2003 NISSAN ALTIMA Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THE FRONT DRIVER'S SIDE FLOOR BOARD CORRODED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 140,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE FLOOR PAN BECAME SEVERELY RUSTED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER FOR DIAGNOSIS AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE FAILURE WAS DUE TO NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 75,000.

WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, ENGINE BEGAN TO MAKE RATTLING NOISE AND LOST A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF POWER DURING ACCELERATION. DUE TO LOCATION AND TIME OF NIGHT, I COASTED (BARELY USING ANY ACCELERATION) TO A SAFE LOCATION. TURNED ENGINE OFF TO LOOK UNDER THE HOOD- COULD NOT FIND ANY PROBLEM. TRIED STARTING CAR AGAIN AND WOULD NOT START. HAD IT TOWED THE NEXT DAY TO MECHANIC- HE FOUND SHARDS OF METAL IN THE ENGINE OIL AND STATED THAT THE VALVES SCREWS HAD CAME OFF AND RUINED THE ENGINE. I HAD ALWAYS PUT IN SYNTHETIC OIL EVERY 5K MILES, AND DID A COMPLETE ENGINE FLUSH EVERY YEAR/25,000 MILES EVER SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR 6 YEARS AGO. THIS OCCURRED AT 133500 MILES AND THE ENGINE CANNOT BE SALVAGED. TO REPLACE THE ENGINE, THE ESTIMATES I AM RECEIVING ARE BETWEEN 2,000 AND 3,000 USD. *TR

BACKED UP CAR IN PARKING GARAGE AND BRAKES DIDN'T DECOMPRESS AT ALL, PEDAL WAS HARD, KEPT BACKING UP NARROWLY MISSING ANOTHER CAR- KEPT TRYING TO DECOMPRESS PEDAL AND EVENTUALLY IT STOPPED THE CAR BUT IT WAS HARD TO. LET CAR SIT FOR SEVERAL MINUTES PRESSING BRAKE PEDAL ON AND OFF AND TESTING IT. IT SEEMED TO BE BETTER AFTER AND I DROVE HOME VERY SLOWLY RELYING ON LETTING OFF THE GAS TO SLOW AND STAYING FAR BEHIND EVERYONE. VERY SCARY- IT COULD'VE HAPPENED ON THE HIGHWAY. IT ALSO HAPPENED THE WEEK BEFORE BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS ICE UNDER THE CAR WHEN I STOPPED AT A STOP LIGHT, IT WENT PAST THE STOP ABOUT 2 FEET. I THOUGHT IT FELT HARD BUT IT HAPPENED SO QUICKLY I THOUGHT IT WAS THE ICE/SNOW. *TR

ON JANUARY 15, 2013, MY CAR SHUT DOWN WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROADWAY AT ABOUT 40 MPH WHILE TAKING MY DAUGHTER TO SCHOOL. I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND RESTART THE CAR AND MAKE IT BACK HOME SAFELY. THANKFULLY, THE PERSON BEHIND ME WHEN THE CAR STOPPED DID NOT HIT ME FROM BEHIND. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED WITH MY CAR. THIS ALSO HAPPENED PREVIOUSLY ABOUT 2 YEARS AGO. I WAS INFORMED TODAY BY THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP THAT A FAILED CAM SHAFT SENSOR WAS THE REASON THAT MY CAR WAS SHUTTING DOWN. THEY ARE REPLACING THE SENSOR FOR APPROX. $400.00. HOWEVER, THIS EXACT ISSUE IS ON THE NHTSA.DOT WEBSITE AS PART OF A RECALL. NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 03V455000. MY MAJOR CONCERN IS THAT MY CAR COULD HAVE SHUT DOWN ON 95, A MAJOR CITY HIGHWAY, WITH MY CHILD IN THE CAR AND NO ONE WANTS TO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THIS DANGEROUS SITUATION. I SPOKE TO NISSAN USA TODAY, AND THEY OFFERED NO ASSISTANCE. PLEASE ASSIST ME WITH THIS SERIOUS CONCERN. *TR

RECENTLY THE ENGINE BLEW ON MY ALTIMA. IT HAD BEEN FUNCTION PROPERLY AND RECEIVED REGULAR MAINTENANCE SINCE ITS PURCHASE DATE ROUGHLY 6 MONTHS AGO WITH ABOUT 74,000 MILES. THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER FAILED AND OVERHEATED AT AROUND 78,000 MILES. CURRENTLY IT IS BURNING THROUGH ABOUT 3 LITERS OF OIL A WEEK. BECAUSE OF THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY CATALYTIC CONVERTER, THE ENGINE IS NO LONGER SERVICEABLE. *TR

