2003 NISSAN ALTIMA Complaints

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA. WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH, THE VEHICLE WOULD SUDDENLY SHUT OFF INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE IS INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 06V242000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING); HOWEVER, THE DEALER WOULD NOT DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 133,880 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 133,780.

THIS COMPLAINT IS IN CONNECTION WITH RECALL NUMBER 06V242000 I HAVE A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA S. LATELY MY CAR HAS BEEN DYING ON ME AT STOP LIGHTS. THEN MY SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON A COUPLE DAYS AGO. IT WAS THE CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR. I LOOKED ONLINE AND SAW I HAD A RECALL ON MY YEAR CAR FOR THE SENSOR. I TRIED CALLING THE LOCAL NISSAN DEALERSHIP AND THEY TOLD ME I DIDN'T HAVE THAT RECALL. I CALLED NISSAN CUSTOMER SERVICE AND THEY TOLD ME THE SAME THING AND TO TAKE IT IN AND GET IT CHECKED OUT, BUT I DON'T WANT TO PAY MONEY FOR A RECALL. *TR

I OWN A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5L S, SUBJECT TO NHTSA RECALL # 06V242000 REGARDING OVERHEATING OF THE CRANK ANGLE SENSOR. I HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED THE STATED CONSEQUENCES OF THE PROBLEM, INCLUDING STALLING OF THE CAR WHILE DRIVING SEVERAL TIMES AND LIGHTING OF THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT. THE CAR WAS SERVICED BY THE DEALER ON 10/26/07 TO CORRECT THE DEFECT (FREE OF CHARGE), WHICH WAS DONE BY REPROGRAMMING THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE (ECM). THIS SEEMED TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM, UP UNTIL YESTERDAY WHEN THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT APPEARED AGAIN. THE CAR HAS BEEN HESITATING DURING ACCELERATION ON OCCASION LATELY, BUT HAS NOT STALLED. I TOOK THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALER, AND THEY DIAGNOSED IT AS A CRANK SENSOR PROBLEM. THIS IS THE SAME PART THAT IS AFFECTED BY NHTSA RECALL # 06V242000 (ABOVE). THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMS THAT I NEED TO HAVE THE SENSOR REPLACED (AT A COST OF $190, IN ADDITION TO THE $53 I SPENT FOR DIAGNOSIS TODAY). THEY CLAIM THAT THIS PROBLEM IS NOT RELATED TO THE RECALL, WHICH I HAVE A VERY DIFFICULT TIME BELIEVING SINCE THE RECALL NOTICE STATES THIS PART IS ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY ENGINE TEMPERATURES DUE TO POOR LOCATION. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA. WHILE DRIVING AT SLOW SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE COMPLETELY SHUTS OFF AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT REMAINS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT BELIEVES THAT HER VEHICLE IS INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 06V242000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING), BUT THE DEALER STATED THAT THE RECALL WAS CLOSED. HOWEVER, THE DEALER FURTHER STATED THAT IF SHE BROUGHT THE VEHICLE TO THEM AND THEY FIND A FAILURE WITH THE ECM, THEY WOULD REOPEN THE RECALL. SHE HAS NOT YET TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER. THE POWERTRAIN WAS UNKNOWN. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 93,991 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 92,000.

THE CAR WOULD QUIT RUNNING AND WAS HARD TO START BACK. IT ALSO IDLED VERY LOW. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, THE CODES READ THAT IT WAS THE CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR. THE SENSOR WAS REPLACED THREE TIMES AND THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTED. I BELIEVE THIS IS THE SAME PROBLEM FROM NHTSA RECALL 03V455000, BUT IT DOES NOT COVER 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA'S. THE PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN FIXED YET. *TR

