Change Of Subject
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New Vehicle Dealer Lies: When I bought my truck (2005 Nissan Frontier NISMO) a number of frauds were perpetrated by the dealer. They promised me it would be towing-ready, and that I would be able to order from them a kayak rack. They told me the financing was approved, and arranged delivery. Unfortunately, the delivery was delayed a bit, until it finally arrived 20 minutes before I was to appear for a karate belt test. So I signed the papers, gave the new truck a cursory look-over, and gave the delivery guy a ride back to his car on my way to the test. A week later the dealer called back - they changed their minds about financing, and would I please have a relative with a better credit score file the loan with me as co-signer. Ordinarily I would have told them to come get their damned truck, but I'd already sold my previous vehicle (to my karate teacher), and because we have 3 days to rescind a contract in the US, I had no legal grounds to return it and cancel the deal. So I complied. A few days later, I finally had time to go through my checklist and thoroughly examine the vehicle. Odd... There's no trailer hitch. Further exploring showed that the wiring was all there in the back, just no hitch was installed. Since hitches are cheap and I had nothing to tow, I let it pass for a few years, then when I had nothing better to spend money on, I bought and installed a hitch and the appropriate electrical connectors. I still had nothing to tow, however. This week I bought a trailer to haul the ATV I plan to purchase soon. Curiously, despite all the right connections, the trailer lights don't work. So I dug out the wiring diagrams for the vehicle and started tracing circuits. Trailer Relay #1 and #2 are not to be found anywhere! So I did some research on the Internet and discovered that there is a kit required from Nissan that includes a short cable and two relays that has to be installed under the kick panel inside the cab on the passenger side to complete the circuit! Tonight after work I drove to the nearest dealer - 60 miles away - to purchase the kit, and luckily they had one in stock. Sadly, however, Nissan has come up with a 7-pin trailer connector design that will not fit a standard round hole hanger, such as is available at any parts house or even Walmart. No, they had to make a side-assed right-angle connector that has to slide into a 2" slot in a custom bracket made only by Nissan! Wouldn't you expect the parts guy at the dealership to mention that little fact, if only to make an additional sale?
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New Vehicle Dealer Lies: When I bought my truck (2005 Nissan Frontier NISMO) a number of frauds were perpetrated by the dealer. They promised me it would be towing-ready, and that I would be able to order from them a kayak rack. They told me the financing was approved, and arranged delivery. Unfortunately, the delivery was delayed a bit, until it finally arrived 20 minutes before I was to appear for a karate belt test. So I signed the papers, gave the new truck a cursory look-over, and gave the delivery guy a ride back to his car on my way to the test. A week later the dealer called back - they changed their minds about financing, and would I please have a relative with a better credit score file the loan with me as co-signer. Ordinarily I would have told them to come get their damned truck, but I'd already sold my previous vehicle (to my karate teacher), and because we have 3 days to rescind a contract in the US, I had no legal grounds to return it and cancel the deal. So I complied. A few days later, I finally had time to go through my checklist and thoroughly examine the vehicle. Odd... There's no trailer hitch. Further exploring showed that the wiring was all there in the back, just no hitch was installed. Since hitches are cheap and I had nothing to tow, I let it pass for a few years, then when I had nothing better to spend money on, I bought and installed a hitch and the appropriate electrical connectors. I still had nothing to tow, however. This week I bought a trailer to haul the ATV I plan to purchase soon. Curiously, despite all the right connections, the trailer lights don't work. So I dug out the wiring diagrams for the vehicle and started tracing circuits. Trailer Relay #1 and #2 are not to be found anywhere! So I did some research on the Internet and discovered that there is a kit required from Nissan that includes a short cable and two relays that has to be installed under the kick panel inside the cab on the passenger side to complete the circuit! Tonight after work I drove to the nearest dealer - 60 miles away - to purchase the kit, and luckily they had one in stock. Sadly, however, Nissan has come up with a 7-pin trailer connector design that will not fit a standard round hole hanger, such as is available at any parts house or even Walmart. No, they had to make a side-assed right-angle connector that has to slide into a 2" slot in a custom bracket made only by Nissan! Wouldn't you expect the parts guy at the dealership to mention that little fact, if only to make an additional sale?
