Planet Nissan - Service Center

Back in 2005 my wife and I purchased a brand new Nissan Altima from Planet Nissan of Las Vegas. Since then, we have had all of our services performed at this dealership. Up until about a year ago we were n Altima from Planet Nissan of Las Vegas. Since then, we have had all of our services performed at this dealership. Up until about a year ago we were nothing short of being completely satisfied. Within the past year we have had three horrible experiences. The first was when they tried to tell us that our brakes were ready to be changed. They even wrote the thickness readings down on the service report. Now, I am by no means a master mechanic but I am certainly capable of sparing myself some automotive repair expenses. A friend of mine, being a former auto mechanic agreed to lend me a hand so that my wife could get on the road as quickly as possible. I went to the local Pep boys and purchased both front and rear pads. When we pulled of the tires and calipers my friend began to laugh. As I stared down at my existing pads still having more than 50% wear left on them I felt very angry. I chalked it up as strike one for Planet Nissan. The second time within the year we again came due for an oil change so we took the car in. We were called a couple of hours later that we had two cracked engine mounts. I responded "really......which ones?" The service writer informed of the ones being cracked and I became extremely angry due to the fact that less than 22 months prior I had those same mounts changed out. What were they trying to pull? His response to me was, " well they are covered under you warranty" I then knew that they were trying to gouge Nissan for unnecessary repairs. I told them that my warranty still requires me to pay a deductible and I would pick up the car and have them checked out by another shop. I explained that I felt I had been lied to, and was being screwed. I asked the service writer, who was recently hired to run the service department? He was nothing more than a common crook. They called me back a little while later saying that the work was being "good willed" Unfortunately to this day I am not sure if any work was even done at all. Strike two. Just this past month, we again returned to Planet Nissan for routine service, along with an idle problem. I made a smart comment to the service writer that I did not want to be called at home regarding any motor mounts. I swear I must be flagged in the computer because 3.5 hours later I was called at home and told we must have hit something while driving. Our oil pan had been damaged. They said that it was pushed up into the oil pickup tube and that we were starving the engine of oil. Now mind you, we had no check engine light, no oil pressure problems, and no codes coming up on the diagnostic computer. I immediately responded with "what did you do to my car?" Neither my wife, nor myself hit anything. The car has been babied since day one. I also check periodically under the chassis to check for any obvious problems. Never had I seen a damaged oil pan. The service writer informed me that it would be over $400 dollars for repairs. I told him no....We did not damage the vehicle. I accused the mechanic of either making a mistake and lowering my car onto something or flat out deliberately damaging the pan, and I would be down to pick it up. When picking it up the car, it stalled twice in the lot and ran worse than when it was dropped off. I was told it was not safe to drive and they would not go any further diagnosing the problem until I paid for the oil pan. Long story short, I drove the car to United Nissan and had them them check it out. THEY CONFIRMED THAT THE DAMAGE MOST DEFFINATLEY LOOKED LKE IT HAD HAPPENED IN A SHOP AND NOT OUT ON THE ROAD, but t they could never prove it. They charged me $300 for repairs and I had a hard lesson learned to never return back to Planet Nissan. Strike three. Beware of this service department. There tactics have definitely changed for the worse within this past year. I would expect such tactics from a small shop, but definitely not from a certified dealership. More