2009 NISSAN ALTIMA Complaints

THE CAR FAILED TO START DUE TO A STEERING WHEEL LOCK MECHANISM FAILURE AND THE CAR HAD TO BE TOWED AND THE STEERING WHEEL LOCK MECHANISM REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY AT THE TIME OF THIS FAILURE, HOWEVER THESE UNITS SHOULD BE FAIRLY RELIABLE AND SHOULD NOT BE FAILING. IT APPEARS THAT THE UNIT USED IN THESE CARS HAS A PARTICULAR DESIGN FLAW THAT CAUSES THESE UNITS TO FAIL AND NISSAN HAS MANY COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE FAILURE OF THESE UNITS. MY BIGGER QUESTION IS TO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THESE UNITS FAIL WHILE DRIVING THE CAR. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT PEOPLE ARE DRIVING AROUND IN DEATH TRAPS THAT MAY LOCK THEIR STEERING WHILE DRIVING? I HAD THE UNIT REPLACED AND CONTACTED NISSAN AND WAS NOT ABLE TO GET A STRAIGHT ANSWER ON IF THESE UNITS ARE SAFE, IF THE REPLACEMENT IS SAFE, IF THE REPLACEMENT CONTAINS THE SAME DEFECT AS THE ORIGINAL UNIT. NISSAN HAD EXTENDED THE WARRANTY ON THIS UNIT, BUT OBVIOUSLY IT HAS NOT BEEN LONG ENOUGH, OR THE REPLACEMENT UNITS ARE FAILING AS WELL. SUCH A SIMPLE UNIT THAT OBVIOUSLY HAS A WEARING DESIGN FLAW THAT MAY POTENTIALLY LEAD TO LOSS OF CONTROL OF A VEHICLE IF IT DOES NOT FAIL SAFE. DOES IT FAIL SAFE?

OWNER OF A 09 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5 S. MY WHOLE FAMILY GOT STUCK WITH THE CAR THAT DIDNT START AT ALL, THERE'S A KEY LOGO IN THE DASH PANEL SHOWING SO I WENT TO FIND SOME SOLUTIONS ONLINE AND FOUND THAT IM LOST BECAUSE IT WONT START AGAIN UNTIL FIX BY A DEALER. NO FUN AT ALL BECAUSE I FOUND THAT I MIGHT HAVE TO PAY OUT OF MY POCKET AND THIS BEEN A OLD PROBLEM THAT I NEVER WAS MENTIONED BY MY SERVICE DEALER. NISSAN NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

FAULTY STEERING CONTROL LOCK DISABLED ENGINE; WOULD NOT START. VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY IN PARKING LOT.

STEERING LOCK MECHANISM ABRUPTLY FAILED PREVENTING THE CAR FROM STARTING. THE CAR WAS STATIONARY BUT THE PROBLEM CAUSED ME AND MY YOUNG GRANDCHILDREN STRANDED IN SUBFREEZING CONDITIONS.

STEERING LOCK DEFECTIVE, KNOWN PROBLEM BY NISSAN SINCE 2009, REFUSED TO RECALL THE CARS INVOLVED. I JUST SPENT $923.00 TO FIX MY '09 WITH 91K MILES ON IT. CAR LEFT ME STRANDED IN A SAFE SPOT, FORTUNATELY. AFTER I PARKED, WALKED AWAY FOR A FEW MINUTES, TRIED TO RESTART, NOTHIING BUT THE TWO KEY LIGHTS IN THE DASH, HORN, OVERHEAD LIGHTS AND ALARM. STEERING WHEEL WOULD NOT LOCK. THIS NEEDS TO BE AN ACTIVE RECALL AND OWNERS REIMBURSED FOR THE WORK INVOLVED!!!

CAR WAS PARKED. CAR WONT START OR CRANK. THE FOB OPENS AND LOCKS DOORS, BUT ENGINE WONT START. DEALER REPLACE STEERING LOCK UNIT. NISSAN FORUMS ARE FULL OF COMPLAINTS FROM 2012 - 2013 WITH THE SAME ISSUE. NISSAN DID EXTEND WARRANTY ON THIS PART BUT ONLY OF FEW YEARS WITH OUT ISSUING A RE-CALL OR NOTICE. PART AND LABOR ARE OVER $1100.

STARTED CAR WITH NO ISSUES AND DROVE TO A PLACE OF BUSINESS. APPROXIMATELY 3 HOURS LATER, CAR (STATIONARY IN A PARKING LOT) UNLOCKED, BUT WOULD NOT START. "KEY" INDICATOR LIGHT BLINKS, WHICH USUALLY MEANS REMOTE BATTERY IS LOW. AS I ATTEMPT TO PUSH BRAKE AND PUSH BUTTON TO START CAR, RED LIGHT BLINKS INDICATING MY CAR IS NOT RECOGNIZING THE KEY. IT'S 25 DEGREES OUTSIDE AND I HAVE MY 2 YEAR OLD CHILD AND NO HEAT IN MY CAR, SO I HAVE A FRIEND DRIVE ME HOME. I RETURN WITH NEW BATTERIES IN THE KEY. CAR STILL WILL NOT START. INSERTED THE KEY IN THE PORT, BUT THAT DIDN'T START THE CAR EITHER. AFTER READING AND RESEARCHING THE ISSUE, I'M SURE IT'S THE STEERING WHEEL LOCK MECHANISM. I THEREFORE HAVE TO CALL A TOW TRUCK AND HAVE MY CAR TOWED TO THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP.