You don' need no steenkin' trailer lights! Just hang a laptop logged into CP off the back. You'll be visible for miles, even in dense fog.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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You don' need no steenkin' trailer lights! Just hang a laptop logged into CP off the back. You'll be visible for miles, even in dense fog.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Thanks for that, though licking scotch off the monitor isn't as easy as I'd thought it would be. :-D
Will Rogers never met me.
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New Vehicle Dealer Lies: When I bought my truck (2005 Nissan Frontier NISMO) a number of frauds were perpetrated by the dealer. They promised me it would be towing-ready, and that I would be able to order from them a kayak rack. They told me the financing was approved, and arranged delivery. Unfortunately, the delivery was delayed a bit, until it finally arrived 20 minutes before I was to appear for a karate belt test. So I signed the papers, gave the new truck a cursory look-over, and gave the delivery guy a ride back to his car on my way to the test. A week later the dealer called back - they changed their minds about financing, and would I please have a relative with a better credit score file the loan with me as co-signer. Ordinarily I would have told them to come get their damned truck, but I'd already sold my previous vehicle (to my karate teacher), and because we have 3 days to rescind a contract in the US, I had no legal grounds to return it and cancel the deal. So I complied. A few days later, I finally had time to go through my checklist and thoroughly examine the vehicle. Odd... There's no trailer hitch. Further exploring showed that the wiring was all there in the back, just no hitch was installed. Since hitches are cheap and I had nothing to tow, I let it pass for a few years, then when I had nothing better to spend money on, I bought and installed a hitch and the appropriate electrical connectors. I still had nothing to tow, however. This week I bought a trailer to haul the ATV I plan to purchase soon. Curiously, despite all the right connections, the trailer lights don't work. So I dug out the wiring diagrams for the vehicle and started tracing circuits. Trailer Relay #1 and #2 are not to be found anywhere! So I did some research on the Internet and discovered that there is a kit required from Nissan that includes a short cable and two relays that has to be installed under the kick panel inside the cab on the passenger side to complete the circuit! Tonight after work I drove to the nearest dealer - 60 miles away - to purchase the kit, and luckily they had one in stock. Sadly, however, Nissan has come up with a 7-pin trailer connector design that will not fit a standard round hole hanger, such as is available at any parts house or even Walmart. No, they had to make a side-assed right-angle connector that has to slide into a 2" slot in a custom bracket made only by Nissan! Wouldn't you expect the parts guy at the dealership to mention that little fact, if only to make an additional sale?
