New owner 2017 NV3500 4x4

[Sn0wj08]

Just bought my NV about 3 weeks ago. It’s at the dealership right now with a check engine light on. I also have noticed that when in park I will roll in the opposite direction of an incline if I’m on one. His happens when in 2wd and in 4hi. Has anyone else had this issue? I contacted advanced in Utah where the conversion was done and they never contacted men back. Hoping this is a simple fix and I won’t have any issues coming forth. We are Toyota people but I have 6 kids so I finally traded my 05Sienna because we needed more room and 4x4 for Fairbanks, Alaska winters. We went with Nissan after 3 years of researching. I originally wanted a Sprinter but I’ve read a lot about reliability and I can’t be stranded with six kids. I regularly take he kids to visit the lower 48 and I’m usually without my husband on these treks. I decided to look at the NV closer because of reliability. I was told they are on the same chassis as the Titan and have the same V8 engine. That seems good since the reason people like the 4Runner and the land cruiser is because they are on the same chassis as the Tacoma and tundra. My husband has a 2017 Tacoma Trdpro so now it is as if we have a full size Truck and a compact truck. My husband is a painter and he took a little encouragement before saying yes to a Nissan. He regularly takes cars apart and he thinks they use cheap parts and the factory paint jobs are not very good. He has already found quite a few flaws in the paint.

I was also happy that it could tow more than the Sprinter or the Tacoma in case my wonderful husband gets me an RV to take on my trips. When I found out our dealership had the 4x4 converted NV in stock I was sold! Just in time for winter. I’m getting snow tires this week and I will give a report on how well I’m handling then. The roads are already compacted ice and the temp this morning was 16F. with the stock tires I have on now I don’t have good traction unless I keep it in 4hi most of the time. I can get away without it in town where there aire not any hills. I’m hoping snow tires will make a world of difference like they did for my fwd Sienna.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Sn0wj08

[Sn0wj08]

It’s the SL trim in Cayenne. I wanted black but the Cayenne is growing on me. I wanted to upload a pic but haven’t figured how to upload pictures yet. The kids named her Clifford the big red road dog.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Sn0wj08

[radin2son]

Welcome.

 

You have a great warranty and as long as the code is there, it will most likely be a quick fix. Dealers in the lower 48 don’t maintain much of a parts inventory so it is usually a 2 day wait. I would let the service manager know about the other problem and have them deal with Advance if needed. .

 

You may want to get an obd scanner if you don’t already have one. Our check engine light was a 3 year emissions’ process. Nissan Commercial picked up the repair bill even after the warranty expired. 30,000+ miles since then and no problems.

 

If the same service group is there from 3 years ago, say hello for us. They may remember our silver NV Sportsmobile campervan.

[radin2son]

Love the name.

 

To add photos, use the “full version” if you mainly use your phone. Click on edit and more options and attachments. Vertical photos will post sideways.

[Sn0wj08]

Thanks radin2son! They called us back and are waiting on the head mechanic from advanced to proceed further. They want the head mechanic on the line before anyone opens the transfer case. I’m going to head down there in the morning and I’m hoping they will give me a rental that fits 8 while I wait.

[chphilo]

Welcome to the forum. You got some nice rides. Love that Tacoma Pro. We also had to trade in our Sienna for our van. We thought our kids might miss the amenities but they love this Nissan van.

[ASD Dad]

Love that color, congrats on the van and welcome!  Also congrats on getting your NV inside a garage.  Many find it will just barely Not fit a normal door.  

 

We are the opposite on vehicles though, we kept my wife's Sienna and I traded my Tundra TRD!  Way too little room in my truck and my wife likes her van and gets double the gas mileage of the NVP.  

[radin2son]

Good service departments are hard to find... You are lucky.

 

Interesting that Advanced is converting 2017 NVs and Quigley isn’t.

