Maintenance is one of the most important things you can do for your vehicle. Like insurance, it protects your investment and the reliability of your car or truck.
“It’s very cheap insurance to make sure your vehicle stays in tip-top condition,” says Grainger Nissan of Anderson Maintenance Director John Steadman. “And when you go to trade the vehicle in, it’s worth more if it’s been well maintained.”
As vehicles become more complicated with advanced technology systems, maintenance has become even more important, according to Steadman.
“The best thing to do is follow the maintenance schedule made up by the manufacturer recommendations and your dealership recommendations,” Steadman said. “If you stick to that, the chances of you having a breakdown are very slim.”
Grainger Nissan of Anderson customers receive a maintenance schedule when a vehicle is purchased. It includes the timing and types of maintenance to be performed and the cost, Steadman explained. Most manufacturers recommend an oil change and tire rotation every 5,000 miles. Transmission fluid changes, brake flushes, alignment and replacing wiper blades also are important at 5,000-mile intervals.
“Customers have an upfront cost on the maintenance schedule, and they’ll know what to expect each time,” Steadman said. “We’ll also do a multi-point inspection on the vehicle just to let them know if there is anything that has popped up. It’s kind of like a report card for the customer to let them know what the general health of the vehicle is.”
For required repairs, Grainger Nissan of Anderson gains permission from a customer to perform a diagnostic test on a vehicle. The diagnostic fee is applied to the cost of any needed repairs. A line-by-line estimate outlining all repairs and cost is provided to the customer before any repairs are done.
“It’s easy for us to talk technical language, but we try to break it down where anybody can understand what’s going on with their vehicle with a step-by-step or by show-and-tell,” Steadman said. “A lot of times we’ll have a customer speak with the technician that is working on their vehicle.”
It’s also important for customers to be aware of vehicle warranties.
A standard bumper-to-bumper warranty on Nissan cars is three years or 36,000 miles. The powertrain –engine and transmission – warranty is five years or 60,000 miles. For Nissan Titan trucks, the bumper-to-bumper warranty is five years or 100,000 miles.
“We’ve had instances where people have gone slightly out of warranty and because they have maintained their vehicle well and had it done at a Nissan store, we were able to get them help from Nissan.”
Because Grainger Nissan of Anderson sells used cars, its maintenance facility provides service for any make or model.
“We’re not just fixing cars, we’re developing relationships,” Steadman said.
For more information, visit graingernissanofanderson.com.
