IMHO this problem would not have arisen if your dealer had advised Nissan properly. That is, that the service manager/team had put their advice together with the customer in mind and not the manufacturer. I've had reasons now to deal with three Nissan dealers - Canberra, Cairns and Nowra for warranty claims.
Case 1: Dead Starter Motor- this was caused by a constant drip of diesel from one of the connections on my aftermarket Water Watch alarm system. Diesel got into the motor and in the end it shit itself. Dealer took the view that the motor should withstand a bit of diesel soaking in....and in the end Nissan said to proceed under warranty.
Case 2: The link between the front stabilizer and the lower control arm disappeared somewhere up on the Old Telegraph Track on Cape York. I didn't notice until back in civilisation. Now I have a lot of aftermarket stuff in my suspension set up but this didn't deter the dealer who took the position that this particular part should not have failed.....modifications or no modifications. Nissan agreed.
Case 3: While traversing the Bloomfield Track and about to summit the Donovan Range all forward progress ceased. I was eventually recovered (I used NRMA Premium Care) by an off road recovery crew from RACQ in Mossman. Once all the bash plates were off it was discovered that the filler tube/dip stick tube on the auto transmission had cracked down near the box allowing about 3 ltrs of fluid to escape....and thus no go anywhere. This incident, like Case 2, obviously happened off road....and after shite loads of kms of corrugations. Anyway, Westco Motors in Cairns made the decision to repair.....and got on and done it - telling Nissan what they had done after the fact.
I've nothing to bitch about at all in so far as service goes....and like I say....I think it has a lot to do with how you approach the dealer, if the dealer knows their shit and understand what "off road" means, and if the dealer provides the advice to Nissan with a bent toward the favour of their customer.
