NHTSA Complaint #10155886 — 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA

RE: ACTION NUMBER RQ06001 MANUFACTURER: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA I HAVE EXPERIENCED ALL FOUR PROBLEMS WITH MY 2003 ALTIMA THAT NISSAN NORTH AMERICA CITED AS REASONS FOR THE RECALL OF THE DEFECTIVE PART. SERVICE RECORDS DOCUMENT THAT THE PROBLEM THAT MY CAR WOULD NOT CRANK WAS REPORTED AS EARLY AS 23,619 MILES WHEN I HAD TO HAVE MY CAR TOWED IN TO THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT. SINCE IT WAS AN ONGOING PROBLEM, OTHER RECORDS SINCE THAT TIME REVEAL THE SAME COMPLAINT. EACH TIME THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT REPORTED THAT THEY COULD NOT LOCATE THE REASON FOR THE PROBLEM. THE CAR WAS TAKEN IN RECENTLY BECAUSE IT BEGAN CUTTING OFF ABRUPTLY WHILE TRAVELING - AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. NOW THAT THE WARRANTY PERIOD IS OVER, WITH OVER 60,000 MILES, THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT NOTIFIED ME THAT THE PROBLEM WAS IN THE CRANK POSITION SENSORS AND THEY BOTH WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED. THEY ALSO INFORMED ME THAT DUE TO THE MILEAGE, IT WAS MY EXPENSE TO HAVE THE PROBLEM CORRECTED. I CALLED NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS ABOUT THE SITUATION REMINDING THEM THAT THE PROBLEM BEGAN BEFORE THE WARRANTY PERIOD WAS OVER AND THAT I HAD READ THEIR INFORMATION REPORTED TO NHTSA. I WAS TOLD THAT MY 2003 ALTIMA WAS NOT AMONG THOSE PRODUCED JUNE 1, 2001 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2002 AND THEY WOULD NOT PAY TO HAVE THE CAR REPAIRED. OBVIOUSLY, MY 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA IS ALSO ONE IN WHICH DEFECTIVE CRANK SENSORS WERE INSTALLED AS EVIDENCED BY THE ON-GOING PROBLEMS AND THE CONCLUSIVE DIAGNOSIS GIVEN ME BY THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT. THE CESSATION OF THE ENGINE WITHOUT WARNING WHILE TRAVELING THE INTERSTATE "COULD" HAVE COST MY LIFE. JUST AS MY CAR HAD A DEFECTIVE PART CREATING THESE PROBLEMS, THERE MAY BE OTHERS LIKE MINE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. I NOTIFIED THE DEALERSHIP ON YESTERDAY TO REPAIR MY VEHICLE. I WAS TOLD THAT THIS WOULD INVOLVE REPLACING THE TWO CRANK POSITION SENSORS AT A COST OF $115 FOR THE SENSORS AND $225 FOR LABOR ($340) PLUS TAX. I ASSUME THE OLD PARTS WILL BE AVAILABLE. *NM