[ASD Dad]

Advanced seems to beat to their own drum.  They also do 4 Low Range when Nissan has told Quigley not to do that.  I dont know how Advanced gets around the possible limp mode issues or if they just dont care.  Quigley seems to have a much closer relationship with the manufacturer.  

[Sn0wj08]

ASD Dad,

It’s a definite bummer on the gas mileage!! The kids and I think the extra space is a good trade off though. I don’t do too much driving in the winter. The kids take the bus and my husband brings groceries on his way home from work. Most of my driving will be summer road trips. I’m hoping the highway gas mileage won’t be too horrible.

 

Radin2son

I’m about to go pickup my rental. I have had quite the experience with one of the women in the service department. She was very rude to me. I had to practically demand my rental. It should have been cut and dry since I paid upfront for the gold maintenance plan which includes a rental. I had to have my husband call the manager and now majically I have a rental. I’m use to getting this treatment in Fairbanks. There is an obvious difference in the way many Fairbanks businesses treat women vs men. I was so upset I almost wrote a very bad review. While reading the reviews I noticed a few other reviews that complained of the same rudeness towards other wives. Customer service is often non existent compared to southern CA where I grew up. It seems people are less afraid of losing their job here. Californians have a lot more competition for their jobs. Other than this unfortunate phenomenon I love living in Fairbanks.

We will see how this all pans out. I hope it doesn’t take too long for them to fix the issue. I’m trying hard not to talk with Lisa again. I don’t need to give myself any reasons to tie my red hair up and step outside. Luckily the other lady named Sam is so sweet it makes up for Lisa’s bad attitude.

Edited November 9, 2017 by Sn0wj08

[radin2son]

Getting the manager involved is what was needed. Don’t hesitate to threaten or file a complaint with Nissan Commercial Consumer Advocates, not Nissan auto and truck.

 

It always works best if you can use the same service person, Sam in your case. Get the manager to set this up to make good what happened to you.

 

Guess I won’t be making the long drive for service.

[Sn0wj08]

I’m going to remember the Nissan Commercial advocates pitch. Thanks for all the replies. I’m really glad I joined this forum. The wealth of information I have been able to attain here is priceless. I will update this post with the final verdict on the 4x4 issue once it’s resolved. I’ve learned that this whole parking break issue has come up with Advanced conversions quite a few times at least with this dealership. It might be a good idea for others to go with Quigley unless you have a need/want for 4Lo on your NV. I’m glad I got the NV already converted from the dealership with the 100,000 5yesr warranty. I couldn’t imagine having to deal with Advanced directly. I’m still unhappy that Advanced never replied to my contact request on this issue 2 weeks ago when I first noticed it.

The kids and I did some errands in the Chevy Tahoe rental we got. They all said they miss Clifford and hope she comes home soon.

[radin2son]

One last comment, although most know this is not usually the case. I assume finance sold the gold maintenance policy or this is what some dealerships sell as maintenance for life. When you pick up your NV say hi to finance and point out your issue with Lisa. They won’t sell many of these policies with her around. Similarly, ding her on the service satisfaction survey you are asked to fill out. Service managers do not like negative reviews.

 

Point out positive service as well, naming Sam for one. This will help her.

 

You did the right thing buying the converted NV through the dealership. They have to sort this out.

[Sn0wj08]

Just a quick update. I have my van back home and in good working order. The mechanic had to take apart the transfer case a few times before the linkage was adjusted correctly. I have also noticed that the transmission seems to be shifting more fluidly. Before taking it in to be serviced I did notice the same issue I have read about quite a few times. The RPMs would jump way up high before shifting gears. This is no longer happening. I’m happy to have my van back and hope I don’t have any other issues in the future.

[ASD Dad]

Thanks for the update!  Many members here come to complain about an issue, get it fixed and then never return to let anyone know if or how it was fixed.

[radin2son]

Agree, thanks for the update.

 

Now, you can get back to enjoying Clifford the big red road dog...

