2009 Nissan Altima Hybrid

I WAS 50 MILES AWAY FROM HOME, WHEN I GO TO START MY CAR IT WILL NOT START AT ALL! MY KEY WOULD LOCK AND UNLOCK MY CAR BUT IT WOULDN'T TURN ON. INITIALLY I THOUGHT IT WAS THE KEY, I HAD MY SISTER DROP OFF MY SPARE TO SEE IF THAT WAS THE CASE, IT WASN'T. COME TO FIND OUT THE ESCL SEEMS TO BE FAULTY AND IS PREVENTING THE CAR FROM STARTING UP. RIGHT NOW I'M WAITING ON THE DEALER TO TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON, BEWARE NISSAN KNOWS ALL ABOUT THIS BUT IS REFUSING TO DO A RECALL! *TR

MY 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA HYBRID REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE THE WIRELESS KEY, LEAVING ME STRANDED. IT WAS SEVEN DEGREES IN CHICAGO AND THE WINDCHILL WAS BELOW ZERO, BUT I WAS ABLE TO RETURN HOME TAKING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. WHO KNOWS WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED IF THIS HAD OCCURRED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. I TOWED THE CAR TO A DEALER, WHO TOLD ME THAT THE "STEERING LOCK ASSEMBLY" HAD FAILED, BUT THEY COULD FIX IT FOR $1170 PLUS TAX. I FOUND THAT THERE USED TO BE A SPECIAL WARRANTY IF THIS PART FAILED, BUT NISSAN HAD PUT A TIME LIMIT ON IT SO THAT CARS WHERE THE DEFECT SHOWED UP WERE BEING DENIED COVERAGE AS EARLY AS OCTOBER OF 2014. NISSAN INSISTS THAT: (1) THIS DEFECT AFFECTS FEW CARS, SO THEY ISSUED A SPECIAL WARRANTY RATHER THAN A RECALL, (2) THE DEFECT DOES NOT HAVE SAFETY IMPLICATIONS, AND (3) CUSTOMERS ARE ADEQUATELY COVERED BY THE WARRANTY. I BELIEVE ALL THREE STATEMENTS ARE KNOWINGLY FALSE. (1) THE DEALER WHERE MY CAR WAS REPAIRED TOLD ME THAT THEY ARE SEEING SIMILAR CASES MORE THAN ONCE A WEEK. MULTIPLY BY THE NUMBER OF SHOPS IN THE COUNTRY AND PRETTY SOON YOU HAVE THOUSANDS OF VEHICLES AFFECTED. THE NHTSA WEBSITE ALONE HAS HUNDREDS OF CASES REPORTED. (2) ASIDE FROM THE DANGER STEMMING FROM BEING STRANDED IN BAD WEATHER OR LOCATION, IF THIS PART FAILS WHILE THE CAR IS RUNNING THE LIKELY RESULT IS A FAILURE OF THE STEERING AND TRANSMISSION LOCKS. A TRANSMISSION THAT DOES NOT LOCK CAN EASILY LEAD TO A CAR MOVING BY ITSELF IN AN INCLINE, CAUSING AN ACCIDENT. (3) ALMOST ALL AFFECTED CARS MANUFACTURED AFTER OCTOBER 2008 ARE BEING DENIED COVERAGE. THE OWNERS WERE TOLD IN WRITING TO WAIT UNTIL THE DEFECT OCCURRED, AND THEN THE PROBLEM WOULD BE TAKEN CARE OF BY NISSAN. THIS DOES NOT LOOK LIKE TAKING CARE OF THE PROBLEM. THE SOLUTION: ASK NISSAN TO ISSUE AN OUTRIGHT RECALL OF THIS DEFECTIVE PART. THE SAFETY OF THOUSANDS IS AT STAKE. *TR

