Ever have those days?

[Guest clsutton21]

This is more of a rant than anything...I hate when I can't seem to get ahead. Before anyone says anything, I know I'm just 21...but damn. I finally get a job, it's only weekend work but it is definitely better than nothing. I drive 2 hours to work 10 for $8 an hr. I finally get a little money ahead and decide, "Hey! I think I might just buy me 2 heifers as a long term investment." So I spend the $650 and now have 2 heifers. A week later, I'm driving back to Cookeville after working from 6am to 5pm and right in front of Coffee County HS someone decides that I am invisible and tries to come into my lane. Obviously I move over to accommodate their mistake, thinking that they will hear my horn or at least see me and stop their movement. Nope, they keep coming so I cut it hard right...onto a sidewalk. The person looks back and just keeps going while my car sits on the sidewalk. I thought I was lucky, no tires were damaged and the wheels appeared fine, so I drove on. I got up to 40mph and the car started to shake so much that I couldn't stay in it. I got the car to Cookeville thinking I had broken a belt in the tire or knocked it out of alignment and take it to the Nissan dealership here to get it looked over. The guy says it will cost $85 to do a diagnostic check, so I leave the car and hope for the best. Not 20 mins later, I get a call with a $1200 estimate. He told me the price of the wheels and everything and I asked if the wheels were bad. He said he didn't know, that they would have to put it on a machine to find out, I promptly asked him what he thought the $85 was for.... I wait for another 4 hours to be called back with a $600 estimate saying that one wheel, hub, and bearing needed to be replaced...along with an alignment job. I thought I could just do that myself, but no...Nissan doesn't allow front wheel hub assemblies to be sold to any ol' guy. Now I have no car, the books I'm going to be tested over are in the car, and I won't have a way to a job that I will surely lose now.

Just when i thought I was ahead, and making a good investment, this happens. Just thought I'd post to vent and let you know that your Monday probably isn't that bad.

[TGO David]

What model and year Nissan? I have a friend who is a Nissan Ninja; he can probably come up with the part you need for less than the dealership charges.

[Guest clsutton21]

What model and year Nissan? I have a friend who is a Nissan Ninja; he can probably come up with the part you need for less than the dealership charges.

It's an '06 Sentra Se-R Spec-v with the 2.5 and ABS. The wheels run $300 each it seems and they only sell the wheel hub for the 1.8 anywhere I've looked.

[TGO David]

Give me an exact list of what parts you know you need. He may in turn have me put you in touch with a supplier at a different dealership. There's one in Texas that I have used for Nissan parts before and they came in at under half what the locals wanted.

[TGO David]

This is the link I got back by email...

Genuine Nissan Parts :: Sentra Parts (B15U) 2000-2006 :: Nissan Parts, NISMO and Nissan Accessories - Courtesyparts.com

Good luck.

[Guest jackdm3]

You can get a lot of parts without a dealership, and if skilled, you should be able to replace a few parts as well. You don't need to try an alignment, though. The dealship is the last place to go for a general repair. I don't know what kind of assessment they expect to make with a computer to ask $1200 since the damage is obviously visual. On an icy road, I did the same thing into a curb. One wheel and one alignment. That's it. You may need arms or other tidbits, but not if the estimate is 1200. A dealer price is 2 to 3 times the price of reputable repair shop bill.

[Guest clsutton21]

This is the link I got back by email...

Genuine Nissan Parts :: Sentra Parts (B15U) 2000-2006 :: Nissan Parts, NISMO and Nissan Accessories - Courtesyparts.com

Good luck.

Thanks for the link! I'm adding stuff to my cart now.

You can get a lot of parts without a dealership, and if skilled, you should be able to replace a few parts as well. You don't need to try an alignment, though. The dealship is the last place to go for a general repair. I don't know what kind of assessment they expect to make with a computer to ask $1200 since the damage is obviously visual. On an icy road, I did the same thing into a curb. One wheel and one alignment. That's it. You may need arms or other tidbits, but not if the estimate is 1200. A dealer price is 2 to 3 times the price of reputable repair shop bill.

