dmcmahan12

I bought my 12 SV used a month ago with 15,000 miles on it. Picked it up on a Sunday and the dealership said they would detail it Monday. I noticed one of the tires is reading low so I told them about it when I dropped it off to get detailed and they told me they could not find anything. i am enjoying the car by the way. Fast forward a month and I have noticed a few things wrong after reading some of the threads posted on here. 1) Smell of coolant sometimes but not all of the time. 2) Moisture in the passenger side mirror turn indicator. 3) Center console 12 volt outlet works sometimes and sometimes not. 4) Drivers rear tires leaks down every week and I have to add air to it. The dealership wanted me to pay $205 to put a new tire on it and I told them I had only had the car a month and told them I had mentioned that problem before. There was a nail in the side wall and could not be patched so they paid for the new tire. There was a hole in the condenser core that they found and will replace that, covered under warranty. Passengers mirror will be replaced and covered under warranty. They fixed the center console outlet but left some spacers laying in the back floor board? Everything is being fixed under warranty but the coolant smell is what is bothering me since the service writer is trying to tell me the coolant smell is the dye they used to find the leak in the condenser core? I told him I used to be a mechanic for a living and I know what antifreeze smells like he then told me it was coming from the overflow tank vent? Sorry for the long read but this car was supposed the be certified pre-owned but finding these issues makes me wonder if they even looked at the car at all? Is this thing going to keep having problems?

nerv81

I had the same smell in my '10 @ 25k miles and it turned out to be a bad head gasket. I know I saw a thread a while ago with multiple people having the same issue. Check your coolant level to see if its low.

Jig9798

Congrats on the new ride.

Most dealers have no idea about the cars on their lots. Even if it is CPO (which BTW is pretty pointless on a 1 year old car) they are likely to overlook the 'small' less obvious problems (ie. side marker condensation, tires, etc.).

It's reassuring to see that they are addressing most of the problems, which are covered by the existing factory warranty.

The thing that concerns me is the anti-freeze smell. There are a couple of threads here that discuss fried head gaskets and even one where a motor had to be replaced. The common symptom amongst those guys was the smell of coolant. I believe, though I could be wrong about this, that those other cars were all 2009 Maxima's however.

Keep bringing it up to the dealer. If you have no luck with them ... bring it to another Nissan dealer.

dmcmahan12

Very valid points and thanks for the input guys. I will let them fix the problems this week and see if I keep smelling the coolant. If it persists I will definitely take it to another dealer and get their input on the coolant smell. I read over the thread on the bad head gaskets and it was mostly Muranos and Altimas have the problem but now a few newer model Maxima's are showing up.

dmcmahan12

It went back to the dealership today to get the new condenser core and mirror installed. Plus the parts that were laying in the floor board after repairing the center console outlet. The service manager was standing there when I handed the service writer the left over parts and had that Oh **** look on their face. we will see how they do this time.

2LEET4U

iTrader: (4)

I think its time to go to another dealer.

I would even write the Service manager and Dealership manager a letter.

dmcmahan12

Well I picked it up and everything was done to my liking. The coolant smell is a hit or miss and I will just keep an eye on the level in the overflow tank. If the smell starts getting worse I am going to keep bringing it up to the service writer or manager until something gets done about it. Good day all.

Blackmax12

Documenting any issue with the dealer is always key. Even more important to do that while under warrantee.