NHTSA Complaint #10197486 — 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA

I HAVE AN 03 NISSAN ALTIMA WITH 77,000 MILES THAT I KEPT WELL MAINTAINED. SIX MONTHS AGO MY ENGINE CUT OFF WHILE SITTING AT A LIGHT, AND THEN IT CUT OFF AGAIN A MONTH LATER WHILE DRIVING AT 25 MPH. THIS SECOND INCIDENT HAPPENED AFTER I TOOK MY CAR IN FOR THE ECM REPROGRAM RECALL. MY MECHANIC TOLD ME IT WAS PROBABLY THE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR, AND SO I PAID THE MONEY TO REPLACE IT, THOUGH NOW I WONDER IF THIS WAS A MIS-DIAGNOSIS. A MONTH AGO, MY SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT CAME ON, AND SINCE THEN I HAVE HAD DIFFICULTY STARTING THE CAR AND THE ENGINE MAKES A WEIRD PUTTERING SOUND LIKE IT?S ABOUT TO CUT OUT WHILE IN IDLE. I CALLED THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THAT IT SOUNDED LIKE THE SAME RECALL ISSUE AND SAID THAT ABOUT 50% OF THE TIME, THE ECM PROGRAM IS SOMEHOW LOST AND HAS TO BE REPROGRAMMED A SECOND TIME. I TOLD HIM THAT DIDN'T MAKE MUCH SENSE, IT SHOULD BE FIXED THE FIRST TIME, AND HE SAID THEY COULD NOT FIGURE OUT WHY IT KEEPS HAPPENING. I TOOK THE CAR IN TO HAVE IT LOOKED AT AND THAT'S WHEN HE TOLD ME, NEVER MIND, THIS IS ACTUALLY AN ISSUE WITH THE CRANK POSITION SENSOR, WHICH WILL COST $330 TO REPLACE. I DID SOME RESEARCH AND FOUND A RECALL BACK IN 2003 ON SEVERAL 02 AND 03 ALTIMAS FOR REPLACING THIS EXACT PART, AND WHEN I MENTIONED THIS TO THE DEALERSHIP, THEY SIMPLY SAID MY VIN NUMBER WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL SO THE ISSUE WITH MY CAR WAS UNRELATED AND I WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR IT MYSELF. SEEMED LIKE TOO BIG OF A COINCIDENCE TO ME, SO I CALLED CORPORATE NISSAN TO FILE A COMPLAINT. AFTER SEVERAL PERSISTENT PHONE CALLS, I WAS TOLD THEY WOULD MAKE A NOTE OF MY COMPLAINT FOR REVIEW, BUT THEY COULD NOT COVER THE EXPENSE FOR ME. I AM NOW TAKING MY CAR TO MY INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO QUOTED ME HALF THE PRICE TO HAVE THE PART REPLACED ON MY OWN DIME. I CAN SEE I?M NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS ENGINE STARTUP/STALLING PROBLEM AND IT IS A HUGE SAFETY CONCERN. PLEASE MAKE NISSAN OWN UP TO THE PROBLEM AND FIX THE UNDERLYING ISSUES, NOT JUST THE ECM. *JB