NHTSA Complaint #10441390 — 2003 INFINITI M45

THE FUEL GAUGE STOPPED ACCURATELY INDICATING THE AMOUNT OF FUEL IN THE VEHICLE. SUBSEQUENTLY THE CAR RAN OUT OF FUEL WHILE DRIVING ON LOCAL ROAD CAUSING DISRUPTION IN TRAFFIC BEFORE IT COULD BE MOVED TO THE SHOULDER. AFTER A CURSORY CHECK TO SEE IF ANYTHING LOOKED TO BE AMISS, WE DECIDED TO START WITH THE SIMPLE SOLUTIONS AND WORK TOWARD THE MORE COMPLEX. WE ADDED 5 GALLONS OF GAS TO THE CAR AND IT IMMEDIATELY CRANKED AND RAN FINE. THIS IS WHEN WE NOTICED THAT THE GAS GAUGE FAILED TO MOVE. THE GAUGE SHOWED TO BE ABOUT 1/2 FULL BEFORE WE ADDED FUEL AND DIDN'T MOVE AFTER ADDING THE FUEL. THE FUEL INDICATOR HAS NOW MOVED TO PAST FULL AND HASN'T MOVED SINCE. WE HAD AN INFINITI DEALER LOOK AT THE CAR AND THEY GAVE US AN ESTIMATE OF $1502.00 TO MAKE THE REPAIRS. THE MALFUNCTIONED OCCURRED AT OR NEAR 72,000 MILES, WELL AFTER THE WARRANTY PERIOD. REVIEWING INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET SHOWS THAT THIS APPEARS TO BE A RATHER COMMON OCCURRENCE FOR THIS YEAR/MODEL. OFTEN THIS WAS REPAIRED BY INFINITI IN CARS THAT WERE STILL IN THE WARRANTY PERIOD. BELOW IS A LINK TO A WEBSITE THAT'S HAS OVER 160 POSTS CONCERNING THIS PROBLEM. HTTP://FORUMS.NICOCLUB.COM/M45-FUEL-GAUGE-PROBLEM-POST-HERE-IF-YOU-HAVE-HAD-IT-T316682-150.HTML. *TR