Nissan's On The Hunt For Grey Importers

[Guest]

I was at Nissan today chasing some parts for a Cima, V35 and M35 Stagea I have with one of the items being a couple of new coded keys for the V35 and Cima which are $300 to $400 ex Japan but I wanted to make sure Nissan Service Department would code my keys or at least give it a go so after talking to a few people I was given the ok (another dealer in Perth said no).

When they found out I was involved with imports I was asked the question about doing the new GTR so my answer was "I just had to get permission to get a 2001 Cima key coded so what would happen if I asked for a recall part for a 2007 R35 GTR" they said no chance it will never happen which answered their question.

If people think Nissan are ripping them off why are most of the statements below being made by a Grey Market Importer.

"At $160,000, the Kamikaze GT-Rs are about $10,000 dearer than the indicated price from Nissan Australia"

“We will warranty the cars for three years and ... well, we do have a bit of an issue with servicing at the moment,” Mir concedes.""

The highly complex and specialised racing car-style service will offer a full chassis and suspension balance as well as a precision tune and balance of the engine.

That will require expensive, specialised equipment and highly-trained staff — something likely to be beyond Nissan Australia's normal service capability — let alone a small importer."

I am not against bringing in the GTR I am just highlighting a few points people forget to mention, Nissan have not even begun to make peoples life hard when it comes to importing R35 GTR's.

[Kel]

I like this bit;

“Customers need to be aware they need to buy a Nissan GT-R from Nissan Australia. It is the only way they will get a full warranty and full service support from Nissan,” the spokesman says.

This statement alone would be enough reason for me to NOT buy a GT-R from Nissan!

I'm sure Duncan has already gone off on this rant but Nissan has NO idea how to sell or service a sports car these days.

The salesman had to make 2 phone calls, and consult a product folder at least 10 times when I was sold the Zed.

Even then most of the information was wrong, or at best vague.

Don't even get me started on the fun I've had with servicing- gems include being told that extremely high oil consumption is "normal" for a sports car.

In my very humble opinion- Nissan don't deserve the right to sell the G-TR in Australia.

[teejay]

So what do you guys want?

Pics of it the docks?

Pics of it the race track?

Pics of it being shown off to a crowd of a few hundred including what we are sure was Nissan employees?

Pics of it cruising the streets?

Video clips (albiet nokia quality) ?

There is going to be a major story in a National publication shortly about them on Aussie soil - will they chase the magazine for info?

Ill post a full on reply later, but Nissan Australia can go jump as far as Im concerned. They deserted fans in 1992 and now 16 years later are trying to stop those who have continued to help keep the GTR legend alive in this country.

Not going to happen.

[cefiro]

I was lucky to have a spin in one over the weekend and I know that Nissan could actually make some money on the grey imports if it offered the conversion of the sat nav, various controls and language to be converted into english, most of which would just be software, easy few thousand they could charge if they could sort it out, but I guarantee you they wont. I would like to say that the R35 was something special, it was amazingly fast and by far the quickest car I have been in. If I had the money the deposit would be laid down already, anyone want to lend me $160k

[sykotoyRS4]

This statement alone would be enough reason for me to NOT buy a GT-R from Nissan!

I'm sure Duncan has already gone off on this rant but Nissan has NO idea how to sell or service a sports car these days.

The salesman had to make 2 phone calls, and consult a product folder at least 10 times when I was sold the Zed.

Even then most of the information was wrong, or at best vague.

Don't even get me started on the fun I've had with servicing- gems include being told that extremely high oil consumption is "normal" for a sports car.

In my very humble opinion- Nissan don't deserve the right to sell the G-TR in Australia.

Think about it, warranty.. why would they. the only people that have imported then so far have pulled them apart and modded them for racing, that cancels ANY car builders warranty anyway.

And as far as Grey importers go, the type of person they will sell on to will proberly do the same as above, i wouldnt touch those cars with a barge pole if i were nissan, nor warranty them. Only Financially secure tuners are able to take these risks IMO. or an IDIOT.

