Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-59
Where to Begin...
Pre-catalyst recall - Dealer claimed ours fine, but engine burning oil. Began oil consumption test that lasted for 6 months.
ECU recall - dealer either replaces or reprograms ECU not sure which.
Car began to idle ruff, stalled out wouldn't start. Dealer replaces catalytic converter. Stalls out leaving service department.
Butterfly screw off of intake valve loose in cylinder, cylinder came up and smacked gap closed on spark plug.
Still burning oil...
Heat/air gets stuck on HOT.
Still burning oil...
Car began making strange whine sound when at 2000 RPM's, eventually does it at several levels. Dealer says dash rattle, I insist not, dealer eventually decides broken catalytic converter clamp. Waited 3 weeks because part on back order.
Still burning oil...
Requested new engine as per recall if burning oil, told to continue consumption test.
Determined oil burning a full qrt in less than 1000 miles. Finally get new motor.
Car occasionally refuses to start and stay running, once every 50 starts or so. Belts are now squealing and engine sound now making sound like lifter knocking (yet to contact dealer on these).
Dome light no longer working.
Plastic trim on inside of door came off.
(sigh) Looking for lawyer in phone book as I speak.
Previously loyal Nissan drivers. Very disappointed in that car is VERY quick powerful and comfortable. Had a 91 SER and wish we never got rid of it.
Do you beat on your Spec? If so, it might explain why you have oil problems, when cats get hot, the material inside them gets burnt/melts, where does it usually go? Out the exhaust, but since the QR25de engine has variable valve timing it doesn't have an EGR valve, thus the engine makes a small amount of vacuum during off-throttle. This brings those material pieces from the cat, which is right off the head, back into the engine, scoring the cylinder walls, thus, burning oil. As for as you other problems, have you looked into the lemon laws? Because I have a '03 Spec myself, 33k on it now, no oil problems, no interior panel problems, no starting problems, no problems with the belts, etc. I think you may have a "lemon" on your hands.
The same as...
Where to Begin...
Pre-catalyst recall - OK no problem there.
ECU recall - dealer either replaces or reprograms ECU not sure which. Lost spec v acceleration. after going back to dealer so many times suddenly went back to normal speed.
Car began to idle rough, stalled out wouldn't start. Dealer replaces alternator. Runs alright after six months. My car having a hard start problem.
Butterfly screw off of intake valve loose in cylinder, cylinder came up and smacked gap closed on spark plug.
Still burning oil...
Air conditioning runs when it is on defogger.
Still burning oil...
Belts make sound during the morning start.
Still burning oil...
Car occasionally refuses to start and stay running, once every 50 starts or so. Belts are now squealing and engine sound now making sound like lifter knocking (yet to contact dealer on these).
Dome light no longer working.
Plastic trim on inside of door came off.
(sigh) We should get some our money back. I have no more warranty. went there to get some problems fix... came back
now what? go back to dealer to waste my time and money.
I have a job too. Need a new car I was impressed with sentra spec v, but not anymore. Never buy nissan again unless something is done. this is my first car and my first disappointment.
I just got an Sentra SE-R spec V and love it. It has 20,000 miles and shows no sign of any problems or has record of any previous problems. The car handles great and has power to spare. Frankly I love this car and plan on keeping it a while. Runs on the road with no problems and sits at the light at idle with no problem. To the person that previously wrote about his problems... you got a lemon! I have heard nothing, but good and speak nothing, but good about this car.
HAHAHAAHAHA!!! Never heard anyone say anything bad about this car. That's funny! The spec is the biggest lemon I have ever seen in my life. It seems as if Nissan took a bad of experimental crap and put it into this car just to see what would happen. Everything that can go wrong HAS gone wrong with my spec. I must say that the internals on the motor are darn near bullet proof. Trust, me I took two chunks out of one of the pistons. The trannie is poo (hates to go into gear), it won't idle, it pops and spits when it runs on occassion... and the great part... the MIL lamp hasn't come on. Tell me that ain't the coolest???
Yes indeedy, I hate the spec and nissan for making the poo-pile that it is!
Should have bought a Mazda.
Hard start problem... my boyfriend has a 2003 Spec V and every now and then it doesn't want to start either. I guess this is a common problem with the Spec V???
