Hi All,

I have been a regular reader of the forums in recent years and have now decided to sign up as I am in the early stages of what I feel is going to be a long, drawn-out process with Nissan regarding my Qashqai.

I purchased a 2010 Nissan Qashqai 1.5dci Acenta from CarGiant in June 2013 with 32K Miles on the clock. The car came with 2 Nissan Main Dealer service stamps in the book, plus an additional service/check from CG. I have had the car serviced at the recommended intervals set out by Nissan albeit by my local garage (with receipts/history provided). The car has given me 2 years trouble-free motoring up to June 2015 when it needed a new clutch, in my opinion prematurely but c'est la vie!

Anyway, whilst driving to visit family this past Thursday (February 18th), the car suddenly lost power and I managed to get it off the road and call a recovery service. The recovery driver suspected cam belt failure and so I opted to have the car recovered to my local Nissan main dealer as I felt that the cam belt has snapped prematurely. The dealer confirmed that the belt had indeed failed and it would cost me £114 for the diagnosis, but if I wanted them to strip the engine down to inspect further damage this would cost another £450+ in labour.

At this point I explained that I would expect Nissan to accept some kind of ownership of the problem as the stated cam belt change intervals of '100k miles or 72 months' (quoted by initial service clerk) had not been met. The clerk told me that he would speak with the service manager and get back to me today. He called me this morning to explain that the dealership would offer no gesture of goodwill as the car was not known to them. I explained that it was known to Nissan though and if they were trading under the Nissan badge then it should not matter. Anyway, he was polite enough and was just acting as the mouthpiece for his manager who obviously did not have the tacks to call me and explain himself, so I thanked him but then asked again what the cam belt change intervals were for my vehicle. He then went off to speak to a technician and eventually came back and said "76K miles or 6 years". This contradicts his colleague and also he kept referring to a timing 'chain'. I know from research that my particular engine is belt driven, not chain like all other Nissan engines.

So, my next option was to call Nissan Customer Care to raise a case, which I have done today and have been given a 48-hour timeframe for a case manager to contact me. I have read various stories of the same issue, Nissan apparently issued a recall for due to the timing belt rubbing against the water pump but I can't seem to find the recall on the VOSA website. I've also read on various other forums that the cars that were recalled were inspected only for the belt to fail a short time after. The results seem to be mixed, some people receiving no gesture of goodwill at all, some receiving an offer of Nissan to cover the cost of parts and some actually getting the full repair done free of charge.

The concern for me is simple - I can't afford the estimated £6k cost to replace the engine which is inevitable as I was travelling at around 50mph when the fault occurred and I've not read of a similar story that hasn't required a replacement engine. My other concern is that Nissan do not seem to be able to give me a conclusive schedule for having the cam belt changed!

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I have has a cambelt go on a car years ago and luckily the engine could be repaired. But quite expensive at the time.

The crux of this case, could be whether Renault ever told their garages to replace cambelts earlier ot whether there was ever a recall notice issued to ensure owners had relevant work done. If you found out either of these, then it should be easier to take forward with the garage that did the servicing.

If the car was not subject any warranty, you are relying on proving there was a manufacturing fault and that the cambelt should have lasted longer. I am not sure the information in the owners manuals about certain parts needing replacement after x years or after x mileage has any legal standing. I am sure there is a legal wording in these manuals to cover their backs.

If you are a member of AA or RAC, see if they have an advice line. Perhaps they have specific info about what steps you can take to deal with this. You would have to get a full engineers report on the engine and general condition of the car, if you wanted to take forward. I doubt Renault or a Renault garage will make it easy.

Thanks for the info - much appreciated. Just to confirm, my issue is with Nissan, not Renault although ironically the engine we are talking about is a Renault K9K engine.

I believe that Nissan have admitted a mechanical defect by issuing the recall but they cannot tell me if my vehicle was subject to a check/rectification works.

I have read numerous threads on people having the same issue with this engine and Nissan burying their heads in the sand somewhat, which is foolish considering the Qashqai is so popular and this fault seems to be quite common.

I'm considering involving Watchdog over this. Their Social Media accounts have been flooded by unhappy customers also.

Still requiring further advice please.

You should have some claim if you can prove there have been several complaints about faulty belts.---a defect known to Nissan.

I would be very surprised if the vehicle service document doesn't state "Change cam belt at X000 miles".

I know this is quoted in the Citroen service booklet where it indicates all items to be replaced at certain times or mileages

You should have some claim if you can prove there have been several complaints about faulty belts.---a defect known to Nissan.

I would be very surprised if the vehicle service document doesn't state "Change cam belt at X000 miles".

I know this is quoted in the Citroen service booklet where it indicates all items to be replaced at certain times or mileages

Yes, go through every document you were given about servicing from new to see what is mentioned. If there were any changes made after a recall, i would expect to see some record of this.

Funny that in the back of my mind i knew it was a Renault engine that Nissan use in these cars. Of course any action would be against Nissan.

