So we had this great idea to just to do a "Vegas" weekend with the kids, no gambling but just walking around the strip, Circus Circus for the kids and a lot of eating.  If the kids aren't tired at 9pm then go walk around some more.  Well we left our house and we were making awesome time to be in Vegas by 7:05pm and we'd get to see the Hoover Dam, "The Hubby's" seen it but the rest of us haven't, and just have fun on the six hour drive.  So we're driving up on US-93 and like I said making awesome time and as we were passing a truck we thought we ran over something but didn't see anything and as we're climbing a mountain that the volt and brake light turn on.  We didn't expect that to happen on our 2005 Nissan Murano because we have never anything other than a dead battery in it before this point.  Anyway, so instead of just stopping we're trying to call the dealer since we weren't sure what it was and they said it could be the alternator and that we may or may not have a lot of time left depending on the battery.

So once we heard that we just kept driving because we were out in BFE and it just wasn't a good thing.  We finally came across this Shell station in this little dink town called Wikieup, AZ, I was a complete mess.  Here we are 112 miles from home and 158 miles from Vegas and the next biggest city is called Kingman, AZ and it's 55.3 miles away.  First thing we did was call the dealership back since the car came with 100,000 mile Nissan Roadside Assistance and while that was going on I was also calling American Express to get help with a car or something.  American Express Platinum Concierge is so NOT worth the money.  They couldn't help us and Nissan Roadside Assistance is a complete joke as well.  I think we got the car to Wikieup between 4 and 5pm and made calls and Nissan Roadside took forever, I think it took four phone calls and a total of an hour and a half for them to get someone on the road to get us.  I spent 45 minutes on my cell phone with Amex with nothing solved.

So anyway we're stuck in the gas station parking lot and luckily it's not ungodly hot so we rolled the windows down and waited and waited and waited.  While waiting I was freaking out with chest pains because of stress, the kids were bored, can't blame them for that, and we can't walk anywhere because there's absolutely nothing to walk to.  So to pass the time we rotated who sat where and who was allowed out of the car.  They really did well and I was very proud of them.  The tow truck finally got there around 7pm and luckily it was an extended cab F-650 I think, so I was able to get the kids' carseats in safely.  Once in the tow truck, things went down hill fairly quickly.  We had another two hours or so in the tow truck to get the Murano back to Peoria Nissan.  So we got through it and "The Hubby's" friend was able to give us a ride home.  I was happy to see the dealership still opened because I love watching people stare as your Nissan is being taken off a tow truck, nothing gives you more confidence when buying a car then seeing one brought in by flatbed.

So after a temper tantrum from "N" the whole way home because I couldn't fit in the car at all we were home by 10pm and I put the kids in bed at waited for "The Hubby" and friend to bring home dinner.  His friend didn't leave until after midnight and I was falling asleep because of everything going on that day but didn't want to be rude since he did give us a ride home.  So after a short nights sleep we all packed into the Magnum and headed down to the dealer to figure out what's wrong with it.  My dad was right and it was just the alternator belt and not the alternator.

So basically where I'm going with this is if you leave town, I don't care how new your car is, rent one because when you have "Roadside Assistance" you are now going to be screwed because you are stuck paying for all the towing cost except for $100.  Did I tell you how much the tow was and how much the belt was?  The tow was $800 minus the $100 Nissan paid, the belt was $179.  So because of this whole situation and plus how we were treated at the dealership, we will never buy a Nissan again nor recommend one to anyone.  I'm sure there are some people who love them to death, I'm very happy that you have an awesome experience but you are stuck in the middle of nowhere then you better start praying because I can guarantee you that you will be screwed in towing.  That's the part that really gets us is the tow was way more than the cost to fix the stupid thing.  I know that what I say doesn't matter to Nissan but now we will never buy one again and it's because of the way we were treated all the way around.  Really think twice about buying one.  BTW it's not just Nissan who has a deal with Roadside Assistance the company, the Assistance company holds the deal with all manufacturers so beware.  I hope that you never break down too far from your "Authorized Dealer" because then my friend, you're in big, big trouble.