For 18 months since purchasing my X-Trail new in January 2009 I have been plagued by DPF light on problems. I do not drive like a granny, nor do I normally drive less than 15 miles at any one go. The car had done about 25,000 miles at last visit to dealership. Everytime I went to the dealer they regenerated the DPF, changed the oil and filters, all free of charge. They admitted that both they and Nissan were aware of a problem with a small number of vehicles which displayed the same symptons as mine and which their September 2009 engine remapping did not fix.
My patience finally failed when, after visiting the dealership once again they declared that the problem was down to my method of driving. I decided that enough was enough and contacted Nissan at Rickmansworth, fix it or take it back!
After being very insistent I ended up having discussions with a Mr Stephen Stunt, Team Leader, Nissan Customer Services (TEL: 01923 899 999). He took over the management of the case and listened to what I said. (Normal service team will fob you off!)
I told him of the number of times the DPF lamp came on and nothing I did would remove it
I told him of the strange panting noise the engine made when under load at about 1700 rpm
I told him of burst pressure pipes associated with the intercooler
I told him of the comment made by a different Nissan dealership who said thet in their experience when pressure pipes burst the DPF was damaged beyond repair.
Nissan liaised with my original dealership and replaced the complete DPF filter unit, exhaust temperature and DPF sensors and pressure pipes, all under warranty, free of charge. They also threw in a free service including brake pads.
Stephen Stunt advised me that as long as I owned the vehicle I would never have to foot the bill for any problems associated with my DPF problems.
Please do not be fobbed-off by dealerships or inexperienced Nissan staff - insist on speaking to a decision maker. There very clearly is a problem with the engineering and Nissan must be forced to resolve it for all owners without owners being faced by costs.
Anyone who wishes to receive copies of all my correspondence in this matter is more than welcome to it if it helps them get justice.