radin2son

Rick, most, probably all, dealerships have photos, job titles, phone and email addresses for all staff on their web site. I would send an email to the general manager and cc to the service manager you have dealt with. Same for the new dealership if Vic has disclosed this. I did this when I had the problem with the TPMS and psi screw up when the tires were rotated. Finding the owner can be a problem even when their name is emblazoned on the dealership and is the face on ads. If the owner has an ego, what type of question is that, look for Twitter and Facebook accounts and send him a "howdy." I did this, never got a reply, but the wheels started rolling and it was resolved. What still gets me is that your vehicle is under warranty and it should cost the dealer, any dealer not just the selling dealer, nothing to solve this. It also baffles me that we have no way to contact Nissan Corp. Vic appears to be ready to be promoted... I just got a reminder email from Nissan that time's a wastin to get my 2015 Nav card. Am I the only one getting these? Still see no reason to order one.

If you are staying in motels or even KOA cabins, or are they Kabins, and no microwave is in the room, bring one with you to cook your meals. We have not stayed in a motel in the past 2 years; the last 3 when we picked up our camper. 1 had none and 1 had one but it was gone when we stayed there again a week later. Where am I going with this? We have a very old Coleman cooler, only used as a cooler, that also keeps food warm. It is 12v and 110, so you can plug in your room to keep cooked meals warm and then plug it into the 12v outlet in your NVP. Very little drain on the battery when stopped, but don't leave it on in your NVP overnight. Coleman still makes these, just more expensive. I don't know if there is a risk of food poisoning but the meals would be fully cooked, then kept warm. OR... If the NV inverter can handle this, when you are stopped and willing to run the engine as a generator, you can use a microwave oven. We have a 2000w inverter in our van and will do this when no electrical hookup is available. (Otherwise, we get out our camp stove.) Last year we met a couple with an NV just like ours. To conserve their camper batteries, he used the NV inverter and van battery to brew tea. He didn't have to use the engine to do this...

No, the warranty wasn't extended for 2012 models. The conversion was 1000#. Gear includes 30 gallons (240#) of water, 2 humans (300# total), 2 medium size dogs (total 100#), food and initially lots of things we thought we needed but could have left at home. We have this down to what we know we need but recently added a stove for outside cooking, a screen room and light weight table when there is none where we camp. # add up quickly. Our moto seems to be if it doesn't fit in a duffle bag it doesn't go in the van. Sort of like go to sea with your sea bag... Spring and fall travel along with altitude make clothing a challenge. Ice breaker shirts, the lightest weight down jacket and vest of your choice, hiking gear and some civilization clothes fill up storage quickly as well. If you have backpacked or van camped before you know what you like and that you wear the same things over and over. Food is another issue, so we start out with as much as we can carry, plus a cooler for fresh food storage. Finding grocery stores is sometimes an issue. We buy drinking water and fill our 20 gallon tank with whatever potable water we can find. We have been as low as 2 gallons in the tank before we found water. If there is no hose connection, you have to fill the tank gallon by gallon with a bottle. When we went to Canada, entry requirements seemed to suggest you better know what you were carrying. So we made an itemized list, very long list, and while we're at it we weighed what we were taking. This is how we came up with the 1000#... As it turned out Canadian Customs only wanted to know if we had $10,000 cash, guns, drugs, liquor and how long we intended to stay. On our return, U.S. Customs only wanted to know if we had produce. An apple sent us to the agriculture lane. We still use this list as a check list for every trip.

Free oil changes are fairly common but definitely not when you travel. We have found that NV dealer oil changes range from $30+ to $50 depending on where you are. Canada was the most expensive; same for gas. We stick to NV dealers primarily because they know the vehicle, can check and fix most issues right away. Since no one carries much of a parts inventory, you may have to wait a day or two for part. Even though our warranty expired at 36k, we plan to continue getting service at NV dealers. So far the only negative experience was at the Nissan dealership in Whitehorse, YT. They were not a NV dealership and told me they were too busy (not so busy since they came out to check the camperized NV) and to come back the next day to check the code/check engine light. I tried to bargain with them; SMB tour for checking the code. No go. They were a very small dealership. I'm curious about why you chose a V6. We had a choice, V6 or V8 when we picked up our SMB in Fresno. We went with the V8 because of the weight of the conversion and the gear it would carry, approximate total of 2000#. It also had the options we wanted. We met a couple who bought one of 2 SMB demos; theirs was a low top V6. They really liked the V6. We have the tow package and are tossing around the possibility of towing a small travel trailer to use as a base camp or a Uhaul with basic items for a apartment rental. Based on the posts related to towing, we are not sure how much we could tow. Right now the hitch is useful for bike racks and maybe later a box/platform. Personally I don't like anything on the back.

