NHTSA Complaint #10276166 — 2005 NISSAN ALTIMA

MY 2005 ALTIMA WAS RECALLED BECAUSE THE CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR (CPS) GETS HOT, FAILS TO SEND SIGNALS TO THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE (ECM) FAST ENOUGH, SO THE ECM SHUTS DOWN THE ENGINE, INCREASING THE DANGER OF BEING INVOLVED IN A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT (NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 07V527000 ). IN JUNE, MY CAR STALLED ON THE HIGHWAY. I TOWED IT HOME AND DISCOVERED VIA A CODE READER THAT THE CPS FAILED, AND BY GOOGLE & THE NHTSA WEB SITE THAT THIS WAS PART OF THE RECALL ID'D ABOVE. THE REMEDY IS TO REPROGRAM THE ECM. I MADE AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE DEALER WHO ORIGINALLY SOLD THIS CAR WHEN NEW, AND DROPPED OFF THE CAR. THE NEXT DAY THE NISSAN DEALER LEFT ME A SELF-SERVING AND DECEPTIVE MESSAGE (THAT I CAN SEND YOU IN AUDIO FORMAT OR TRANSCRIBED TO TEXT) INSINUATING THAT ALONG WITH THE FREE REMEDY (REPROGRAMMING THE ECM), THE CPS HAD BEEN REPLACED FOR $257. I STOPPED BY THE DEALER TO DISCUSS THIS, AND TO MY RELIEF (SINCE THE RECALL REMEDY DIDN'T REQUIRE THIS $257 REPAIR) THE CPS HAD NOT BEEN REPLACED. HOWEVER I EXPERIENCED THE SAME FAILURE THE NEXT HOT DAY. NISSAN'S ECM REPROGRAMMING REMEDY HAD NO EFFECT - THE ENGINE STALLED AND THE CODE READER AGAIN SAID CPS FAILURE. I OPENED A FILE WITH NISSAN USA CONSUMER AFFAIRS, WHO ASSIGNED A REP. THE REP. FIRST SPOKE WITH THE DEALER, THEN CALLED ME AND REFUSED TO PAY TO REPLACE THE CPS (A $37 PART). WHY DOESN'T THIS RECALL INCLUDE REPLACING THE CPS (NISSAN'S RECOMMENDED FIX, WHEN THE ECM REPROGRAMMING FAILS)? THIS PARTIAL RECALL IS PROBLEMATIC BECAUSE IT'S: #1 ALMOST FREE FOR NISSAN (NO PARTS, MINUTES OF LABOR) #2 IN MY CASE INEFFECTIVE, CAUSING NO CESSATION OF ACCIDENT RISK (A COMMON PROBLEM, I'D BET) #3 LIMITED TO ONLY ONE OF THE 2 FAILING PARTS IN A CLOSELY INTEGRATED FAILURE PATTERN #4 AN EFFECTIVE "LOSS LEADER" - BRINGING CUSTOMERS TO THEIR GARAGE, ALLOWING NISSAN TO MAKE MONEY (E.G. REPLACING THE $37 CSP FOR $257) #5 HARD TO VERIFY (NO VISIBLE NEW OR OLD PARTS TO PROVE THEY DID THE ECM REPROGRAMMING). *TR