QQ issues and general query.

Non-Technical Nissan QashQai chat. Mk2, Mk3
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MelanCol
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:20 am
Qashqai Model: Mk.2 Qashqai - J11 (2013–2017)

Post by MelanCol »

Hi all. (this is not really a technical post even if it appears so initially. I was unsure of where exactly on the forum it should be posted)

We bought a 2014 J11 Qashqai 1.5 dci Acenta premium 2 months ago for just shy of 12k with 40k on the clock. The car came with 3 months warranty.

Since purchasing the car, we have had to return it twice. The first time was within a couple of weeks for a stop/start issue and the dealer said that they replaced the battery after sending it to Nissan garage in Derby for diagnosis. We have no paperwork from the dealer to confirm that the battery was changed or that the car went to Nissan to be checked out. The stop/start issue appeared to be gone so we took the car back and it seemed fine for a week or two.

A couple of weeks later we started to get a simultaneous sequence of errors flashing up when driving. This would be Stop/Start fail, EPS and ABS light flashing on followed quickly by Chassis Control error/warning. These would all flash up repeatedly at random times. Sometimes they would not come up over a considerable distance (50+ miles) but, other times every couple of minutes. We contacted the dealer to make them aware.

Over the last couple of weeks, other symptoms began appearing. Firstly the car switched off twice when driving on the same day within a short time period (a few minutes). On the same day there were some issues with significant turbo lag (more than normal) followed by hard surging when the turbo finally kicked back in. This seemed to go away after that day.

Towards the end of last week my partner attempted to start the car and the idle went directly back to 0 and cut out. This happened 3 or 4 times and she came indoors to make me aware of the problem. I went out and started the car and gave it some hard revs to warm it and see if the problem cleared. The car poured out a continuous plume of white smoke and once warmed, it cleared and I took the car for a run. I parked the car up and allowed it to go cold again and went through the same procedure that night and the exact same symptoms occurred. I did this again the next morning (Saturday) and the same problems as before. Again I allowed it to go cold and did another start in the early evening and once again the same problems presented themselves.

At this point I phoned green flag and asked them to come out, which they did. The green flag guy carried out a check and was presented with the exact same symptoms and left me a work docket that stated "that the EGR valve may be sticking/faulty and that it should be checked at the dealers since it was under warranty". On Sunday morning I went through the same hassle with poor cold start, plumes of white smoke, running fine when warm and then drove it to the dealers place of business (He had told us to bring it in Monday in order that they could do some work on it before taking it to Nissan Derby on the Tuesday for more diagnostics).

My partner received a call from the mechanic at the dealer in question (Tuesday) who said that he had replaced the glow plugs and fuel filter. My partner asked how the car started when they tried it on Monday morning and he said it started fine (before any work was done). He then said the car was now with nissan with all the accompanying information we had provided re various lights/warnings, cutting out and the green flag guys docket.

When she told me this, something did not ring true so I contacted the mechanic from the dealer myself to ask him a couple of questions and this is where alarm bells started sounding.

Firstly, I asked him how the car started when he tried it on Monday morning (before any work was done on it) and he said it started fine. I then asked him what work have you carried out on the vehicle and he confirmed what he had told my partner, that he had replaced the glow plugs and fuel filter. I then said to him "if the car started fine and there were no issues with cold starting, then why have you changed the glow plugs and fuel filter before sending the car to Nissan?"

He said he did this as he did not want Nissan to say that they needed replacing and then Nissan carry out the work, as it would cost their dealership more money if Nissan did so. This simply does not make any sense to me because there was no problem apparently with cold starting when they started it on Monday morning so why would they assume Nissan might want to change the plugs or filter. Even if Nissan did suggest after diagnosis that they needed replacing, what would have prevented the dealer from paying for the diagnostic only and getting the car back to do the work themselves?

I then said we would like a documented record of any work carried out by him and Nissan and he hesitated a second before saying "that shouldn't be a problem but, I'll need to clear it with the boss". Again this struck me as odd and coupled with them carrying out unnecessary work on the vehicle has left me with more than a few doubts as to what is really going on here.

I need to get some opinions on what other qashqai owners think may be going on and hence my joining up here and posting this. Apologies for the long-winded nature of the post but, I wanted to give you guys as much info as possible before soliciting your opinion on it.

What (if anything) is the dealer trying to hide here or what other problem may he be masking in the hope that the vehicle runs well enough to get past the warranty period to absolve them of any responsibility? (assuming this could be the case). Could they just be doing me a good turn in order to keep their reputation (which is very good apparently) or am I being naive on that one? Why would any dealer carry out work that may not be necessary? That is what is causing alarm bells for me at the moment and I would really appreciate any input you guys could offer regarding this.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and your views on it would be much welcomed.

Cheers

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gloucester
Posts: 5173
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2016 7:04 am
Location: Gloucestershire, England
Qashqai Model: Mk.2 Qashqai - J11 (2013–2017)

Post by gloucester »

I have no knowledge of diesels but the battery might be date-stamped?
(2015 Nissan Qashqai Tekna DIG-T 1.2 sold 15/6/18) ~ 2018 Suzuki Ignis SZ5 - 2018 Yamaha MT-07 ~ (2024 Volvo EX30 ordered)
carlgoss
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2017 2:38 pm
Qashqai Model: Mk.2 Qashqai - J11 (2013–2017)

Post by carlgoss »

Heck.. white smoke says a DPF regeneration issue to me. But you'll need to be on a longish drive for quite a while at over 40MPH for that to kick in, and anyway there's a warning light that should come on to say regeneration is needed if the car hasn't managed to do it automatically (ignore at your peril by the way!) Maybe the car has done a lot of town driving recently. My experience is that warranty repairs with Nissan do not normally generate paperwork. The Nissan warranty 3 years would have run out a while back so I guess you're talking about the used 3 month warranty this garage have given you. Frankly I would contact the Nissan garage yourself as the owner and ask what they've done. This is what I ended up doing when I bought from a non Nissan dealer as I was having issues with he said this/they said that/ they think this etc. Don't let it get near the end of that 3 months though. You're right by the way Nissan will be stinging them for the work, so they'll try and get away with whatever they can I reckon. Original batteries were replaced under warranty within the first year or two of the J11 and the stop start is very fickle It needs the battery to be in great condition to operate. I would recommend a battery charger/ maintainer(like the AA one) for a few days to sort that out. I've known one of those to bring a seemingly screwed battery back to good health. The fact that the stop start is not working would also point to lots of short journeys or long stay on a forecourt recently. Oh one further thought. If the garage you bought from are a bit suspect technically check they haven't overfilled the oil.. could lead to big problems and I think white smoke as it burns off.. but others will know better :)
15 plate DCI 110 1.5 Diesel Tekna Nightshade
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