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Nissan's reliability concern for the future...When will they be back? - READ ONLY

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#1 of 17 Nissan's reliability concern for the future...When will they be back? by waltchan

Jun 21, 2007 (12:02 pm)

I am getting concern with Nissan's future and don't know if Nissan will ever match with Toyota and Honda for reliability ever again. Today, all Nissan and Infiniti vehicles have the same reliability found in American cars and, often, worse than American and European cars. Most of their problematic vehicles (Titan, Quest, Armada, QX56) are built in Canton, Mississippi, but there are a lot of other vehicles (Maxima, Altima, Sentra, Murano, Frontier, 350Z, etc.) seeing a fall in reliability as well. The average reliability grade for Nissan/Infiniti vehicles this year is a D (below average). I think this is a joke. Why buy a Japanese when you can buy an American with the same quality but at a lower cost.
 
I have been following Consumer Reports auto reliability for the past 20 years, and it turns out that the 2000 Infiniti QX4 may be the most reliable Nissan vehicle ever made in history. After 2001, reliability fell, along with all Nissan/Infiniti vehicles, and they have not went back up since. If this is true, then I may pick up a used 2000 Infiniti QX4 given by its status and baby it for many years.
 
Does Nissan actually no longer care about reliability, but instead focus on performance and style? What do you think? It's been seven years already without a true Nissan Japanese quality. Do you already miss Nissan past quality?

#2 of 17 Re: Nissan's reliability concern for the future...When will they be back? [waltchan] by bumpy

Jun 21, 2007 (12:48 pm)

Replying to: waltchan (Jun 21, 2007 12:02 pm)
Do you already miss Nissan past quality?
 
Yeah, Nissan's brush with death in the late '90s and subsequent Renaultization wiped out the older platforms designed in Nissan's salad days at the end of the '80s. Nissan always had performance and style, but lost the durability and reliability with its independence.

#3 of 17 . by anythngbutgm

Jun 21, 2007 (1:30 pm)

My folks just retired a 91 240SX with 300k miles on it. Over the past 17 years or whatnot, the car required very little maintainence outside of the typical O/T/B. Not sure if todays Nissans can deliver the same long haul durability.
 
Thing is, the complexity and sophistication of todays cars are so much farther along than the "old days" (I can't believe I can refer to the 90's as that ). I mean a simple software glitch can leave you dead in the water, a fouled sensor can send your engine into limp mode awaiting a 1000 dollar diagnosis before even being fixed!
 
Sorry to stray off topic. I know a few folks with Nissan products and there are no real complaints I've heard from them. In fact, I'd go so far as to say Nissans popularity is growing up here in N.E. The new Altima is hot, the
Murano sells like hotcakes and the Titan pickup is as common as the Dodge Ram. And on the Infiniti side, the G seems to be doing very, very well.
 
So there are some shining stars in the lineup, it's just that NIssan apears to be falling into the Toyotaisation trap of entering every possible market they can and in short leadtime, comprimising quality and durability. They also rely heavily on the corporate VQ (fantastic engine btw, not knocking it) to get things done which limits its ability to shine where possible.
 
I don't think things are in the toilet per se, just be warry of first year bugs which can happen with any car maker.

#4 of 17 Re: . [anythngbutgm] by mikevegas06

Jun 22, 2007 (4:54 pm)

Replying to: anythngbutgm (Jun 21, 2007 1:30 pm)
I'm not convinced that high sales volumes equates to high levels of quality. GM is the number 1 manufacturer in the world based on sales, but Toyota is number 1 based on quality.

#5 of 17 Re: . [mikevegas06] by cyorke

Jul 16, 2007 (8:07 pm)

Replying to: mikevegas06 (Jun 22, 2007 4:54 pm)
Well I am no expert but I do have a little bit of knowledge concerningthis. I work for Nissan/Infiniti in their warranty claims call center. Yehah they ahve some problems but I don't think it is as dire as you are making it out to be.
 
Like someone mentioned cars have gotten so technological as far as emissions, electrical control modules, etc etc etc.
If you have one wiring problem everything goes to pot. But the number of claims we have come through are very low when compared to the number of vehicles that are on the road.
 
I see claims on vehicles up to 100k miles due to we also process all Nissan service contract claims. Even the vehicles with the higher mileage on them do not seem to be having that many problems.
 
I also used to work as a tech for Toyota, several years, ago and trust me they have had their run of problems also.
 
You have to remember they are all still put designed, engineered, and built by humans. Once "we" can do all of that and have no problems with the vehicles we will also be walking on water and never dying.