If your going to own a piece of history ... do it right from the start and buy from Nissan

Edited March 31, 2008 by sykotoyRS4

[scathing]

Don't even get me started on the fun I've had with servicing- gems include being told that extremely high oil consumption is "normal" for a sports car.

The knuckle-dragger who told you that must have specialised in rotaries in their last job or something.

[Duncan]

indeed. and this is the same nissan that was happy for us to drive around with no radio in the z for 3 months too.

i can see why we should pay extra for their top shelf service

[scathing]

i can see why we should pay extra for their top shelf service

I once took my own engine oil (Motul 300V Chrono) to Nissan once, for them to put in the car. Given how the oil performed at the end of its life compared to subsequent changes when I watched the guys put it in myself, I'm pretty sure my nice synthetic oil was powering some 1st year apprentice's nugget.

When I had the non-Brembos on I was chewing through rear pads at every service interval. I asked them to give me the backing plates so I could get sports pads cut (or at least matched). It took them 2 attempts to follow my repeated instructions, and the second time I told them to go dumpster diving when they told me they'd thrown them away again.

I've taken my old man's entry model BMW in for servicing once, and considering that car was cheaper than mine and its not the "halo" model, its another reason why I'll not buy a Japanese car as a sensible vehicle now.

[djr81]

You are wasting your breathe trying to get a dealer to service your car in any other way than the way THEY want it done.

Basically if it involves you asking them for something it will be too hard.

[Sydneykid]

As with the R32GTR, Nissan Australia's problem is that the dealer network has no idea how to service (at the point of purchase or subsequently) someone who has spent over $100K on one of their cars. Toyota are no better, that's why they have separate Lexus dealers. Ditto Honda dealers trying to sell NSX's and Mazda dealers with S6 RX7's. It's one of the reasons why there has been no Toyota Supra replacement, it needs to be a Lexus to get the service levels expected by the customer. That's why Nissan has Infinity in the USA and Honda has Acura, everyone knows the problems associated with selling econoboxes next to high priced luxury or performance cars.

What are you going to do R35GTR Product Manager? Appoint one dealer per state, trained and authorised to sell GTR's? People in Sydney won't drive 2 hours from one side of town to the other and back to get their car serviced. They won't be happy with a Tiida loan car, they won't be happy standing in the queue at the service counter behind some guy with a 15 year old Patrol. If you think 350Z customers are hard to handle, wait until you get an R35GTR customer.

IT WON'T WORK NISSAN

Give it up and leave it to the importers for the same reasons as you did with the R33 and R34's.

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS THAT THIS CAR WILL ATTRACT

Cheers

Gary

[scathing]

If you think 350Z customers are hard to handle, wait until you get an R35GTR customer.

Most of the Z33 customers I know, even those under warranty, have f*&ked off the stealerships for servicing. With the R35 that's not an option with all the specialised equipment needed.

I'd say the GT-R reputation is going to get screwed even further when this car goes on sale. I can't see Nissan changing their stealerships' (lack of) culture in the next year.

Carlos Ghosn made a choice to launch the GT-R as a global brand under Nissan, rather than as an Infiniti. Maybe he hasn't realised how bad the Nissan stealer network is in some countries, but its possible that he's screwed the pooch with that choice. They're launching Infiniti in Europe, and there are rumours of the brand re-emerging in Australia, so maybe they could have fast-tracked those launches and had the GT-R launch as the brand's flagship.

The Skyline going from Prince to Nissan didn't diminish either nameplate. Shifting the GT-R from Nissan to Infiniti should also have worked.

[floody]

The sooking in this thread is amazing.

Frankly, why should Nissan support a grey import at all? Wouldn't happen in any other industry. Its even more ludicrous if the cars are secondhand.

That grey importers will be able to provide a better service than Nissan? Ha. Love to see an importer with the resources and facilities of even the most impoverished Nissan dealership.

