Nissan Committed To Titan Despite Missing Sales Target

[JayC]

Jed Connelly, Nissan North America’s VP of Sales and Marketing, told Ward’s Auto that despite the Titan missing its sales target of 100,000 units for the second year in a row, the company remains committed to the competitive full-size truck segment. Nissan sold 91,296 Titans in its last fiscal year and admits that the employee pricing programs of the Big 3 has pulled a lot of people out of the marketplace early.

Regardless, Connelly makes it clear that Nissan is committed to the Titan, even hinting at possible diesel and heavy-duty versions in the future. He also acknowledged that the third gen. Toyota Tundra will be a major competitor in the segment, though he’s glad the Titan arrived ahead of it.

Source: Autoblog

[IQ9]

HHHMMM...missed again. Well maybe all the bad word of mouth on brakes, rearends and rude/unhelpful customer service might be other factors to look at as well Mr. Connelly

[sonnytimes]

I second that!! I know that I was the first to get one around here. After all the trouble I have had, No one is looking at it.

[brockoli]

I bought an 04 that was made well to the end of the run of 04s. That truck was (is, ‘cause I am sure it hasn’t changed) the BIGGEST piece of garbage I have ever had the displeasure to own. Customer service, vehicle service and Customer Care were non-existent or useless! Ended up having to sue Nissan via the lemon laws.

Nissan had a hell of an advertising campaign, but they did not back this up with a reliable product, good customer service, availability of parts and training for technicians. I have been very vocal about this. I have met others who have been vocal about their experiences as well. This has an effect, not sure if Nissan realizes that or not…

[92TripleBlack]

Holy Troll Batman.
Didn't mommy teach you never to buy a first year vehicle? Happens all makers, most new vehicles. Sorry.
BTW, Nissan fixed and addressed almost everything in the Titan. Sorry to hear you had bad experiences but overwhelmingly you are in the minority for being a net negative vs. titan and the problems are far less than any domestic has had. Even mighty Toyota had more brake issues with Tundra. Oh, and did you know Titan and Armada garnered the highest consumer satisfaction ratings in their categories?
Go away sour Ridgeline owner.

[brockoli]

Originally Posted by 92TripleBlack

Holy Troll Batman.
Didn't mommy teach you never to buy a first year vehicle? Happens all makers, most new vehicles. Sorry.

Funny... the 02 Trailblazer we had, which was made 4 months into the production run, the first year it came out, went back to the dealership once in two years, 45,000 miles. My 98 Dakota, that I didn't buy in 97 when they came out had very, very few changes for 98 making the wait a waste of time. 97's had no major issues. In this day and age of computers, building on the past experience, a new vehicle should not have the sheer number of problems that they had. I do admit that buying a first year vehicle, one never produced by that manufacturer before that is made in a brand new factory was a mistake. I expected some problems, you make 100,000 of anything that has that many parts, there are going to be a few bad ones in there... I did not expect the number of problems. I expected Nissan to back it's product with customer service. They did not. I figure that giving someone a loaner without a fight after 2, 3, 4, 8 tries at fixing something was a no brainer... obviously not.

Mommy didn't teach me, Pappy bought all the vehicles, usually a leftover 2 year old vehicle for half the sticker price which should tell you that we did not have nice cars... army green 1973 RX-2 wagon when no one knew what a rotary engine was. Brown Gremlin, a stream of Tempos, Topazes and Escorts, ect.

Originally Posted by 92TripleBlack

BTW, Nissan fixed and addressed almost everything in the Titan.

My truck was in 11 different times to 2 different dealerships in the 11 months I owned it, for over 34 days... it would have been more often but they never had parts in. The truck went in the first time with a list of 19 separate problems. Grand total of individual problems, 24. This was over 5,300 miles from someone who drives 16,000 miles a year (some of the time was in the dealership, the rest of the miles were from weekends that I refused to drive it, road trips and ANY day I could grab the other half's Suburban, net result, she is way over where she should be on miles). Total problems fixed over this time, 18, leaving 6 problems for someone else to inherit. So I disagree that Nissan fixed and addressed almost everything unless 75% counts as almost =). Side note... When you pull in to the service department and the lot runner greets you by name, you know you have been there entirely too many times!

Nissan did address the brakes, not in a timely manner, but they did. First by handing out a TSB that stated that some driver's drive patterns cause the brakes to warp (was a gearhead since junior high, auto tech for 4 years, I think I know how not to warp brakes). Than by telling me that they knew there was a problem and that parts would be out within the next month... for the next four months. Always stating that the excessive brake dust was normal, and if I recall, coming out with dark grey wheels to mask it... As I stated, the brakes were the least of my problems. It was the rattles, the squeaks, the ticking, the doors that didn't close right, the door latches that kept breaking, defective mirrors replaced with defective mirrors, the total lack of ridgity in the structure, windows that rolled up only when they wanted to, the tailgate that had to be pushed to the right to close without hitting the corner panel, the cracked paint and rust on the bedrails under the corner of the plastic caps, the bumper that was off by 1/2", the bed that was warped (right front corner higher than the left front, right rear corner lower than the left rear).

Most of all it was the lack of service, the lack of fixes, FINDING fixes or the cause of a problem and teaching them what was wrong. Not having a vehicle for days on end, having to pull all my tools and gear out of the truck every time it had to go in, going to work the next day and not having something one is used to having and having to put everything back in after getting it back.