#6 of 17 Re: Nissan's reliability concern for the future...When will they be back? [waltchan] by smarty666

Jun 22, 2009 (4:20 pm)

Replying to: waltchan (Jun 21, 2007 12:02 pm)
I don't know what your smoking but Nissan's reliability and quality are not gone and in fact everything I have read from, MotorTrend, Car and Driver, Consumerreports, etc, etc says the total opposite. I do agree that in the late 90's in early 2000's Nissan's quality was very poor when compared to Toyota and Honda, but since 2007 they have made huge strides in coming extremely close to Toyota and Honda's quality. Reliabiliy has never been an issue for Nissan. I have several relatives who have altimas, maximas, and muranos all with over 100k miles and no major mechanical or technical problems with the vehicles. The reason Nissan's overall reliability is below average at JD Power and associates is because vehicles like the Armada, Titan, QX56 and Frontier are below average which brings nissans reliability down. Nissan is getting rid of the Armada this year and infiniti is the QX56 and probably the Titan next year. If they do, their overall reliability rating will rise I believe to above average. Their major vehicles (i.e. altima, maxima, and murano) all have at least average or above average reliability and please do not tell me that the quality on the new 09 maxima is poor; you could slap infiniti badages on it and you never know the difference. Every car maker has 1 or 2 cars out of 100 that are defective and people like you come on hear bad mouthing the entire brand and scare people away . I drive a Acura TL and have had severe build quality issues with the vehicle and Acura is suppose to be right up there with Lexus in quality and reliability so give me a break

#7 of 17 Not enough time to prove itself long-term... by andre1969

Jun 23, 2009 (9:09 am)

but a friend of mine has a 2006 Xterra, and has never had any troubles with it. He hasn't had to do anything to it other than scheduled maintenance. It has about 46-47,000 miles on it.
 
The only things I really don't like about it are the generous amounts of hard plastic inside, and the overly orange-peely texture of the paint. But both of these problems are indicative of the industry as a whole. Nissan certainly isn't the only offender.
 
Oh, one other thing...I really don't care for the Xterra's 5-speed automatic transmission, at least out on the highway. It seems like it often goes a gear too high. And when you need it to downshift, it takes a bit of time for the engine to rev up, and then it shifts down, and you take off. Sorta like turbo lag, I guess? I don't drive it very often though, so it might just take some getting used to. I'm actually used to older 3-speed automatics where the engine usually has enough power to just take off in top gear, without needing to downshift.
 
I know this runs contrary to most people's experience, but I'm actually leery of older Nissans, like from the late 80's and early 90's. My Mom & stepdad had a 1991 Stanza that wasn't so hot. They have a 1999 Altima that ate its transmission at 35,000 miles. However, the car has about 280,000 miles on it now, and I don't think ever had any major problems since then, so I guess I can forgive it! I also knew a few people with that early 1990's style Stanza, and the '89-94 era Maxima, that had engine problems.
 
I wouldn't be afraid to buy any of Nissan's current offerings. I think sometimes their interiors are a cut below Honda or Toyota, but that shouldn't affect long-term reliability.

#8 of 17 Yep... by iluvmysephia1

Jun 23, 2009 (1:10 pm)

actually, Nissan isn't that far below Toyota or Honda in reliability.
 
Let's put it this way, if I wanted to buy a Nissan, any type of Nissan, over a Honda or Toyota or Hyundai of the same type, I wouldn't let Nissan's past reliability record get in the way of that purchase right now.
 
I am slowly admiring Nissan more and more as the production years roll along.

#9 of 17 Re: Yep... [iluvmysephia1] by dtownfb

Jun 23, 2009 (6:12 pm)

Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Jun 23, 2009 1:10 pm)
I own a 2004 Nissan Quest and right now, I would be very hesistant about buying another Nissan. The rattles and brakes have been very annoying to deal with. Also reading about some of the failures of the timing chain in the V6 engine has me planning to get rid of this van at 100k miles.
 
I have first hand experience why people call Nissan's reliability uneven.
 
Nissan's styling is nice, though.

#10 of 17 Re: Yep... [dtownfb] by Stever@Edmunds HOST

Jun 23, 2009 (7:37 pm)

Replying to: dtownfb (Jun 23, 2009 6:12 pm)
I hadn't realized they had switched from a belt to a chain. You'd think a chain would be more foolproof.
 
I keep waiting for the belt to snap on my '99 Quest but it's still ok at 132k. Guess I'll find out one of these years if it's really a non-interference engine like it's supposed to be.
 
I follow the Quest boards but not the Odyssey or Sienna ones, so I don't have a good feel for how the newer ones are holding up against the competition. The Canton factory sure had (has?) issues.
 
Mostly I notice a lot of issues with Muranos. More so than with, say, Pathfinders.
 
Smarty666, Nissan is just a hair below average in the JD Power Initial Quality survey for '09.
 
J.D. Power Releases 2009 Initial Quality Study Results (Edmunds Daily)

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