NHTSA Complaint #11205461 — 2013 NISSAN ALTIMA

I WAS DRIVING MY VEHICLE ABOUT 25 MPH LEAVING WORK WHEN I HEARD A THUD/CLUNK FROM THE PASSENGER SIDE REAR OF THE CAR. THE TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT CAME ON, I PULLED OVER AND LOOKED AT THE CAR. I THOUGH I HAD A FLAT BECAUSE THE CAR HAD BEEN HANDLING 'ODDLY' FOR ABOUT 30 FEET. I DIDN'T SEE A FLAT, DROVE THE REMAINING MILE HOME AND WHEN I SAW THE CAR IN THE DRIVEWAY THE PASSENGER REAR TIRE WAS AT AN ANGLE TO THE CAR. IT WAS POINTED TO THE RIGHT, WHILE THE OTHER TIRES WERE ALIGNED STRAIGHT FORWARD. I CALLED MY LOCAL NISSAN DEALERSHIP AND THEY TOLD ME TO NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE, AS THEY HAD ONE IN LAST WEEK WITH SIMILAR CONDITIONS (SAME YEAR, SAME MODEL) ROUGHLY SAME MILEAGE. THEY ARRANGED FOR A TOW TRUCK TO PICK UP THE VEHICLE AND DRAG IT ONTO THE BED OF THE TRUCK. THEY DIAGNOSED THAT THE RIGHT REAR CONTROL ARM HAD FAILED, CAUSING THE TIRE TO DISCONNECT FROM THE CONTROL ARM WHILE I WAS DRIVING. I REQUESTED THAT THEY CHECK REMAINING CONTROL ARM SUSPENSION COMPONENTS AND THEY CONFIRMED THAT THE DRIVER'S SIDE UNTIL WAS ALSO CRACKED, BUT NOT COMPLETELY BROKEN THROUGH AS YET. THE NISSAN MANUFACTURER REP VISITED THE DEALERSHIP AND STATED THAT THE REPAIRS WERE DUE TO RUST, CAUSING BOTH CONTROL ARMS TO FAIL, THEREFORE NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY IN PLACE. THE VEHICLE HAD FEWER THAN 89,000 MILES ON IT WHEN THE COMPONENTS FAILED, THERE WERE NO INDICATIONS OF ANY PROBLEMS PREVIOUSLY, AND THE CAR WAS IN THE DEALERSHIP THREE WEEK'S PRIOR DUE TO A TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENT. THIS IS MY SIXTH AND LAST NISSAN VEHICLE I HAVE HAD NO PRIOR EVENTS LIKE THIS WITH MY OTHER NISSAN VEHICLES. THIS PART FAILED WITHOUT ANY WARNING, LUCKILY AT LOW SPEED IN MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD 1 MILE FROM MY HOME.