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 Post subject: Middletown Nissan
PostPosted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 7:31 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:12 pm
Posts: 191
Location: Meriden, CT.
I just wanted to tell everyone about the plesant experiance I am having with Middletown Nissan. They have been very professional, courteous and treated me like a long time customer. I can see where my Z will be going for its regular shots. I miss it right now but I know right now its in a better place. It will be nice not to smell the gas anymore. And they treat my car like its their own. 5 stars so far for them. I will keep all posted.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:25 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:12 pm
Posts: 191
Location: Meriden, CT.
Well my relationship with Middletown Nissan is taking a turn for the worse im afraid. I paid them today for the work they performed for me on my 1990 Nissan 300zx TT. My gas tank was rotted and leaking so they replaced the gas tank and the rubber lines going to the gas tank according to the Repair order. I was charged almost $1700 to do the work. This is the first time anyone else has turned a wrench on my Z since I have owned it since I am very particular about my Z. The reason it cost so much is because they had to remove the exhaust, rear end, rear sub-frame and rear suspension to get the tank out. The tank itself was only $660. Well I got the car back and drove it home and pulled it into my garage and low and behold I had a gas leak. Still. The rubber hoses they claimed to have replaced were never replaced and were leaking as well as the charge to replace the clamps for the rubber hoses that were not replaced. So I took the car back and they told me the clamps were wore out (Mind you I got charged for new ones). So they did finally replace the clamps and so far it looks as if the gas leak has been resolved. At about 6pm tonight I was driving to school and it was my first time on the highway since the car had been repaired. The whole back end of the car was shaking really badly and when I hit the gas I could hear a loud "Ping" coming from the back of the car and the car would rattle badly every time I hit a bump. When I got to school I climbed under the rear end to find out the 2 bolts that hold the Hicas eliminator bar were back out of the holes. Not all the way but enough to let it rattle. I tried to tighten them up but the threads appeared damaged and don't feel as though they will tighten properly. Only thing I can figure is the mechanic didn't have the bar square when he reinstalled it and after a few bumps it loosened up. And the Pinging I am hearing is because the mechanic did not line the exhaust up properly during re-installation and now the drivers side from the H pipe back is rubbing on the rear end. I called tonight after school and left a message for Brian to call me back in the morning and explained the issues and hopefully we can meet a peaceful resolve to this whole experience. Well on a scale of 1-10 I give them a 3 for quality of work done.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:26 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:12 pm
Posts: 191
Location: Meriden, CT.
Don't think I will ever take another car there for service as it appears as though they lack the attention to detail that is required to properly service my car.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:34 pm 
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Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2008 4:27 pm
Posts: 350
Location: local, Ct
That sucks. I buy all my (new replacement) parts from Middletown Nissan.

But thats the parts department, and not service. There is a reason I do all my own repairs and modification (not counting machine shop stuff).

-I know it's done right (or wrong) and it's cheap enough to use better parts where available.

Good luck. You should not have an issue getting all that resolved. Just a waste of your time.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:12 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:27 pm
Posts: 959
Location: Pachaug, Ct
Sorry you got screwed around but thanx for the headz up.
No excuse for shoddy work,ESPECIALLY on a Z!
Hoping this issue got up to at least the service mgr if not Dave Calabrese(owner)himself.
Wonder if they'd be interested in the bad rep this gives them in the club?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:09 pm 
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Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:12 am
Posts: 2228
Location: Darien, CT
While I don't doubt that Chad had a very negative experience with the service department, Middletown Nissan just spent significant time and money to sponsor and host our annual car show. They also sponsored one of our summer club meetings and bent over backwards to do anything and everything we asked of them for both events. While I have no issue using this forum to report individual positive or negative incidents (that's what it's for), I don't want to define Middletown Nissan by one negative experience, especially since we have also had extremely positive experiences with them. They have a hugely positive rep with me and some others that have used them recently.

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:12 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:38 pm
Posts: 3411
Location: rhode island
I always seperate the dealership from the service department. I have board meetings with our local dealerships, and they are all nice, but I wouldn't let them work on my car. It's the individual mechanic that's the blame. Of course I always hated flat rate, which meens, haste makes waste, that's part of the problem. A rotted tank on a z32, ummmmm, are these at that age already? Not saying it can't happen, but your the first I've heard of.


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 Post subject: Flat Rate Mechanic
PostPosted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 12:53 pm 
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Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2009 7:19 pm
Posts: 1301
Location: 5 mi. from Frank
When I was w/Bob Sharp in Parts & Service, some of our mechanics were
on flat rate and some were not. The best mechanics who could get a job
done quickly and accurately/thoroughly, were on flat rate because they
could generate more net income, essentially earning themselve a bonus.

But even they had a very effective control on them, to eliminate the
"haste makes waste" syndrome, that is, to cut corners to get their bonus.
If the customer brought the car back w/something done improperly or inadequately,
the mechanic re-did the work "off the clock," that is, using time he was not getting
paid for. In effect he was doing the rework on his own time when he could have been
earning income had he done the job right the first time.

