Jump to content

Damaged Z, advice please.


neilpeel2007

Recommended Posts

I had some tube in a Royal Mail van hit me before Xmas and write off the drivers door and wing on my 04 Z. At least he admitted liability. Trouble is the Z needs a part (a timer for the central locking) that is on 'back order' and this means that the car has been off the road for two months and wont be back until early March at the earliest. I recently found out it is in bits with the windows down and taped up with polythene sheet, the door trims off, the side skirts off, in gear, outside in a car park at the dealers since it has been with them all through the worst of the winter. My question is this: surely that is bad for it? the tyres will get flat spots, the lubricants should have been topped up and the battery removed at least, am I right? does anyone have any comments on how a Z should be stored for months over the winter and is it normal to have no parts available for this long? This is really depressing as I dont want it back if its never going to be the same again. What should I do?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If its not right when you get it back, then it gets rejected. If that means they have to recondition the interior, fit new battery, new tyres, etc, then so be it.

 

I would be asking the repairers to start putting some more pressure on the supply chain though to get your parts.

 

Its a shame that services from almost every industry means the end users have to do most of the work and constantly chase in order to receive even a normal level of service.

 

Still havent had my excess payment back from the insurance company, and thats at least a month after the claim was settled fully by the opposite side... :dry:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi

sorry to be hear about your bump , at least your ok - the car comes second place always.

 

From the point of long storage I would hope the dealer had enough brain cells to disconnect the battery if they were assuming your car will be stored up for a fairly long time? Yes you want them to keep the car dry. Better to have it in gear with the handbrake off though? I expect they will charge the battery and check everything over after the work is done?

 

I still find it odd that parts for Jap cars appear to take so long to source? As far as I know most Jap manufacturers have huge European parts depo's located in places like Belgium/France/Holland etc - due to their central location and good motorway communication links? I know Toyota do for sure.

 

I appreciate that niche cars like Zeds will have unique parts but from what I have read on this forum and my own Nissan experience they really do like to use the parts bin - I expect the part you want must surely be

shared with the rest of the Nissan range?

 

I know they are pretty dire (my own experience) but worth phoning Nissan UK or even another Nissan dealer to see if they have this part? Try to find out the part number if possible and do a search online? I know the dealers should be chasing all this for you but remember its your car and you care about it - they dont its just another car to them so you have to do all the running around?

 

Sorry cant be much more help than that? Good luck?

 

Stan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Correct, the European parts base is in Holland. Have ordered a few things that have come through in under a week from Holland (still pretty poor really!) and some things from Japan direct which have taken about 4 weeks to arrive.

 

Hope you sort it out sooner rather than later mate and like has been advised, if you're not 100% happy with it then reject it and make them correct any mistakes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to hear about the accident. As people have said, if there is anything not right when you get it back, point it out and reject the repair.

 

It might be worth contacting NMGB anyway so at least they have a record of it all. Then if you do have to reject it they are aware of it. ;) Good luck. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another story of poop Nissan parts availability :( What I don't understand is isn't the Z a big seller in the US of A? If so why can't they get bits from there. For me I'd bloody pay the price myself to get the bits from the USA / Japan if I was going to be 2 months without a car.

 

Hope you get something sorted. Best of luck with Nissan GB I got a box of chocs and a letter saying they were sorry for being crap but hey thats life :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

like said before. If your not happy with the car once you've got it back then reject it and keep rejecting it until you are completely satisfied. Also don't take the car away until you are, as the loan car gives more pressure for them to complete correctly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me I'd bloody pay the price myself to get the bits from the USA / Japan if I was going to be 2 months without a car.

 

I did that with my Celica. Needed a new TRD front bumper to replace damaged one. Discontinued by Toyota and dealer parts guys couldn't be assed looking beyond their computer catalogue but I was able to source one from a US dealer. Called them up. Said it was on the shelf right now. Cost a fortune but insurance was covering the lot.

 

Did the same for the TRD fogs. Toyota couldn’t say how long I’d have to wait and it had already been a month. I got them from a supplier in Japan. Paid for it myself and the body shop manager covered it by repairing keyed damage to one of the courtesy cars I was given. Brand new Avensis and some scum keyed one side.

 

I think I was able to do this because the body shop manager was a top bloke. I had various courtesy cars for between 2 and 3 months with my car indoors at all times in the body shop taking up a bay. This meant the garage lost a fair bit of income. The owner also wanted him to add another 5% or so mark-up on all parts. He’s an honest person. Hard to believe one exists in the dealer network. Anyway he refused. When the car was ready the manager was told either resign or you’re out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...