2009 Nissan Altima

JUST FINISHED A 13 HOUR SHIFT AT WORK WHEN I WENT OUT TO MY CAR TO HEAD HOME. THE KEY FOB OPENED THE DOORS BUT WOULD NOT ALLOW THE IGNITION TO START. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY TOLD ME IT WAS A STEERING WHEEL LOCK FAILURE, WHICH NISSAN IS WELL AWARE OF. I SPOKE WITH TWO DEALERSHIPS WHICH TOLD ME THIS IS INDEED A CHRONIC ISSUE. I SUBMITTED A CLAIM TO NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS WHICH THEY DENIED SINCE MY WARRANTY HAD EXPIRED 8 WEEKS PRIOR. WHEN I RETURNED TO THE DEALERSHIP THEY AGAIN ADVISED ME TO COMPLAIN TO CONSUMER AFFAIRS AS THEY HAD 5 CARS COME IN FOR THE SAME PROBLEM IN THE 4 DAYS THAT MY CAR WAS THERE. I AGAIN CALLED CONSUMER AFFAIRS WHO TOLD ME AGAIN THAT MY CLAIM WAS DENIED ON THE GROUNDS THAT THE WARRANTY WAS EXPIRED, THEY WOULD NOT BUDGE ON THIS. I HAD TO ARGUE WITH THE REPRESENTATIVE FOR 15 MINUTES BEFORE HE WOULD HAVE HIS SUPERVISOR CALL ME BACK, STILL WAITING FOR THAT CALL. NISSAN IS VERY AWARE THAT THIS PART IS DEFECTIVE AND EXPECT THE CONSUMER TO EAT THE COSTS WHEN THE PART INEVITABLY FAILS. THEY SAY THAT THIS IS NOT A SAFETY CONCERN, BUT DO NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING STRANDED. NISSAN DOES NOT STAND BY ITS PRODUCT OR ITS CONSUMERS. *TR

ELECTRONIC STEERING COLUMN LOCK (ESCL) FAILED WHILE CAR WAS PARKED. THIS COULD CERTAINLY BE A SAFETY ISSUE IF IT OCCURRED LATE AT NIGHT OR IN A DANGEROUS AREA. THE DEALER SAID THERE WAS A SHORT IN THIS. COULD THIS HAVE CAUSED A FIRE? COULD THEY HAVE FIXED THE SHORT WITHOUT CHARGING ME $993.65 BECAUSE IT WAS 3 MONTHS PAST THE 6 YEAR EXTENDED WARRANTY? CAR HAS ONLY 26466 MILES ON IT. THE STARTING MECHANISM WHICH SENSES THE BRAKE BEING DEPRESSED HAD FAILED PREVIOUSLY, AND FIXED UNDER WARRANTY, WHEN I WAS FAR FROM HOME AT A LAKESIDE. TWO ELECTRICAL STARTING FAILURES ON THE SAME VEHICLE. FROM THEIR WEB SITE: YOUR NISSAN VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED WITH AN ELECTRONIC STEERING COLUMN LOCK (ESCL) UNIT THAT LOCKS THE STEERING WHEEL WHEN THE VEHICLE IS PARKED AND THE IGNITION IS TURNED OFF TO HELP PREVENT THEFT. ON SOME VEHICLES, DUE TO A MANUFACTURING IRREGULARITY THAT HAS SINCE BEEN CORRECTED, THE ESCL MAY MALFUNCTION AFTER THE VEHICLE IS LOCKED AND COULD PREVENT THE ENGINE FROM STARTING. THIS CONDITION, SHOULD IT OCCUR, WILL ONLY OCCUR WHEN ATTEMPTING TO START THE VEHICLE, AND NOT WHILE DRIVING. ALTHOUGH NISSAN BELIEVES THE MAJORITY OF OWNERS WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE THIS UNIQUE CONDITION, TO ASSURE YOUR CONTINUED SATISFACTION AND CONFIDENCE IN YOUR VEHICLE, NISSAN HAS DECIDED TO EXTEND THE NISSAN NEW VEHICLE LIMITED WARRANTY, AS IT APPLIES TO THE ESCL UNIT, FROM 3 YEARS / 36,000 MILES TO 6 YEARS / UNLIMITED MILES, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST. ACCESS TO COMPLETE INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS INCLUDING A REIMBURSEMENT CLAIM FORM WILL BE AVAILABLE AT WWW.NISSANASSIST.COM ON APRIL 1, 2013. *TR

