NHTSA Complaint #10546022 — 2004 NISSAN ALTIMA

ON 9/19/2013, WHILE DRIVING ON ROUTE 21 HIGHWAY, I WAS ON MY WAY TO RUTGERS DRIVING IN THE FAST LANE WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN MY CAR ENGINE WAS FULL OF SMOKE, MY RADIATOR BLEW UP ALL OVER THE HIGHWAY AND EVEN WORSE MY CAR JUST SHUT OFF INSTANTLY. THE GUY BEHIND ME WAS VERY CLOSE TO HITTING MY CAR BUT LUCKILY HE HAD TO SLAM HIS BRAKES VERY HARD. I WAS SO CLOSE TO THE DIVIDER THANK GOD I DID NOT SLAM INTO IT OR ELSE I WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY. ANOTHER MAN CAME OUT WITH A FIRE EXTINGUISHER TO PUT DOWN MY CAR. A POLICE OFFICER AND OTHER MEN PUSHED MY CAR TO THE EMERGENCY LANE. ANOTHER INCIDENT, 9/21 AS I PICKED UP MY CAR FROM A MECHANIC THAT REPLACED MY RADIATOR, ON ROUTE 17 MY CAR WAS DRIVING AT A VERY SLOW SPEED AND STALLED. I IMMEDIATELY TURNED IT BACK ON AND ENTERED A LANDMARK PARKING LOT. I DID SOME RESEARCH AND FOUND OUT ON NHTSA.GOV THAT THERE IS A RECALL FOR THE CRANK ANGLE SENSOR PARTS: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING. MY MECHANIC TOLD ME MY CAR ENGINE WAS UNABLE TO COOL SO A TOW TRUCK TOOK MY CAR TO MEADOWLANDS NISSAN DEALER IN NJ AND THEY REFUSED TO PERFORM THE "ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING" RECALL CLAIMING THAT THEIR ECM RECALL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH TEMPERATURE AND DRIVE-ABILITY. I MENTIONED THAT ON THE GOVERNMENT SITE IT CLEARLY STATES "ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING" BUT THEY STATED THAT NISSAN DEALERS ARE PRIVATE DEALERS AND DO NOT CARE WHAT ANYBODY ELSE SAYS. THE MAN TOLD ME THEY FOLLOW WHATEVER THEY HAVE IN THEIR NISSAN SYSTEM, NOT THE GOVERNMENT. I AM SO OFFENDED THAT MY LIFE WAS ON THE LINE TWICE OVER NISSAN'S HAZARDOUS RECALLS. YET, THEY ARE REFUSING TO MAKE MY CAR A SAFE VEHICLE. I DO NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO ANYBODY ELSE I'M ONLY 21 I"M WAY TOO YOUNG TO DIE OVER A DEFECTIVE VEHICLE ENGINE. MY CAR IS STILL AT THE DEALER AND I WANT THEM TO FOLLOW GOVERNMENT RECALLS AND MAKE THEIR VEHICLES SAFE ENOUGH TO DRIVE. *TR