rogerxp

New car and tax & tyres to sort out - ouch!!! I've just done my tax & P2 service but tyres desperately need doing. Looks great and the mods will certainly improve things. Enjoy.

Thought I'd better pull my finger out and conclude this thread as it seems I have things resolved. Only one potential issue but will come back to that. My car went back to the dealers about a month ago now as they had the clips and had got another new fabric roof through warranty. They had my car for a week as I got my P2 service done (at a much reduced rate due to leaning on Westway) whilst it was in and I'd also been given £200 dealer vouchers from Nissan HQ to compensate for my troubles (£200 apparently being the maximum) so used that to get a panel resprayed due to an minor argument with a garage door (just chipped an inch of paint off the wheel arch). Car was returned in tip-top condition and the roof seemed to fit well. Apparently the technician had taken half-a-day literally lining up the hood/windows to ensure nothing caught. The hood does sit much more level and seems equal 'hang' on each side now. There is still a disconcerting 'clunk' when you open the passenger door but it's the seal the window catches and not the fabric (though it's close!). I suppose it's as good as it's going to get. The first time I went to lower the roof (a couple of days later) things looked bad however. The fabric didn't retract all the way down, the hard cover then lowered down, and basically bashed the fabric down - didn't look or sounds pretty. Went back up no problems and has only repeated this once since. Now, it's been pretty cold, and seem to remember it being cold when this happened so maybe the fabric is more stiff when cold?? Maybe it's too tightly fitted so struggles to retract - does work fine most of the time though without struggle. Odd. Will watch this (and try to record it). Westway were due to let me have a Leaf for the week, thought this could be pretty fun and different, but due to a ****-up and some miscommunication this didn't happen so I ended up with another ****ing Note. I duely kicked off and it was replaced by a normal QQ (we looked like QQ fanboys parked next to one another on the driveway!!) for most of the week. So, things seem to be sorted, only took about 7 months start to finish, but need to keep my eye on the hood as it retracts.

Will, can't help with this exact problem, but my chair drives me crazy rubbing against plastic behind it. Now Im only 5'8" so can't understand why you're able to nudge your seat forwards a bit - are your knees next to your ears or something. Has anyone had to stick anything to the back of their chair and, if so, what?? Sorry to hijack your thread

Did this recently (dealer even fitted them foc whilst doing my service - bought elsewhere online!). Sure I posted this up recently. Maybe not.

Well, tomorrow the week long Zed-Spa opens, my car is going in for a new hood, P2 service and a little tlc courtesy of some paint to repair my chipped rear arch (and also front end when I hit a large branch that blocking my path with nowhere to swerve last week!!). Depending on price my alloys may also get a refurb too. Interested to see the week-long courtesy car but have warned them if it's another maroon Note it'll be shoved where the sun don't shine!!! Tax disc due in 20 days completes the potentially expensive month. Will they new hood still clip the window - answers on a postcard!!

Why the insistance on no Nav??

Hadn't realised you'd had the rusting issues Will (amongst other problems) with your Stillen. Also, didn't realise Chris/Tarmac has stopped supplying them - speaks volumes. I concur with Will's sentiments about the workmanship. My left hand pipe is too far over where the right sits alright (just) so they aren't spaced apart correctly. Mine has rusted to bu88ery already, particularily the welds, which are quite obviously not SS welds (a couple are but that's it) and my tips are corroded too. Took this up with Stillen directly (with help from Tarmac) who were pretty stubborn to the problem - blames chemicals on UK's road surfaces (WTF!!) - I'd had mine 6 months/2,000 miles at the time - but eventually got offer a set of replacement tips but had to send the old ones back to California (they'd pick up the cost). Never actually got round to doing anything about it as I was very nervous about the new tips having the required strength to stop on right. Plus, a SS exhaust specialist near me was shocked outright by the quality of it all and told me to send the whole system back to them claiming it isn't as they claim 'a full SS system'. Having battled long and hard to new tips I frankly couldn't be arsed to send the whole system back. So far, I've done sod all, I've just been too busy to bother. I'd so far kept quiet on here about my long drawn-out problems but no point in keeping quite now - a few pics attached to back-up my points (pics taken after 6 months/maybe not even that long/2,000 miles/v.mild winter). Well done to Tarmac for standing up and no supplying inferior products to us guys (guess of few unlucky ones got a bit caught first). Sound great though. Sorry if a little off-topic but thought it worthwhile highlighting whilst on the subject.

You may not have realised I'd fitted the rotating centre caps (ala Rolls Royce) so the Z's are always upright - it's these touches that make green/red work so well

Here you go Will, something a little different (sometimes my skills amaze me!!!)...

I'm sure a nice chap . Will update this thread when I hear something.

Gorgeous car, my first Zed (coupe) in '05 was in this colour combo, and it was the only combo I'd consider so took a while for the dealer to track a ready-built one (I was being impatient!!). The Coupe had full Alezan seats whereas the Roadster gained the mesh centre (and maybe heated/cooled seats too?). Not too sure why I'm telling you this but was semi-interesting/related . GLWS.

