WARNING:: My Nissan Dealer in Seaside, California sold my wife a new 2008 NAH 3 months ago and threw in free oil changes for life to close the sale. We were so happy because we knew how much 0w20 oil costs and thought we were getting a deal. Not so fast... Long story short, my wife takes the car in for her first oil change and the service center puts in 10w30 BULK and they swear that the oil is OK for the car. The Sales Manager is also clueless [or is playing clueless] and Service manager is a Tier-1 idiot that doesn't know the difference between mouthwash and 0w20. OMG, I just stepped into the movie Idiocracy! At this stage, I am expecting a call from the dealership that my wife can bring the car in to get the right oil according to the manual and Nissan TSB NTB07-007c; which is 0w20. If the call goes any other way, I will be calling Nissan Corporate and raising hell. People, make sure you get the right oil in your Hybrids because after the car blows up, its just a bunch of boo-hoo on you. 2 cents, Fabian.

Which is why I change my own oil.


1 Gallon container of Mobil 1 0W-20 at Walmart, $24.96
1 Fram oil filter, $3.95

Knowing you did it right, priceless.

It gets late early out there. - Yogi

I can't tell you how much a differnece having the right oil makes. 0w-20 added to the MPG almost immediacy. I even yelled at the dealer and argued about him even suggesting using something else.

Got the call back from the dealer. They will be putting in 0w20 tomorrow morning.

The stupid thing is I need to tell them every time I want 0w20 moving forward, or the idiots could put 10w30 bulk back in the next time. Are all Nissan Dealer this stupid or don't they realize if my engine dies early I can sue them.. WTF...

Anyway, I'll just need to train my wife to be more watchful next time.

Good luck everyone,
Fabian.

Dealership service does not make customers satisfied - it makes money. It's just the way business is. Not very many mechanics out of the dealership circle are certified to work on hybrids and therefore the dealership can rip you off in any which way it wants.

10w-30 is not going to do anything bad to your engine, which is a regular, detuned altima engine, which in the regular altima takes in 10w-30 anyways. The only difference you'll see is less MPGs due to the higher viscosity in the oil and the car will need to warm up longer before it starts entering EV mode. As far as engine life is concerned, I am sure it will way outlive your desire for continued ownership of the NAH with either oil.

Don't get me wrong, you have every right to fight them to give you the right oil and you should - but don't freak out for your car as 10w-30 is not going to hurt it. Just appear freaked out in the dealership service dep :-)

QUOTE:

As far as engine life is concerned, I am sure it will way outlive your desire for continued ownership of the NAH with either oil.





Thanks everyone for their responses.

My wife likes her NAH, but I know our next cars are going to be plug in hybrids or all electric. This "Big Oil Prices" thing is getting nuttier by the week. I have a diesel and I am at 4.65 this week in Cali.

Just last Friday two shady persons stopped us at the gas station [while I was pumping fuel] to beg for money for gas. Do I need a bullet proof vest just to fill up? WTF.

F.

O__o... Thats just messed up. If I wasn't worried about safety, I would have prb responded something along the lines of "yeah, well, next time think before buying an SUV!" lol

5W-20 has always been on the list and 5W-30 was approved on the up-date that came out about a few months after the 2007 introduction of the NAH. I have yet to find a Nissan dealer that has 0W-20.

10W-30 is still not on the recommended list, but will not harm your car as it is approved for the normal 2.5 engine. You will have a slight loss of MPG. The only thing to be careful of would be the mix of synthetic and normal oils.

0W-20 is not recommended for heat above 100 degrees (if you read the bottle), so 5W-20 is actually better for the summer if you are in a hot area.

Good info, thanks everyone again.

The dealer is putting in 5w20 this afternoon. I am OK with this, but I still feel that if I wanted 0w20 and it is recommended by Nissan [and the dealer has it in stock], the dealer should honor this customer choice within their free oil changes policy.

I'm pretty straight laced and don't like word games when purchasing a 30k car. It's my wife's car so I'll let her fight it further if she wants.

I'll be steering clear of this dealer since who knows what else they are playing word games on.

FYI: That's "Cardinale" Nissan in Seaside CA for anyone interested.

Fabian.