ON FEBRUARY 21, 2015, WHILE TRAVELING 300+ MILES OUT OF TOWN MY 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA FAILED DUE TO THE BROADLY KNOWN ISSUE OF "STEERING COLUMN LOCKOUT," IN WHICH THE CAR WILL NOT START AND REQUIRES A TOW TO THE DEALER FOR EXPENSIVE REPAIRS. I AM REQUESTING THE NHTSA LAUNCH OR EXPAND AN INVESTIGATION OF THIS KNOWN ISSUE AND PROVIDE A PUBLIC WARNING TO DRIVERS OF NISSAN VEHICLES. THE CAR HAD REGULAR SERVICE ON FEBRUARY 10, 2015, AT MOSSY NISSAN OCEANSIDE, CA AND I WAS TOLD "SAFE TO DRIVE" FOR MY TRIP OUT OF STATE. IT WASN'T, THE DEALER DOESN'T CHECK FOR THIS WELL KNOWN ISSUE DURING SERVICE. NISSAN REFUSES TO ISSUE A FULL RECALL, INSTEAD EXTENDING THE WARRANTY TO 1,000,000 MILES OR 5 YEARS. IN THIS WAY NISSAN PROFITS FROM REPAIRS OF CARS FAILING AFTER 5 YEARS YET BEFORE OR AFTER 1,000,000 MILES WHEN THE CAR STRANDS DRIVERS, AND BECAUSE NOT A FULL RECALL THERE IS NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE FOR AN NHTSA INVESTIGATION. NISSAN DOES NOT HAVE THE CONTROLS TO KNOW WHICH VEHICLES WILL FAIL, AS EVIDENCED BY MY AND MULTIPLE PAGES OF IDENTICAL COMPLAINTS FILED WITH THE NHTSA. I AND MY FAMILY DO NOT ACCEPT THE MULTIPLE APOLOGIES FROM NISSAN, AND THERE IS NO WAY FOR NISSAN TO MAKE UP FOR ME MISSING MY DAUGHTER'S EVENT. NISSAN'S ACTIONS INDICATE THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED IN PASSENGER SAFETY. THIS NISSAN HAS STRANDED ME 5 TIMES SINCE PURCHASED NEW IN 2009 FROM MOSSY NISSAN OCEANSIDE, AN AUTHORIZED NISSAN DEALER. REGARDING PASSENGER SAFETY, ALSO THE AIRBAG SYSTEM HAS FAILED TO TURN ON TO PROTECT PASSENGERS. ON AIRBAG FAILURE, NISSAN TESTED THE AIRBAG ON MY VEHICLE WITH A MALE PASSENGER AND STATED THEY DIDN'T SEE AN ISSUE, MISLEADING MYSELF, CUSTOMERS, AND THE NHTSA BY TESTING WITH A MALE PASSENGER OVER 120 POUNDS YET PUBLISHING RESULTS AS APPLYING TO BOTH GENDERS - A FEMALE PASSENGER WILL LIKELY NEED TO BE OVER 150 POUNDS TO BE PROTECTED BY THE NISSAN PASSENGER AIRBAG SYSTEM. *TR

