NHTSA Complaint #10041315 — 2002 NISSAN SENTRA

I LEASED A SENTRA SE-R IN NOV 2002. SINCE GETTING THE VEHICLE I HAVE HAD NUMEROUS PROBLEMS. THE CAR RANDOMLY DOES NOT START. IT SOUNDS LIKE THE CAR WANTS TO TURN OVER, BUT TO NO AVAIL. THERE IS NO PATTERN TO IT. THE CAR STARTS FINE SOME DAYS, AND THEN SOMETIMES IT JUST DOESN'T WANT TO START. I'VE HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALER AT LEAST TWICE - THE DEALER COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG. IN JUNE, WHEN I TOOK THE CAR IN FOR THE SAME PROBLEM, THE DEALER HAD THE NERVE TO TELL ME THAT THE CAR WOULD HAVE TROUBLE STARTING WHEN IT RAINS OUT - AND THAT MUST BE THE PROBLEM. (ARE THEY INSANE - I ASKED MYSELF - THE CAR WON'T START WHEN IT RAINS? THEN THEY TOLD ME THAT I NEED TO PUMP THE GAS PEDAL EVERY TIME I START THE CAR - A FUEL INJECTED CAR?) SO, THEY REPLACED THE FUEL PUMP. BUT TWICE SINCE THE CAR HAS NOT WANTED TO START. THE CAR HAS, SINCE THE DAY I LEASED IT, RANDOMLY STALLED RIGHT AFTER STARTING. WHY? NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW. THEN, THIS WEEKEND WHILE TRAVELING ON A HIGHWAY, AT ABOUT 70 MPH THE CAR SUDDENLY LOST ALL ABILITY TO MAINTAIN SPEED OR ACCELERATE. LUCKILY, I WAS ABLE TO GET TO THE SHOULDER, AND BY THAT POINT THE ENGINE DIED. AFTER REPEATED ATTEMPTS OVER 20 MINUTES, THE CAR STARTED BUT THE "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" LIGHT REMAINED ON. WHEN ATTEMPTING TO GET BACK ON THE HIGHWAY TO TRAVEL HOME FROM WHERE I WAS, THE CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE, STARTING MAKING HORRIBLE BANGING NOISES AND IT SMELLED LIKE SOMETHING WAS BURNING. THE CAR WOULDN'T ACCELERATE AND HAD NO POWER. LUCKILY, I WAS ABLE TO GET INTO AN EMPTY PARKING LOT BEFORE HAVING TO CALL FOR A TOW. THERE WAS A RECALL RECENTLY ON THE SENTRA - RELATING TO THE ENGINE AND POSSIBLE FIRES - AND THE PARTS REPLACEMENT WAS PERFORMED - SO I AM LEFT WONDERING WHAT KIND OF JUNK I HAVE BEEN STUCK WITH... IT SEEMS THAT IT IS ONE PROBLEM AFTER ANOTHER WITH THIS CAR. *JB