Nissan Capped-Price Manufacturer Service Review

Global powerhouse Nissan doesn’t have quite the penetration in the Australian market it enjoys elsewhere in the world.

The durable brand is the second-largest auto manufacturer in its home country of Japan, and is part of the world’s fourth-largest auto group: the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.

Nissan’s all-electric Leaf is the world’s best-selling highway-capable electric vehicle (EV), and Nissan is the world’s largest EV manufacturer.

However, Nissan’s domestic market share has flagged in recent years – hitting 4.4 per cent in 2017 and recovering slightly this year.

The brand arrived in Australia in the 1950s as Datsun (the marque’s export badge) and made solid inroads with a line of small cars – an alternative to less economical Fords and Holdens of the era.

The Datsun brand was replaced by “Nissan” in 1984.

The brand has no mini or sedan in the current lineup to better focus on sports models and SUVs such as the popular X-TRAIL (more than 200,000 have been sold here since its 2001 debut).

Service Certainty

Like most major auto brands, Nissan offers a capped-price service offer on new vehicles, where initial servicing is done for a fixed figure. 

Nissan’s scheme is called myNissan Service Certainty and it includes the promise of factory-trained techs doing the work and the supply of Nissan Genuine Parts.

Each of Nissan’s current models is covered under a slightly different price and schedule, so you’ll pay less to keep a Qashqai in showroom nick than you might for a 4WD Patrol.

For most models, you make a trip to the workshop every 10,000km or 12 months (whichever comes first); that means lighter drivers save time and money with less frequent servicing.

A few models need a bit more TLC though: the Pathfinder Hybrid and energetic 370Z are on six-month intervals, while the Navara Diesel can go 20,000km before needing a checkup.

Pricing-wise, Nissan’s servicing scheme is a bit steeper than the competition, perhaps reflecting the brand’s stockier range.

You pay an average of $373 per service for their Qashqai (a medium SUV), and a similar price for their smaller Juke.

Put those figures up against Mazda’s CX-3, which averages $300 per capped service.

Nissan’s entry into capped-price servicing has been a bumpy one.

In 2013, its initial capped offering was revealed to be significantly more expensive than rival schemes.

Back then, a capped-price service of their Micra mini over the life of the car’s warranty was found to be more expensive than servicing a Toyota LandCruiser.

Nissan revamped their service pricing to challenge most other major manufacturers on price, but their current scheme still lags on key points.

They offer a three year / 100,000km warranty against some rival brands’ five year / unlimited kilometre deal, and exclude brake fluid replacement from their cap price (most other makes chuck it in the deal).

And on productreview.com.au, Nissan dealers score a troubling 1.8 out of 5, with most of the complaints aimed at the service offering.

But on the plus side, Nissan does provide three years of roadside assist free to all new owners, running in tandem with the brand’s three-year warranty.

All data gathered in January 2019.