I'm guessing it's a Nissan standard to make it extremely cumbersome to do even the most mundane tasks. For instance, the Maxima I drive has okay headlamps but I wanted something better and so I decided to change the bulbs. I have changed bulbs on several cars including Japanese and European ones and I figured this will also be a open the bonnet, remove the rubber flaps, pop the connector and change the bulbs kind of thing. But hey, to change the bulbs, I'll have to dismount the front wheels, remove the sidewalls, pop open a plastic shield and then get behind the headlamp casing. Awesome Nissan, and is it a coincidence that the dealer charges upwards of $150 to change freakin 20$ bulbs??? I have 4 bulbs sitting idle because I do not have the tools nor the workspace to do such a thing and no way I'm paying so much to a dealer to get this done.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
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New Vehicle Dealer Lies: When I bought my truck (2005 Nissan Frontier NISMO) a number of frauds were perpetrated by the dealer. They promised me it would be towing-ready, and that I would be able to order from them a kayak rack. They told me the financing was approved, and arranged delivery. Unfortunately, the delivery was delayed a bit, until it finally arrived 20 minutes before I was to appear for a karate belt test. So I signed the papers, gave the new truck a cursory look-over, and gave the delivery guy a ride back to his car on my way to the test. A week later the dealer called back - they changed their minds about financing, and would I please have a relative with a better credit score file the loan with me as co-signer. Ordinarily I would have told them to come get their damned truck, but I'd already sold my previous vehicle (to my karate teacher), and because we have 3 days to rescind a contract in the US, I had no legal grounds to return it and cancel the deal. So I complied. A few days later, I finally had time to go through my checklist and thoroughly examine the vehicle. Odd... There's no trailer hitch. Further exploring showed that the wiring was all there in the back, just no hitch was installed. Since hitches are cheap and I had nothing to tow, I let it pass for a few years, then when I had nothing better to spend money on, I bought and installed a hitch and the appropriate electrical connectors. I still had nothing to tow, however. This week I bought a trailer to haul the ATV I plan to purchase soon. Curiously, despite all the right connections, the trailer lights don't work. So I dug out the wiring diagrams for the vehicle and started tracing circuits. Trailer Relay #1 and #2 are not to be found anywhere! So I did some research on the Internet and discovered that there is a kit required from Nissan that includes a short cable and two relays that has to be installed under the kick panel inside the cab on the passenger side to complete the circuit! Tonight after work I drove to the nearest dealer - 60 miles away - to purchase the kit, and luckily they had one in stock. Sadly, however, Nissan has come up with a 7-pin trailer connector design that will not fit a standard round hole hanger, such as is available at any parts house or even Walmart. No, they had to make a side-assed right-angle connector that has to slide into a 2" slot in a custom bracket made only by Nissan! Wouldn't you expect the parts guy at the dealership to mention that little fact, if only to make an additional sale?
I'm astonished you are surprised a salesman told you what you wanted to hear. And that salesman is a USED CAR salesman, brother to the much maligned LAWYER.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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I'm guessing it's a Nissan standard to make it extremely cumbersome to do even the most mundane tasks. For instance, the Maxima I drive has okay headlamps but I wanted something better and so I decided to change the bulbs. I have changed bulbs on several cars including Japanese and European ones and I figured this will also be a open the bonnet, remove the rubber flaps, pop the connector and change the bulbs kind of thing. But hey, to change the bulbs, I'll have to dismount the front wheels, remove the sidewalls, pop open a plastic shield and then get behind the headlamp casing. Awesome Nissan, and is it a coincidence that the dealer charges upwards of $150 to change freakin 20$ bulbs??? I have 4 bulbs sitting idle because I do not have the tools nor the workspace to do such a thing and no way I'm paying so much to a dealer to get this done.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
I entirely agree - a lot of the design put into these vehicles is intended to stop owners from doing their own maintenance. It also serves to raise the book rate for repairs, because it's also hard for brand name mechanics to do their jobs at the dealerships. When I was in college, I worked as a mechanic, and mechanics talk. Dealers pay the least, and hire beginners, then train them until they become smart enough to leave for a real job that pays a living wage. You will rarely find a dealer mechanic who understands how an internal combustion engine actually works, but he'll know how to plug in the right computerized tool and look up the trouble code in a book. That's all he's good for. In my day, we listened to the sounds that the car makes, drove it around and felt the messages it was sending, diagnosed the problem based on perception and knowledge of how cars work, then repaired the appropriate systems. Modern mechanics don't know how to do that. They know how to connect a device and read the codes it emits, and little else. This community is partly responsible for this "dumbing down" of mechanics, but the real blame lies with the dealers who chose not to hire a master mechanic who understands how these systems work. I'd suggest that you avoid the dealer shop, and find a hungry local mechanic who doesn't mind working hard. You have the required parts - all you need is someone with the right tools and time to do the job. Swing by my place, if you're in the neighborhood; I probably have the tools, and you're welcome to stop by.
Will Rogers never met me.
