NHTSA Complaint #11019235 — 2011 NISSAN MAXIMA

THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON IN MY MAXIMA A NUMBER OF MONTHS BACK WHEN THE VEHICLE HAD CLOSE TO APPROXIMATELY 64K MILES. THE CODES THAT TRIPPED WERE P0011 AND P0021, BANK 1 AND BANK 2 CAM SENSORS. UPON BRINGING IT TO GARDEN CITY NISSAN, I WAS INFORMED THE FRONT AND REAR COVERS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND THE COST WAS EXPECTED TO BE $2,400. THE REPAIR WAS PERFORMED AND THE BILL WAS PAID. ACCORDING TO THE REP. AT THE DEALERSHIP, THIS TYPE OF REPAIR IS PERFORMED ON THIS CAR TWICE A MONTH. THE GASKET IN THE MOTOR MOUNT IS CARDBOARD AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED WITH A SILICONE BASED GASKET. THE CARDBOARD GASKET BREAKS APART AND WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS WITH THE ENGINE PERFORMANCE BY LOWERING THE OIL PRESSURE, WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY SEIZE THE ENGINE. THE CAR WAS ONLY 4K MILES OUT OF THE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY AND NISSAN WOULD NOT PROVIDE ANY ASSISTANCE WITH THE REPAIR. DURING THE LIFE OF THE VEHICLE, I REGULARLY PERFORMED OIL CHANGES, FOR WHICH I HAVE ALL RECEIPTS. ALTHOUGH THIS IS MORE OF AN ENGINE PERFORMANCE ISSUE THAN A SAFETY ISSUE, THIS SHOULD BE REVIEWED BY THE NHTSA AS MANUFACTURERS DEFECT THAT COSTS CONSUMERS A LOT OF MONEY TO REPAIR. THIS IS A HARDSHIP FOR ME AS I'M SURE IT IS FOR MANY CONSUMERS. SOME MAY NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD THIS TYPE OF A REPAIR AND WILL NOT HAVE THE SERVICE DONE. I AM NOT SURE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN OVER TIME IF THIS REPAIR IS NOT PERFORMED SOMETHING OF THIS MAGNITUDE SHOULD NOT HAPPEN ON A CAR OF THIS AGE. I APPEALED TO NISSAN BOTH VERBALLY AND IN WRITING WITH NO LUCK. I WOULD HOPE THAT THE NHTSA WOULD LOOK INTO THIS AND POSSIBLE APPLY SOME PRESSURE TO NISSAN TO INITIATE A RECALL. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. ATTACHED IS THE CLAIM APPEAL I SENT TO NISSAN AS WELL AS THE REPAIR BILL. ANY ASSISTANCE WITH ISSUE WOULD BE APPRECIATED.