NHTSA Complaint #10265913 — 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA

I BOUGHT A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA WITH 66K MILES ON IT 6 MONTHS AGO FROM WILSONVILLE NISSAN. THEY PROMISED THIS CAR WAS IN PERFECT RUNNING ORDER, EVEN AFTER THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON DURING THE TEST DRIVE, BUT THE TECHNICIANS THERE INSISTED THAT THEY JUST FORGOT TO RESET THE COMPUTER AFTER THEY PERFORMED AN OIL CHANGE. AS I HAVE COME TO FIND OUT, SES LIGHTS DO NOT ILLUMINATE ON ALTIMAS FOR THIS REASON, BUT AFTER I BOUGHT THE VEHICLE AND MULTIPLE PROBLEMS AROSE, WE RAN DIAGNOSTICS AND CYLINDER 1 WAS MISFIRING. THERE ARE MANY MORE ISSUES WITH THIS VEHICLE NOW, INCLUDING PROBLEMS WITH THE HEAD GASKET, CONSUMING 3 QUARTS OF OIL EVERY 400 MILES, AND RUNNING TERRIBLY ROUGH. THERE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE COMPLAINING OF THESE SAME PRE-CAT RELATED ISSUES IN THEIR 02-06 ALTIMAS. THE PRECAT DETERIORATES AND IS SUCKED UP INTO THE ENGINE, SCORCHING THE CYLINDERS, CAUSING MASSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION, AND THEN FOLLOWED BY THE ENGINE RUNNING ROUGH AND THEN DYING. WE TOOK THE VEHICLE BACK TO WILSONVILLE NISSAN AND THEY REFUSED TO GIVE THE PRECAT A VISUAL INSPECTION. THEY CLAIMED THAT SINCE THE COMPUTER DID NOT THROW A CODE CONCERNING THE PRECAT, THEY HAD NO REASON TO LOOK AT IT. INSTEAD, THEY CHARGED US $110 TO TELL US THAT THE COMPUTER WAS GIVING A CYLINDER 1 MISFIRE CODE. WE ALREADY KNEW THAT AND WE TOLD THEM THAT BEFORE THEY TOOK THE CAR IN. UNDER THE FEDERAL EMISSIONS WARRANTY, NISSAN HAS TO PAY FOR ALL COSTS TO DIAGNOSE, REPAIR, AND REPLACE ALL PARTS THAT ARE RUINED BY ANY FAULTY EMISSIONS PART UNDER 80,000 MILES. THE PRECAT FALLS UNDER THIS CATEGORY, AND THE ENGINE SHOULD ALSO BE REPLACED BY NISSAN AS ITS PROBLEMS ARE A DIRECT RESULT FROM THE PRECAT FALLING APART AND GETTING SUCKED INTO THE ENGINE. RECALL ID# 5450 REQUIRES THEM TO TEST AND LOOK AT THE PRE-CAT, AND IF THERE IS ANY DAMAGE TO THE CAT, THEN THE ENGINE MUST BE REPLACED, FREE OF CHARGE. NISSAN WILL NOT COOPERATE AND WILL NOT EVEN LOOK AT THE PRECAT. PLEASE HELP. *TR