BUYING A NEW NISSAN CAVEAT EMPTOR

I have a Nissan Qashqai that I bought from new nearly three years ago, its only covered 23,000kms as I spend half my year overseas, so it has effectively been used for 18months. The car has two problems, the first being the drivers seat which has deteriorated badly but the warranty claim has been rejected as DTM Helderberg, the supplying dealership, assert that the seat has been subject to excessive loads, ( I weigh a little over 70 Kilos), and that it's due to excessive usage with hard handling!!! The car is valeted at least every two weeks and with the exception of the drivers seat the interior is very clean and in good condition. Both Nissan and DTM have both informed me that the drivers seat is classified as an "accessory " and as such warranty is limited to one year! The second problem concerns the clutch judder that is getting worse and I have been informed that items such as the clutch are classified as "wear and tear" items and are excluded from the warranty. It's interesting to note that when the Qashqai was launched, Xavier Gobille, Nissan SA's CEO made the following announcement at the launch to the motoring press, "Many of the warranties available on new vehicles today are riddled with provisions and exclusions. This makes the warranty programme difficult to understand and often dilutes the benefit to the customer. With Nissan Assured, we have made the warranty as comprehensive and easy to understand as possible,” says Xavier Gobille, Nissan South Africa's managing director of sales, marketing and after sales.

The warranty covers all major mechanical components and service or repair work done at an approved Nissan dealership, using genuine Nissan parts. Standard warranty exclusions on wear-and-tear parts such as shock absorbers, brake pads and linings and the clutch only apply after 3-years or when the first 100 000 km of the warranty has expired."

Needless to say with assistance of the AA and my atttorney, I'm in the process of exploring the legal options open to me for what I consider is gross misrepresentation.

CAVEAT EMPTOR would be buyers of NISSAN vehicles