STARTING SYSTEM DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THE KEY FOB. I CAN LOCK AND UNLOCK THE CAR WITH THE FOB BUT CAN NOT START IT. INSERTING THE FOB INTO THE ACCESSORY KEY PORT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. RESEARCH CONCLUDES THIS IS A COMMON MALFUNCTION THAT LEAVES MOTORISTS STRANDED AND THAT THE SOLUTION IS RESOLVED WITH THE REPLACEMENT OF THE STEERING LOCK MECHANISM. AGAIN, THIS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON, KNOWN ISSUE. *TR

ON THE MORNING OF 11-28-2013 I ENTERED MY VEHICLE TO LEAVE WORK AND PROCEEDED TO TURN IT ON, HOWEVER IT WOULD NOT START. THERE WAS AN AMBER COLORED LIGHT ON THE DASH OF A CAR AND KEY AND THE VEHICLE STAYED IN LOCK MODE. AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO START THE VEHICLE, JUMPING THE BATTERY TO MAKE SURE IT WAS CHARGED AND CHANGING THE FOB BATTERY IT STILL WOULDN'T WORK. AFTER SOME RESEARCH AND SPEAKING WITH THE DEALERSHIP ABOUT THE PROBLEM IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE STEERING LOCK ASSEMBLY HAD MALFUNCTIONED AND WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. MY CAR AT THIS POINT IS COMPLETELY USELESS. AFTER RESEARCHING THIS ISSUE I FOUND THAT THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE 2008-2010 NISSAN ALTIMA'S AND THE PART WAS ACTUALLY REMOVED FROM THE VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS IN 2010. THIS IS A SAFETY CONCERN BECAUSE THERE IS NO WAY TO MOVE THE VEHICLE ONCE IT MALFUNCTIONS OTHER THAN TOWING IT. ALL THAT IT TAKES FOR THE MALFUNCTION TO OCCUR IS THE VEHICLE TO BE TURNED OFF. I HAD NO NOTICE THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM. IT SIMPLY WOULD NOT START. WITH THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS PART AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN STRANDED DUE TO THIS FAULTY MECHANISM , THE MANUFACTURER NEEDS TO ANSWER TO SOMETHING. NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS MALFUNCTION CAN BE FOUND AT THIS LINK HTTP://WWW.FAQS.ORG/CAR/NISSAN-ALTIMA-2009/STEERING/#B. *TR

MY HUSBAND WENT OUT TO MOVE MY CAR AND IT STARTED FINE. ABOUT AN HOUR LATER I WENT TO GET INTO MY CAR TO LEAVE FOR WORK AND IT WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING. THE ONLY LIGHT THAT CAME ON THE DASH WAS A SMALL KEY THAT KEPT FLASHING. AFTER HAVING MY CAR TOWED TWICE AND CALLING ALL OF THE NISSAN DEALERSHIPS AROUND HERE, I WAS TOLD NO ONE COULD FIX MY CAR BECAUSE IT WAS A HYBRID. FINALLY I CALLED THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP ONE MORE TIME AND THIS TIME ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY SAID THEY COULD WORK ON IT. I WAS VERY FRUSTRATED AND HAD ALREADY BEEN WITHOUT MY CAR FOR 3 WEEKS. ONCE I HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP THEY WERE ABLE TO FIX IT AND SAID THAT IT WAS A FAMILAR PROBLEM WITH THIS YEAR OF CAR. IT WAS THE STEERING MECHANISM AND ENDED UP COSTING ME OVER $800. THE GUY AT THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THEY HAD ALREADY FIXED 30 VEHICLES LIKE MINE WITH THE SAME PROBLEM SINCE NOVEMBER OF 2012. IF THIS IS SUCH A COMMON PROBLEM THEN WHY HASN'T NISSAN ISSUED A RECALL ON THIS?????? *TR

