There has been some discussion of late following people's concerns over oil temperatures and other warranty issues, specifically with regard people wanting to use their cars for track day driving. Nissan have been looking at this to see what changes can be made and also have taken on board the comments made, particularly on this forum. As a result of that and following discussions with Nissan Europe and NMGB and following their discussions with Nissan in Japan there has been a reclarification of the situation. The following is a explanation sent from Nissan
GT-R Update
1) Transmission Oil replacement
The GT-R has been on sale in Europe for over 6 months now and during this time our engineers have been surveying the European market and customer usage. As a result of this work we are now in a position to make improvements to the following servicing procedure:
During extensive testing in normal road conditions, including the Autobahns in Germany, the transmission oil temperature did not exceed 120'C and showed no evidence of degradation whilst running in this condition. Therefore, the top limit of the normal operating oil temperature range has been raised to 120'C. This means that, unless used in extreme conditions, transmission oil changes will only be required at the longer change interval of 18,000 miles or 18 months. The risk of requiring more frequent transmission oil changes has been significantly reduced.
2) Clarification regarding the warranty coverage for driving with ESP/VDC in the “OFF” position
The warranty restriction regarding ESP off is intended to advise customers that Nissan cannot warrant (or guarantee) the performance, safety or stability of the vehicle in this condition.
GT-R is a high performance supercar and as such, ESP is designed to help maintain a high level of dynamic stability. Mechanical failure encountered while driving with ESP Off is covered by warranty, any damage due to lack of driver skill and subsequent loss of vehicle control is obviously not warrantable.
There is no specific risk of mechanical failure from driving with ESP off and there is no intention to reject a warranty claim based on the ESP setting. There has never been a warranty claim rejected in Europe due to this and Nissan has no intention of doing so in the future.
However, it is Nissan’s social responsibility to strongly recommend ‘ESP On’ at all times, to maintain a high level of dynamic stability. The only circumstance Nissan recommends using ‘ESP off’ is to escape from mud/snow at low speeds.
Obviously there will be a rewrite of the owners manual for later sales but this will take time.
Consistent with the fact I do not have the extensive knowledge and detail of this vehicle and am not able to monitor every discussion on this or similar matters the GTROC have asked one of it's members to take a more proactive role in these kind of issues. The intention is to allow serious issues and concerns to be raised and managed in a more coordinated way and for us to work with Nissan to get them to better understand the view of the owner. The GTROC member concerned not only owns a GT-R but also uses it on track. That said this role is not for any whinge or complaint and will only deal with major issues or those that the general GTROC membership and GTR Register usership feels requires consideration. More details about this appoint ment will follow soon.
GT-R Update
- A change in the policy regarding the Transmission Oil replacement
- Clarification regarding the warranty coverage for driving with ESP/VDC in the “OFF” position
1) Transmission Oil replacement
The GT-R has been on sale in Europe for over 6 months now and during this time our engineers have been surveying the European market and customer usage. As a result of this work we are now in a position to make improvements to the following servicing procedure:
- ‘Normal operating’ transmission oil temperature upper level has been raised to a maximum of 120'C (was 110'c)
- Hot usage (extreme driving conditions), where the transmission oil has exceeded 120'C (was 110'C) will need changing within 3000 miles of running at this higher temperature – was 1800 miles.
During extensive testing in normal road conditions, including the Autobahns in Germany, the transmission oil temperature did not exceed 120'C and showed no evidence of degradation whilst running in this condition. Therefore, the top limit of the normal operating oil temperature range has been raised to 120'C. This means that, unless used in extreme conditions, transmission oil changes will only be required at the longer change interval of 18,000 miles or 18 months. The risk of requiring more frequent transmission oil changes has been significantly reduced.
2) Clarification regarding the warranty coverage for driving with ESP/VDC in the “OFF” position
The warranty restriction regarding ESP off is intended to advise customers that Nissan cannot warrant (or guarantee) the performance, safety or stability of the vehicle in this condition.
GT-R is a high performance supercar and as such, ESP is designed to help maintain a high level of dynamic stability. Mechanical failure encountered while driving with ESP Off is covered by warranty, any damage due to lack of driver skill and subsequent loss of vehicle control is obviously not warrantable.
There is no specific risk of mechanical failure from driving with ESP off and there is no intention to reject a warranty claim based on the ESP setting. There has never been a warranty claim rejected in Europe due to this and Nissan has no intention of doing so in the future.
However, it is Nissan’s social responsibility to strongly recommend ‘ESP On’ at all times, to maintain a high level of dynamic stability. The only circumstance Nissan recommends using ‘ESP off’ is to escape from mud/snow at low speeds.
Obviously there will be a rewrite of the owners manual for later sales but this will take time.
Consistent with the fact I do not have the extensive knowledge and detail of this vehicle and am not able to monitor every discussion on this or similar matters the GTROC have asked one of it's members to take a more proactive role in these kind of issues. The intention is to allow serious issues and concerns to be raised and managed in a more coordinated way and for us to work with Nissan to get them to better understand the view of the owner. The GTROC member concerned not only owns a GT-R but also uses it on track. That said this role is not for any whinge or complaint and will only deal with major issues or those that the general GTROC membership and GTR Register usership feels requires consideration. More details about this appoint ment will follow soon.