FLOOR BOARD RUST THROUGH DEFECT ON ALL 2003 TO 2006 NISSAN ALTIMA'S THAT I LOOKED AT BEFORE PURCHASING MY CURRENT ALTIMA, WHICH HAS RECENTLY SUFFERED THE SAME SAFETY DEFECT. I'M AFRAID IT WILL BECOME A FRED FLINTSTONE PEDAL CAR AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE. *TR

MULTIPLE TIMES WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 30-45 MPH THE VEHICLE HAS STALLED AND NOT PRODUCED FULL ENGINE POWER WHEN PUSHING ON THE ACCELERATOR. THIS HAS CAUSED SERIOUS CONCERN FOR THE SAFETY OF MY FAMILY AND MYSELF. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO NISSAN SERVICE REPAIR (AUGUST 2011, ~94K MILES). NISSAN RAN DIAGNOSTICS AND STATED THAT THE CIRCUIT BOARD FOR CRANK/CAM SENSORS HAD FAILED. PAID $430 TO REPLACE CRANKSHAFT AND CAM/CRANK SENSORS. FAST FORWARD TO DECEMBER 2012 (~110K MILES) WHERE I EXPERIENCED THE SAME EXACT ISSUES ALONG WITH REDUCED ENGINE POWER WHEN PRESSING ON THE ACCELERATOR. ANOTHER LOCAL MECHANIC DETECTED THAT THE CAM/CRANK SENSORS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AGAIN. I DID SOME RESEARCH AND FOUND OUT ABOUT RECALL #03V455000, WHICH DESCRIBES THE EXACT SYMPTOMS THAT I HAVE BEEN HAVING. I CALLED THE NISSAN SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT REPLACED THE SENSORS IN 2011 WHO SAID THAT MY VIN WASN'T INCLUDED IN THE RECALL SO I DIDN'T QUALIFY. AFTER READING THE COMPLAINTS ON THIS SITE FOR THIS SPECIFIC YEAR/MAKE/MODEL, IT IS BEYOND ME HOW NOTHING HASN'T BEEN FLAGGED ABOUT THIS BEING AN ISSUE. ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS (MULTIPLE TIMES) YET THEY ARE TOLD THEIR VIN'S DON'T QUALIFY UNDER THE RECALL?? SOMETHING IS FISHY THERE. OTHER COMPLAINTS WITH THE SAME EXACT ISSUE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS: ODI ID NUMBERS: 10416743, 10384742,10370526,10342438,10332467, 10318898, 10318045, 10314479, 10283487, 10278805. THANK YOU FOR ANY ASSISTANCE OR LIGHT THAT CAN BE SHED ON THIS ISSUE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 35 MPH THE VEHICLE STALLED WITH THE ILLUMINATION OF THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON WARNING LIGHT. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE AFTER PUMPING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL SEVERAL TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A MECHANIC WHO PERFORMED A DIAGNOSTIC TEST AND ADVISED THAT THE CIRCUIT BOARD FOR THE CRANK POSITION SENSOR FAILED. THE DEALER WAS THEN NOTIFIED WHO ADVISED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 03V455000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED WHO CONFIRMED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED UNDER THE RECALL AND OFFERED NO FURTHER ASSISTANCE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 180,000.

SUDDENLY STARTING USING 1 QT. OIL EVERY 600 MILES. NO LEAKS, NO SMOKE, NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT EVER CAME ON. TOOK IT TO MY LOCAL NISSAN DEALERSHIP. THEY SAID OIL CONSUMPTION WAS FROM CATALYTIC CONVERTER BREAKING DOWN AND GETTING SUCKED INTO ENGINE ABSORBING THE OIL AND SCORING LOWER ENGINE (CYLINDER BLOCK WALLS), THUS CAUSING OIL BLOW BY. THEY RECOMMEND CATALYTIC CONVERTER AND ENGINE REPLACEMENT AT $5,000 DOLLARS. THERE IS A HISTORY OF THESE CONVERTER FAILURES FROM 2002 IN NISSAN PRODUCTS. MY LOCAL DEALER SAID MY VEHICLE WASN'T ON RECALL. THE BIGGEST CONCERN IN THIS MATTER WAS THAT CHECK ENGINE LIGHT NEVER CAME ON AND HAD I'D GONE ANOTHER 1000 MILES THIS CAR COULD HAVE SEIZED UP ON THE INTERSTATE.