The Motor vehicle warranties that aren’t

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I wonder if anyone has had a similar experience to this - with Nissan or any other car maker?

We recently bought a Nissan Qashqai SUV from the local Nissan dealer. It was an ex-demo vehicle and sold with the remainder of the manufacturer’s warranty, with four years or so to run.

One of the advertised features of that model is called Nissan Connect. This allows you to install apps from your phone onto the dashboard display. I went to install it but the dashboard display (and the manual) said I needed to first download the app on my phone. No problem. I went to download it but then discovered it was not available in Australia (it still is in Europe & the USA).

I contacted the local dealer and, although they tried to be helpful, they had no idea how to resolve the issue.

So I then contacted Nissan Customer Service in Melbourne and was told that “Nissan Connect is no longer a feature that is available in your vehicle” (even though the dashboard display thought it should be).

I replied that “It would seem to me that a feature advertised in a car which is still under warranty (especially bought through an authorised dealer) should continue to have the original features, unless there is a specific disclaimer to the contrary. It seems unreasonable to me that you can warrant the working parts or functions of a vehicle, then take that part or function away so you don’t have to warrant it.”

I suggested several possible remedies such as:

  • Restore the service for vehicles still under warranty,
  • Offer financial compensation for removing the feature, or
  • Replace the head unit on the vehicle to include the missing feature, perhaps with the current Android Auto version. (I offered a reasonable financial contribution for this since it would be an upgrade.)

Their reply was that “the information you have put forward does not provide a basis to reassess the matter”. No mention was made of any small print in the warranty that might let them off the hook.

The good people at CHOICE suggested I make clear to Nissan that they may well be in contravention of the ACL, specifically in regard to False and Misleading Advertising, unless documentation was provided at the time of sale that this standard feature was no longer included.

I forwarded this opinion to Nissan who (after I had to chase them for a response) seemed to completely ignore the legal implications and said “unfortunately there is nothing further I can do as it was a business decision to discontinue the Nissan Connect feature and proceed with the new Apple Car Play and Android Auto.”

To my mind the Nissan Connect feature is part of the car and is therefore under warranty. If something is not working then they are obliged to fix it under warranty.

What if they made a similar decision on other electronic bits like the radio or parking sensors etc., saying the software is no longer supported as newer versions have been released on later models?

I plan to contact our state Fair Trading department but would appreciate the thoughts of others first please.

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Good luck with that after our son’s disgusting experience with the piece of junk Nissan Pathfinder he bought brand new.

I would not touch a Nissan with a barge pole and neither will he now.

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It is challenging and possibly a battle unlikely you will win. This is based on the following arguments…

  • the car is a demonstrator and not new. A demonstrator may considered a dealer used car whereby the vehicle condition as ‘as is at the time of purchase’. This can be argued as the case since you accepted the remainder of manufacturer warranty on the car based on the date of its registration. If it was new, it would have had the full manufacturer warranty. As is because the vehicle isn’t new and has had some use history and could have had defects which have been repaired, damaged in transit or in its early life at the dealership, used as a test vehicle for prospective customers, as a dealer work vehicle such as a ute for a short period or a drive home car for dealer employees etc. Unlike a new car, one should arrange an inspection and find out the car’s history before purchase.
  • many smart devices have redundant apps at the time of purchase. Take a smart TV, some apps which come preinstalled or what one hopes will install, may not due to the app no longer supported or compatible with the device. Other manufacturers don’t provide a list of apps that work or don’t work with the device; and
  • the Nissan Connect app isn’t critical to or affect the operation of the vehicle. It isn’t therefore a defect or fault with the vehicle. It therefore doesn’t fit as a warrantable claim; and
  • with vehicles being manufacturered overseas, they are manufactured for the world market and not necessarily specifically for Australia. As a result some functions may be regionally limited…a bit like overseas bought devices where TV streaming apps from other countries don’t work.

If you do have time and are very patient/unfrustratable, then pursue further with the knowledge that you are unlikely to succeed. If you did for some unforeseen reason, this would set a precedence for any smart device where an app doesn’t work, is incompatible or has become redundant…flood gates would open for those who have purchased something and an app no longer works. This community contains such examples in other consumer products.

Another option, if you are not risk adverse, is search for the Nissan Connect APK file from a trustworthy source, load it into your smart device and see if it works. Not…there are risks of doing such and one should understand the risks before doing do.

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I think you will find printed somewhere in your Warranty " The Nissan Motor Company reserves the right to change specifications and features … . " All the best , I hope you reach a suitable outcome with them .

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Thanks phb for the detailed reply. (And others for your feedback).

Perhaps I should have bought a Holden - if only I could find a dealership! :woozy_face:

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Very similar to what happened to a Mercedes owner, link below.

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Thanks omy005aw.

That’s a very sad story about Mercedes. I used to be upset that I couldn’t afford one.

Now I don’t want one!

But probably not another Nissan again either!

How short-sighted some management teams are.

Cheers.

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Surely that makes it a ‘Minor Fault’ under consumer law though. A reasonable customer may still make the purchase knowing about this difference, but none the less it is still short of what was advertised at purchase.

If we consider it a minor fault, it would be the manufacturer or seller’s choice of whether to provide a replacement, repair or refund. Neither would be allowed to fob you off though.

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I don’t see this as a warranty problem. If there is a problem, it would be that the dealer misrepresented the specifications of the car at the time of purchase. Did they, or would it have stopped you buying the car if they had?

