We trust automakers to make quality vehicles that are not only reliable, but most importantly safe to drive for years to come. That isn’t always the case though. One Nissan Frontier owner experienced this first hand after discovering his truck was missing frame welds.
As reported by The Drive, Mathew Bossinger recently retired from the Army and as a gift to himself, purchased a 2023 Nissan Frontier 4×4 crew cab from Woodhouse Place Nissan in Omaha, Nebraska. The certified pre-owned truck had 14,000 miles on it and he says he traded in two of his family’s cars for it.
For some strange reason, the Frontier being stocked at Woodhouse Place Nissan meant that the truck’s CPO warranty was forfeited. As The Drive reported, Bossinger made his discovery just over a month later after hearing strange sounds coming from under the truck.
The first thing I noticed was a squeak or rattle in the right front,” Bossinger told me. “I thought it was just a bushing or something like that so I didn’t make an appointment right away. About two weeks after the right front noise, the steering wheel started making a popping sound. Both sounds continuously got worse, so I scheduled an appointment thinking it was probably the U-joint connection in the steering column and something smaller in the right front.
Bossinger took the Frontier to another nearby Nissan dealer who confirmed that the Frontier had a defective frame, a huge and dangerous miss by Woodhouse, though to be fair probably not something you’d think to check. The frame was missing “multiple crucial welds in its ladder chassis, placing excess strain on other parts of the frame.” Even worse, in some places, the frame was bending while others had stress fractures. Suffice to say, Bossinger needed to have his frame replaced.
The Drive says Nissan corporate promised him a new frame, but both Nissan and the dealer kept giving him the runaround: Nissan would give him a date of service only for the dealer to say they couldn’t take him on the date provided. The dealer also kept ignoring him, with Bossinger telling The Drive that everything from “calling multiple times, leaving voicemails, and posting reviews to Facebook and Google” didn’t get their attention. The Drive says a source told them that the dealer knew what was going on which could explain why they ignored him.
Ultimately, it took the intervention of The Drive to get the ball rolling. The dealer claimed to The Drive that they hadn’t been aware of what was going on while Nissan finally confirmed that they had had a frame delivered to the dealer and were looking into the situation. Bossinger was finally able to get a service appointment for his truck on September 9th. He isn’t only concerned about his truck either, saying he doesn’t think his Frontier is the only one with this defect. “My childhood best friend who sets up welding robots for companies said there is no way the robot only missed my frame,” he told The Drive.