[/QUOTE]Wow, we're in very similar situations, although mine doesn't sound as bad. I have a 1997 Cherokee Sport 4x4 which I was very unlucky with, and now with 2000 miles on my X I've run into a bit of bad luck with it. Last Thursday my power outlets stopped working and I've checked all fuses and the wiring looks fine to my untrained eye, and then yesterday the stereo stopped working. I haven't taken it in yet but hopefully it will be something obvious. I hate electrical problems. I have had a sporadic battery drain on my Cherokee the whole time I've had it, it happens so rarely that no one has been able to diagnose it.[/QB][/QUOTE]

Yeah, they invited me to come look at the defective part yesterday. It's a couple cam chain guides that probably cost 75 cents to produce. They are plastic and had significant bubbling and pock marking, making for a rough surface. It was more than a little disconcerting to see the entire front end of my engine strewn out on the floor and the tech's workbench. The thing looks complicated as hell compared to the accessible inline 6 in the Cherokee. The VQ40DE is a zero clearance engine, so if they make any mistakes reassembling it, they'll have to give me a new motor. I am just hoping that there aren't any leaks. You never like to break a seal on an engine—especially a new one.
As difficult as it is to find humor in my situation, you have to admit that it's fricking pathetic that this job is costing Nissan over $2,000 for defective parts that couldn't cost much more than a buck to produce. I just wish it wasn't my engine!!