Stealorship or what?

Last week my GF took her car for a Virginia annual inspection. She mentioned that her car failed inspection. I saw the list. The one item that stuck out in my mind was to replace the rack & pinion.

Fast forward to today. I called the shop that was doing the work and spoke to the guy for a better explanation.

On a 2017 Nissan Rouge, there was excessive play in the wheels. The guy on the phone indicated that on this model there was no tie rod adjustment. When I asked the GF to request the "defective part" their response was that there was a $200 core charge that we would pay if we wanted the defective part.

Now I'm not the most mechanically astute mother-trucker in the parking lot but something doesnt sound right with this picture.

Can someone here better versed in the Rouge confirm this, cause I'm ready to kick puppies, kittens and anything else cute and cuddly at the moment.

 

NAPA’s core is $125.

There is no listing for inner tie rod ends, so I suspect that (if the shop is honest) the inners are bad and they are an integral part of the rack and pinion assembly (steering rack shows inner tie rods as part of the assembly).

Oh yeah. And list price on the rack is $823.

 

Actually a legit change for those things, you have to change the entire rack as said by the shop. As to what they considered excessive, that’s another story.

 

That was my primary concern! A lonely woman coming into a shop for an oil change and, Virginia has annual safety inspections , and bam! A costly repair bill.
I was under the impression that rack & pinions were nearly bullet proof, at least in a 4 year old car but what da fug do I know?


On another note, I thought it was unethical for a shop to conduct the inspection, make recommendations and perform those repairs?

 

The rack itself is pretty robust, only thing that really “fails” on them are the seals in the hydraulic chamber. Tie rods failing in 4 years is kinda suspect, though I don’t know if that model has a history of excessive wear. For the cost of the repair, I would get a second opinion before approving the work.

I can only speak to what they did in Maine 25 years ago, but an annual inspection cost $7, and was performed by a licensed inspection station. That $7 doesn’t cover the light bill for the time it takes to do the inspection, so the *idea* was that when the vehicle was in for inspection, any repairs it needed to pass could be performed and the shop actually make the money they need to stay in business for the time they spent scraping the sticker and pasting a new one on. Of course there is then that disincentive to pass an inspection without racking on a hundred bucks or so in “necessary repairs”...

 

So on this particular vehicle, how do you adjust the alignment?

GF purchased a warranty when she brought the car. Not much out-of-pocket money is required for this bill. I was just pissed from what I knew of the rack and pinion system and, what I dont know, about new car technology.

Thanks for this 'Egg!

 

She must drive it pretty hard for a ~4 yr old car to need the tie rods replaced already.

 

How many miles are on the Rogue?

 

I drive with her yesterday and, NO! I can attest, she does not drive like that.

 

Does she have a big #3 painted on the door? Or maybe a #8 or #20? That may explain the wear.

 

"50-something"

 

My next question is the Virginia inspection process. I haven't had a chance to read the VA Annual Inspection Process but if the shop places a "rejection sticker" on your front windshield, does that mean anything? The GF was so stressed by the failed sticker in the window that she scheduled the work to be done this morning. This shyt pisses me off!

 

No but she seems to be a damn good candidate for demolition derby

 

I hate hearing this stuff. Dealing with forklift repairs, I can tell people think we are trying to screw them all the time. I always try to explain things and even offer to have them come look at it while it is disassembled.

Still doesn’t matter, if it is a big repair and not a long time customer, odds are reasonable that I will never do work with them again.

 

Maybe they've heard that you have 8 motorbikes?

 

Stinks of unsavoryness (word ?) to me. Seems a bit premature for such a key component to need replacement so soon...unless prior damage occured.

 

That's suspect, I agree. Have you searched if there is a TSB from Nissan on it? Tie rods on an import taking a dump at 50k miles and 4 years seems odd unless it has a design flaw that facilitated the accelerated wear.

 

My thoughts immediately went to a vulnerable woman going into a dealership and being taken advantage of. I'm pissed by association!

Something seems amiss with this particular job.

I'm back in the office and this situation has become the priority at the moment.

 

Pay the $200 and have the part checked out. Can't it be returned after that to get back the $200?

 

That was the plan when the GF informed me of the core charge. I wanted some reactions from the techs that we have on the beeb. Then, I was thinking would I get her specific part, from her car?