NHTSA Complaint #10325901 — 2002 NISSAN ALTIMA

MY ENGINE BLEW UP. I CALLED MY NEAREST NISSAN DEALER WHO FORWARDED ME TO NISSAN CORP, WHO SENT ME TO NISSAN NORTH AMERICA AND AFTER TELLING THEM MY STORY 3 TIMES, THEY ADVISED ME THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO SINCE IT AS NOT YET A RECALL. I LOOKED ONLINE AND MANY HAD THE SAME ISSUE AND WERE TRYING TO GET THIS TO BE A RECALL. I HAD JUST MOVED TO THAT AREA, I HAD NO JOB, NO MONEY AND WAS ATTENDING SCHOOL. MY CAR SAT IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE FOR 6 MONTHS WHILE I PAID $430 A MONTH ON MY NOTE. WHEN I FINALLY HAD THE MONEY TO FIX IT, I EXPLAINED TO THEM I HAD JUST GOTTEN A NEW ENGINE AND ONLY NEEDED THEM TO RESTART THE COMPUTER. THEY ADVISED ME THERE WAS A RECALL ON IT, I ASKED FOR WHAT AND THEY COULD NOT EXPLAIN. THEY THEN SAID THEY COULD NOT RESTART MY COMPUTER OR DO THE RECALL BECAUSE IT HAD A CODE THAT NEEDED TO GET FIXED. I SAID FINE, AND PAID FOR THEM TO FIX IT AND THE RECALL. LATER THAT DAY MY ENGINE LIGHT CAME BACK ON AND THEY HAD ME COME BACK IN A WEEK LATER AND ADVISED ME A NEW CODE CAME ON. I ASKED WHY THEY DIDN'T TELL ME ABOUT IT WHEN I WAS THERE AND THEY SAID THEY DIDN'T SEE IT THEN. I DID MORE RESEARCH AND FOUND OUT THAT THE CODES THEY FOUND WERE PART OF THE RECALL, AND THAT WAS THE REASON MY ENGINE BLEW UP. BUT THEY WOULD NOT FIX OR PAY FOR IT. I HAVE BEEN BACK AND FORTH ON THIS AND FINALLY I FOUND A NUMBER TO CALL REGARDING NISSAN RECALLS. THE PERSON I SPOKE WITH ADVISED ME THAT IT WAS NISSAN'S RESPONSIBILITY TO HAVE FIXED THE ISSUE AT NO COST SINCE IT WAS A RECALL AND IT WAS ALL CONNECTED. (HAD THAT RECALL OR PROBLEM BEEN FIXED MY ENGINE WOULD HAVE NEVER BLOWN UP! RECALL OR NO RECALL, THIS WAS OBVIOUSLY A MANUFACTURING ISSUE! THEY NEVER EVEN CONTACTED ME ABOUT THAT RECALL! I FOUND OUT ABOUT IT WHEN I TOOK MY CAR IN!) SHE FILED A CLAIM FOR ME AND SAID SOMEONE WOULD CALL ME. IT HAS BEEN A WEEK AND NO CALL FROM NISSAN NORTH AMERICA YET. I CALL THEM EVERYDAY AND EVERYDAY THEY SAY SOMEONE WILL CALL ME. AT LEAST TOYOTA IS TAKING CARE OF THEIR CUSTOMERS! *TR UPDATED IVOQ 08/20/10 UPDATED 10/27/10