This happened to my 2017 Maxima. The transmission started failing and I took it to the dealer for inspection, then I was told the coolant was mixed into the transmission fluid and that caused the transmission failure. The dealer so far has only seen mixture of the two fluids in the reservoir but hasn't done any further investigation, and based on this they informed me the radiator failed and that caused all this. To fix everything they were going to replace the radiator and the transmission.
At this point my car is 3 months expired of the bumper to bumper warranty, but is still within the 5 year drive train warranty. However Nissan declined the warranty coverage, with the reason that radiator, the failed part, is not part of the 'drivetrain' and therefore they won't cover any consequential damage. I appealed my case and they remained firm in their decision. The senior consultant of Nissan Canada that informed me of this decision did not offer any help to me. The vendor quoted me $7,500 for the repair. When I asked the consultant how and why a radiator, which is in a close system that does not have any moving component, not maintainable, on a 3 year old Maxima at 48,000km that has zero accident, can fail, the only response he repeated was 'any component on a car can fail at any milage'. Yes anything can fail at any milage BUT NOT WITHOUT A REASON, either not operated properly, not properly maintained, a defective part used, wear due to long year in service and etc.
So far I could not get an answer from Nissan to which part exactly failed and how it failed, which means after I have paid for all the repair, the defect may still remain. Nissan owners, I recommend you to contact your dealers to check out this: if the radiator has failed and caused damage to the transmission, how will Nissan deal with it?
Update from Jan 18, 2022: Nissan reached out and stated the best they can offer was to cover 80% of the repair cost, although not satisfying I had no other option and took that deal. Shortly after, upon some investigation and recalling, I found out that I have bought a 4-year long extended comprehensive warranty when I picked up the car back then so the remaining 20% (equates to around $1500) was covered. If it wasn't of this extended warranty I would have to pay it out of my own pocket which would be quite significant. Eventually they ended up replacing the entire transmission.
The Country Hill Nissan dealer, however, was very supportive, friendly and honest with the issue of the vehicle, and they were willing to help me the best they could.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
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This happened to my 2017 Maxima. The transmission started failing and I took it to the dealer for inspection, then I was told the coolant was mixed into the transmission fluid and that caused the transmission failure. The dealer so far has only seen mixture of the two fluids in the reservoir but hasn't done any further investigation, and based on this they informed me the radiator failed and that caused all this. To fix everything they were going to replace the radiator and the transmission.
At this point my car is 3 months expired of the bumper to bumper warranty, but is still within the 5 year drive train warranty. However Nissan declined the warranty coverage, with the reason that radiator, the failed part, is not part of the 'drivetrain' and therefore they won't cover any consequential damage. I appealed my case and they remained firm in their decision. The senior consultant of Nissan Canada that informed me of this decision did not offer any help to me. The vendor quoted me $7,500 for the repair. When I asked the consultant how and why a radiator, which is in a close system that does not have any moving component, not maintainable, on a 3 year old Maxima at 48,000km that has zero accident, can fail, the only response he repeated was 'any component on a car can fail at any milage'. Yes anything can fail at any milage BUT NOT WITHOUT A REASON, either not operated properly, not properly maintained, a defective part used, wear due to long year in service and etc.
So far I could not get an answer from Nissan to which part exactly failed and how it failed, which means after I have paid for all the repair, the defect may still remain. Nissan owners, I recommend you to contact your dealers to check out this: if the radiator has failed and caused damage to the transmission, how will Nissan deal with it?
Update from Jan 18, 2022: Nissan reached out and stated the best they can offer was to cover 80% of the repair cost, although not satisfying I had no other option and took that deal. Shortly after, upon some investigation and recalling, I found out that I have bought a 4-year long extended comprehensive warranty when I picked up the car back then so the remaining 20% (equates to around $1500) was covered. If it wasn't of this extended warranty I would have to pay it out of my own pocket which would be quite significant. Eventually they ended up replacing the entire transmission.
The Country Hill Nissan dealer, however, was very supportive, friendly and honest with the issue of the vehicle, and they were willing to help me the best they could.
- Terry Z., Calgary, AB, Canada