‘Don’t Open Your Hood To Strangers’: Nissan Dealer Tries to Scare Owners

Don’t let some silly sticker tell you where to get your car serviced.

byLewin Day|
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Reddit/S3ERFRY333
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Automakers would dearly love it if you only let their chosen flock of certified mechanics touch your car. One Nissan dealership tried a little too hard to enforce this with an embarrassing fake warning sticker, much to the amusement of the mechanic working on the vehicle.

As reported by Tire Meets Road, the sticker was found by Redditor S3ERFRY333, and posted to /r/JustRolledIntoTheShop. The bright yellow warning highlights the "EXTREME CARE NEEDED" when servicing the vehicle while advising the owner not to "Open Your Hood To Strangers." It states that "Not just any technician or repair facility can perform service to your Nissan," as it was built using the "latest and most sophisticated engineering and technology."

If that wording sounds a little unusual for a factory warning sticker, that's because it wasn't put there by the automaker. Instead, it was placed on this garden-variety Nissan Rogue by a dealership known as Jonker Nissan in British Columbia. The purpose of the sticker is to scare the owner into only trusting Jonker Nissan with the care and maintenance of their vehicle.

However, it's patently dishonest. The sticker says that "repair and maintenance of your Nissan require sophisticated Specialty Tools and Nissan Factory Certified Technicians," but that simply isn't true. There's nothing particularly special about a Nissan Rogue that requires "extreme care." Just about any dealership or workshop would be more than capable of working on the vehicle. The average DIYer wouldn't struggle with routine maintenance duties, either.

Automakers have long pushed for owners to get their vehicles serviced and maintained at branded dealerships. However, there's nothing to stop you from having your regular services or repairs done by an independent mechanic. Importantly, as per the FTC, an automaker can't deny your warranty claims because you had your car repaired by an independent workshop.

Such scare-warning stickers aren't worth the material they're printed on. As for whether the strategy worked for Jonker Nissan, the proof is in the pudding: the dealership closed down several years ago, according to the Aldergrove Star. If you find such a sticker on your own car, do yourself a favor and throw it in the bin. Then, go and get your car serviced wherever you damn well please.

Got a tip? Let the author know: lewin@thedrive.com

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