A few months ago I noticed the weatherstripping around the roof rack (where it connects to the roof) sticking out on my wife’s 2015 Pathfinder. It looked like it had simply stretched out and was flopping in the wind.
So, since I don’t ever drive it, I promptly forgot about it for a couple of months.
I recently was reminded (politely) of it by my wife, so I decided I should do something. Looked around online and for the life of me couldn’t figure out the part number. Finally I gave up and went to the parts desk at a local dealer, and the guy told me you had to buy the entire roof rack mounting assembly. And not just for one side, but for both. And it was $320.
So I searched online and thought I found it for just one side, but after ordering I got an email back that in fact they are only sold as a pair.
Fine. So I went back to the same dealer and picked up the part. Got around to it this weekend. Opened the box, took out the two long plastic roof rack parts, 5 rolls of double sided tape, and...nothing else. No weatherstripping. I was miffed.
Surprisingly I didn’t lose my temper, but returned the part back to the dealer. I asked the parts guy what part I do need, and he said that was the correct part, they just don’t include that weatherstripping any longer. He also said it was “redesigned”, so it was in fact the correct part, and that I needed to replace it. He said that with a lot less confidence, so I told him I was good for now.
For now I just snipped off the stretched out part. I looked under the plastic and can’t find any evidence of water pooling there, but I’ll keep checking on it regularly. My wife parks in a garage at home and work, so it doesn’t sit outside for extended periods, so I’m not worried too much.
Mostly annoyed with the parts guy and Nissan.
(Side note - the dealer parts department had a sign that stated a 20% restocking fee for parts. They didn’t charge me that, but I definitely would have lost it if they tried.)