NHTSA Complaint #11228277 — 2002 INFINITI Q45

I HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY CAR, WITH THE TIRES CONSTANTLY LEAKING. I HAD TO FILL THEM WITH AIR ALL THE TIME, HAD THEM CHECKED A NUMBER OF TIMES, AND HAD TO HAVE THE RIMS CLEANED AND REGROUND, ETC., TRYING TO DETERMINE AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM. AFTER INCREDIBLE AGGRAVATION, WE FINALLY TRACKED THE PROBLEM DOWN TO CRACKS IN THE VALVE STEMS. THE VALVE STEMS CONTAINED THE AIR PRESSURE SENSORS AND WERE EXPENSIVE TO REPLACE, PARTS WERE AS MUCH AS $135 OR SO EACH, PLUS LABOR, WHICH COULD BE $200 OR MORE, AND THEN ALL THE TIRE PRESSURE SENSORS HAD TO BE RE-SET - I THINK THE TERM WAS RECALIBRATED OR SOMETHING, WHICH MOST PLACES DIDN'T HAVE EQUIPMENT TO DO OR COULDN'T DO CORRECTLY, AND I ALWAYS ENDED UP HAVING TO GO TO A DEALERSHIP. AT LEAST THEY SOMETIMES DIDN'T CHARGE AS MUCH AS THEY COULD, AS I WAS A CAPTIVE; IF THEY DIDN'T DO IT, NONE OF THE SENSORS WOULD WORK. I DISCOVERED THAT THESE VALVE STEM SENSORS WERE SUBJECT TO CRACKING, AND HAD JUST BEEN PUT ON THE CAR FOR THAT MODEL YEAR. MIDWAY THROUGH THE MODEL YEAR, THEY WERE REPLACED WITH ANOTHER TYPE MADE OUT OF BETTER MATERIAL. BEFORE MY MODEL YEAR, THE TYPE USED WAS IN SERVICE I THINK FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THE MID-YEAR REPLACEMENTS WERE USED FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL MODEL YEARS. THIS ALL SUGGESTS THAT THEY KNEW THERE WAS A PROBLEM, BUT AVOIDED PAYING FOR IT OR ISSUING A RECALL. COULD YOU PLEASE INVESTIGATE? THANK YOU