NHTSA Complaint #10441108 — 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA

I OWN A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5S. MY VEHICLE'S CHECK ENGINE LIGHT RECENTLY ILLUMINATED WITH A "P420" CODE. WHEN I WENT TO SMOG MY VEHICLE, I WAS INFORMED THE VEHICLE WOULD FAIL SMOG DUE TO THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. THE MECHANIC AT THE SMOG STATION SUGGESTED I TAKE MY VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP. I FOLLOWED HIS ADVICE AND CALLED THE DEALERSHIP, WHO ASKED THEM TO COMPLETE A DIAGNOSTIC TO DETERMINE THE ISSUE. AFTER ONE BUSINESS DAY, THE DEALER PROMPTLY CONTACTED ME, NOTING THAT "BITS OF MY PRE-CATALYTIC CONVERTER HAD DEGRADED AND BEEN SUCKED INTO MY ENGINE". THIS HAS RESULTED IN A QUOTED COST AT $2,944 FOR A LONG BLOCK + $790 DOWN PIPE + EXHAUST MANIFOLD $681 = $4,415 + LABOR (ESTIMATED AT 20 HOURS AT A RATE OF $130/HOUR) FOR A TOTAL COST OF APPROXIMATELY $7,015. APPARENTLY, AS A RESULT OF A DESIGN FLAW IN THE POWER VALVE SCREWS, THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER IS DEFECTIVE, BREAKS DOWN, AND IS SUCKED INTO THE ENGINE, CAUSING EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE. THE VEHICLE CODE SENSOR READS A CODE OF P420. THIS IS A WELL DOCUMENTED PROBLEM ON WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV, FORUMS, AND FROM VARIOUS OTHER NISSAN ALTIMA OWNERS. I CAN PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION FOR THIS AT THE INVESTIGATING AGENTS REQUEST, INCLUDING THOSE FILED WITH THE NHSTA AND CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM. SOME RELEVANT LINKS: 1)HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/NISSAN/ALTIMA/2003/ENGINE/ 2)HTTP://AUTOS.MSN.COM/RESEARCH/VIP/RELIABILITY.ASPX?YEAR=2003&MAKE=NISSAN&MODEL=ALTIMA 3)HTTP://WWW.CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM/AUTOMOTIVE/NISSAN_ALTIMA.HTML 4)HTTP://WWW-ODI.NHTSA.DOT.GOV/COMPLAINTS/ (SEARCH UNDER 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA ENGINE & ENGINE COOLING. THERE ARE 75 PAGES DOCUMENTING THIS ISSUE!). *TR