[Kel]

The sooking in this thread is amazing.

Frankly, why should Nissan support a grey import at all? Wouldn't happen in any other industry. Its even more ludicrous if the cars are secondhand.

That grey importers will be able to provide a better service than Nissan? Ha. Love to see an importer with the resources and facilities of even the most impoverished Nissan dealership.

I personally was glad the day the warranty ran out on the Zed- it meant I could get the car serviced by someone who actually cared about making the car run well.

There are plenty of *grey importers* who get our business over a Nissan dealership any day -Nathan @ Mt White Automotive, Powerplay and Unique (to name just a few) absolutely have the skills, knowledge and resources Nissan has spent years NOT investing in.

But hey, those Pulsars do make them lots of money I spose

[Duncan]

lol I've never been offered a loan car at a nissan dealer.

they day their so called warranty is over my cars never see the inside of one again.

oh yeah, what kel said.

[scathing]

I personally was glad the day the warranty ran out on the Zed- it meant I could get the car serviced by someone who actually cared about making the car run well.

I didn't even wait that long. I stayed with the stealership for 2 years because of fears of the warranty, but after their constant f**king around I decided that it wasn't worth it.

[R34GT-T]

none of this would matter if the car company's where in bed with the government. We may have to wait till there 15 years old.... :-(

[autoworx]

I once took my own engine oil (Motul 300V Chrono) to Nissan once, for them to put in the car. Given how the oil performed at the end of its life compared to subsequent changes when I watched the guys put it in myself, I'm pretty sure my nice synthetic oil was powering some 1st year apprentice's nugget.

When I had the non-Brembos on I was chewing through rear pads at every service interval. I asked them to give me the backing plates so I could get sports pads cut (or at least matched). It took them 2 attempts to follow my repeated instructions, and the second time I told them to go dumpster diving when they told me they'd thrown them away again.

I've taken my old man's entry model BMW in for servicing once, and considering that car was cheaper than mine and its not the "halo" model, its another reason why I'll not buy a Japanese car as a sensible vehicle now.

dont get too excited about european prestige service . My old mans got a brand spanker jag xk8 coupe , 250k worth , the thing just died one day , no electrics and barbagallo (large prestige wa dealer) have had for it 6 weeks now and Im pretty sure they have absolutely no idea whats wrong with it or what they are doing

Edited April 1, 2008 by autoworx

[GT-R LM]

Like i said before i hope Cocksucker Colin gets a read of this thread

There are so many problems listed on here with Nissan dealerships, ill just add another.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/V3...ms-t178405.html

They had it for a month and didnt touch the V35, When the reps came they had even less of an idea and stated i should just try sell the car, It was unfixable apparently(its a car you f**ken apes anything can be fixed its not a living thing or human), well a f**ken auto electrician down the street managed to fix it and and get it right.

Nissan Australia has no hope in servicing your new GTR properly and they never will until there is a big shake up through all the ranks in Nissan AU.

That sort of shit makes me not want to buy an AU spec R35 just to screw them back the way they have screwed so many people .

[Sydneykid]

dont get too excited about INDIAN prestige service . My old mans got a brand spanker jag xk8 coupe , 250k worth , the thing just died one day , no electrics and barbagallo (large prestige wa dealer) have had for it 6 weeks now and Im pretty sure they have absolutely no idea whats wrong with it or what they are doing

Corrected for accuracy

Cheers

Gary

[scathing]

dont get too excited about european prestige service . My old mans got a brand spanker jag xk8 coupe , 250k worth , the thing just died one day , no electrics and barbagallo (large prestige wa dealer) have had for it 6 weeks now and Im pretty sure they have absolutely no idea whats wrong with it or what they are doing

Nissan Australia would probably tell you that you caused the fault and so its not covered under warranty, and try to charge you for fixing it....while still having no idea what's wrong or what they're doing about it.