Bubbling Dash and Infiniti Affairs

[Ed209]

Hello Everyone let me tell you about my latest go around with Infiniti over there less than spectacular manufacturing of dashboard components. I travel alot lately due to my job and in 5 years put on 100K miles. Yes, I know 100K isn't alot in some circles but we'll come back to that. One day a bubble popped up in the dash. I thought no biggie its one bubble its probably something from the heat (I live in South TX) but its a random thing and I haven't seen any others on the dash. Surprise surprise a few months later that one bubble turned into many many bubbles. I was like oh crap what the hell is going on maybe I can smooth it out with a heat gun or something but let me check the forums and see if anyone else is having the issue. Surprisingly yes, alot of people were having the issue across many years of manufacture. I take it up to the local Infiniti shop on options. You can already see where this is going in terns of my wallet. At first they quoted me 1500 to fix it and that it was pretty common on all the FX series that have dark colored interiors. I asked well if its that common don't you think Infiniti should address the problem and maybe come up with a better solution than to just continue replacing the dash thats going to have the same problems later on? There response was call customer affairs and bring it up with them. If anyone has ever spoken with these high school dropouts on the phone it makes me wonder why no one hasn't pulled there hair out in anger and frustration. I ask why hasn't the dash issue in the Fx series been addressed. They responded we can only talk about your cars issues and no one elses and your car is outside the warranty. Let me not forget the surly and snide attitude with the rep and ended up having to talk to a manager 24 hrs later since no one could speak to me right then and there. Speeding things up the regional agent was assigned to the case to see what could be done. Heres where I know things were not going to go well. A week before I brought it in and the dealer told me I needed a new dash this agent called and told me I needed to bring it in to have them inspect it. Yeah, inspect after the dealer said I need a new dash. I ask the dealer whats the deal with these people and the lunacy. They were nice enough to review the case knocked out a couple hundred for the repair it was hurt. 850 dollars now . Dropped it off Monday and got it back Tuesday evening. The agent of Infiniti returned my call a WEEK later after I already heard from the dealer that they aren't going to do squat. I asked the individual that call me what was the reason that they weren't going to do anything. Her response not only puzzled me but angered the hell outa me at the same time. The response was that I had excessively high mile, out of warranty, and that me service record didn't reflect that I got every overpriced oil change done at my local Infiniti dealer. So of course I had to ask which was the larger factor the service or the miles. The response was a meandering confusing route in bullcrap that ended with high mileage. I asked how is excessive mile a consideration in terns of a defect from the factory and last time I checked 100K miles isn't excessive for a 5 year old car of someone who works. Lastly if you already made up your mind on no before even looking at the car why even tell me you're reviewing it. You could have saved me some time on waiting for a response. She responded that they review all cases even the one that will be a NO from the very start. No now the amount of repairs this year have topped about 5 grand and 3 the year before. I love the car but I don't think another FX will in my future this one rides off into the sunset.

[canuckfx]

Ed209:

I've owned 4 Infiniti's now (QX4, QX56, 2 FX45) and the only remaining one is the QX56.

In the past two years since my last FX45 I have purchased an Audi A3, BMW 335i and a Volks Touareg.

It is unlikely that I will replace the QX56 with another Infiniti.

No use trying to deal with the folks at Infiniti.

Your only solution is to stop buying any more Infiniti's in the future.

Eventually if enough people do the same thing they will either figure it out or go out of business.

Just look at what happened with the Big 3.

[seldomseen]

Welcome to Infiniti!!! Premature dash bubbling, cracking/splitting seem to be a very common problem with certain Infiniti cars. Consumer Affairs will not do jack for you if your warranty has expired and extended warranties do not cover dash boards either. $850 for a new dash ain't bad...but what is the install cost going to be and how long will Infiniti warranty the replacement dash if it develops bubbles/cracks while you still own the car? Infiniti seems to use a very think dash composite that results in bubbling/cracking. Infiniti's quality just isn't on par with other luxury makers.

[FX45Lover]

Am I the only one that uses a sun shade every time I park in the sun? Must be since my dash looks like new after 6+ years...

[seldomseen]

Originally Posted by FX45Lover

Am I the only one that uses a sun shade every time I park in the sun? Must be since my dash looks like new after 6+ years...

Doesn't really matter...folks that had their FX's garaged experienced dash cracking/bubbling. Just do a google search on this issue you will get tons of hits and be able to educate yourself on this matter more. Infiniti is aware of this problem, and seems to only be willing to resolve this issue if your vehicle is still within its factory bumper to bumper warranty. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones and hope you didn't jinx yourself!!

[mkaresh]

Is the OP still around? If you could break your post into paragraphs it would be MUCH easier to read. And this is good info for people to have.

Does it matter that trim issues like this are a matter of age, not miles? Of course not.

Sadly, most, maybe all manufacturers heavily base their out-of-warranty assistance on whether you've been "loyal" to the dealer. IMHO they've gotten it quite backwards, assuming that customers must be loyal to the dealer (and manufacturer) even when it's clear that there's no loyalty or customer care deserving of the name coming from them.

Honda and BMW might be a little better than the pack. Perhaps Lexus as well, but I don't have many Lexus owners involved in my surveys.

[tmborland]

Don't know if this has been updated but Infiniti has extended the warranty on the dash to 8 years, unlimited mileage, and will reimburse anyone who has already paid to have it fixed whether they still own the vehicle or not.

[Ed209]

Yup they started that "extended warranty a month after I bought a new dash. They reimbursed me for the cost of repairs with the proper receipt but too much wrangling and a hinting at legal advice probably prompted this reconsideration of the warranty for the dash. Too bad this Month after getting the dash repaired so idiot in a BMW ran a red light and totaled the FX