DROVE TO WORK ON MON 3/11/13. WHEN GOING OUT AT LUNCHTIME TO RUN ERRANDS, CAR WOULD NOT START AND DIDN'T START UNTIL REPAIRED BY NISSAN SERVICE. REPAIR SHOP KNEW INSTANTLY WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS AND WHY. I'M A SINGLE PARENT IN A 1-CAR HOME AND THIS ISSUE CAUSES ME/MY SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN BOTH NEED AND FINANCIAL HARDSHIPS. OVER 132 FOLKS HAD SAME PROBLEM AS FOUND ON ABOUT AUTOMOBILE COMPLAINTS WEBSITE ALONE. THIS DOESN'T FACTOR IN THE NUMBER OF CONSUMERS WHO HAVE ALSO EXPERIENCED THIS PROBLEM AND DIDN'T WRITE ABOUT IT PUBLICLY. THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL ISSUE. NISSAN SERVICE REPLACED "STEERING LOCK CONTROL UNIT". TOTAL COST TO ME WAS $700.41. *TR

CAR WAS PARKED IN PUBLIC TRANSIT PARKING GARAGE. UPON RETURNING, CAR WOULD NOT TURN "ON." THE IGNITION BUTTON REMAINED IN THE LOCK POSITION AND THE YELLOW INTELLIGENT KEY SENSOR LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE DASH. CAR HAD TO BE TOWED AND NISSAN DEALER QUOTED $800 TO REPAIR. DEALER SAID THE TSB IS NTB10-053 - THE STEERING LOCK HAS AN INTERNAL FAILURE AND MUST BE REPLACED. INTELLIGENT KEYS MUST BE REPROGRAMMED UPON STEERING LOCK REPLACEMENT. *TR

RETURNED TO MY VEHICLE AFTER WORK AT 5PM, AND CAR WOULDN'T START. IGNITION BUTTON WAS LIT, WITH 'LOCK' LIGHT ILLUMINATED, AND 'KEY' LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED IN THE HUD. RESEARCHED IN OWNERS MANUAL, WHICH REFERRED TO THE STEERING LOCK UNIT, AND TOLD ME TO CONTACT DEALER. INTERIOR LIGHTS WORKED, BUT LITTLE ELSE. HAD AAA TOW ME THE NEXT DAY TO LOCAL DEALER; SERVICE ADVISOR STATED THE STEERING LOCK CONTROL UNIT HAD FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED (PART# 487009N00B). THIS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON ISSUE WITH NISSAN ALTIMAS, CIRCA 2007-2009, BASED ON CONSUMER COMPLAINTS, BUT NISSAN WILL NOT WARRANTY THE PART NOR ISSUE RECALL. TOTAL COST WAS $800 . I WILL BE CONTACTING NISSAN CONSUMER HELP TO SEE ABOUT RECOURSE. *TR

CAR OPERATED NORMALLY IN THE MORNING, ABLE TO START AND DROVE PERFECTLY FINE TO THE OFFICE. WHEN I WENT TO START MY CAR TO GO GET LUNCH, THE CAR WOULD NOT START AND THE INTELLIGENT KEY LIGHT FLASHED. I CALLED THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THE FOB MUST HAVE SOMEHOW UN-SYNCED. AAA TOWED TO DEALERSHIP, WAS THEN TOLD THAT MY STEERING CONTROL LOCK HAD FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. DUE TO HIGH DEMAND FROM THE PART (INDICATING A SIGNIFICANT CURRENT FAILURE RATE) THE PART WOULD NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR ALMOST A WEEK. I THEN WENT HOME AND GOOGLED THE ISSUE, FOUND HTTP://WWW.ARFC.ORG/COMPLAINTS/2009/NISSAN/ALTIMA/?Q=&PAGE=24 WHERE HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR PART FAILING OVER THE PAST YEAR WERE BEING REPORTED. WHAT IF I WASN'T AT THE OFFICE? I COULD HAVE BEEN STRANDED ANYWHERE, IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER. THIS POSES A SERIOUS HEALTH RISK. BEYOND THAT, THE TOTAL COST OF REPAIR WAS ALMOST $800. *TR