NHTSA Complaint #10326699 — 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA

MY 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA WITH 83,700 MILES WAS DRIVEN TO A LOCAL DEALERSHIP WHERE I BOUGHT IT USED A LITTLE OVER ONE YEAR AGO. BUT PRIOR TO LEAVING HOME I READ AT THE NHTSA WEBSITE ABOUT SIMILAR PROBLEMS I WAS ALREADY HAVING, HOPING THIS DEALERSHIP WOULD ALSO HAVE SIMILAR, IF NOT, IDENTICAL RESULTS. TO MY DISMAY, THEY HAD NEITHER. THEREBY NO TYPE OF RECALL WAS SHOWING ON MY MODEL'S HISTORY VIA THE MANUFACTURER, SO I WAS TOLD. MY VEHICLE PROBLEMS ARE AS FOLLOWS, PER DEALER DIAGNOSIS: TW CATALYST SYS-B1 (CODE P0420), ENGINE OVER TEMP (CODE P0217), AND CYL 1 MISFIRE (CODE P0301). FURTHERMORE, MY COMPLAIN ESSENTIALLY WAS ABOUT THE CAR OVER-HEATING AND TAKING LONGER THAN USUAL PERIODS TO RESTART, USUALLY UP TO 10 MINUTES. THIS DEALER SAID IT COULD COST UPWARD FROM AT LEAST $400.00 TO FIX EITHER ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WHICH MAY STILL NOT CORRECT THEM ALL. BUT THE MOST SERIOUS WAS THE CATALYTIC PROBLEM THAT INVOLVES HOT GASES AND DEBRIS BEING DRAWN INTO THE ENGINE INSTEAD OF GOING OUT THE EXHAUST, RESULTING IN ENGINE DAMAGE. THE PROBLEMS BEGAN WHEN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT REMAINED LIT AFTER ABOUT 6 MONTHS OF OWNERSHIP. BUT THE PROBLEM WITH STARTING DIDN'T SHOW UP UNTIL THE ONE YEAR POINT. JUST RECENTLY, I HAVE PURCHASED A TUNE-UP AS WELL AS A NEW BATTERY FOR MY VEHICLE IN ORDER TO REMEDY WHAT I THOUGHT WERE OWNER SERVICE ISSUES. SADLY, THIS LOCAL DEALER EITHER DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT YOUR RECALL OR SOMEBODY IS HIDING THIS FROM NOT JUST THEM BUT FROM OWNERS LIKE ME AS WELL. I PLAN TO CALL NISSAN-1 TOMORROW AS THEY WERE CLOSED AFTER LEAVING THE DEALERSHIP. I HOPE NO FIRE RESULTS FROM THIS OR ANY SERIOUS PROBLEMS RELATING TO INJURIES AS WE TRY AND RESOLVE THIS ISSUE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE IN ADVANCE. *TR