It worked great. We had very little rework and many happy customers!

All Z Best,....................Ranger Rick

_________________
All Z Best,.......Kathy & Rick

1969 Z.CAR (#00013 10/69) 8/30/76
1969 ITSA.Z (#00171 11/69) 8/24/73
1970 OLD.Z (#06289 6/70) original owner
1971 510 2dr since 12/31/75
1969 1600 rdstr (our 160-Z)
1971 (#19851 1/71) sold
1975 75.Z (#01343 1/75)


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:36 am 
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Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:12 pm
Posts: 191
Location: Meriden, CT.
I did talk again to Brian at the service department and he informed me that all the repairs beyond the gas tank I had done were just normal repairs that they reccomend daily. There was no factual basis for it as well as my CPU wasn't showing any trouble codes. I have the engine in my garage almost completely dissasembled. Only thing left in the car is the block. I couldn't find any oil leaks and my fuel rail has no rust or damage of any kind. I think one of their mechanics made a bad judgement call. I will take my car there again if there is any service I lack the resources to complete. It wasn't in all a bad experiance, just very stressful on my wife and I to hear the almost $8000 quote. I purchased all the parts they told me were bad before I tore the car apart so while the heads are getting resurfaced, ported and polished I am going through and replacing that parts as they would be a pain to replace in the future. I am also replaceing the entire engine wiring harness, so no more brittle wires.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:40 am 
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Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:12 pm
Posts: 191
Location: Meriden, CT.
I think the thing that upset me the most was we paid over $200 for the diagnosis and I feel they didn't perform it properly. I apoliogize for the anger that may have come out in my previous post's. But I had thought that the Vendor Rave's and Gripes section was for this.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 8:57 am 
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Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:12 am
Posts: 2228
Location: Darien, CT
Alan,
Please don't get me wrong. I understand your frustration with the service levels you received and you are correct that this board is precisely the right forum to report these issues. I am only sensitive because one club member apparently exercised some very poor judgement when buying a car from our former sponsor (Nissan Darien) and cost the club the entire dealer relationship! There were other factors of course but that one incident was the strw that broke the Camels back. When the comments start gravitating toward suing our best sponsor, I get concerned. As someone else on this thread indicated, I think we need to seperate the "service" relationship from our relationship with Middletown Nissan overall. I do not want to risk losing them as a sponsor because of one negative incident.

So to sum it up, we should continue to use this board for raves / gripes about any vendor (including Middletwon Nissan), but when it comes to them we just need to all remember that they have in the past, and hopefully will in the future, provide significant financial support to our club.

Sincerely, Ross

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:29 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:03 pm
Posts: 19
Location: Redding CT.
Just another story not many know about what middletown nissan did for one of our members, on the day of our car show...One of our members (I think his name is Gene) backed his 350Z into his required space..(next to me)..When he got out of his car, He placed his coffee on top of his nicely waxed roof...Of course you know what happened next...He then goes into the showroom looking for some papertowels...they tell him to bring his car around the back..and they wash and dry his car for him.(no charge)..Like Ross said...One bad apple doesn't spoil the whole bunch...

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Judy/Joe P
2005 350Z Roadster


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 10:32 pm 
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Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2007 4:29 pm
Posts: 172
Location: Danbury, CT
This is a very common phone call for me to receive. "This Guy/Company screwed up my baby!"

It is an extremely difficult car to work on, and needs attention and caring when dealing with parts and technology 20 year+ old.

An understanding of this Z car is difficult because of the complexity and mix of lots of cutting edge tech at the time, but yet keeping some of the tried and true things of the day.

Most the guys at the dealerships if they are say 30 now, were like 14 yrs old when they stopped selling 300zx Z32 in '96.

They just don't understand the car (should shrug).


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 Post subject: Middletown Nissan
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 11:11 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:27 pm
Posts: 548
Location: South Meriden, CT
I had a minor water leak (if there is such a thing) at the driver's side window. Only leaked when washing. I dropped in at 9:00 without notice and was helped within reasonable time. The Z has been washed since without any water getting in. A very minor repair but was certainly treated like a customer. I look forward to the next meeting at their facility.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 11:42 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14779
Location: CT
I have a great time with these guyz each time I go there. I bought a new Murano from them last year, and their routine service has been outstanding. They all call me by name, my salesman hunts me down to say hello, our member Phil Wallace (sales mngr) always takes time to talk Zs with me, Dave Calabrese goes out of his way to walk over to say hi, and Phil talks to whatever mechanic is working on my vehicle to make sure everybody's on the same page. The service crew seems to have all their ducks lined up and I always get what I came there for.

The little things a dealer does often mean a lot to a customer.

No complaints from me! This place is so friendly, I have used it as a meeting place for day trips!

Frank


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