NHTSA Complaint #10281022 — 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA

I TOOK MY CAR TO A MECHANIC BECAUSE I HAD AN ENGINE SERVICE LIGHT ON AND I FELT THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH THE WAY MY CAR WAS BEHAVING. AFTER INSPECTING MY CAR, THE MECHANIC FOUND THAT A CATALYTIC CONVERTER HAS FAILED, WHICH CREATED POTENTIAL FOR A FIRE. THE MECHANIC TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS A RECALL FOR CATALYTIC CONVERTERS FOR ALTIMAS 2002/2003 AND THAT MY CAR SHOULD QUALIFY FOR IT BASED ON ITS VIN NUMBER ( I HAVE A PRINTOUT FROM MY MECHANIC THAT INCLUDES ELIGIBILITY OF MY CAR BASED ON VIN#). HOWEVER, WHEN I CALLED NISSAN MANUFACTURE I WAS TOLD THAT MY CAR NO LONGER HAS WARRANTY AND THAT THERE WERE NO OPEN RECALLS ON MY CAR AT THAT TIME. I TOOK MY CAR TO A NISSAN DEALERSHIP AND RECEIVED THE SAME INFORMATION. MY ON-LINE RESEARCH SHOWED THAT THERE WAS A RECALL ON CATALYTIC CONVERTERS IN CANADA AND USA AND ALSO A LOT OF PEOPLE HERE IN US HAD EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM AS I DID AFTER THE WARRANTY EXPIRATION AND NISSAN WAS NOT HELPFUL. ALSO, I FOUND OUT THAT IT IS HARD TO DIAGNOSE THIS PROBLEM AT THE VERY BEGINNING AS ENGINE SERVICE LIGHT CAN BE ON FOR A LOT OF REASONS. MY MECHANIC WAS ABLE TO DIAGNOSE THIS PROBLEM, AS HE WAS FAMILIAR WITH CATALYTIC CONVERTERS' FAILURES IN ALTIMAS BECAUSE A LOT OF HIS CUSTOMERS WHO OWN ALTIMAS TOOK THEIR CARS TO HIM TO BE FIXED. I DID TAKE MY CAR TO A NISSAN DEALERSHIP, BUT I COULDN'T AFFORD THEIR PRICES, SO I ENDED UP GOING BACK TO MY MECHANIC. A REPRESENTATIVE FROM NISSAN MANUFACTURE ASKED ME IF I RECEIVED ANY LETTER FROM THEM CONFIRMING MY ELIGIBILITY FOR A CATALYTIC CONVERTER RECALL, BUT I AM NOT THE FIRST OWNER OF MY CAR, SO THERE WAS NO WAY FOR ME TO RECEIVE IT. PERHAPS I BOUGHT THIS CAR WITH A DAMAGED CONVERTER AND HAD NO IDEA ABOUT IT. *TR