No need to keep these guys in "contacts." What is they say about incompetence being the best way to get promoted. Good luck with Vic.

Does a factory build offer any options not typically found on NVs on a dealer's lot? A good factory option for a camper conversion would be some AC vents in the back. Another would be the brackets for additional seats recessed under the sub-flooring when not needed. One good thing about a camper van; there is no wrong way to do it, just improvements after the fact. Keep us posted on the process; you may be the only one on the forum who has tried it.

Ever build a tree house or fort when you were young? Go to thecindercone.com for a great video on why we can take our time growing up. Yes, there is a Nissan Hard Body pickup in there somewhere. For the cyclists among us, theradavist.com is a fantastic site. This video came from there; there also is a video about why ride the PanAmerican Highway on a bike. The Blackburn Rangers is another video to check out.

Way to go Jerome! Business users rarely participate in this forum, but are there any owners you know or on this forum in SoCal that can recommend a dealer with a good NV service dept. Good luck with the dealer Jerome finds. It will be interesting if he has any clout with western region dealers. Having his direct line helps bypass their terrible system.

Before you proceed, will your garage opener get in the way and can it handle a 20' van. We have a carport (8'3" at low point) and have about 2" to spare with the poptop camper conversion. Our van's rear hangs out beyond the drip line of the roof.

This site got me thinking about our '62 Land Rover from 40 years ago and how it would never have completed the trip south. It was a simple machine and very durable in most respects, but I would have spent a lot of time in repair shops or doing repairs on the side of the road. Once I got the tire off the hood, bonnet, it was easy to slide the aluminum hood off the latches, lean it against whatever was available, sit on the fender with my feet in the engine bay pondering what was wrong this time. Saw a restored one somewhere online for $14k+. I should have bought a Nissan Patrol when they were available here. But we now have a Nissan. All we need is a paper map of Mexico. Near as I can tell the Nav won't work in Mexico. Rick will refer me to the manual if it does.

Nissan had an exhibit at the NTEA (work truck) show... 3 white vans on a bare floor in the photo. It reminded me of white vans on a Nissan lot. Why no after market 4x4 conversion sold by Nissan NV to get the attention of the business that wants/needs this? Must be the blank slate approach. Speaking of 4x4 NV conversions. Owners appear to have migrated to expeditionportal.com but NVs 4x4 are not easy to find there. Better to search Nissan NV 4x4 to gain access to their NV forum. Most of the posts are technical, but one older post alluded to a conversation with a Nissan engineer who stated that NV sales have fallen well short of expectations. The post concluded Nissan will dump NV... Same was said about the current Titan and look what resulted, the new Titan. Another post wanted to know where are all the many 4x4 conversions? The Kodiak NV is the exception. The AK owner and outside van have posted lots of photos. This build had to fall into the $100k+ range. 30 NV Sportsmobiles were built. Where are they? When we tell people only 30 exist, they tell us it will hold its value. Hope so. Are the others shrink wrapped? Finally, how did that guy get to talk to a Nissan engineer? In the west we only get to talk to Jerome, our region's go to guy at consumer affairs.

When will this saga end? Just got off the phone with Jerome, Nissan Consumer Affairs, who told me I will be receiving a check in 2 to... Cut him off to let him know I already received the check. His response was "that was quick...outstanding." Check number matched his records, so maybe a second check will not be cut. Not holding my breath.

With all that data, looks like the fix could result in some downtime for your NV if the dealer agrees to find and fix the problem. Any possibility of taking another NV 3500 high top on the same route before hand? I would definitely push them for a loaner/rental. Who knows, you might end up with a Transit or ProRam.

RICK, I don't get it. Why would the displayed range only read 210 miles after fill up? It should read the same as mine, same engine, same gearing etc. Are you driving 200 miles and the range says 10 miles remaining? What does your gauge show? Could it be that all the electronics are off? Then again, if you are putting in 25 gallons after driving what you know is 200 miles. What does you tach tell you? Could it not be up-shifting correctly? Hope to are able to get an answer and fix.

I agree with Jerry, but still file a complaint. Just out of curiosity, when you fill your tank, how many gallons do you typically put in to fill up. The 2012 models give range and mpg. When we fill up, it will show a range of 400+ miles. This works out to 14+ mpg for the fill up. Real mpg is based on real driving, so it can be more (17+ mpg) or less (12+ mpg towing), but should not be what you average. If Nissan is unable to provide you with a monitor for fuel use, get one and record the data to show Nissan. In the end, if CA has a lemon law, you may get your $40k check plus the cost of the scan device. I think Nissan will fix it if you can document your fuel use. I'm not sure what your other vehicle issues...

