Tweet
I have a 09 GTR Premium. Last month I brought the car into my local Nissan Dealership for the 5,000 mile oil change. I dropped the car off and was told they would have it ready in approx 2 hrs. I returned to pick the car up and was told that there was a recall on the transmission and that Nissan is requiring the TCM to be reprogrammed. I immediately told the service advisor I was aware of a new program that was loaded on the 2010 model that defeated the launch control feature and that I did NOT want that upgrade. I was assured that it was not this upgrade and that Nissan was requiring this upgrade to maintain the factory warranty. I again questioned this recall as I had never heard about it. The certified GTR tech approached me and stated that he was having problems as the new upgrade of the TCM triggered the engine light and he could not re-set it. 4 hours later he finally got the light to go off. I again asked him about this upgrade in which he stated that Nissan requires it and it will make the car perform better without losing the launch contol. Then he proceeds to hand me a document for me to sign after the fact. Upon reading the document he clearly stated that the car will now perform better as this new upgrade has eliminated the ability to turn the VDC off- "what????" I asked. Although I had never used launch contol I am fully aware that the "VDC" must be turned off in order to execute the launch mode. I refused to sign the document and demanded that he remove this new program from my car and restore it back to it's original state. Now realizing that he was wrong and Nissan had cleverly deceived him in removing my launch control he got the service manager involved. The Service Manager called Nissan GTR engineering and was told that the upgrade was developed for the 2010 and that they recommend the re-program but that it is not mandated. Therefore, it's not clear if the dealer was being overzealous and trying to bill Nissan for a recall campaign or if Nissan Corp. is forcing dealers to perform this recall, nevertheless-Nissan Corp told the dealer that the only way the TCM could be reprogrammed is to have it removed and shipped to California to be reprogrammed by the factory as they do not allow the dealer to have the 09 launch control program. At this point my car was there for over 6 hours for an oil I agreed to take the car and drive it but likely would return it to have the TCM removed and shipped to California for re-programming. I don't intend on ever using the launch contol but I did pay for this feature and don't agree with the way it was removed from my car without my consent or the dealer being up front with me. I do feel that it may affect the resale value of the car. As I said I took the car with the new program that was done against my will. LESS THAN 1500 MILES LATER- I was traveling on the interstate at a modest 70MPH and my GTR stalled as if the engine had stopped- I immediately pulled off the interstate and checked to see if perhaps the engine somehow overheated or I suspected I lost a turbo. I turned the engine off for 5 min then restarted and proceeded on my way- as I did the transmission was shifting through all odd gears only- 1st-3rd-then 5th rapidly with no power what so ever-the the TCM and Check Engine lights illuminated. I tried putting the transmission in the manual mode but it would not change from automatic. Keep in mind the car has never been launched and now I am having transmission issues. So now I'm suspect if the new program somehow has contributed to the transmission failure. I never had any problems with my GTR until the transmission was reprogrammed. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Now I being told that the transmission and TCM must be replaced at Nissan's expense of $20,000 + dollars but there are no transmissions in the United States yet the dealer claims that 70% of the transmissions that have failed had not been launched. Nissan Engineering will not tell me anything as to what the problem is requiring the replacement nor will they tell me if the new transmission on its way form Japan has been improved in any way. So now the question is- do I demand the original TCM program for the 09 or accept the 2010 program with the new transmission. Originally Nissan engineering stated that I had paid for launch control therefore I was entitled to it-now I being told that the shipment of the transmission is in a holding pattern because Nissan Corp is not willing to ship a new tranny with the 09 launch contol. So is it the launch contol causing problems (never been used on my car) or are there bigger issues that Nissan is hiding for their consumers?