A Nissan driver posted a PSA to drivers who own or are looking to buy new vehicles, warning them that mechanics may not be able to work on their cars anymore.
Randi (@really_randii) has reached over 224,000 views and 14,000 likes on her viral TikTok by Thursday. She tagged Nissan in the caption of her video, saying, “@Nissan USA yall wrong for doing this!”
At the beginning of her video, Randi says, “If you have a newer vehicle, specifically a Nissan, a Chrysler, a Subaru … you’re gonna wanna stay for this.”
She says she has been having problems with the breaks in her Nissan, but other than that, everything seemed fine.
“I’m at 28,000 miles,” Randi says, “so that’s a whole other issue.” She quickly adds, “And it is not because of me, OK? I kind of drive good.”
Randi says she took her car to a repair shop, and the mechanics told her, “We don’t know how your brakes are this bad. … Your front brake should go out before your back brakes ever do.”
She says that after giving her a quote on the cost of her repairs, three men apologized and told her Nissan, Chrysler, Subaru, and Mercedes “now have built their vehicles to be RTD—Return to dealer.”
“They have put proprietary software on the vehicles,” she continued. “If the repair shops do not pay them for this software, they cannot do anything on your car other than an oil change, from what I understand.”
Confused, Randi says, “I did not realize that that was even a thing.”
“I’m sitting here like, ‘Well, just take the damn tire off, get to the brake pad, change the rotor, flip it, reverse it, whatever you got to do,'” she adds.
Next, she says the mechanics told her that her car has “electronic brakes.”
“I’m not happy at all,” Randi says. In reference to Nissan, she adds, “They are trying to get their money back because they are tired of all of these other repair shops getting their money.”
Randi says that based on the quotes she received, she would have to pay around $150 to $270 extra if she took her car to a Nissan dealership rather than the auto-repair shop she went to.
“I’m telling you all this because if you didn’t know like I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have bought this car,” she adds.
“There’s a difference in knowing, like, ‘Hey, this car, all the maintenance has to be done at the dealership,'” she continues. “I can make the decision on whether or not I wanna do that, versus, you can take your car anywhere; your brother can do your brakes; your dad can do your brakes. … You know what I’m saying?”
Randi says she called Nissan after visiting her preferred auto-repair shop, and the company told her the shop could “buy this software from us, but it’s not our fault they don’t have the money for it.”
“So if these mechanic shops want to start working on vehicles that are newer, with all the bells and whistles, they will have to buy proprietary software,” she adds.
Before ending her video, Randi says, “So be aware. I’m telling y’all, Chrysler started it. Now Subaru, Nissan.”
“They’re playing games, and they’re playing with your money,” she concludes.
@really_randii @Nissan USA yall wrong for doing this! And you know it! Its greedy & not everybody can afford nor want to afford dealership prices! LAME! #nissan #greedy #technology #newcar #newcars #brakes ♬ original sound – Really_Randii
On its website, Nissan states that “vehicles include physical parts and/or physical components of such parts on which software and/or firmware (‘Software’) is embedded or installed.”
It continues, “Such Software, and all updates or modifications thereto, including updates delivered by Nissan to Nissan vehicles over the air (collectively ‘Updates’), are licensed, and not sold. A portion of the Software may contain or consist of open source software, which may be used under the terms and conditions of the specific license under which the open source software is distributed.”
“So now you basically need a subscription to repair your car? Enough is enough,” one viewer said in the comments section of Randi’s video.
Another viewer told Randi, “I smell a right to repair class action.” Randi responded, “Meeee and you both.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Randi and Nissan via email.
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