Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Nissan hit by Watchdog’s exploding Navara claims
 Nissan has been stung by claims on the BBC's Watchdog programme that its Navara pick-up suffers from a fault that causes the engine to explode.Several owners of the D22 variant, which was built before August 2006, complained to the consumer affairs show about the problem after their engine blew up whilst they were behind the wheel. Following tests by the BBC, a problem with the con-rods and the bearing that propel the drive shaft were discovered. It is thought up to 16,000 vehicles may be affected. Nissan insists the problem is not a safety issue but a durability one, although it did extend the warranty on the Navara from three years to five in May after receiving hundreds of complaints about the problem. But when Watchdog phoned ten Nissan dealers around the country and told them they had an engine failure on a four-year-old Nissan D22, six out of the ten said they had not heard about an extended warranty. In a statement to the BBC Nissan said: "Nissan has openly stated for some time that the durability of a small number of D22 pickup engines, produced before August 2006, have not performed to our exacting standards. "As a result, Nissan launched a five-year 93,000 miles extended warranty in May to formalise the support we were already providing to our customers." Following the programme the carmaker has also now written to D22 customers affected by the fault. Concerned owners should either email Nissan atcustomer.support_d22@nissan.co.uk or call the company on 01923 899 334. DATED: 29.10.08 FEED: MT |
