NHTSA Complaint #10170820 — 2002 NISSAN ALTIMA

THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT WAS FLASHING, SO A BROUGHT THE CAR INTO THE DEALER TO GET IT CHECKED. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AS A PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG MODULE SENSOR AND IT WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED OR THE PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG WOULD NOT WORK IN A CRASH. AT THE TIME I WAS PURCHASING THE CAR THE SAME AIR BAG LIGHT WAS FLASHING DURING OUR TEST DRIVE OF THE CAR. THE DEALER CHECKED INTO THE FLASHING WARNING LIGHT AND RESET THE MODULE BEFORE WE BOUGHT THE CAR. THIS STOPPED THE FLASHING WARNING LIGHT FROM FLASHING. ABOUT 2-3 MONTHS LATER THE SAME AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT STARTED FLASHING AGAIN. THE DEALER RESET THE MODULE A SECOND TIME. ON MY LAST VISIT FOR THE WARNING LIGHT FLASHING ON 9/29/2006 THE DEALER SAID THE MODULE WAS NOT ABLE TO BE RESET AND THAT IT HAD FAILED AND WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF $1,100.00 PARTS/LABOR. I PURCHASED THE CAR WITH 59,000 MILES ON IT. IT CURRENTLY HAS 79,000 MILES. THE DEALER SAID THIS PROBLEM IS NOT COVERED IN THE PREVIOUS RECALL R3001. I AM CONCERNED THE FLASHING AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT INDICATED A PROBLEM EARLY ON, IT NEEDED TO BE RESET TWICE BEFORE IT FINALLY FAILED. *NM