2007 Nissan Altima

THE DASHBOARD OF MY NISSAN ALTIMA 2007 IS MELTING (LITERALLY). I NOTICED A SMALL POND OF GOO LIKE MATERIAL ON MY DASHBOARD. IN LESS THAN A WEEK IT SPREAD OUT LIKE CANCER AND CONTINUES TO SPREAD. THIS POND OF GOO REFLECTS THE SUNLIGHT ON THE WINDSHIELD, CREATING A GLARE THAT BLOCKS MY VIEW AND ENDANGERS MY ABILITY TO DRIVE. NOT TO MENTION THE LOSS OF MY INVESTMENT NOT CAUSED BY IMPROPER USE OF THE VEHICLE (SEE PICTURE) I'VE UNSUCCESSFULLY TRIED TO GET NISSAN TO ASSUME THE REPAIR OF THEIR DEFECTIVE DASHBOARD. I'M NOT CLAIMING NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR OR MECHANICAL ITEMS BUT RATHER A REAL LIFE THREATENING ISSUE. I'VE TALKED TO ADRIAN (457295), JOHN (457263), JESSICA (57758). I WENT A NISSAN DEALERSHIP WHERE THEY DIAGNOSED THAT IT'LL CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE MELTING AND ONLY REPLACING COULD FIX THE ISSUE. TODAY NICK (7583) CALLED ME TO SYMPATHIZE WITH ME BUT HOW UNFORTUNATELY NISSAN CANNOT REPLACE MY MELTING DASHBOARD AND THAT THE ISSUE CANNOT BE ESCALATED ANY FURTHER. IT IS SHAMEFUL TO SEE HOW NHTSA HAS MORE THAN 200 REPORTS OF MELTING DASHBOARD, NISSAN CAN SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN A SUPER BOWL AD #WITH DAD APPEALING TO CUSTOMER LOYALTY BUT NISSAN CANNOT ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY OF A DEFECTIVE MATERIAL THAT COULDN'T PERFORM IN FLORIDA. ..UPDATED 03-04-15*BF UPDATED 6/17/2015*JS UPDATED 12/09/15.*JB

I HAVE A CRACK SEPARATING IN A PERFECT SEEM AROUND THE NISSAN SYMBOL ON THE STEERING WHEEL, WHERE AN AIRBAG WOULD DEPLOY- FROM THE FAR LEFT, ALL THE WAY TO THE FAR RIGHT. THERE HAS NOT BEEN ANY SPECIFIC INCIDENT THAT HAS CAUSED THIS TO OCCUR, THIS ISSUE WAS NOTICED BY MYSELF ON 11/17/14. I BROUGHT MY CAR TO THE TEMPE AUTONATION NISSAN 11/18/14 AT 3 PM TO MEET WITH THE SERVICE TEAM MEMBER, [XXX]. I WAS EXPLAINING THE CRACK AND SEPARATING OF THE MATERIALS TO [XXX] PRIOR TO HIM LOOKING AT MY CAR.AFTER SHOWING HIM THE WHEEL, I HAD STATED "I JUST DON'T FEEL LIKE THIS SITUATION LOOKS VERY SAFE AND IT'S DEFINITELY NOT COMFORTABLE", AND [XXX] REPLIED "YEAH", AGREEING WITH MY STATEMENT. [XXX] PROCEEDED TO TAKE DOWN MY VIN AND LOOK IT UP IN HIS COMPUTER.HE SAID MY CAR WAS NOT A PART OF ANY RECALLS AND THAT IF I WANTED TO REPLACE THE PART, I WOULD NEED TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE STEERING WHEEL SYSTEM AND IT WOULD BE OVER ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. I ASKED HIM IF HE HAD SEEN THIS HAPPEN BEFORE, AND HE SAID "YES, I HAVE SEEN THIS ON ANOTHER ALTIMA". I EXPLAINED TO HIM HOW I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS SAFE AND HE SAID "WELL IT WILL JUST KEEP TEARING AND IT'S NOT LIKE THE AIRBAG IS GOING TO JUST EJECT AT YOU. IT NEEDS IMPACT FOR THAT TO HAPPEN." I THEN ASKED HIM IF THE RIP CONTINUES, IF THE AIRBAG WOULD BE EXPOSED AND HE SAID IT PROBABLY WOULD. AFTER OBVIOUSLY NOTING I WAS NOT HAPPY WITH THE ACCOUNTABILITY NOT BEING TAKEN BY NISSAN, A CO-WORKER OF [XXX] ASKED IF HE COULD ALSO LOOK AT MY CAR. HE TOOK A PEEK AND SAID THAT THERE WAS NOT ANYTHING UNSAFE. IT WAS VERY DISCOMFORTING WITH THE FACT THE SERVICE TEAM MEMBER ORIGINALLY AGREED THAT IT WAS NOT SAFE, AND THEN AFTER NOTICING MY VEHICLE WAS NOT COVERED BY A RECENT AIRBAG RECALL,AND TAKING NOTICE TO THE FACT I REFUSE TO PAY FOR SUCH A DEFECT, HE THEN CLAIMED THERE WAS NOTHING UNSAFE ABOUT THE SITUATION. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS,SEEMS VERY UNSAFE. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

OBSERVED PIPE SUSPENDED FROM BESIDE RIGHT REAR WHEEL OF THE 2007 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5. VEHICLE WAS PARKED. LOOKED UNDER VEHICLE AND DETERMINED IT WAS A PIPE LINKED TO THE REAR WHEEL AND SUSPENSION ASSEMBLIES. THE END OF THE PIPE WAS NEARLY DRAGGING ON THE GROUND. DID INTERNET RESEARCH CONCLUDING THAT THE BROKEN PIPE WAS THE REAR SWAY BAR OR TORSION BAR. PRIOR TO OBSERVING THE VISIBLE HANGING TORSION BAR END, WE FREQUENTLY EXPERIENCED THE REAR END OF THE VEHICLE WAS UNSTABLE WHEN CORNERING AT HIGHWAY SPEED SUCH AS WHEN ENTERING OR EXITING A HIGHWAY RAMP. GIVEN THIS FREQUENT EXPERIENCE, THE ACTUAL FAILURE IN TORSION BAR FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH MAY HAVE OCCURRED MONTHS EARLIER. AFTER DETERMINING THERE WAS NO RECALL OR SERVICE BULLETIN, AND ALSO NOTING THAT NHTSA RECORDS IN THIS DATABASE SHOW OVER 50 EVENT DESCRIPTIONS NEARLY IDENTICAL TO OURS, I WENT TO THE NISSAN DEALER TO ASK IF THEY OFFERED PAYMENT OR CREDITS FOR THIS REPEATABLE DEFECT. THE DEALER WAS NOT OFFERING ANY CREDITS. THEN, TOOK MY VEHICLE TO MY MASTER MECHANIC. HE PERFORMED THE SERVICE REPLACEMENT OF THE BROKEN SWAY BAR AND END LINK ASSEMBLIES. WE RETAINED THE BROKEN SWAY BAR IN HOPES THAT NHTSA BEGINS TO RESEARCH THIS PROBLEM. ACCORDING TO THE MECHANIC, THIS "BAR" IS REALLY A 5/8" DIAMETER PIPE THAT SEARED NEAR ONE OF THE BUSHING SUPPORTS. THERE IS SURFACE RUST PRESENT WITHIN THE PIPE INDICATING THAT THE PIPE HAD FRACTURED SOME TIME EARLIER WITH WATER ENTERING THE FRACTURE CAUSING THE RUST. IT IS NOT A SOLID STEEL "BAR" AS TYPICALLY FOUND IN OTHER VEHICLES THROUGHOUT THE INDUSTRY. COST OF REPAIR WAS APPROXIMATELY $200 FOR PARTS PLUS 1 HOUR SHOP LABOR. WE RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT NHTSA INVESTIGATE THIS FAILURE DUE TO ITS APPARENT COMMON FAILURE MODE AND FOR THE POTENTIAL RISK OF INJURY SHOULD THE REAR END OF THE VEHICLE LOSE TRACTION ON CURVES OR ROUGH PAVEMENT AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. *TR

THE REAR SWAY BAR ON MY 2007 NISSAN ALTIMA IS BROKEN. I DRIVE LESS THAN 6,000 MILES PER YEAR, AND RARELY IN BAD WEATHER CONDITIONS. I WAS TOLD THIS IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY AND THERE ARE NO RECALLS, BUT I HAVE SEEN SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ONLINE ABOUT THE 2007 NISSAN ALTIMA SWAY BAR. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING IT CAN HAPPEN WHEN NOT DRIVING THAT MANY MILES (I ONLY KNEW TO HAVE IT CHECKED BECAUSE I PARKED ON A HILL AND COULD SEE SOMETHING HANGING FROM MY CAR. OTHERWISE, WITH THE LIMITED NUMBER OF MILES I DRIVE, I WOULD NOT HAVE HAD MY CAR CHECKED, AND WOULD HAVE BEEN DRIVING A HAZARDOUS VEHICLE THIS WHOLE TIME). *JS