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You don' need no steenkin' trailer lights! Just hang a laptop logged into CP off the back. You'll be visible for miles, even in dense fog.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
-
New Vehicle Dealer Lies: When I bought my truck (2005 Nissan Frontier NISMO) a number of frauds were perpetrated by the dealer. They promised me it would be towing-ready, and that I would be able to order from them a kayak rack. They told me the financing was approved, and arranged delivery. Unfortunately, the delivery was delayed a bit, until it finally arrived 20 minutes before I was to appear for a karate belt test. So I signed the papers, gave the new truck a cursory look-over, and gave the delivery guy a ride back to his car on my way to the test. A week later the dealer called back - they changed their minds about financing, and would I please have a relative with a better credit score file the loan with me as co-signer. Ordinarily I would have told them to come get their damned truck, but I'd already sold my previous vehicle (to my karate teacher), and because we have 3 days to rescind a contract in the US, I had no legal grounds to return it and cancel the deal. So I complied. A few days later, I finally had time to go through my checklist and thoroughly examine the vehicle. Odd... There's no trailer hitch. Further exploring showed that the wiring was all there in the back, just no hitch was installed. Since hitches are cheap and I had nothing to tow, I let it pass for a few years, then when I had nothing better to spend money on, I bought and installed a hitch and the appropriate electrical connectors. I still had nothing to tow, however. This week I bought a trailer to haul the ATV I plan to purchase soon. Curiously, despite all the right connections, the trailer lights don't work. So I dug out the wiring diagrams for the vehicle and started tracing circuits. Trailer Relay #1 and #2 are not to be found anywhere! So I did some research on the Internet and discovered that there is a kit required from Nissan that includes a short cable and two relays that has to be installed under the kick panel inside the cab on the passenger side to complete the circuit! Tonight after work I drove to the nearest dealer - 60 miles away - to purchase the kit, and luckily they had one in stock. Sadly, however, Nissan has come up with a 7-pin trailer connector design that will not fit a standard round hole hanger, such as is available at any parts house or even Walmart. No, they had to make a side-assed right-angle connector that has to slide into a 2" slot in a custom bracket made only by Nissan! Wouldn't you expect the parts guy at the dealership to mention that little fact, if only to make an additional sale?
Roger Wright wrote:
A week later the dealer called back - they changed their minds about financing, and would I please have a relative with a better credit score file the loan with me as co-signer.
I am surprised they let you drive off without having the loan finalized. Can you buy a house that way?
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I entirely agree - a lot of the design put into these vehicles is intended to stop owners from doing their own maintenance. It also serves to raise the book rate for repairs, because it's also hard for brand name mechanics to do their jobs at the dealerships. When I was in college, I worked as a mechanic, and mechanics talk. Dealers pay the least, and hire beginners, then train them until they become smart enough to leave for a real job that pays a living wage. You will rarely find a dealer mechanic who understands how an internal combustion engine actually works, but he'll know how to plug in the right computerized tool and look up the trouble code in a book. That's all he's good for. In my day, we listened to the sounds that the car makes, drove it around and felt the messages it was sending, diagnosed the problem based on perception and knowledge of how cars work, then repaired the appropriate systems. Modern mechanics don't know how to do that. They know how to connect a device and read the codes it emits, and little else. This community is partly responsible for this "dumbing down" of mechanics, but the real blame lies with the dealers who chose not to hire a master mechanic who understands how these systems work. I'd suggest that you avoid the dealer shop, and find a hungry local mechanic who doesn't mind working hard. You have the required parts - all you need is someone with the right tools and time to do the job. Swing by my place, if you're in the neighborhood; I probably have the tools, and you're welcome to stop by.
Will Rogers never met me.
Thanks a bunch for the offer. But if I plan a drive to Arizona, you can bet that I'll have changed the bulbs by then. :) Long ago I faced the same problem when a mechanic relying on error codes rebored a diesel engine when all he had to check was the valves and in the process did such a terrible job that it had to be redone again immediately. But the damage was done by the time and I had to let go of the car eventually.
SG Aham Brahmasmi!