NHTSA Complaint #10163433 — 2002 NISSAN SENTRA

I OWN A 2002 NISSAN SENTRA SE-R. IT HAS APPROXIMATELY 80,000 MILES ON IT. ONE DAY LAST MONTH, ON THE WAY HOME FROM WORK, MY CAR STALLED AT A RED LIGHT. I WAS ABLE TO GET IT STARTED AND DRIVE IT THE 15 MILES TO MY DEALERSHIP, BUT IT STALLED AT LEAST TWICE ON THE WAY. THE ENGINE ALSO WAS NOT RUNNING SMOOTHLY AND THE "CHECK ENGINE LIGHT" WAS ON. WHEN I GOT TO THE DEALERSHIP, THEY TOLD ME THAT A "POWER VALVE SCREW" HAD COME LOOSE AND WORKED ITS WAY INTO ONE OF MY CYLINDERS WHERE IT THEN PROCEEDED TO SMASH A SPARK PLUG. ALSO, I WAS INFORMED THAT THIS WAS A KNOWN RECALL ISSUE ON THE 2003 AND 2004 NISSAN SENTRA SE-RS AND ON THE ALTIMA'S, BUT THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL ISSUED FOR 2002 SENTRA SE-RS. MY EXTENDED WARRANTY (75,000 MILES) HAD JUST RUN OUT AND MY DEALERSHIP SUGGESTED THAT I CONTACT NISSAN CORPORATE TO SEE IF THEY WOULD INTERVENE AND HELP, SINCE ALL OF THE PARTS INVOLVED AND THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM EXACTLY MATCHED WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE '03 AND '04S. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE WAS THAT MY CAR WAS AN '02. TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, NISSAN CORPORATE BASICALLY TOLD ME THAT SINCE THERE WAS NO RECALL ISSUED FOR MY MODEL YEAR AND SINCE MY WARRANTY HAD RUN OUT, THERE WAS NOTHING THEY WERE OBLIGATED TO DO FOR ME. THEY ALSO SAID, "DON'T WORRY. WE ARE CONSTANTLY ASSESSING THE STATUS OF RECALLS AND IF A RECALL IS ISSUED FOR THE 2002 MODEL YEAR, WE WILL REIMBURSE YOU." I ENDED UP PAYING OVER $600 (AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE, HAD MY DEALERSHIP NOT TAKEN PITY ON ME AND GIVEN ME A DISCOUNT) TO GET SOMETHING FIXED ON MY CAR THAT WAS A KNOWN PROBLEM FOR THE 2 MODEL YEARS FOLLOWING 2002, BUT THAT (FOR SOME REASON) DIDN'T INCLUDE MY CAR. AS I STATED ABOVE, MY DEALERSHIP VERIFIED THAT ALL OF THE PARTS THAT WERE AFFECTED WERE THE SAME AS THOSE INVOLVED IN THE RECALL, AND THAT THE ACTUAL PROBLEM WAS THE SAME AS THE RECALL. *JB