Originally Posted by 92TripleBlack

Sorry to hear you had bad experiences but overwhelmingly you are in the minority for being a net negative vs. titan and the problems are far less than any domestic has had. Even mighty Toyota had more brake issues with Tundra. Oh, and did you know Titan and Armada garnered the highest consumer satisfaction ratings in their categories?

I am in the minority, I agree. Was in a focus group with 10 others, 2 of us hated all the problems we were having and the service, hence we were soured on the Truck. 4 fell into the mad at Nissan for poor service, but they LOVE their truck. 4 were happy with the service unhappy with the problems and 1 was all roses. When we were out in the lot looking at each others Titans, I pointed out the crooked back bumper on 5 of them that the owner had not noticed (have another 7-8 on my tally from gas station conversations)... dare I say that these were not people who are mechanically inclined? Well, the disappointed person was and 2 in the not happy category were, but one didn't even know that his brakes were warped. He stated that he didn't have brake problems and everyone stopped, was like EF Hutton was speaking... no one could believe it. When some of the non-mechanically inclined people described the shaking steering wheel during braking he looked amazed and said "I thought that the tires needed balancing".

I am just so disappointed with the lack of service. I love the truck, it is a great design, it has some great features but I would run back to my 02 Silverado in a heartbeat (I tried to get it back a month into owning the Titan). The Silverado was no where as bad *** as the Titan is... but, 50,000 miles, 2 visits to the dealership for 2 problems (one to diagnose, one to install parts), both times a loaner waiting, I will trade the bad assness for the reliability in 08 after the new Silverados come out in 07 (yes, I am waiting a year, hoping the 6-speed auto trickles down to it by then).

As far as the drivetrain, I think the pushrod engine is better in a truck for economy (snicker)... the 02 Silverado 1500, ex-cab, 2wd with the 5.3 and 3.73's gave me 18-19mpg... regularly. My 04 Titan was 12-13mpg and the 05 I ended up in gets 15mpg on the same routes, both are ex-cabs, 2wd. My wife's Suburban, 5.3, 2wd, 3.73s, pulls down 17-18mpg and that is with someone affectionately referred to as "Leadfoot Sally" driving! I don't drive slow, but that Chevy just rolled on torque! The 5.6 has ultimately has more power and sounds like it was lifted from a Ferrari when it is wound out, but this is a truck for Krise Sakes!!! When I want a sports car, I will buy a sports car.

[Toolslinger]

I have an '04 with close to 15k on it, mostly pulling a 8000 lb trailer. Had no problems. Awesome truck and don't know how I could be satisfied with any other truck. My only complaint is that they aren't going to make a 3/4 ton one.

[SoonerShrink]

I've got an '04 also and, aside from getting the permanent brake fix, I've had absolutely no problems with it. And getting the breaks fixed was a piece of cake. They turned the rotors once because the permanent fix wasn't available. The second time they got the new parts. Simple as that. I'm totally satisfied with mine!

[QShip]

I have an 04 as well and I have had no problems. Best truck I've ever owned!

[DOUBLEG]

i like my 04 but i have had to take it for some warranty/recall work= new rear end cause a censor had went out so the dealership put the newer style rear end on it. iv had the brakes work on twice second time they put the newer style on for me. now im haveing problems out of a noise in the heater they changed everything now they gotta go back and guess what yes youv got it put the newer stuff in..

[MukilteoTitan]

I have end of the production year 2004 Titan, and no problems at all, ...
except by my own doing, an accident after flat tire ... on pass. side... in repair shop, and most of the work has been done for weeks, but a 'slight problem'... absolutely no airbag replacement prts in U.S. and unknown release date on and on... after email and phone calls to Nissan, they quite readily sent an Full Airbag assembly from their manufacturing plant; and sent it within 3 days to the collision repair shop, they were accomodating, cooperative, polite, maybe in response to them receiving the same from me and my collision repair shop(s).
So I found Nissan to be very responsive.
Getting my TITAN, BEST TRUCK back in 2 Days!!

JRS MukilteoTitan

[EricCartmann]

This is the first Nissan I have ever owned and have to say Nissans customer service does not compare to Ford, Toyota, or Honda.

[start vent]
Too make a long story even longer, the dealer from Massachusetts who I bought my Titan from had to complete the deal in New Hampshire so I would not have to pay sales tax (we pay no sales tax in NH)... anyways, he was 3 hours late in delivering it! He kept on saying how he had to make sure the inspection was perfect, well when I got the vehicle, it looked like a third grader washed the thing. Then the next day I went to use the windshield wiper fluid to only have the light come on. The day after I had to put stuff in the side compartment only to have a broken latch.. well it was not broken but I have slam it as hard as I can to close it. I called the dealer and he told me he will have a look at it on my first oil change (which is free and is still 4k miles away).
[/end vent]

[Le_Titan]

I have one of the early Titan '04s now 45000 miles and apart frrom the brake recall, I haven't had any issues with it. I do however want one of the later models (06/or 07) because of the enhanced ergonomic features.

[CraigG]

What is it about this truck that sends people off on a crusade? My 04 has NOT been perfect but it is not the biggest pos either good god. The whole vocal thing is a bit over done on this board. I know people right now that are going through some issues with domestic brands that would make some people rethink things.

[ciron28]

I think after almost 3 years of the Titan being on the Market why would the VP of marketing and sales have to come out and defend the Titan. If Nissan doesn't get their Sh!t together on customer service and quality issues for some that have problems in that area of the Titan. The new Tundra will hurt Nissan more than anyone will think. (don't flame me, just a logical observation)

Travis