NHTSA Complaint #10444089 — 2004 INFINITI M45

PURCHASED A 2004 INFINITI M45 WITH 76K IN MAY 2010. WITHIN 2 DAYS OF BUYING THE CAR THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I HAD IT SCANNED AND IT SAID "FUEL SENDING UNIT" SO I REPLACED THAT PART AND THE LIGHT WENT OFF. ABOUT 2 DAYS LATER, THE GAS TANK WAS ABOUT 1/4 TANK SHOWN, AND I WATCHED THE FUEL GAUGE NEEDLE MOVE FROM 1/4 TANK TO "FULL" AT THE STOP LIGHT. SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME BACK ON. I DID A QUICK "GOOGLE" SEARCH AND FOUND MULTIPLE ONLINE FORUMS DISCUSSING THIS TOPIC AND THE REAL FAULT IS THE GAUGE CLUSTER. I CONTACTED A LOCAL INFINITI DEALER AND ASKED ABOUT THE PROBLEM AND WAS TOLD "IT'S ONLY HAPPENED A FEW TIMES" BUT I HAD PAGES OF OTHER OWNERS POSTING ON THE FORUMS SAYING IT HAD HAPPENED TO THEM. THE DEALER TOLD ME IT WOULD BE $800 TO REPLACE THE GAUGE CLUSTER, SO I SAID "NO THANKS" AND HAD MY ORIGINAL CLUSTER REPAIRED WITH A LIFETIME WARRANTY AT BBA REMANUFACTURING AND IT HAS WORKED PERFECTLY SINCE SEPTEMBER 2010. PRIOR TO REPAIRING THE ORIGINAL ONE, I PURCHASED A BRAND NEW GAUGE CLUSTER ON EBAY, BUT IT WAS NOT FOR MY MODEL WITH ICC AND NAV, SO I HAVE SPENT MONEY BUYING A GAUGE CLUSTER AND REPAIRING MY ORIGINAL ONE. *TR