Yeah, I can do all the stuff myself except for balancing the one wheel and the alignment. Replacing the hub and bearing is easy, I'm sure it has to be close to my old 4x4 chevy I used to own. Haha.

[Punisher84]

Shoulda just hit the *******.

[Guest clsutton21]

Shoulda just hit the *******.

Another reason I want to trade for another truck.

[Mike.357]

and dealers wonder why people ( in general) don't want to go there for service.

[Guest grimel]

Find a junk yard. MUCH cheaper. I needed a steering wheel gearbox/shaft. Dealer claimed it was $1200. I picked it up at a junk yard for $50.

Nothing you mentioned should total $1200. There is a reason they are sometimes called stealerships.

[Guest Drewsett]

and dealers wonder why people ( in general) don't want to go there for service.

Soooo true.

My wife and I both drive VW's...they are so expensive to maintain, just to give you an idea it costs 250.00 at the dealership to change my oil. Needless to say, I don't go to the dealership for anything other than warranty work.

Sorry to hear about your situation.

[titan14]

What model and year Nissan? I have a friend who is a Nissan Ninja; he can probably come up with the part you need for less than the dealership charges.

Not trying to hijack this thread...but...this is good to know(if you would also help me, should i need it)...I just bought my NINTH nissan in a row....

I LOVE these freakin cars!!!!!!!

[Guest Sgt. Joe]

About 2 1/2 years ago I bought a used Chrysler Town and Country Mini van, it was supposed to be for the wife but I fell in love with it....I know that is not natural for man my age but it is the truth.

My credit union offered an extended warranty thru a third party, normally I pass on such things but this time I did not.

The Warranty companies name is Route66 Extended Warranty out of Mountain Home Arkansas.

Within days of buying this van I started hearing an obnoxious LOUD noise, also one of the electric doors would not work...I took it back to the dealer that I bought it from and when they saw that I had that warranty they walked around the van and came back with over 8K worth of stuff that needed fixed! This was just days after I bought it from them.

I knew this could not be right as they wanted to fix ALL the electric doors and and only one was not working. So I took it to the local Chrysler dealer, The noise was a Flex-Plate and the door need a $200 part. The warranty Company took care of all of it for a total of near 1K....I had to pay the diagnostic charge and the tax on the total.

I have had several other things go wrong with this van and the warranty company to date has spent nearly 5K on this van for a warranty I paid 15 hundred for (added to loan amount, 4 years or 48K miles) They have never flinched and have treated me like gold, as has the dealer. I do know this is the exception as far as dealers go. I get a free oil change every time I take it in be for routine maintenance (not warranty covered) or for any repair. Every few times they also give me free tire rotation.

The warranty company sets the rates that they will pay for certain things which is lower that the dealers rates....the dealer accepts these rates and does not charge me any extra.

I am quite pleased with the whole deal except for the fact that there have been numerous problems with a van that looked and even still smelled new, but had I not bought the warranty I would have been in deep .

Junkyards...I grew up fixing cars with junk yard parts....there simply isnt very many near where I am in West TN...I had to search for some parts for my deceased MIL's Buick 88 years ago and ended up finding them all the way in Atlanta! Also the few parts I have needed over the years and have found at the few junk/salvage yards were only a fraction cheaper than the same parts at the parts house. I am sure things are different in other parts of the state.

CV-Joints....It was a very bad CV-Joint that went out on an old Chevy Citation that caused me to stop here and seek employment in order to fix the car. That was 18 years ago and the car never did get fixed, but a girl and three kids later my Wagon, so to speak sure did:D

For the OP.....Hang in there young man, it sounds as if you are doing everything right but even so there are going to be good days and bad days and even worse days. It seems these folks have pointed you in the proper direction to resolve your current situation.

Mods.....If this seems too unrelated feel free to delete, the OP just brought a lot of thoughts to my mind. I just wish they were more of the helpful nature.