NHTSA Complaint #10550088 — 2008 NISSAN ALTIMA

MY 2008 NISSAN ALTIMA WAS FAILING TO START. PUSH BUTTON IGNITION WOULD ALLOW THE POWER TO TURN ON, THE LIGHTS ON THE DASHBOARD, RADIO, FANS/COOLING/HEATING, ETC. HOWEVER, THE ENGINE COULD NOT TURN ON. I WOULD REGULARLY FIND THAT THIS WOULD BE AN INTERMITTENT BEHAVIOR. SOMETIMES THE VEHICLE WOULD START ON THE FIRST TRY - OTHER TIMES IT WOULD TAKE 20, 30, 40 ATTEMPTS (AND LOTS OF FRUSTRATION) TO START FINALLY. I ATTEMPTED TO HAVE THE DEALER REVIEW THIS AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE EXPERIENCE. FINALLY, AFTER ANOTHER BOUT WITH THE CAR FAILING TO START, I TOOK IT INTO THE DEALER AND THEY RECOMMENDED THAT I SHOULD REPLACE THE BRAKE-STOP-LAMP-SWITCH, FOR A TOTAL COST OF ABOUT $450. WHILE THIS WAS THE DEALER'S RECOMMENDATION, THEY WOULD NOT GUARANTEE THAT THIS WAS, IN FACT, THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM. GREAT, I THOUGHT: LET'S MAKE AN EXPENSIVE REPAIR THAT WE'RE UNSURE IS REALLY THE PROBLEM! THE DEALER TOLD ME THAT THEY'RE REPLACING THESE SWITCHES VERY OFTEN: THIS IS A RECURRING PROBLEM WITH THE '08 ALTIMA (AND, THEY HINTED, OTHER NISSAN MODELS) AND THEY KEEP THE PART STOCKED ALL THE TIME. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE IGNITION SYSTEM DIES AT 55K MILES. I DID CALL NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND WAS TOLD THAT SINCE THERE WAS NO OFFICIAL RECALL NOTICE ISSUED BY THE NHTSA, THAT THEY WERE NOT OBLIGATED TO RECALL THE UNIT AND WOULD NOT REIMBURSE ME FOR THE COST OF THE REPAIR. SINCE MY CAR WAS OUT OF WARRANTY, THEY DIDN'T FEEL INCLINED TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. VERY FRUSTRATED ABOUT THEIR UNWILLINGNESS TO RECOGNIZE AN ISSUE WHEN THEIR DEALERS SEE THIS AS A MAJOR PROBLEM. NOT HAPPY WITH BOTH THE DECISION BY NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS TO SWEEP THIS UNDER THE RUG AND PRETEND THAT THIS IS A MINOR PROBLEM. *TR