Rat wrote:I just spoke to the service manager at Nissan Sunnyvale, the dealer who installed my new TCU in December (and then a second one under the new service bulletin) and told him mine just doesn't work. He agreed to refund my money with no hassles. He apologized profusely and said that it was "the best decision I could have made" to give up on the unit and not try to fix it again. He said they have been getting a lot of complaints and failed TCU units. He told me the new system just doesn't work. Now on cold mornings I go into the garage and start the engine and turn on the heat and let it run a few minutes to warm up, just like the old days with ICE cars. I can't do this while it's plugged in, so it reduces available battery level, but I never need that extra mileage.
After this continuing disaster, they never gave me the promised refund. I called yesterday and "the manager was in a meeting, but will call you back as soon as he gets out." No call. Today "The manager was in a meeting, can you call back in an hour?" When I said yesterday I was promised he would call me, the response was "Oh, we didn't know you were expecting a call back. I'll let him know. Nissan is supposed to refund you but we've had trouble getting through." The TCU just doesn't work, at least not on the 2011 models and Nissan is dishonest about it. They couldn't connect with the TCU from Nissan HQ, so the cell phone carrier has nothing to do with it. Nissan uses the AT&T system. I couldn't connect to the car from my desktop computer or my phone app, although Nissan confirmed I was connecting with Nissan Carwings just fine. The problem is with the TCU itself, either hardware or software.
Edit: the above was written on 3/5. On 3/7, after two more days of no calls, I filed an online complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repairs. Today (3/11), Nick, the service manager, called me to say he had the check in hand and I could pick it up or have it mailed. I told him to mail it. This makes sense only if the complaint with the agency was the motivator. If it was a routine refund it would have been a rebate on the same credit card I used to pay the $199.Edit: the check arrived March 16. Sunnyvale Nissan came through in the end, but it was an ordeal.