Posted: Mar 25 2010 at 9:27pm | IP Logged

Thanks for the sympathy Frontierguy.   They had the truck for half a day, I have no idea how much time they spent on it, but they told me it would be $104 before they did anything (they neglected to mention the hazardous waste disposal fee of $20).  I only did that because Nissan told me they would not consider any consideration of my complaint without confirmation.  All I know is the dealer simply confirmed the diagnosis of my regular mechanic.   From my standpoint, Nissan sucked another $124 from me that I didnt need to spend.

I really do understand that a dealer will need to charge more and the techs are specialists but by the same token it is understandable that most people would go elsewhere if they trust thier mechanic and the repair doesn't require special knowledge or tools.  The regional rep told me he was the final word on the decision and that there was no one to appeal to.  I asked him if I could contact the person that does his performance review but he failed to see the humor in that.  I guess I will bite the bullet and pay the $1200 or so to replace the head gasket, but I am afraid I will shop other brands before replacing "Rocky" with another Nissan when it is time.  Again, I thought they could have thrown me a bone, especially considering how much scrutiny Japanese technology is getting these days with the Toyota mess.