I'm typically not one to complain but... On 3 March my family took delivery of our new family car, a brand new MY08 Nissan Pathfinder Turbo Diesel Automatic. On 29 March and just prior to its first 1, 000km scheduled service (which was booked for 2 April), serious problems with the car started to occur. I took the car to my local Nissan service center in Artarmon on 31 March and at this time the car was still running on its second tank of fuel.
Specifically, the car would frequently stall whilst being driven at speed and often enter "limp mode" (a condition where the car will only slowly accelerate to 20km/hr) when accelerating from a standstill. Both of these conditions render the car powerless and when the engine is stalled, the car unable to be steered or stopped since there is no power assistance provided by the engine to operate these critical functions. An accident was undoubtedly imminent given that the car had become an un-steerable and unstoppable 2.3ton missile at speed or due to being incapable of executing a safe turn in front of oncoming traffic.
After picking up the car from said Nissan service center in Artarmon and receiving the all clear that everything had been tested and fixed in writing, the car immediately stalled and entered limp mode several times before I arrived home > a measly 3km away. I contacted the MVIRA and the person I spoke to immediately classified the car as a danger to all if it was continued to be driven due to the serious safety issue concerning the engine. I contacted Nissan Roadside Assist on 3 April who, under the circumstances, agreed to tow the car back to local Nissan service center. The car has been there over one week now and there is still no resolution.
My wife, children and I have lost all confidence with this vehicle, particularly since we were planning to drive it to Fraser Island during the school holidays in December. We are also inconvenienced as we are without a family car and I would like to know what possible position to take with Nissan Australia regarding the purchase of our new car which has subsequently proven to be totally untrustworthy.
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