Bought a new 2005 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V in October 2005 and now it has developed a rattle in the engine around 2000-2500 rpms with only 5100 miles on it. Anyone else have problems with their 2005 Specs?
Bminicooper@comcast.net.
In '03 purchased a 2003 Nissan Spec V. I just hit 50k miles. Since I first purchased my car I have had nothing but problems. On occasion my car just doesn't want to start either.
Only one month after buying my car the Service Engine light came on and the dealership had my car for a week.
A few months later same thing happened again. I have never had to be at a dealership so many times in my life as I have had to with this car. THE NISSAN SPEC V IS A LEMON!!
The majority of the time my car doesn't hold a consistent idle.
After only having under 20k on my car I needed new brake pads and rotors. Luckily, my car was still under warranty for that. Of course another 20k miles and another set of pads and rotors.
I brought my car in while still under warranty because the electric windows weren't working correctly. Just so happens a part that cost $60 broke - I was told windows aren't part of the warranty, but then the dealership offered to pay for installation - fishy, NO? Also, while the window was being repaired they informed me there were 3 different recalls on my vehicle, which I was never notified of.
And just tonight it was raining and my car just decided to stop running while I was driving down the road. I checked a few things and noticed my oil was VERY LOW, but I am not due for an oil change for another 2000 miles. I assumed it was leaking, but I checked and my engine is completely dry and so is the ground.
My last car was a 94 Toyota Camry. I bought in in 96 with 50K miles on it and I NEVER had a major problem with that vehicle all the way through to 2003. I wish I never got rid of it!!!
PS.I NEVER beat on my car, I don't even drive all that fast (I am only writing that because I saw someone else make a comment that the driver must have beat on the car for it to be having all of these problems.
Visit theVBoard and you will find answers to all of your questions.
I have a 2002 spec-v with 60,000 miles on it. This car has always burned oil, the transmission is very crunchy, this car has no mods and its been in the shop three times for stereo, three times for window, and twice for belt pulley. And yes it still burns oil... anyway now I don't have any throttle plus three codes. already tried the cheap part 43.75 for thr pedal assembly. wasn't the problem... probably going to be the 600.00 part. this car is a lemon and always has been. WAKE UP NISSAN I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER!!!
I have had two or three recalls on my car.
Right from new, the one tire had a "bubble" in the side wall. Dealer said it wasn't an issue - wouldn't replace the tire.
My friend noticed a piece of foam inside the defrost vent on the driver's side. Fixed under warranty. This might be the cause of people's heating or cooling problems. Dealer said it was pretty common.
Car is sometimes difficult to start. Dealer adjusted something, not much better.
Brakes went early - fixed under warranty. Cost me something, but reasonable.
Car is making a whining sound. Sometimes goes away. My old 1970s 440 Chrysler used to make a similar sound with its automatic transmission when it was slowing down.
Car is now burning oil and dealership is monitoring. Said they would replace the motor.
I love this car. It does get driven. I have a half hour commute driving along the bank of a river on a paved country road. The speed limit is 80 km, but I usually drive it at 120 km. Previous to this I drove an 80s Toyota Tercel and a 90s Mazda 323. Both of these econo-boxes got driven a lot harder than this Spec V (because I was younger) and they each lasted 10 years with minimal problems.
Does anyone know if the problems have been fixed in the 2006 SPEV V SER? The dealership is offering me a deal to trade up.
I just bought a 2006 Sentra SE-R a few days ago, but I can't get it yet. Apparently all Sentra and Altima SE-R's built between January and May of 2006 may possibly have an oil consumption problem. I stopped by the dealership today and they said that the Altimas have been released and that the Sentras will be released in a few days. I personally love Nissan's, my cousin owns a 2003 Spec-V and he has never had one problem with it. He doesn't drive it too hard, but he has lots of aftermarket parts in it and seems to have no problems. From what I understand the 2006 SE-R's have all of the kinks worked out from the earlier models, (except for this recall issue) so I am hoping to get a few good years out of it. The car handles great and has excellent acceleration so I can't wait to see how it performs once it is really broken in. I'll post another comment once the 2006's are released.
