Nissan loosens grip on GT-R servicing
May 20, 2009 by George Skentzos
When the Nissan GT-R first launched it completely changed our perception of the benchmark performance car, matching blistering speed with a highly accessible price point.
Although as the GT-R moved from the spotlight and into the garages of doe-eyed owners it quickly became apparent this supercar for the people was not all that affordable to live with.
It seems the price of GT-R specific OEM consumables quickly added up at each surprisingly short service interval to the point where your average owner could not comfortably afford to run their own car, let alone take it to the track.
The now infamous Edmund’s GT-R 18,000 mile service revealed some startling costs, with a simple transmission and diff fluid change adding $1,375.98 to the bottom line including labour.
Fortunately Nissan has acknowledged these running costs may not be within reach for the average GT-R owner and has revised its servicing intervals for Japan at least.
In some cases the distance between servicing has doubled, with transmission and diff fluid changes now extended to every 60,000km – up from every 30,000km – as long as the operating temperature is below 110 degrees Celsius.
What this means is that owners who use their GT-R as a sedate weekend driver have now virtually halved their maintenance costs for these parts, although any enthusiastic driving will still come at a price.
For operating temperatures between 110 and 140 degrees Celsius – basically spirited on-street driving – the service interval has only been extended by 2,000km for transmission and diff fluid changes to every 5,000km.
Unfortunately, any track work with an operating temperature above 140 degrees Celsius still attracts an ‘as soon as possible’ servicing interval for customers.
While Japanese owners may be able to release the grip on their wallets slightly, owners in other regions will still have to adhere to their specific recommended service intervals for now.
Source: GTRBlog
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Well that solves it, the Japanese REALLY DO use whales for scientific purposes….
GT-R gearbox oil!
What else could possibly cost $200 a litre?
It all makes sense…
Never was going to be cheap to service and maintain. Just means if your buying one 2nd hand get the service history or pay some hefty repair bills.
What a joke…….Nissan dont make oil !
They use scummy old Mobil 1 pffttttttttt in the engine so whos are they using in the transmission and diff.
This car looks good even under the bonnet. The only angle where it isn’t so attractive is the bank’s!
Just means ya gotta pay, to play :D
Well it’s hardly a surprise that it costs a lot. It is, at the end of the day, a very high performance machine.
Come on ,guys this is nothing more than a sting! Would you also pay 1k for a titanium stay rod ?
BMW M3 trans and gearbox is a sealed unit,you dont have to change the oil,cant tell me thats not a high performance machine! RIPPED!
Would be interested to see what Porsche recommend for their transmissions in the way of oil and servicing !
not as bad as a Ferrari, i’ve heard stories of 355’s having to have their engines removed at the 20,000km service in order to do “scheduled” oil seal changes
These costs proves nothing in the eyes of wealthy individuals. No, it’s not me.
good things dont come cheap, cheap things dont come good=P
Come on, to justify the cost of oil just because its an expensive car is crazy, not all wealthy people put up with being ripped off by car companies cause they think they can get away with it. How else do you think they got wealthy.
Think about the cost of servicing these things in 10 years when they’re worth the same as a new FPV product………you think the “ricer boi’s” can afford 2000k services then! $200 for oil,bet they find a cheaper alternative and dont get suckered in to Nissan’s pricing for so called factory oils ! Only an idiot would justify it to them self!
I don’t see how anyone could buy a $150K+ performance machine and expect the service to be the same price as a regular vehicle though.
Clearly most of you havent really read this story,its nothing to do with the cost of the servicing but the cost of the oil used in the trans and how they have now doubled the the service mileage for it now ,the rest of the service cost is about normal for even an average performance car.
Read what was written then tell me Nissan arent ripping you………..
” Now that we’ve all had a good laugh (or cry), here’s the breakdown.
Transmission & Diff fluid change:
8 Quarts (Our car took just under 8. They quote 10 quarts, but the ammount used is rarely, if ever, that high. Honest dealers will tell you what your car took. Dishonest ones can easily charge you for the full 10.) of GT-R Automatic Transmission Fluid @ $86.24/ea: $689.92
3 Quarts of GT-R specific differential oil @ $62.02/ea: $186.06
Labor: $500
Oil Change:
1 Oil Filter: $6.95 (finally, something normal)
6-quarts Mobil 1 Synthetic 0W40 @ 9.38/ea: $56.28
Labor: $150
New Engine Air Filters and in Cabin Microfilter: (We could have saved a few bucks and done this one ourselves, but the car was already in the shop.)
2 engine air filters @ $52.86/ea: $105.72
1 Micro Air filter: $53.38
Labor: $115.00
The remote entry was repaired at no cost.
Our service advisor also noted that our right-rear tire had lost a strip of rubber on the inner edge, metal was showing. We have a set of tires already orderd from Stokes Tire Pros in Santa Monica.
TOTALS
Labor: $817.50
Parts: 1,101.31
Tax: 90.86
Total charge: $2009.67
Days out of service (including estimates for the repair): 4
As easy and fun as this is going to be to skewer in the comments, here’s a side challenge (which we’ve also got posted on a white board in our office): What could possibly be in the GT-R specific oil to make it cost $114 per quart?
dunno. Every 5 – 7000km is a nuisance and the cost would add up. It would put me off having one as a daily drive, a bit, unless I was passionate.
i love how they charge US$115 labour to change some air filters and US$150 labour to do an oil change when the apprentice who performed these tasks would have been paid $15 an hour on a good day.
Thats why I hate going to dealerships Richo………much better to go to specialized workshops for your make!
Just service the car yourself. If you own a car you should at least know how to change the oil and filters yourself. You would have to be a total moron if you cant check the fluid levels at least once a week. Read it up in your manufacturers service book on how to do the basics.
Yeah so when you pay so much for your car, bugger going to the dealerships, go to another mechanic workshop and void your warranty at the same time ;)
Yeah but Howie, if you use the launch control thingie in your 08 model more than once you have stuffed your warranty anyway ;-)
sarcasm intended LoL
People still believe that crap Dealerships spin you ……….geez!
You dont void your warranty if the workshop have qualified mechanics………….My d*ckbrain ex was a qualified mechanic ,and did all the services on both his BA GTs and BF GTs at home ,Ford had no problem with that even when it had warranty problems they honored them.Same with the Toyotas {god I put that in writing}and BMWs Ive had .
Another servicing ripoff no doubt!!!
BM is correct!!!!
Amazes me that car enthusiasts here are trying to justify this cost!
I do basic servicing on my cars, my kids and mums. Not hard. Also know the quality of oils etc I use.
stuff that man. i hate servercing cars.
That’s why I am going to buy Hyundai i30 diesel 1.6 l.
4.7 l gives 100 km and oil change is, hello, 50 bucks?
Bavarian Missile “Thats why I hate going to dealerships Richo………much better to go to specialized workshops for your make! ”
That would be, as I call them, Stealerships =)
Thats right BM, they must have qualified mechanics etc work on your vehicle and use the Genuine filters, correct specification oils etc. But what I’m getting at, is if I could afford a $150k+ vehicle I’d want it serviced by the people who deal with them the most.