NHTSA Complaint #10186038 — 2004 NISSAN ALTIMA

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN AT NHTSA: I OWN A 2004 NISSAN ALTIMA WITH A 2.5L ENGINE. I RECENTLY RECEIVED AN OWNER NOTIFICATION LETTER FROM NISSAN NORTH AMERICA FOR A SAFETY RECALL DUE TO THE POTENTIAL THAT THE ENGINE MIGHT STOP RUNNING WHILE BEING DRIVEN DUE TO AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM BETWEEN THE CRANK ANGLE SENSOR AND THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE (ECM). THIS COULD RESULT IN A CRASH WITHOUT WARNING. *AK THE NOTICE FURTHER ADVISED THAT MY NISSAN DEALER WOULD REPROGRAM THE ECM, FREE OF CHARGE. THIS SERVICE SHOULD TAKE ABOUT 1 HOUR TO COMPLETE. I MADE ARRANGEMENTS WITH MY DEALER TO HAVE THIS SERVICE PERFORMED ON MY ALTIMA. WHILE IN FOR THIS SERVICE, I WAS CALLED BY THE DEALER AND NOTIFIED THAT SEVERAL UNRELATED SERVICE ITEMS WERE FOUND. THEY DID NOT FORCE THEM ON ME BUT DID THEY DID TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO 'SELL' THEM....BETTER GAS MILEAGE (CLEAN THROTTLES) AND BRAKE PERFORMANCE (REPLACE BRAKE FLUID). WELL, THE FREE SERVICE TO 'REPROGRAM' THE ECM, TURNED INTO A SERVICE BILL IN THE $450.00 RANGE. THE LIST COST TO REPROGRAM THE ECM WAS $58.00. SO, I AVOIDED A $58 CHARGE BUT WAS 'SOLD' ADDITIONAL SERVICES SO NISSAN ACTUALLY GENERATED CLOSE TO $400 IN REVENUE ON A 'FREE' RECALL. THE NHTSA RECALL NUMBER IS 06V-242. IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT IF 100,000 OTHER CONCERNED ALTIMA OWNERS RESPONDED TO THE RECALL, WERE 'SOLD' SIMILAR 'NEEDED' SERVICE, NISSAN WOULD COLLECT $40,000,000 IN SERVICE FEES.....A MINOR REPROGRAMMING RECALL COULD TURN INTO A LARGE PROFIT GENERATING MACHINE. I WANTED TO SHARE MY SITUATION WITH YOU BECAUSE THIS SIMPLE SCHEME, IF INDEED EMPLOYED, WOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE PUBLIC AND MAKE PUBLICLY-OWNED CORPORATIONS LIKE NISSAN A PROFIT WINDFALL. I CAN BE REACHED AT [XXX]OR [XXX] IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CONTACT ME OR DISCUSS THIS SITUATION FURTHER. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CAREFUL CONSIDERATION. SINCERELY, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR