NHTSA Complaint #10261623 — 2005 NISSAN ALTIMA

I AM THE OWNER OF A 2005 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5SL. I RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE THAT ADVISED ME THE VEHICLE CAN STOP RUNNING WITHOUT NOTICE WHICH COULD RESULT IN A CRASH. THE RECALL NOTICE ADVISED THAT THE FIX TO THIS PROBLEM WAS THE REPROGRAMMING OF THE ECM. TO KEEP MY DAUGHTER AND I SAFE ON THE ROAD, I TOOK THE CAR IN FOR THE RECALL AS INSTRUCTED. BEFORE THE RECALL, MY SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT NEVER CAME ON AND MY VEHICLE WAS RUNNING FINE. NOT TO LONG AFTER THE RECALL WAS DONE, MY SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT CAME ON. LAST WEEK I WAS DRIVING MY VEHICLE, WITH MY 10 MONTH OLD DAUGHTER IN THE CAR AND THE CAR STALLED AND SHUT DOWN ON US WITHOUT WARNING. THANKFULLY ANOTHER VEHICLE DID NOT HIT US. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP WHO ADVISED ME IT WAS THE CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR. AFTER DOING SOME READING I FIND THAT THIS HAS BEEN A PROBLEM NISSAN HAS BEEN AVOIDING SINCE 2002 AND I WAS NOT THE ONLY OWNER WHOSE VEHICLE SHUT DOWN ON THEM WITHOUT WARNING. THE EVENTS, PATTERNS AND FAILURES I HAVE EXPERIENCED ARE THE SAME SEQUENCE OF EVENTS THAT SO MANY NISSAN ALTIMA OWNERS HAVE REPORTED AND COMPLAINED ABOUT. I CONTACTED NISSAN DIRECTLY AND WAS TOLD THAT THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE. I PAID $285 TO HAVE THE CRANKSHAFT SENSOR REPLACED. I THOUGHT RESPONDING TO THE RECALL WOULD TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING AND WE WOULD BE SAFE; HOWEVER, THE RECALL DID NOT STOP MY CAR FROM SHUTTING DOWN ON ME IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC. I BELIEVE NISSAN IS RECALLING THE WRONG THING AND DODGING THE RESPONSIBILITY OF REPLACING THE DEFAULT CRANKSHAFT SENSORS THAT ARE CAUSING THESE VEHICLES TO SHUT DOWN. A VEHICLE THAT IS SUBJECT TO SHUT DOWN WHILE DRIVING WITHOUT WARNING IS VERY DANGEROUS AND SHOULD NOT BE ON THE ROAD. I SAVED THE CRANKSHAFT SENSOR THAT WAS REMOVED FROM MY VEHICLE JUST IN CASE SOMEONE DECIDES TO FINALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. AN INVESTIGATION NEEDS TO TAKE PLACE BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED OR SERIOUSLY INJURED ON THE ROAD OR HIGHWAY. *TR