[Sn0wj08]

I’m happy to give an update. I have found so much great information on here. I’m still weeding through old posts and learning new things each day. The more new stuff I learn the more I can bragg to my other half so he will think my van is cool. It’s working!! Clifford is starting to grow on the die hard Toyota guy. I sent him the picture of the NV flipped over that had very minimal damage on it. I also sent a link of the video tutorial on how to get the second row turned around. I’m hoping he will get to that soon. He’s planning on painting all of my chrome black and doing a real fire flame job with skull piles in the drop shadows. Winter is very busy for him at work with all the fender benders happening so he may(no pun intended) not get to it until spring but you never know. I caught him in the garage checking out Clifford’s front end and figuring out the flame pattern last night. I might get my custom paint sooner than I think

Edited November 16, 2017 by Sn0wj08

[radin2son]

A NVP hot rod...

[chphilo]

Thanks for the update. I love happy endings.

 

I am looking forward to seeing flames on NV van. I don't think I've seen one.

 

My wife and I were Toyota family until she traded in her loaded Sienna for NVP. We still have a Tundra. We thought our kids might miss the amenities in Sienna. Nope. All of them just love this van.

[Sn0wj08]

Thanks for the update. I love happy endings.

 

I am looking forward to seeing flames on NV van. I don't think I've seen one.

 

My wife and I were Toyota family until she traded in her loaded Sienna for NVP. We still have a Tundra. We thought our kids might miss the amenities in Sienna. Nope. All of them just love this van.

The only amenities our Sienna had that the NVP doesn’t is the DVD player. We never used it because we only had 2 headsets and I couldn’t figure out how to get it to play through the car stereo speakers either. I’m also a little old school and I like to watch the kids be forced to interact on long road trips like we did when we were kids. We had to make up games and when we had enough of that we would just stair out the window admiring scenery and having our own private thought s for a bit. I miss the agility of the Sienna... I could drive it like a race car.. I barely had to slow down to take a corner. I also never felt a bump in the road with the Sienna. It was a very practical choice and I probably would have kept it if we didn’t have so many kiddos. The Roominess of the NVP is worth it. We all love it!!

 

We can’t wait to see how the flame job looks on it too. We originally took the black NVP home from the dealership but it had an electrical issue with the mirrors and as we were about to sign off on the paperwork we found out that it was a consignment from one of the employees at the dealership. They were trying to sell it as a brand new van with a full price tag. I told them I would only buy it if They gave me a used car price. We ended up taking the red one instead. The black is the best backdrop for real fire though. I came up with the idea of doing skull piles in the backdrop to darken thinks up and create a good contrast. He can put black behind the flames that way and have it fade almost like a smoke effect with the skull piles ghosted in so you would only notice them when the light hits it. I think it’s going to turn out really cool. He has done a lot of stylized flame jobs where he only does the ghosted skulls in the negative space and the flames remain the same color as the car. It looks very suttle instead of gaudy. This will be the first time he tries it with the real fire. It will abviously stand out a lot more because the real fire is quite bright. I think the NVP has the personality to pull off the look though. Im throwing around ideas for him to do some kind of 4x4 branding to match and some beefier tires to round everything out. I might have to steel your tire and rim suggestions from the other post.

 

Did you order rear carpet floor mats from the dealership? I’m having a hard time finding where I can order them online. I also would love to know where you got your rear cargo mat. My van only came with all weather mats for the front. I’ve been making the kids take their shoes off and line them up in the sliding door step for now. It actually works pretty good for this. I will probably keep this system even after getting floor mats.

[chphilo]

You plan for the flame paint sounds really cool. I looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

This is the link to the rear floor mat. https://parts.nissanusa.com/nissanparts/index.cfm?siteid=14&action=accessories&itemid=412259&catalogid=211

 

For the cargo rubber mat, I could not find anything that fits our van. I had to order a rubber mat (I think it was 4x8) and cut it.