NHTSA Complaint #10130391 — 2004 NISSAN QUEST

PURCHASED 2004 NISSAN QUEST IN JANUARY OF 2004. THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM EMITTED A VERY FOUL (MUSTY) ODOR THE FIRST TIME I USED THE SYSTEM IN MARCH. I TOOK THE VAN TO THE DEALER. THEY ADMITTED THAT THERE WAS AN ODOR, BUT COULD NOT LOCATE THE SOURCE OF THE ODOR. THE VAN WAS TAKEN TO A DIFFERENT DEALER ON 9/16/04. I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER WHERE I BOUGHT THE VAN ON 9/23/04. WHEN THE SMELL RETURNED, I TOOK THE VAN BACK TO THE DEALER ON 10/20/04. I HAVE HAD NUMEROUS NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS RIDE IN THIS VAN. AS SOON AS THEY WOULD SIT IN THE VAN, THEY WOULD ASK ABOUT THE SMELL. TOOK THE VAN BACK TO THE DEALER ON 6/7/05 AS THE SMELL HAD RETURNED. THIS TIME THE DEALER REPLACED THE IN-CABIN AIR FILTER (SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE) AND SPRAYED LYSOL IN THE VENTS AND A/C DUCTS. THE VAN CONTINUED TO SMELL AND WAS RETURNED TO THE DEALER ON 6/21/05. THIS TIME, THE SERVICE TECHNICIANS DISASSEMBLED THE DASH TO ACCESS THE EVAPORATOR. THE MOISTURE DRAIN TUBE (WHICH IS CLEAR) WAS BROWN. THE SERVICE MANAGER TOLD ME THIS. NISSAN CLEANED THE TUBE AND REASSEMBLED THE DASH. SINCE EACH OF THESE REPAIRS WAS WARRANTY WORK, I REQUESTED THAT NISSAN PAY FOR A RENTAL CAR. SINCE NISSAN CLAIMS THAT NO REPAIR WORK WAS DONE, I HAD TO PAY FOR THE RENTAL CAR EACH TIME. I CONDUCTED SOME RESEARCH AND LEARNED THAT MOLD AND BACTERIA IS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR AUTOMOBILE A/C SYSTEMS. MOST CAR MANUFACTURERS HAVE A FIX FOR THIS PROBLEM. NISSAN DOES NOT. I MAILED A LETTER TO NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS. THEIR REPRESENTATIVE CALLED ONCE AND TOLD TO TAKE THE VAN BACK IN FOR SERVICE. EACH TIME I TOOK THE VAN BACK TO THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT, I WOULD CALL THE CONSUMER AFFAIRS. HE NEVER RETURNED MY PHONE CALLS. DURING MY LAST SERVICE CALL WITH NISSAN ON 6/21/05, I GAVE THE SERVICE MANAGER A COPY OF A DOCUMENT THAT LISTS THE TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETINS (TSBS) THAT MOST CAR MANUFACTURERS HAVE FOR TREATING THE MOLD AND BACTERIA. NISSAN DOES NOT HAVE A TSB FOR THIS ISSUE. *NM