MY BRAKE SWITCH WENT OUT IN SEPTEMBER. AT ANY GIVEN TIME MY CAR WOULDN'T START. WHEN I PRESS THE BRAKE PEDDLE MY BRAKE LIGHT WOULDN'T COME ON. THIS HAPPENED OVER AND OVER AGAIN. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS BECAUSE SOMEONE COULD RUN INTO THE BACK OF THE CAR AT ANY GIVEN TIME. I TRAVEL UP AND DOWN THE ROAD A GOOD BIT. HAVING THIS PROBLEM IS VERY DANGEROUS FOR ME. NOW, A FEW MONTHS MY CAR WANT START AGAIN. THE DEALERSHIP THINKS ITS THE STEERING COLUMN THIS TIME. MY CAR DON'T EVEN HAVE 70,000 MILES ON IT. THIS DOESN'T MAKE SINCE TO ME. I'VE BEEN TOLD BY SEVERAL PEOPLE THAT NISSAN IS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM. I'VE BEEN TOLD THAT THE PROBLEM EXIST IN MOST ALL 2009 ALTIMA'S. WHY WOULD NISSAN RISK THE WELL BEING OF THEIR CUSTOMERS. IT'S SAD THAT WHEN I GIVE THEM THE YEAR AND MAKE OF MY CAR THEY KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THE PROBLEM IS WITHOUT EVEN CHECKING THEM OUT. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL ON THESE PARTS. THESE PARTS. WHY IS NISSAN WILLING TO CHEAT THEIR CUSTOMERS AND WHY ARE THEY WILLING TO PUT OUR LIVES AS WELL AS THE LIVES OF OTHER DRIVERS AT RISK. *TR

ON 1/6/17 MY 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA WOULD NOT START DUE TO A LOCKED STEERING COLUMN. I WAS STRANDED AT A SCHOOL IN BELOW FREEZING TEMPERATURES, AND HAD TO ASK SOMEONE FOR A RIDE. THIS PART HAS BEEN BREAKING DOWN FOR AWHILE. I WAS FORTUNATE TO FIND A RIDE. THE TEMPERATURE IN KC THAT DAY WAS BETWEEN 1-14 F WITH PACKED SNOW AND ICE ON THE GROUND. SOMEONE COULD BE STRANDED IN A PLACE OR SITUATION THAT IS NOT SAFE. I WAS TOLD THE CAR HAD A FAULTY STEERING LOCK. I HAD TO HAVE THE CAR TOWED AND REPAIRED AT A COST OF $1,192.34

I GO TO COLLEGE IN A REMOTE PART OF NEBRASKA AND IN THE WINTERS IT GETS REALLY COLD AND WHEN YOU HAVE A CAR IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AND IT DOES NOT WANT TO START. THANKS NISSAN FOR NOT CARING IF I DIE OF EXPOSURE. I LIVE IN REMOTE TOWN THAT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A GROCERY STORE. EVERYTHING IS CLOSED BY 6PM IN MY TOWN AND WE ARE THE LAST PLACE TO CLOSE IN MY WORK TOWN WHICH IS A 30 MIN DRIVE HOME. BOTH OF THESE TOWNS WOULD BE CONSIDERED SMALL TOWN MIDWEST FARM TOWNS, SO WHEN I CLOSE WORK AND I CAN'T START MY CAR AT MIDNIGHT, I'M STRANDED. I CAN'T GO BACK INTO WORK TO KEEP WARM AS THE LOCK AND ALARM ARE ACTIVATED WHEN I LEAVE. NO ONE IS UP AND THE ONLY PEOPLE ON THE STREETS ARE THE COPS & ARE NOT TAXIS TO DRIVE ME 30 MINS TO ANOTHER TOWN HOME. POINT IS, MY CAR DOESN'T TURN ON, I'M LEFT OUT IN ZERO DEGREE WEATHER OR BELOW ZERO WITH ONE HECK OF A WIND CHILL TO JUST WAIT FOR SOME ONE THAT IS OVER AN HOUR AWAY TO COME GET ME. IF I'M LUCKY ENOUGH TO FIND SOME ONE IN PERU, NE. OTHERWISE I AM CALL MY MOTHER IN LINCOLN, NE. THAT'S OVER AN HOUR AND HALF DRIVE. I HAVE BEEN STRANDED NOW 3 TIMES SINCE DECEMBER 10, 2016. 1ST TIME. I WAS TOLD IT IS MY BATTERY. REPLACED IT TO NO RESOLVE. 2ND TIME WAS TOLD IT IS MY ALTERNATOR. TESTED FINE AND SINCE IT STARTED FINE AT THE DEALERSHIP THEY SAID MY CAR WAS FINE. 3RD TIME, I HOPED ON THE INTERNET AND TO MY COMPLETE SURPRISE AND SHOCK TO FIND THAT THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED ISSUES. NISSAN HAS KNOWN ABOUT THE STEERING LOCK CONTROL UNIT STRANDING PEOPLE FOR YEARS AND HAS DONE NOTHING TO NOTIFY THERE CUSTOMERS OR HAVE IT AS A RECALL, BUT ONLY AS A WARRANTY ISSUE WHICH EXPIRED 1-2016. I HAVE ALREADY SPENT OVER $300 TRYING TO GET THE PROBLEM FIXED. I AM A COLLEGE STUDENT PUTTING MYSELF THROUGH COLLEGE. THAT WAS MY BOOK MONEY THIS SEMESTER. I DON'T HAVE RICH PARENTS AND NEED A RELIABLE CAR. NISSAN GET IT TOGETHER AND MAKE THIS A RECALL TO FIX IT!!