On the way to the bank, my wife took a look at the check. Wrong street number, misspelled town and wrong zip code. Her take, "it's a wonder we got this."

RICK, if you saved the email the call center sent you, hit return, say what you have say and send. If CA has a consumer protection service, file a complaint with them and include a copy of the email. Not a quick process by any means...

Received a check today from Nissan, not Nissan Chattanooga but from Franklin, for $225.50 to cover the repair. The check was sent on 6/11, one day after I spoke with the second consumer affairs rep. I was told it would take 2 weeks. Is this the check approved by the first rep, almost 2 weeks ago? Their problem, not mine... RICK, Thanks for directing me to the manual and emissions warranties.

There are a lot of custom builds in progress on this forum, so I thought I would bring this up again. This may vary state to state, but make sure your home build or aftermarket custom build is covered by your auto insurance policy. In AZ, my insurance policy only covered $10k of the build because my agent thought I bought the van, then had it converted. He also had no idea what a NV was. Since we bought the converted van through Nissan it qualified as a SMB/Class B motor home and could be insured at full value on a separate RV policy. This meant our NV SMB was covered for $65k not $40k. Is your NV already converted to 4x4? If so, could you post a photo of what the set up looks like in the interior? Just curious. It has been a long time since I had a 4x4. In the 70s we had a '62 Land Rover (Series 2, 4 door with double roof, built between 1958-61) that I wanted to drive on the Pan American Highway. Notice I said I wanted to. Oddly, someone told me it was the wrong vehicle. "I needed a Nissan." We've done the North American section in our NV, but I'm not sure political events will let us at least attempt to get to Panama. Just one of those boyhood dreams...

I'll leave the technical part to others... and address some travel costs that are common to all RVers. If your budget can handle this, you will have no regrets. 35 day cross country trip: $1008 for fuel (15.33 mpg, no towing, over 5800+ miles) $ 633 for camping (some sites were free) Gas and diesel were fairly close in price, gas usually cheaper. (Speaking of diesel, a 10-15 passenger diesel Transit "Wagon" will set you back $40-50+k. Trailer life shows one towing a 20' ultra light trailer. 12+ mpg towing and 24 mpg as a wagon.) We stayed at state parks, national parks, national monuments and KOAs. Almost every park has gone to a reservation system, which makes it hard to change your agenda. We made no reservations and managed to find spots by stopping early, which also let us explore the area. KOAs are an excellent backup, particularly on weekends. You can make a reservation for that same day, unlike park reservations. You can also do laundry while your children are at the playground or pool. KOAs usually run $30-40+ a night. Their sites are almost always level, state and national parks are almost never level. Pick up a KOA atlas to see where they are on your trip. You can also become a member for $27 and get 10% off each night. You will need to know where all the NV dealers are in the area you plan to visit. They are often far away and few. My guess is you will be getting oil changes more frequently. If you are comfortable with quick oil change businesses, use them. Other tow vehicles let you use all their dealerships. Not so with NVs. (We noticed on our trip that every small town with a Ford dealership had a least 1 work transit on the lot. Didn't see that many Ram Pro Masters on lots but did see many being "flat bedded" 3 per truck on the highways.) Buy a copy of Your Guide to the National Parks, published by Stone Road Press. You can get park info off the internet, but this also gives you information about what is in the area. We take ours with us on every trip. Your kids will love the junior ranger programs. One last item, stop at all the state visitor centers to pick up a state road map and whatever brochures interest you. There are huge areas in this country where your smart phone will not work. The Nav works fine but does little to help with an overview of where you are and where you are going.

Rick, you received an email, the same worthless one I did, so email them. If you have a case number and rep's name even better. They will not respond with an email, but it will not be returned as undeliverable.

Manu and anyone else interested in hitting the road in an NV, Go to www. dave-anderson.com and check out his video Patagonia Worn Wear Movie. You don't need to be a climber to enjoy this site. Simplicity=multifunctional

Every time we watch this video, we want to get back on the road. mahu, David is accessible through his web site, so if they aren't climbing somewhere, he will get back to you. KMG, now you have something to keep you occupied and make time pass quicker. Then again, maybe the magic doors... Didn't realize you are in MO. We were at Arrow Rock a couple of weeks ago when we cancelled plans, due to flooding and weather, to follow the Big Muddy to SD. Last year we followed it west to east from its source but tuned back in SD and headed home. We plan to return.

It isn't easy to find past posts. Try this search: Magic on Vimeo or Nissan NV magic video or DEA Media (He and his wife are climbers and converted their high top NV. Other videos are worth watching as well.)

Easy enough to find. You should post some of your slides. NV and a dinosaur...