Hi Toby, I hope you are fit and well mate, is life treating you well?? The QQ+2 is still running perfectly, had it's first major challenge in early August, carting the family to North Wales for a week, averaged 50mpg, everything packed in nicely (just), even used the 7 seats as met Grandparents there. Whilst we miss the X3 it wouldn't have been able to have acheived what the QQ+2 did . Thanks for your input, I appreciate the 'insider' knowledge, and have since spoken to the dealer who have been very helpful (if possibly a little less pushy as I'd have liked to get things resolved quicker). They've confirmed that the £200 voucher is the maximum and essentially funded for by Nissan GB. The only way to get more 'cash' from them would have been if whatever needed rectifying wasnt' covered by warranty they may help towards the costs on top of the vouchers - but - as everything is being sorted by warranty this option isn't really there. He mentioned (because I asked, not to deflect the situation) that technically the dealership will be out of pocket here as Nissan GB will only pay for 2.5 hours of labour to rectify things - this job will take about 1.5 days where the mechanic will be unable to do other work to effectively costing the dealership money - he wasn't overly bothered (take the rough with the smooth) as he just wants my car sorted but mentioned it to give me an idea of what angle to take with Nissan. Apart from perhaps being a little slow the dealer hasn't really done all that much wrong (if I ignore the fact they've given me three maroon Note's as courtesy cars throughout this ) so don't feel I can hit them for too much. Maybe I'm just too soft. I put it to him that my P2 is due in September at a cost of £299 and could he do anything with this - perhaps try to get Nissan GB to fund this (partially or fully) claiming that he felt he owed me something from a dealer point of view to look after me. We'll see. To be fair, if I get £200 vouchers (to sort out my nicked paint), and a free service (or partial) I'll be a pretty happy bunny. That is until they've fitted it and it's still catching on the window .

UPDATE TIME!!! Right, after a number more weeks of leaving Nissan to get their acts into gear (wasn't really pushing as I squeezed two holidays in!!), finally received a call today. As I mentioned previously the mysterious clips are already in the hands of the dealer however we were awaiting the OK on a warranty claim for a new fabric hood (my second replacement) -this has now been granted and we're just waiting for it to arrive at the dealer. I was also having a nibble for some form of compensation/goodwill from Nissan given the length of time this debarcle has taken. The dealer hinted that some 'dealer vouchers' were being considered (basically a cash credit held on account at the dealer to fund whatever I chose - service/accessories/etc). As my alloys would really benefit from a refurb and I've got a chip in the paintwork on my rear arch (not forgetting my P2) I thought this would go down nicely and had £400 in my head as a figure I'd be happy with. Anyway, they've offered me £200, I said I wasn't overly happy with this amount and how could I escalate my feelings - I was told this was the maximum available. I suspect that's bollocks!!! Any thoughts from you guys - am I being too greedy / should I try to fight for more??

Nobody? I see Evo recently paid £314 for theirs (in their staff car) so guess £299 at Westway isn't bad??

Wanted to highlight this situation to you guys. A friend of mine, from the Beemer forum I frequent, is having huge problems with his new Merc and has now gone public. I said I'd spread the word to other car enthusiasts... http://my-new-mercedes-benz-rattles.com/ So as many of you will be aware my car has suffered from various build quality issues since the day I drove it off the forecourt. I know a lot of members on this forum have either bought one of the new Mercedes Benz C Class cars or are seriously looking at it so please read this. It may save you a lot of money. This is my first Mercedes Benz. Previously I have run BMW, Ford and Volvo. Whilst I was somewhat disappointed with these issues on a "premium product" my dealer (Mercedes Benz of Boston part of the Lister group of companies) have always been fine. But by the time we got to visit number TEN to the dealers with my car having spent FIVE WEEKS out of the last 10 months in the workshop it was becoming clear that we were not going to fix the issues. So in July the dealer had my car for 2 weeks. They totally stripped it down and put it back together (again). Within 15 miles of leaving the dealer the rattles had returned. Now these rattles are numerous and varied. First there is the buzzing from the drivers seatbelt mechanism. Right next to my right ear. The dealer claims this is a known problem with a known fix. The problem is that the fix doesn't work. Then we have a ticking noise from behind the sat nav screen. Sounds like a wire catching on plastic to me. Then there are various other creaks and cracks from all over the top area of the dash especially when the sun is shining. Every time the car flexes (round a bend for example), the dashboard creaks And then there is a noise that appears to come from where the 2 parts of the centre console meet. There are also a bunch of noises coming from the rear of the car but I haven't even started on them. So after not fixing the car after having it for 2 weeks in July it went into the dealer "one more time". This time after I had spoken to Listers head office and Mercedes Benz UK. I made it very clear that if it wasn't fixed this time, I would be rejecting the car under the rights afforded me by the sale of goods act on the grounds that the product is not of "satisfactory quality" and that even though i had given the supplying dealer ample opportunity to rectify things, they had failed. I told them that I did not care if they had to put the car back in it's box, send it back to Germany and rebuild it from scratch. Just fix it. The car came back after 3 days with rattles. So last Monday I visited the dealership and formally rejected the car. The Dealer Principle accepted my rejection and explained that there was a formal process that he needed to follow but that he would look to replace the car. Today after going through the Mercedes Benz process to do this he has changed his tune. Mercedes Benz UK have told me that in their opinion, ALL vehicles have various rattles and noises from the cabin area and in their view, as the car hasn't actually failed me, it perfectly fit for purpose. I have asked them to put this in writing. After all, a letter from Mercedes Benz stating that rattles in brand new cars is "acceptable" is going to make quite some reading and I am sure is something their competitors would love to get hold of! They declined to put this in writing. So it looks like things are about to get ugly. Legal action is an option but because we are talking about a £40k car, the small claims court it not an option so will be expensive. This will be my last resort. But I have started a blog which can be found at http://my-new-mercedes-benz-rattles.com/ documenting everything. I have ordered up the sign writing for the side of the car to "spread the word" and I am posting this here asking you to spread the word. If Mercedes Benz will not take me seriously then perhaps they have under estimated the damage something like this can do to their brand. I will quite happily shout about the sub standard materials they are using from the roof tops if it prevents somebody from throwing good money away. Thanks for reading