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Sometimes a dealer unknowingly misrepresents because they are selling what they are told from the manufacturer and importer. Circa 2014 Renault dealers were talking about RLink (their online integrated SatNav) that never got online in Australia and was nothing more than an ‘overpriced’ stand-alone SatNav/hands free that worked OK. A few years later RLink2, incompatible with RLink, came along and it offers a subset of the Euro-centric product, with an embedded AU data SIM for RLink2 services.

It was not the dealer at RLink time. They spoke in good faith. Renault at the time might have had intentions but as a minor brand may have lost any business case once they knew RLink2 was rolling out.

Car dealers have a certain reputation yet it is not always them who ‘earn’ it, it can be their brand management.

The dealers were done as much as the customers during RLink time.

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It would only be a minor fault if the dealer promoted it at purchase and then later it was found not to work…but this could fall into misleading advertising and not a fault. Such hasn’t been indicated in the original post.

It is similar to the example I used in my previous post, where a TV or other smart devices come with preloaded app which don’t work in Australia. If one sees advertising materials for the device, it possibly indicates the preloaded app. But in Australia these apps don’t work due to regional restrictions or even are paid content. Because one can’t use these preinstalled apps, doesn’t mean the product has a minor fault. The vehicle would be similar.

As more and more devices become smart and are internationalised, the likelihood of apps not working or being compatible with a device increases almost 100% certainty. Unfortunately this is the reality of smart devices.

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Or if it was advertised by Nissan, with insufficient clarity that it is not available in Australia. This is where it gets tricky, as they obviously would have said it in the fine print. Although businesses aren’t allowed to just negate the entire ad in the fine print, if it was very clearly placed then it could be argued it was clear

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It is even trickier as often demonstrator/dealer used vehicles are the previous model, so that advertising information available at time of purchase may not represent the model of the vehicle purchased.

We had a parent who bought a demonstrator only to question why the alloy rims were different to the photo in the brochure they had also also why the satnav icon existed but had a message that the option was not available when touched. Going back to the Hyundai dealer, they were told that the demonstrator was the previous model run and the rims design had changed and the satnav was an optional extra for that particular model (I don’t know if it was included as standard in the new model). They paid (hhhmmm) a lot to have the satnav activated and went on their way realising that they hadn’t done their homework before the purchase.

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I just had a look at Nissan Connect on the web and it appears to be a bit of overpriced junk.
Find something that can be fitted into the space on the car that can provide the same services free and connect to your phone.

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An observation is that there seemed a few manufacturers that stopped offrering built-in SatNavs in favour of Android Auto/Apple CarPlay connectivity to use mobile GPS. Some tried to replace the built-in displays with [built-in/replaceable or special trays for] generic tablets.

While Android Auto and Apple CarPlay have become ubiquitous the vehicles continue to have ever more complex built-in displays that are approaching ‘glass cockpits’ in vehicles, replacing more and more individual instruments and old school switches and levers, and those inordinately expensive ‘manufacturer’ GPS (based on Tomtom Carminat or Garmin products) with out dated, expensive to update maps are still around.

If their products did not reflect customer expectations the manufacturers would have moved on by now.

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Even if one does get it working, there could still be compatibility issues at the phone end. While the list of compatible devices is reasonable, it isn’t exhaustive.

It also appears not to be free with vehicles, but vehicles can come with a trial period to which then owners pay a fee/subscription to keep the service (this is info on US website).

If Nissan Australia no longer offers Nissan Connect as they have taken it off the market (no longer an option for sale), it isn’t a Australian Consumer Law issue and there would be nothing a consumer could do to force Nissan to sell it to them. I suspect they removed it as an option as it isn’t popular in Australia.

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I wouldn’t rely on fair trading as i found with my car they had no powers to do anything. Unless you seek your own legal advice. Personally its bad. Its terrible especially when you buy a new car hope goes well for you.

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Hi unfortunately i know of other Nissan customers and in fact especially Ford being ripped of by individual Ford service and Nissan dealerships. Underline individual because those parent companies strive to provide a quality product with updated services and parts
Ultimately I did my research and Toyota has 10 out of the 15 most reliable and cost effective vehicles world wide
Buy an Toyota :eagle::fire::pray:

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Thanks again, everyone, for all your replies - much appreciated.

Although the Nissan Connect feature is not great, it does seem morally and ethically wrong that a manufacturer can effectively remove a feature from vehicles that are still under warranty. (Unless, of course, they have small print somewhere that says they can - but when I asked for it, there was nothing forthcoming).

I’m still working on it through the dealership but I just wanted to thank everyone again for your insights.

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It is likely to be in the sale documentation that you should have kept when you purchase the vehicle. It is your responsibility to keep such documentation as it provides information about the manufacturer’s warranty.

Notwithstanding this, as it appears that your car has been purchased in recent times (last year or so), it is unlikely that you will win with Nissan Australia or any consumer affairs office. The reason being, it seems that the Nissan Connect App hasn’t been available in Australia since at least February 2016. This article provides some information:

If this is the case, you might be arguing to get something which wasn’t an option on the vehicle in question, when you bought the demonstration vehicle. The app may be standard for the software they install in all Nissans coming out of Japan, whether it is for Australia (where Nissan Connect isn’t supported or offered since ~Feb 2016) or say the USA (where it appears that it may be a option for some vehicles).

Good luck if you pursue, but with this information, you are unlikely to have any success (and is it worth the grief/stress trying to take it further). I am surprised that the Nissan dealership haven’t provided information that the app is not longer supported or usable in Australia for over 5 years.

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