NHTSA Complaint #10318850 — 2002 NISSAN ALTIMA

I HAVE A 2002 NISSAN SENTRA SE-R WITH THE 2.5 LITER (QR25DE) ENGINE I PURCHASED NEW. THIS IS THE SAME ENGINE THAT THE PROBLEMATIC 2002 NISSAN ALTIMA HAS. MY CAR HAS HAD NUMEROUS SERIOUS RECALLS, ORIGINATING WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR AND A HALF I PURCHASED IT. TWO YEARS AGO, MY SES LIGHT WENT ON. MY CAR WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY AT THIS POINT AS I'D PURCHASED NISSAN'S "GOLD PLUS" WARRANTY COVERAGE. I WAS TOLD IT WAS A LOOSE GAS CAP, THEY'D CHECKED AND PERFORMED ALL OUTSTANDING RECALLS, AND ALL WAS FINE. 8 MONTHS LATER, THE SES LIGHT WENT ON AGAIN.THE CAR BEGAN TO ALSO EXHIBIT SIGNS OF INCREASED OIL CONSUMPTION. I HAD IT CHECKED, WAS TOLD IT WAS A CRACKED OIL PAN BY AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC. FINALLY, I TOOK IT TO NISSAN. I WAS TOLD I NEEDED A NEW CATALYTIC CONVERTER, THE EXACT PART THAT HAS BEEN MENTIONED IN SEVERAL RECALLS ON MY VEHICLE, AND SINCE THE CAR WAS OUT OF WARRANTY THEY WOULD NOT PAY FOR IT. ESTIMATE WAS $1200, WHICH I GOT IN WRITING, FOR THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. I ASKED FOR RECORDS OF WHAT THEY HAD DONE TO INSPECT AND REPAIR THE RECALL PREVIOUSLY. THEY HAD NO RECORD OF IT. I CALLED NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, WHO TOLD ME THE DEALER KEPT THE RECORDS, AND TO ASK THEM.. FINALLY, AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC REPLACED THE PART. THE SES LIGHT WENT ON TWO WEEKS LATER. THE INDEPENDANT MECHANIC SAID THE PRE-CATALYTIC CONVERTER WAS DAMAGED/FALLING APART, ALSO LISTED IN MY RECALL EXPLICITLY. THE DEALER HAD MISDIAGNOSED THE CAR. CALLED DEALER, WROTE LETTER, BBB COMPLAINT, NISSAN COMPLAINT, NO RESPONSE. HAD PRE-CAT REPLACED FOR $600. SES LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. EVENTUALLY, MY CAR STALLED AND WOULDN'T START. I HAD IT TOWED TO A REPAIR FACILITY WHO INFORMED ME MY ENGINE WAS BLOWN, REPLACED FOR $4K. A SCREW HAD BEEN FOUND IN THE THIRD CYLINDER. THIS IS ALSO LISTED IN SOME OF THE 'BULLETINS' NISSAN DISTRIBUTED TO THEIR DEALERS. I'VE TRIED A DEMAND LETTER, NO RESPONSE. OBVIOUSLY, NO ONE INSPECTED MY CAR FOR RECALLS, OR REPAIRED THE FAULTY PARTS. *TR