Hi, I just bought a 2006 Sentra SER Spec-V. I have a slight little problem. Between 2000-2500 rpm, it has a rattling noise. I took it to Nissan and they say it's normal for it to make that sound. Has anyone had that problem before, and what the heck was it? It makes the noise once in a while, but I hate it when it does it. Other than that, the car is great, even though it a small car, and it runs great.
Hello everyone, well here is the story. I got a good job a couple of years ago and decided that it was time that I got rid of my 1993 Honda Civic and get a new car. I got a 2004 Sentra SER Spec-V, biggest mistake of my life. When I got the car I was very impressed with the power and the performance the car had for the sticker price, I guess you get what you pay for. Well about 9 months in to it I was driving the car somewhere and it was running fine until all of a sudden the car stalled out on the freeway out of no where, I started the car back up and I had no throttle. Luckily the car was still in motion and I was able to get on the emergency lane. I started the car again and I finally had throttle, but the car was pouring smoke out of the tail pipe. Come to find out the catalytic converter failed. The packing in the cat disintegrated, since the QR25DE does not have an EGR valve it creates a small vacuum when letting off the throttle, it sucked some of that stuff back in to the motor. This ruined the engine and the dealer sent a tow truck over to my house and picked it up. They kept the car for over two weeks until they replaced the engine, but the fishy part about it was that they didn’t give me another QR25DE they put in a QR25… Honestly I don’t know if the QR25 is a Spec-V engine just different series number? Or did they screw me?
Well anyway the new engine ran fine for about 4 months, but one morning I started my car and heard a loud rattling it sounded like it had a really bad dry start. I checked the oil level and the dipstick was dry. But the crazy part about it was that it was only about half way through the second oil change on the car. I thought that it was maybe leaking somewhere so I checked the ground to see if there was a puddle of oil, but there was not, I checked the engine, but it was clean. I called the dealer and I talked to the service manager, he gave me the number to their tow truck driver and they came and picked the car up once again. This time they kept my car for over a week, LOL! They called and said that the oil was low I laughed in their faces and said no s*#t that’s why I brought it here in the first place. They asked who did the oil change on the car and I said that I did, he asked if I knew that the required 4 ½qt. of oil. I exploded on him saying that changing oil was not rocket science and that I knew how much oil the car needed. So they kept it for another week, they put new oil in it and told me that they didn’t find anything wrong and that there were no recalls on the car. They said that they were going to run an oil consumption test. But the part that ticked me off was that they made me pay for the tow truck, the diagnostic fee, and the oil. The test lasted about 2 months before they finally replaced the engine. They said that they were going to refund my money that I spent on the tow truck, the diagnostic fee, and for the oil. They said that Nissan would send me a check in the mail, I am still waiting for that check.
The car ran fine again for about another 4 months. And guess what do I hear again one morning when I started the car? The rattling again, so already knowing the tall tale signs I check the oil level again and it was super low. This engine was getting close to its third oil change, but still where did the oil go? The oil should still be there. So I put more oil in it so that I can drive it. I don’t know what to do, I want Nissan to buy the car back from me, but I don’t know how to go about it. I will never buy a Nissan again!!!
DOES SOMEONE KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO? Please I need some advice. I just don’t want to deal with the vicious cycle of the Spec-V anymore. THIS CAR IS A ROTTEN LEMON!!
Own a Sentra se-r spec v with engine qr25de. Car was purchased on June 2003. It has 98,000 and problems started.
1. not wanting to start at once.
2. took to dealer and had to pay for crankshaft senson and camshaft sensor + major service for total of $1000.
3. Car got better, but still hesitant to start once in a while. Noise in engine noticed, engine misfire on cyl #4 = (
4. Changed spark plugs, checked coils... to no avail = 300 USD more.
5. Brought to dealer, dealer reads same code, but does not find cause. Mechanic heard engine noise, said to be some kind of knocking... now I am worried it might be a screw... the butterfly screw?
6. Noticed spark plug beat up, but decided it was defective from fabric.. might not be... checking on spark plus tomorrow.
Car has been driven and taken care of, pushed to the limits sometimes, but overall with good care.
Nissan has to get these service departments to be more customer friendly and get a hold on quality. Car paint quality is very poor and dash board rattles.
Other than that the car is great.