NHTSA Complaint #10542953 — 2005 NISSAN ALTIMA

WHILE GETTING THE OIL CHANGED, THE PASSENGER SIDE FLOOR PAN WAS FOUND TO HAVE EXCESSIVE RUST. TOOK THE CAR TO THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP TO GET AN ASSESSMENT OF THE DAMAGE. THEY CONFIRMED THE RUST WAS ABNORMAL AND WAS CAUSED BY IMPROPER WATER DRAINAGE. UNFORTUNATELY THE CAR WAS ABOUT 4 MONTHS OUT OF THE 5 YEAR RUST WARRANTY. THE DEALER WOULD NOT TAKE ANY ACTION AND URGED ME TO CREATE AN INCIDENT REPORT WITH NISSAN CORPORATE. I DID, AND UPON REVIEW OF THE CASE, NISSAN'S REFUSED TO HELP WITH THE PROBLEM AND RECOMMENDED ME TO TAKE THE CAR TO AN AUTO BODY SHOP TO GET REPAIRED ON MY DOLLAR. I UNDERSTAND CARS RUST, BUT THERE IS NO WAY THE RUST HAPPENED OVERNIGHT. BASED ON THE EXTENT OF THE RUST, THE FLOOR PAN WAS MOST LIKELY SEVERELY RUSTED PRIOR TO THE EXPIRATION OF THE RUST WARRANTY. NISSAN SHOULD STAND BY THERE PRODUCT AND REPAIR THE DAMAGE THAT APPEARS TO BE WIDESPREAD AND MODEL SPECIFIC. NISSAN SHOULD NOT ONLY FIX THOSE VEHICLES WHERE THE OWNERS HAVE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED BY A GOOD SAMARITAN CHANGING THE OIL. I FEEL PENALIZED FOR NOT PERSONALLY CLIMBING UNDER MY CAR AND PERIODICALLY INSPECTING IT. SUFFICE IT TO SAY, THERE IS ONLY CARPET SEPARATING THE PASSENGERS FEET AND THE PAVEMENT BELOW. NOT A REASSURING FEELING..... *TR