NHTSA Complaint #10533752 — 2006 NISSAN XTERRA

I HAD BEEN NOTICING A WHINING NOISE ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSMISSION 'FLARE' ON ACCELERATION FOR SOME TIME, BUT ONLY IN MARCH 2013 WAS IT DIAGNOSED AT 96K MILES BY THE DEALERSHIP AS FAULTY TIMING CHAIN GUIDES, A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THE 4 L ENGINE. THE DEALER SAID THE FAULTY PARTS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED SOON. I CONTACTED NISSAN USA CONSUMER AFFAIRS ABOUT HAVING NISSAN PARTIALLY COVER THE COST OF REPLACING THE FAULTY PARTS. DESPITE HAVING THE DEALERSHIP'S ORIGINAL REPORT AND ESTIMATE, NISSAN'S REGIONAL REP INSISTED THAT THE DEALERSHIP HAD TO RECONFIRM THE DIAGNOSIS, WHICH WAS DONE. THE REP THEN REFUSED TO RETURN MY CALLS, AND DID NOT RESPOND TO DEALERSHIP QUERIES ABOUT THE REPAIRS EITHER. THE ENGINE NOISE WAS GETTING WORSE, AND FEARING A CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE, I HAD THE DEALER REPAIR THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER SAID THE TIMING CHAIN WAS SLAPPING AND ABOUT TO FAIL. THE DEALERSHIP URGED ME TO REPORT THE PROBLEM TO APPROPRIATE FEDERAL, LOCAL AND NISSAN OFFICIALS BECAUSE THE PROBLEM IS POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS. *TR