MY CAR QUIT FIRST TIME IN A PARKING LOT WHEN MY 93 YR. OLD GRANDMOTHER WAS WITH ME AFTER THAT IT HAS QUIT ON ME TWICE IN THE MIDDLE OF BUSY TRAFFIC. THE CAR JUST QUITS WHICH COULD CAUSE A MAJOR ACCIDENT. THIS CAR NEEDS TO BE RECALLED PERMANENTLY TO GET THEM OFF THE ROAD. THE MANUFACTURER AND DEALERS WILL NOT FIX REPAIR WITHOUT CHARGING. THIS IS A CONTINUOUS DEFAULT IN THE MANUFACTURING OF THIS CAR. REPLACING SENSOR WILL ONLY WORK FOR A LITTLE WHILE AND THEN IT GOES BAD. IT IS A MAJOR DEFAULT IN MANUFACTURING OF THE 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA. *TR

ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO WE BEGAN HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" LIGHT COMING ON IN THE VEHICLE. WE TOOK IT IN TO OUR LOCAL MECHANIC SEVERAL TIMES AND HE COULD NEVER FIND ANYTHING WRONG. JUST RECENTLY, WE ALSO STARTED HAVING TROUBLE GETTING THE CAR TO START. WE HAD THE BATTERY REPLACED. LAST WEEK, WE WERE DRIVING AT A LOW RATE OF SPEED IN THE ATM LANE AT THE BANK AND THE CAR JUST QUIT. ALSO, WE STOPPED TO GET GAS AND COULDN'T GET IT STARTED AGAIN. WE TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND THEY REPLACED THE CRANK ANGLE SENSOR. FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN, THIS HAS BEEN UNDER RECALL FOR MANY OF THE 2003 2.5L ATLIMAS, BUT I WAS TOLD MINE WAS NOT UNDER RECALL. I HAVE ALSO SEEN ARTICLES WHERE OTHER ALTIMA OWNERS ARE IN THE SAME BOAT AS I AM - THEY ARE HAVING THIS ISSUE, BUT ARE BEING TOLD IT IS NOT UNDER RECALL. THE INCIDENT DATE I LISTED BELOW IS THE DATE THAT THE CAR STALLED TWICE. *TR

VEHICLE DEVELOPED DRIVE-ABILITY ISSUES, ROUGH IDLE, STALLING AND ODD SMELL FROM EXHAUST. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A PRIVATE REPAIR SHOP AND WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A MISS-FIRE CODE. DEC 06, SERVICE LIGHT IS BACK ON AND VEHICLE IS RUNNING ROUGH, STALLING AND HARD STARTING. SCANNED SYSTEM AND CODE P0507 (IDLE SPEED) WAS PULLED. WAS ADVISED TO TAKE CAR TO NISSAN DEALERSHIP TO HAVE A RELEARN PERFORMED ON THE COMPUTER. DEC 14, 2006, VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO LITHIA NISSAN, PROCEDURE WAS PERFORMED AND SENSORS WERE-CALIBRATED. RECOMMENDED A THROTTLE BODY BE REPLACED (COST $800). VEHICLE RUNNING ROUGH, SERVICE LIGHT ON AND STALLING ARE OCCURRING AGAIN. SCANNED SYSTEM, CODE P0302 MISS-FIRE CODE ON CYLINDER #2, CODE P0420 CATALYST EFFICIENCY LOW BANK 1. REPLACED THROTTLEBODY PER NISSAN RECOMMENDATION. NOV 02, 2007 ENGINE LIGHT ON, VEHICLE RUNNING POORLY, HARD STARTING AND STALLING. WAS INFORMED BY REPAIR SHOP ABOUT POSSIBLE RECALL ISSUES RELATING TO VEHICLE. CONTACTED NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS AFTER READING ABOUT RECALL FOR 2002, 2004-2005 VEHICLES SIMILAR TO MINE WITH SAME PROBLEMS (REFERENCE #5962832 & 6071239). TALKED TO REP ABOUT THE RECALL AND THE ISSUES WITH MY 2003 ALTMAN 2.5L AND WAS BASICALLY TOLD TO TAKE VEHICLE BACK TO DEALERSHIP TO HAVE ANOTHER SCAN DONE. FEB 9, 2008 VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO LITHIA NISSAN TO RUN A SYSTEM SCAN. AT THIS POINT THE VEHICLE IS RUNNING POORLY, HARD STARTS, STALLING, ROUGH IDLE. DEALERSHIP PULLED FOUR CODES, P0420 CATALYST BANK 1, AND P0335CKP SENSOR, P0302 CYLINDER 2 MISS-FIRES AND P0725 ENGINE SPEED SENSOR. WAS INFORMED THAT THE CATALYST IS BAD AND COULD NOT ONLY BE CAUSING THE MISS-FIRE CODE BUT MAY ALSO RUIN MY ENGINE. ALSO THE CRANKSHAFT SENSOR IS BAD. APPROX COST OF REPAIR, $1000. I CONTACTED MATTHEW AGAIN ABOUT THE RESULTS AND WAS TOLD THAT DUE TO NOT HAVING THE VEHICLE REGULARLY MAINTAINED AT A 'NISSAN' DEALERSHIP, THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO TRACK A MAINTENANCE RECORD AND THAT THEY WERE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT MY CAR. *TR

ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS, MY CAR WOULD NOT START THE FIRST TIME I TURNED THE IGNITION. ON 3/21/08 MY "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT CAME ON. I BROUGHT THE CAR IMMEDIATELY TO MY MECHANIC AS I HAVE A 60 MILE RIDE EACH DAY. WHAT HE FOUND AFTER TESTING WAS THAT MY ENGINE CRANK ANGLE SENSOR WAS FAILING. HE CALLED AND ADVISED ME TO BRING THE CAR , A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA , TO MY DEALER RIGHT AWAY AS THIS WAS A SAFETY HAZARD. THE GOOD NEWS WAS THE SENSOR WAS PART OF A 2006 RECALL CAMPAIGN #R0606 AND THAT MY VIN FELL WITHIN THE RANGE OF THE VIN'S LISTED ON THE REPORT HE HAD OBTAINED ON ALLDATAPRO.COM. WHEN I CALLED THE DEALER HE AGREED THAT THIS SHOULD BE REPAIRED IMMEDIATELY. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO MY DEALERSHIP KELLY NISSAN, LYNNFIELD MA. WHEN THEY LOOKED MY INFORMATION UP ON THE COMPUTER IT DID NOT INDICATE THAT MY CAR WAS PART OF THE RECALL. I SAID I WOULD TAKE THIS UP WITH NISSAN N. AMERICA AND TO PLEASE GO AHEAD AND CONTINUE WITH THE REPAIR. THE COST TO ME WAS $180.96. ON 3/24/08 I SPOKE WITH TWO INDIVIDUALS AT NISSAN N. AMERICA REGARDING MY BELIEF THAT I SHOULD BE RE-IMBURSED. THE SENSOR WAS PART OF A SAFETY RECALL, MY CAR FELL WITHIN THE RANGE OF VIN;S LISTED ON THE RECALL REPORT AND THE PART HAD FAILED. THEY COULD NOT GIVE ME A REASONABLE EXPLANATION AS TO WHY I WAS NOT ELIGIBLE. I WAS SUPPOSED TO HEAR BACK FROM SOMEONE FROM NISSAN WITHIN 24 HOURS, THIS HAS NOT OCCURRED AND I'M NOW TURNING TO YOU FOR INTERVENTION ON MY BEHALF. THE PERSON I SPOKE TO AT NISSAN N. AMERICA WAS A SHANNON MCQUIRE EXT. 41643, MY FILE # IS:6092073. I AM GRATEFUL FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE IN THIS MATTER. THANK YOU! *TR

CRANKSHAFT SENSOR NEEDS TO BE REPLACED OR REPROGRAMMED, BUT NISSAN WILL NOT BECAUSE IT DOESN'T FALL IN THEIR LIST OF AFFECTED VIN #'S. MY QUESTION WOULD BE, WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET INCLUDED? DOES SOMEONE HAVE TO DIE? OR GET SERIOUSLY INJURED? IT APPARENTLY IS NOT JUST THOSE VIN # SPECIFIC AS IT AFFECTS MINE VEHICLE NOW. *TR