NHTSA Complaint #10160069 — 2006 NISSAN ALTIMA

NISSAN HAS ADMITTED VIA A LETTER THAT CERTAIN VEHICLES (MINE IS ONE) ARE SUBJECT TO HIGH OIL CONSUMPTION AND THE RESULT COULD BE A FIRE IN THE VEHICLE. NISSAN HAS ATTEMPTED TO CORRECT THIS BY: CHANGING THE OIL AND FILTER, PROMISING TO MONITOR THE LEVEL - SUBJECT TO ANOTHER TRIP TO THE DEALER- AT 700 SUBSEQUENT MILES, THEY WILL THEN PROVIDE AN UNKNOWN 'FIX' TO THE ISSUE IF THE OIL LEVEL HAS DECREASED TO THEIR SATISFACTION, IF NO NOTICEABLE DECREASE IN THEIR PERCEPTION, THEN MONITOR ANOTHER 700 MILES - RETURN TO DEALER AGAIN AND HAVE THEM REVIEW, POSSIBLE FIX IS TO REPLACE THE ENGINE AT THAT TIME. THE CONCERN IS THAT WHEN ONE PURCHASES A NEW VEHICLE, IF THE MANUFACTURE KNEW OF THE DEFECT AND POTENTIAL HAZARD, THEN THE SALE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED. FURTHER, A NEW VEHICLE NOW NEEDS TO BE MONITORED AND RETURNED TO THE DEALER EVERY 700 MILES - I CAN NOT THINK OF AN EXAMPLE OF MORE INCONVENIENCE. THE SAFETY HAZARD OF A FIRE OR BREAKING DOWN - ALL IN A VEHICLE WITH 1500 MILES ON IT IS INCREDULOUS. I CAN NOT LET MY FAMILY DRIVE IN THE CAR AND AM CONCERNED WITH MY OWN SAFETY. A 22000 VEHICLE THAT IS BRAND NEW SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO BE SOLD AND HAVE CONSUMERS ASKED TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE THE VEHICLE. I DO HOPE THIS IS INVESTIGATED. I UNDERSTAND THAT A TOTAL OF 80000 ALTIMAS WERE AFFECTED. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHEN THE MANUFACTURER WAS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM, WHY IT DID NOT STOP SALES IMMEDIATELY AND WHY THE MANUFACTURER WILL NOT JUST FIX THE ISSUE. I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT THE VEHICLES WITHIN THE VIN RANGE THAT ARE ON NISSAN DEALER LOTS ARE BEING SENT BACK TO HAVE THE ENGINES REPLACED. NEXT, A PROBLEM AT 1500 MILES WITH THE TRANSMISSION OCCURRED. THE VEHICLE EXPERIENCED PROBLEMS IN SHIFTING AND MAINTAIN GEAR. THIS RESULTED IN THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATING AND THE DEALER 'GETTING A PART' TO FIX IT. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THE ISSUE IS WITH THE TRANSMISSION THAT HAD ONLY 1500 MILES ON IT TO MALFUNCTION. *NM