MY VEHICLE BEGIN TO NOT START PROPERLY AROUND NOVEMBER 2014. IT HAS SINCE GOT TO THE POINT THAT IT WILL NOT START, DUE TO A MALFUNCTION OF THE ELECTRONIC STEERING CONTROL LOCK. I FOUND THIS OUT AFTER SOME TROUBLE SHOOTING AND RESEARCH. I ALSO FOUND THAT THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH THIS VEHICLE AND YET A FULL RECALL WAS NEVER MADE, DUE TO IT BEING LABELED AS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE. MY WIFE AND 18 MONTH OLD SON WERE STRANDED IN 14 DEGREE WEATHER FOR OVER 3 HOURS TODAY AND THE WIND CHILL WAS BELOW ZERO. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW A COMPANY LIKE NISSAN CAN GET AWAY WITH SAYING THIS MALFUNCTION IS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE. NISSAN HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THE ISSUE, BUT CLAIMS IT WILL NOT BE COVERED AS OUR CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY. WE NEVER RECEIVED ANYTHING STATING THAT THERE WAS POSSIBLY A DEFECTIVE PART ON OUR CAR. THERE ARE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS ONLINE AND I'M SURE SEVERAL HAVE ALREADY FILED COMPLAINTS HERE AS WELL. NISSAN NOW WANTS US TO PAY OUT OF POCKET FOR AN AUTHORIZED DEALERSHIP TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM THAT WE HAVE ALREADY DIAGNOSED, I FIND THIS TO BE AN UNACCEPTABLE BUSINESS PRACTICE, WHICH INDICATES THEY ARE MORE CONCERNED WITH MONEY THEN THE WELFARE OF THEIR CUSTOMERS. I HAVE HAD SEVERAL VEHICLES THAT HAD RECALLS AND NEVER ONCE WAS I REQUIRED TO PAY TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT. *TR

ON MONDAY, JAN 26, ,2015 MY NISSAN ALTIMA WOULD NOT START OR TURN OVER DUE TO THE STEERING LOCK. I CONTACTED NISSAN DEALERSHIP TO GET ASSISTANCE BY DESCRIBING WHAT ISSUE I WAS HAVING WITH MY CAR. I PROVIDED THE FOLLOWING TO SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE; MY CAR WOULD NOT TURN OVER AND THE KEY SYMBOL LIGHT IS APPEARING ON MY DASH BOARD. I WAS TOLD BY THE REP AT NISSAN THAT I WOULD NEED TO HAVE MY CAR TOWED TO THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP/AUTO NATION ASAP. MY CAR WAS TOWED ON MONDAY EVERNING JAN 26, 2015. MY CAR WAS UNDER WARRANTY (SO I THOUGHT), I CONTACTED MY WARRANTY SERVICE AND WAS TOLD MY WARRANTY EXPIRED NOV 26, 2014. ON THE AUTO NATION INVOICE IT SAYS (REPLACE STEERING LOCK AND PERFORMED REGSITION ON STEERING LOCK). MY CAR REPAIRED ON TUE, JAN 27, 2015 AND I WAS ABLE TO PICK-UP MY CAR ON WED, JAN 28, 2015.THE TOTAL REPAIR COST WAS $1,067.47. *TR

THE ELECTRONIC STEERING COLUMN LOCK SUDDENLY FAILED, RESULTING IN THE INABILITY TO START THE CAR. I HAD TO TOW THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP TO FIND OUT THAT THE ISSUE IS OUT OF WARRANTY AND WOULD COST BE $900+. AFTER RESEARCHING THE ISSUE, I FOUND THOUSANDS OF SIMILAR EXPERIENCES WITH THE 2009 ALTIMA AND IT IS CLEAR THAT NISSAN IS WELL AWARE OF THIS ISSUE AND THEY HAVE NOT ISSUED A RECALL. I WAS STRANDED, AWAY FROM HOME, AND HAD TO REARRANGE MY ENTIRE DAY WHILE COMING OUT OF POCKET A LARGE SUM OF MONEY WHICH I, QUITE FRANKLY, DO NOT HAVE. I SUBMITTED A WARRANTY EXTENSION REIMBURSEMENT FORM TO NISSAN WHO TURNED AROUND AND TOLD ME THAT I WAS OUT OF LUCK. I WAS REFERRED TO THE NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS WHO CONFIRMED THAT I WAS OUT OF LUCK. I NEVER RECEIVED ANY NOTICE THAT THERE WAS A RECURRING ISSUE WITH THE 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA, OTHERWISE, I WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE CAR IN TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM BEFORE IT BECAME A PROBLEM. I AM ONLY 3 MONTHS OUTSIDE OF THEIR EXTENDED WARRANTY TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A REIMBURSEMENT. IT APPEARS TO ME THAT NISSAN IS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM BUT REFUSES TO STAND BY THEIR PRODUCT. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL LOCK MECHANISM WAS FRACTURED. THE VEHICLE WAS COMPLETELY SHUT OFF AND DID NOT RESTART. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A DEALER WHO STATED THAT THE STEERING LOCK MECHANISM FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 104,000.