If you know which garage did the servicing before you bought the car, it might be worth seeing whether they have any records of recall notices or work being done. Give them a phone call to sound them out. Don't mention the current problem, but say that you are missing information and Nissan have suggested contacting them. If you mention cambelt and possible legal action against Nissan, they might not be as helpful.

The 72 months or 6 years is where you start, (assuming you haven't yet reached 100,000), what month was the car first registered and are you still within that 72 month period ??

This 'replace the engine' bit is all nonsense. If they remove the head, their could be very little damage, even just the replacement of one valve. So without examination, no one can say if the engine requires replacement or not. Even if a valve had been struck by a piston, one piston and one valve costs nowhere near that sort of money.

Any work done by a Nissan dealer should be recorded on the Nissan database and accessible from any Nissan dealer.

Agreed Conniff, but to fit a new piston and valve requires some sort of mechanical skill---something not in over abundance at main dealers!!! It's easier & more profitable to shove in a new power unit---no come back as new unit would have makers warranty !!!!!!!

Hi All,

Apologies - I had no notifications for replies, I just came on to post an update and here you all are! Thank you all so much.

To confirm, I bought the car in June 2013 and the car is under the 72 months by quite a bit. I have spoken to Nissan Customer Care and they have initially been very helpful, however according to them the cambelt should be replaced every 27k!! Ridiculous! So now I have had 3 different intervals been quoted. The case manager was very nice and made sure the dealership gave me a courtesy car, but she was very up front in saying that as the car is out of warranty and not purchased from a Nissan authorised dealer then I fall out of their 'Goodwill' policy. However, when I mentioned the recall and that I believed that by issuing a recall Nissan have acknowledged a fault and therefore I am led to believe the issue is due to mechanical build failure she said that I would need to instruct the dealership to strip the engine down and investigate the cause and if it is linked to the recall then they 'may be able to help'.

At this point, I had a decision to make as a friend of mine could install a new engine for £1300 all in and was I prepared to take a gamble on paying the extortionate labour charges to the dealership only for them to tell me I need a new engine. I went ahead and instructed the dealership to strip the engine and they called me today to tell me that surprise surprise the engine needs replacing to the tune of £6500!

I asked about the cause of the belt and have been told by them that the belt failed because it was rubbing on the 'water bottle'. I asked if this was the issue for Nissan issuing a recall and was told it is however my vehicle had the work done on the recall but the same fault has occurred either because the recall work wasn't carried out correctly or the belt has somehow moved back into its faulty position.

Therefore it seems quite positive that the problem is indeed the engine build and not normal wear and tear. I have relayed all this back to NCC and they are now liaising with the dealership to clarify the situation and will be calling me back to update me on what 'if anything' they can do.

I've read similar stories of Nissan only offering to cover the cost of parts or 60% towards parts only which still leaves a hefty labour bill. Surely I should expect them to carry out the work free of charge? Especially seeing as the issue is down to their initial bungled engine work and then not correcting the issue on the recall work?

Looking forward to your advice. I will of course keep you all updated.

I think you have a good case given the recall work failed to deal with reason for recall, providing you get this put in writing to you.

The bit that complicates it is whether the claim is against Nissan or the Nissan garage that did the recall work. The Nissan garage is likely to be owned by a different company.

I will leave it to others to discuss the legal position.

'Of course any action would be against Nissan' No, it wouldn't, it would be against the company that sold the vehicle, they have the contract of sale, Nissan don't sell cars, Nissan dealers do. Plus of course, other non franchised outlets.

'Any work done by a Nissan dealer should be recorded on the Nissan database and accessible from any Nissan dealer'. No it wouldn't, Nissan do not have such a database, very difficult thing to implement because of EU Block Exemption and the DPA. Warranty work is recorded but nothing else unless done by the same dealer group.

H

rule of thumb = Cambelts change every 38,000 miles any car, or take a chance at your own peril!

On the contrary, the Nissan-approved dealership that currently has my car, Glyn Hopkin in Essex were able to trace the service records from the Nissan-approved dealership, Yeomans in Worthing which carried out the servicing and the recall work. I agree that to think Nissan has a database accessed by all is probably incorrect, but there is some kind of Nissan-approved dealership network that records all servicing. The fact that Nissan are saying my car was purchased 'outside of the Nissan network' and are using this as a reason to offer only limited assistance also confirms that some kind of shared database exists. I'm no expert, but a vehicle's registration mark is not personal data and therefore the DPA doesn't apply, so as long as there is no personal information stored on this database that can be viewed by a third party then it shouldn't breach any DP laws.

A further update as follows:

Nissan have offered 50% towards parts which leaves me with the other 50% plus labour. They have said that there is no further course of appeal, which I don't really believe is the case so I'll be investigating this further.

They have also said that I may have a case of claim against the dealership who carried out the recall work. Again, this I will be pursuing next week.

So, an initial repair bill of £6.5k is now reduced to just over £4K, so I'm hoping to try and half that and suck up a £2k cost. I never expected them to cover all costs so anything is a result.