My car needs its P2 service next month but want to gauge the price quoted by Westway Stockport. They've quoted £299 - is this reasonable - anyone got any other cheaper quotes (if you say where from I'll get a quote from them). I know I can probably supply my own oil which helps (any idea how many litres are required?) but interested to hear how much assuming they provide the oil - this might happen next week so might not have enough time to prepare. I'm sure this must have been discussed before but nothing came up on a search (unless there's a special place I didn't look in). Thanks in advance.

Starting to get somewhere!!! Clips now with the Dealer!!! Quite why this has taken 5 months is beyond me. Now awaiting authority to get another new fabric top due to the damage caused on the current 'replaced' hood due to not being fitted correctly through the monsoon season. My request for a GTR for a week has been declined but I've hit them with getting my scraped rear arch sorted & a full wheel refurb as a goodwill gesture - we'll see. I've not yet hit them with 'forum-power' so keeping that card up my sleeve!! I'm away for a week from the 18th so given them this target to sort everything out whilst I'm away. Quite what I'll do if the new hood still gets caught by the window I don't know - I'll worry about that if it happens.

Well, received a phone call from Nissan GB today, who were going to speak directly to the dealer. Seems something it happening, not sure what, but at least people are talking .

Auto - for girls Manual - for REAL men Seriously though, there was an interesting article in a recent Evo, where a long term tester in a manual tried an auto, dreaded it, but in fact was impressed by the speed & smoothness of gear-change, but was pleased to have his 'sluggish' manual back (obviously a REAL man )

Cheers Will. I'll update this thread as usual with progress. Funnily enough, one of the woeful trade-in figures I've been given (£17k, 60 plate, 9,500 miles) as blamed by a dealer on being able to get £10k off a new build - are these deals still around as I'd be tempted to use this as leverage.

Thought I'd provide a brief update (anyone else bored of this yet )... Spoke to the dealer again today who has heard absolutely nothing from Nissan since sending off the photos of the missing clips on 12th June. FFS . Getting thoroughly pi**ed off with it all now so, in the morning, Nissan GB will be receiving a rather stroppy letter from me (recorded delivery) highlighting my complete dissatisfaction with the situation I find myself in. This is actually stopping me from changing cars (which is something I'm actively looking at) as I can hardly sell it as it is - I've missed out on 2 potential cars in the last week annoyingly. Got a decent piccie of the watermark that has developed so attach it to this post (in fact I'm attaching both photos that accompanied todays letter)...

Mmm, apart from a job that takes up all day & a couple of hours or so every evening, and a wife, 5 year old & 9 month old to amuse, plus random other 'chores' I'm delegated, I wouldn't have the first clue where to start (plus surely I'd get my hands dirty too )

Thanks Guys. Seems the warning light has gone away. I'll ask the dealer to reset it all when it's next in. Might be 5 litres of oil in the classified's shortly . I'll see if the Dealer will use it at service time.

Guess what, the fecking warning message has vanished, after I pi**ed about in the settings. I'll post up in a mo what I've got... Right, got the photos now, one is of the standard 'maintenance' call which doesn't really tell us anything except that perhaps it's showing up too soon. The actually warning message I've been talking about has now vanished since I pi**ed around with the setting in Oil so have taken a shot of that screen instead. Since messing with it this afternoon the reading now says 374/500 whereas before it was 000/000 - I can't say I actually understand what these numbers mean!!! The original warning message took over the whole of the small screen, in bright orange until you clicked to accept the message, there was a picture of an oil can, and the word Oil, may have said Engine Oil. Can't remember. If it shows up again I'll grab a photo...