NHTSA Complaint #10268464 — 2002 NISSAN ALTIMA

I OWN A 2002 NISSAN ALTIMA, 2.5L ENGINE. I HAVE HAD MORE PROBLEMS WITH THIS CAR THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE. THE CAR HAS STOPPED ON ME TWO TIMES IN THE PAST YEAR OR TWO. IT CAME TO A HALT IN SEPTEMBER 2007 IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC AND I HAD TO WAIT OVER AN HOUR FOR A TOW TRUCK. AT THAT TIME I HAD THE SENSOR DETECTOR REPLACED BY A NEIGHBORHOOD GARAGE. ON LAST TUESDAY, THE CAR STOPPED AGAIN AND WOULD NOT MOVE BUT I HAPPENED TO BE IN PARKING LOT AND WAITED 3 HOURS TO GET MY CAR MOVED. THIS TIME THE CAR WAS REPAIRED BY A NISSAN DEALER AND THE SENSOR DETECTORS WERE AGAIN REPLACED. I WAS INFORMED THAT MY ENGINE WAS COMING APART INTERNALLY BIT BY BIT AND I WOULD NEED THE ENGINE REPLACED OR RUN THE RISK OF HAVING THE ENGINE STOP ON ME AT ANY TIME. I HAVE CHANGED THE CATALYTIC CONVERTOR, HAVE AN OIL LEAK AND SOME GASKETS HAVE BEEN REPLACED. I PUT OIL IN MY CAR EVERY WEEK BECAUSE THE LEAK WAS NOT REPAIRED. I NEVER SEEN ANY OIL ON MY DRIVEWAY AND DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS LEAKING. WHEN I CHECKED TO SEE IF I COULD FIND AN ENGINE FOR LESS THAN WHAT THE DEALERSHIP QUOTED ME, I FOUND 400 COMPLAINTS ON ONE WEBSITE AND 99 ON ANOTHER WEBSITE COMPLAINING OF THE EXACT SAME PROBLEMS WITH THEIR 2002 NISSAN ALTIMA WITH A 2.5L ENGINE OF WHICH I AM COMPLAINING. MANY OF THE COMPLAINTS ARE REPORTING ENGINE FAILURE OR BREAKDOWN. THIS IS VERY CONCERNING AND I THINK SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE BY NISSAN AS THIS SEEMS TO BE A MANUFACTURING PROBLEM BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO GO. *TR