As always, your advice and guidance is fully appreciated and anything else is always welcome.

rule of thumb = Cambelts change every 38,000 miles any car, or take a chance at your own peril!

Even if the car is still within warranty? (Mine isn't, but just trying to understand your logic!)

rule of thumb = Cambelts change every 38,000 miles any car, or take a chance at your own peril!

38,000 miles are you serious, even if most actual makers say 60-80k miles, drives belts maybe but not cambelts, 38k is madness and often driven within 3 years or 36 months.

a high bill for the 60,000 miles?

Cambelt failure at 60k miles is entirely manufacturer's fault Imo.

The car has been regularly serviced accordingly to their schedule and cambelt change is not part of the service until 72k miles as you said or 6 years.

If a nissan garage has addressed the cambelt recall even better.

They are responsible for the repair and Nissan should foot the entire bill.

I would not accept anything short of a full repair under warranty/recall/bodged recall.

'If a nissan garage has addressed the cambelt recall even better.

They are responsible for the repair and Nissan should foot the entire bill'.

Why would Nissan foot the bill for repairs which one of their dealers has carried out incorrectly?

H

Cambelt failure at 60k miles is entirely manufacturer's fault Imo.

The car has been regularly serviced accordingly to their schedule and cambelt change is not part of the service until 72k miles as you said or 6 years.

If a nissan garage has addressed the cambelt recall even better.

They are responsible for the repair and Nissan should foot the entire bill.

I would not accept anything short of a full repair under warranty/recall/bodged recall.

Having had a think about this, i would think any action is against either Nissan or last garage that serviced the car. Nissan because a design fault was not fixed when the car was recalled. So the recall work was not effective. Or the garage that last serviced the car, because they should have checked the cambelt, given that this was a known problem area with this car.

No action can be taken against the recall garage as this was only a contract between the last owner of the car, Nissan and the garage that did the work. The OP was not party to this contract and had no interest in the car at the time the car was worked on.

'If a nissan garage has addressed the cambelt recall even better.

They are responsible for the repair and Nissan should foot the entire bill'.

 

Why would Nissan foot the bill for repairs which one of their dealers has carried out incorrectly?

 

H

Because they are authorised Nissan mechanics and use their badge (and prices).

From this link http://forum.qashqaiclub.co.uk/topic10162.html

It seems that the cambelt should be changed at 75k or 5 years, but because yours was already changed by a nissan dealer, the 75k/5 years are reset at that point.

Imo Nissan should foot the bill entirely.

'Because they are authorised Nissan mechanics and use their badge (and prices)'.

Makes not one jot of difference, the dealer is, after all, only a franchise.

I have a jacket which say's Ferrari, it has Ferrari branding, or badge as you put it, does that make me authorised?

How does price affect liability?

H

'Because they are authorised Nissan mechanics and use their badge (and prices)'.

 

Makes not one jot of difference, the dealer is, after all, only a franchise.

 

I have a jacket which say's Ferrari, it has Ferrari branding, or badge as you put it, does that make me authorised?

 

How does price affect liability?

 

H

Depends on whether they are an authorised agent of Nissan. If they are authorised by Nissan to service their cars, given access to technical documents/data and are responsibke for recall work, they can be liable jointly with Nissan.

Depends on whether they are an authorised agent of Nissan. If they are authorised by Nissan to service their cars, given access to technical documents/data and are responsibke for recall work, they can be liable jointly with Nissan.

Exactly!

'Because they are authorised Nissan mechanics and use their badge (and prices)'.

 

Makes not one jot of difference, the dealer is, after all, only a franchise.

 

I have a jacket which say's Ferrari, it has Ferrari branding, or badge as you put it, does that make me authorised?

 

How does price affect liability?

 

H

We're not talking about possessing a Nissan here, we're talking about a Nissan dealer using nissan badge and servicing cars with authorisation from Nissan.

Surely I cannot open a garage a stick a 6 foot nissan sign at the front without authorisation.

But of couse I can buy a Nissan car or a Ferrari jacket without being authorised by neither companies

Whatever

H

I'm in a similar position at the moment. Left uk on the 3rd of August traveling to the south of France, after going through roune on the motorway they engine failed. With the wife and two young children at the side Road thinking what the hell has happened!

Having been told by the garage who towed us off the cam belt has gone and engine knackered!

Finally got it back to Roune Nissan garage who told us its not their fault and the car can't be looked at till 28th August! We have hired a car to get us to our destination and yesterday the Nissan garage roune phoned up saying engine needs replacing and it will cost €5k for a reconditioned engine but they will voluntarily pay €1.7k towards bill. Phoned Nissan uk to complain but they tried to fob me off saying it's euro Nissan who needs to sort it out! A very heated exchange accursed and now waiting for the assessor manager to get In touch.

Car is a 12 plate and the warranty ran out on the 24th July Fully serviced but not by Nissan with 55k on the clock.

Our next stage is to hire a car to Calais on the 14th go on the ferry has passengers with all our travel stuff then hire a car back to Manchester and then for me to travel back to roune on the 24 August to pick the bloody thing up.