunners brakes get worse and worse.maybe they will get em right some time

You might want to thumb through some of the older threads about the brakes; I myself have had this issue and have had my rotors/ brakes fixed twice. The way I drive and the way style of brakes being used these pad will only last 3-5k miles. The good news is that there is "help" in form of a permanant fix for the brakes I was April other were told May and some have had the fix and are happy. So hang in there :thumbup:

 

[umytbnext]

Update

After 10 days without my vehicle, and after missing out on a job that would have made me about $2,000 profit in 2 days - I've got my Armada back. They ground down my rotors again (and now my front wheels are black), they changed out my front differential, and the rest of the squawks (there were four more) I got the notorious "Could not duplicate". Nothing makes me more P-O'ed than those words. COULD NOT DUPLICATE?! OK so I guess I bring my Armada into the dealership just FOR THE HELL OF IT. Maybe it's because I like the popcorn and coffee??? :damn:

Anyway. Next week, they want me to drop off my Armada again on Monday morning so they can do the paint work. I wonder if they'll hang on to it for a couple weeks and give it back to me with "could not duplicate" on the service writeup.

I think Toyota is re-designing the Land Cruiser in '06.....

 

[KLONDIKE_x5]

After 10 days without my vehicle, and after missing out on a job that would have made me about $2,000 profit in 2 days - I've got my Armada back. They ground down my rotors again (and now my front wheels are black), they changed out my front differential, and the rest of the squawks (there were four more) I got the notorious "Could not duplicate". Nothing makes me more P-O'ed than those words. COULD NOT DUPLICATE?! OK so I guess I bring my Armada into the dealership just FOR THE HELL OF IT. Maybe it's because I like the popcorn and coffee??? :damn:

Anyway. Next week, they want me to drop off my Armada again on Monday morning so they can do the paint work. I wonder if they'll hang on to it for a couple weeks and give it back to me with "could not duplicate" on the service writeup.

I think Toyota is re-designing the Land Cruiser in '06.....

I don't know how much of an a$$ you can be but find out who the tech is that's working your issue and SHOW them you problem; if they are really interested in fixing your truck then SHOW THEM. When my truck had the roof issue I got the same CND and I was pissed, but the next time I showed up I wanted to talk to the tech and take them on a ride to duplicate the sound for them ( my roof is fixed without the drive along). Don't let them off the hook, raise your voice a little :chainsaw: and I'm sure they will listen. Some of these people just want you to walk away and do as little work as possible and hope you just give up or just get so frustrated that you again just walk away; NEVER JUST WALK away you paid good money for a quality truck, demand that the people stand behind there product. Sorry for the rant but I get really steamed when these things happen. I'd like to have a group meet at one of these bad dealerships and raise holy hell :machinegu

 

[umytbnext]

Perhaps I'll just send your avatar and emoticons to them and they'll get the point!!! :clever:

I'm on a plane to DFW tonight, I'll be back in a few days... and on Monday when I walk into that dealership I'm going to make DAMN SURE they know what the issues are - and how they need to be resolved. I am beyond the point of being nice, and will give them a dose of Mr. Nasty if we get any more CND bull$hit.

They've got one more chance to fix this - and then I'll stop at nothing to make Nissan buy this fugger back. :bonvoyage

Then maybe we can merge this site with something like clublandcruiser.com???

Drew