# Taken for a ride?



## jjmcd97 (Nov 8, 2011)

My battery and brake light came on recently, and I assumed it was the alternator based on other posts here. My 2009 Maxima has 33k miles on it, so I was thinking this would be covered under warranty. Dealer just called - wants to put a new battery in, change the rear brakes, flush the brake fluid, flush the transmission, flush the coolant, do an injection service and change the air filter. All for about $1,000! This seems ridiculous for a car with 33,000 miles on it. Any thoughts on when I should need to have all of this done?


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Battery - ok, maybe a 2-3 year old battery took a dump. It's possible. I don't believe it, but it's entirely possible. Especially if you live in a hot climate. $50-$100 depending where you buy it, 10 minutes-ish, unless this battery is buried.

Rear brakes - not very likely unless it's been driven fairly hard or the e-brake has been left on a few times. The front brakes do the bulk of the work. The back brakes are almost along for the ride...so to speak. Set of rear brakes, maybe $50+, couple hours, along with a handful of tools.

Flush the brake fluid? - Ya whatever. If you're the paranoid type, sure, go ahead. If it's contaminated, then, yes. Otherwise...garbage... Good brake fluid shouldn't cost more than $20, but I'd doubt you can do it yourself with ABS in there.

Flush the transmission - if it's due for a fluid/filter change, then yes, if the guy planned on changing the filter at the same time. If not, I call B.S. Likely less than $50 for the fluid/filter, again I'm not sure you can do that in your driveway without special tools.

Flush the coolant - same thing, if it's due, then it's due and probably should be done. Figure $20+ for coolant plus a couple hours to drain/flush it right.

Injection service? - WTF? Unless the guy has a specific reason, forget about it. If it's running good otherwise, tell him to go take a flying leap.

Air filter - ya, if it's dirty or hasn't been changed. Maybe $20-$40 or so.

So, I come up with less than $300 and a good day of work...assuming you have decent tools and half a brain to work with.
If not, then better pony up the $1K an deal with it...


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## belacane (Nov 9, 2011)

jdg said:


> ...If not, then better pony up the $1K an deal with it...


or, if you chose to do the work, avoid the stealership, save some cash, and look into getting the same work done elsewhere.

Good luck


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## jjmcd97 (Nov 8, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback - love the "stealership" comment - too true. I was into this for $118 for diagnostics, so I bought their $119 battery and got out of there. They tried to charge me for the diagnostics since the battery is a part and not service. A little complaining and they just let me go with my over-priced battery.


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## Tree Fiddy (Nov 11, 2011)

I think they want to take you for a ride. My 07 Maxima with 52,000 miles, mostly around town mileage, still doesn't need new brakes yet. We did have a battery problem - 2 actually, and have had both replaced by our Nissan dealer free. The other stuff - i would look at the service manual and see when they recommend this. I would go to a different Nissan dealer or shop altogether.


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## JordanWeeler (Dec 1, 2011)

jjmcd97 said:


> Thanks for the feedback - love the "stealership" comment - too true. I was into this for $118 for diagnostics, so I bought their $119 battery and got out of there. They tried to charge me for the aftermarket parts since the battery is a part and not service. A little complaining and they just let me go with my over-priced battery.


Haha, at the "Stealership" comment. I mean yeah, they do take your money but they atleast fix the problem correctly and reassure it doesn't happen for an extensive amount of time.


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## belacane (Nov 9, 2011)

JordanWeeler said:


> Haha, at the "Stealership" comment. I mean yeah, they do take your money but they atleast fix the problem correctly and reassure it doesn't happen for an extensive amount of time.


Not necessarily. Mechanics at a dealer (and most other shops) are paid by the job, not by the time it actually takes to do the job. Sadly, the time calculated to do the job is usually based off of working on a brand new car with no rust/already messed up bolt threads/crappy work some other mechanic did...etc. damage do it. Often it takes longer to do the work than the mechanic is getting paid for. So he rushes. The result is often shoddy work, since a dealership shop is a fast paced environment and most people aren't gonna work beyond the time they're paid for.


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