NHTSA Complaint #10508649 — 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA

DEAR SIRS: ON MARCH 31ST AT APROX. 2PM I WAS HEADING TO WORK IN I-4 WESTBOUND WHEN MY CAR STARTED TO WOBBLE. I WAS JUST PAST THE OFF-RAMP FOR THE B-LINE, NEAR SEA WORLD, BUT BARELY GO TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD BEFORE THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE NARROWED THE ROAD. WITHOUT ANY WARNING SIGN OR LIGHT,THE LEFT SIDE REAR TIRE HAD COMPLETELY SEPARATED FROM THE RIM AND WAS FLOPPING AROUND AND CAUGHT THE BUMPER TEARING IT PARTIALLY LOOSE. THROUGH MY INSURANCE, GEICO, I WAS ABLE TO GET A TOW TO UNIVERSAL NISSAN A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER. I CALLED MY HUSBAND AND HE MET ME BY THE CAR. WE WENT WITH THE TOW TO UNIVERSAL AND LEFT THE KEY IN THE DROP BOX. I HAD TO MISS WORK THAT DAY. THE NEXT DAY NISSAN CALLED TO TELL US THE CAR NEEDED "BODY WORK" AND WE HAD TO CALL GEICO TO GET ANOTHER TOW TO UNIVERSAL AUTOBODY. WE WERE VERY CLEAR THAT THE CAR HAD A WARRANTY AND WE THOUGHT THIS REPAIR SHOULD BE COVERED. WE HAD A GEICO REPRESENTATIVE INSPECT THE CAR ON 4-1 AND HE SAID IT WOULD BE 3 DAYS AND $443 TO FIX IT; THE TIRES WERE NOT COVERED BY GEICO AND WE DID NOT MEET OUR DEDUCTIBLE. WE SPOKE WITH UNIVERSAL SEVERAL TIMES TO HONOR THE WARRANTIES WE ARE PAYING FOR. THE PAPERS WERE IN THE CAR AND I ASSUMED OUR RECORDS WOULD BE ON FILE AT UNIVERSAL NISSAN. HE KEPT INSISTING THAT THE TIRES AND DAMAGE WERE NOT COVERED. WE WERE USING MY MOM'S AND ANOTHER OLDER CAR TO GET TO WORK, SO WE DIDN'T GO BACK TO UNIVERSAL AUTOBODY UNTIL THE REPAIRS WERE DONE, APRIL 8TH. WE AGREED ONLY TO REPLACE THE PAIR OF BACK TIRES WITH A USED RIM, AND A "WHEELHOUSE LINER" AND MOUNTING AND BALANCING. THEY SAID THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WARRANTY. I HAD TO PAY FOR THE CAR AND GO TO WORK; THE BILL WAS$725.47 WHICH WE ARE NOW DISPUTING. THE TIRES: 215/60R15 ARE INCORRECTLY BILLED. THE WARRANTY PAPERS WERE INSIDE THE CAR: ROAD HAZARD TIRE COVERAGE (5 YRS) OIL CHANGE & TIRE ROTATION PLAN, TOTAL LOSS PROTECTION ADDENDUM, ROYAL PROTECTION PLAN, ETC. WE ONLY HAD THE CAR 9 MONTHS; I'M READY TO RETURN IT. *TR