2003 NISSAN ALTIMA Complaints

I HAVE A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON DURING A RETURN TRIP OF ABOUT 100 MILES DISTANCE. THE FOLLOWING DAY I REPORTED TO NISSAN IN GREENSBORO, NC. THE TECHNICIAN REPORTED THAT THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER HAD FAILED ALLOWING PARTICLES FROM THE CONVERTER TO ENTER THE ENGINE, CAUSING THE ENGINE TO FAIL. DIAGNOSIS, ENGINE/CATALYTIC CONVERTER REPLACEMENT. THE VEHICLE HAD 108000 MILES ON IT. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP THE FOLLOWING YEAR FOR INSPECTION OF SAID CATALYTIC CONVERTER FOR A NISSAN RECALL THAT WAS FOR THIS TYPE OF PROBLEM. NISSAN KNEW THIS WAS A DEFECTIVE PART, BUT ALLOWED IT TO STAY ON THE VEHICLE AND CAUSE 3500 WORTH OF DAMAGE ONE YEAR LATER. *JB

I HAD MY CAR FOR A FEW MONTHS, WHEN I CONSISTENTLY NOTICED THAT MY FUEL GAUGE WAS INACCURATE. I TOOK MY CAR INTO GREENVILLE NISSAN TO BE WORKED ON TWICE AND THEY CLAIMED TO FIX WHATEVER WAS WRONG. THAT WAS THE DEPTH OF THE INFORMATION I RECEIVED. TO THIS DAY, MY FUEL GAUGE FLOATS AT LEAST TWICE A WEEK. I ALSO WROTE A LETTER TO NISSAN STATING THIS PROBLEM. THEY THANKED ME FOR THE LETTER AND THAT WAS THE END OF THE CORRESPONDENCE. ALSO, IN THE BEGINNING OF MAY, MY ROOF WAS LEAKING. RIGHT UNDER THE VISOR ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE, MY ROOF WAS SOAKED AFTER A HARD RAINSTORM. I WENT TO THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP ON MIDLOTHIAN, IN RICHMOND,VA. THE TECH TOLD ME IT MAY HAVE BEEN THE RESULT OF A CLOGGED RAIN DRAIN, AND THAT IT WOULD COST $80 AN HOUR JUST TO SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. *JB

I BOUGHT A USED 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA LAST SUMMER, AND IT'S GIVEN ME NO PROBLEMS UNTIL NOW. I WAS DRIVING THROUGH TOWN (25 MPH) AND THE STEERING RANDOMLY LOCKED UP, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, AND THE CAR STOPPED ACCELERATING. I DRIFTED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, SHUT THE CAR OFF, AND RESTARTED IT WITH NO PROBLEM. IT DID THIS TO ME AGAIN THE NEXT DAY. I TOOK IT TO MECHANIC WHO PERFORMED A COMPUTERIZED DIAGNOSTIC ON IT. THE TEST SAID IT WAS THE CRANKSHAFT SENSOR. I RESEARCHED THIS ONLINE, AND I FOUND OUT THAT NISSAN RECALLED 2002 ALTIMA CRANK POS SENSORS: HTTP://WWW.LEMONAUTO.COM/COMPLAINTS/NISSAN/ALTIMA.HTM THE PROBLEM DESCRIBED FOR THE 2002 ALTIMA CRANK POS SENSORS IS EXACTLY THE PROBLEM I'M HAVING WITH MY 2003 ALTIMA. I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE THIS HAS HAPPENED TO. I FOUND ANOTHER COMPLAIN ON THE CONSUMER AFFAIRS WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM/AUTOMOTIVE/NISSAN_ALTIMA.HTML I THINK THAT NISSAN NEEDS TO LOOK VERY CLOSELY INTO THIS, AS IT IS A REAL SAFETY HAZARD FOR DRIVERS! *NM

DRIVING ON INTERSTATE CAR DIED ALMOST HAD WRECKS,CAR SHUT DOWN. THOUGHT MAYBE BAD GAS. HUSBAND ON THE CROSSTOWN CAR DIED,IT IS AT THE DEALERS NOW. THE SERVICE PERSONAL AT THE DEALER SHIP SAID A LOT OF THE ALTIMA'S WERE HAVING THAT TROUBLE AND HE WOULD SEE IF THE MIGHT BE A RECALL. HAVE NOT HEARD ANYTHING YET. *NM

I HAVE A 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5 S. FOR THE LAST 6 MONTHS MY CAR HAS BEEN STALLING PERIODICALLY. THE STALL OCCURS ANYTIME AT ANY SPEED. WHEN THE ENGINE STALLS I LOSE POWER STEERING AND POWER BRAKES. I HAVE HAD SEVERAL CLOSE CALL POTENTIAL ACCIDENTS, WHILE TRYING TO STOP THE VEHICLE WITH NO BRAKES AND NO STEERING. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER BUT THEY COULD NOT TELL ME WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. JUST YESTERDAY THE CAR STALLED 5 TIMES AND FINALLY THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON. THE CODE INDICATED THAT THE CAMSHAFT POSITION SENSOR IS FAULTY. *JB

THREE TIMES MY 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5S HAS CHOKED DOWN AND TRIED TO DIE WHILE DRIVING. I NEVER GET A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT OR ANY CODES SHOWING, BUT AFTER RESEARCHING THE PROBLEM, I FEEL ASSURED THAT THE PROBLEM IS THE CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR. THERE WAS A RECALL DONE ON THIS ISSUE, BUT ONLY FOR 2002 MODELS. A LOT OF PEOPLE I KNOW HAVE BEEN HAVING THIS SAME PROBLEM ON THEIR 2003'S. *JB

ON MY WAY TO WORK ON 5/3/06 I WAS DRIVING MY '03 NISSAN ALTIMA ON THE HIGHWAY GOING ABOUT 65-70 MPH AND MY CAR JERKED. IT WAS AS IF THE CAR COULDN'T DECIDED WHAT GEAR TO BE IN. IT DID THE SAME THING FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS. THE NEXT DAY WAS SATURDAY AND I TOOK THE CAR TO "CONRADS" TO HAVE A DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS PERFORMED. I WAS TOLD THAT THE CRANK SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CAR HAD 43K MILES ON IT AND I KNEW IT WAS OVER WARRANTY. THE PART IS A NISSAN ONLY PART SO "CONRADS" ORDERED IT AND IT WAS SCHEDULED TO BE REPLACED THE FOLLOWING SATURDAY. FOUR DAYS LATER ON 5/10/06, MY CAR STALLED ON THE WAY TO WORK. IT WOULDN'T START OR ANYTHING. IT STALLED IN A PRETTY BAD NEIGHBORHOOD SO I CALLED THE POLICE. I HAD IT TOWED TO A DIFFERENT PLACE. ANOTHER DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED. AGAIN I WAS TOLD THAT CRANK SENSOR AND THE CAM SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. SINCE I COULDN'T EVEN DRIVE THE CAR ANYWHERE AND I DIDN'T WANT TO PAY FOR A TOW TRUCK AGAIN, I TOLD THEM TO ORDER THE PART AND REPLACE THE SENSORS. AFTERWARDS I DID SOME RESEARCH AND DISCOVERED THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE HAD THIS SAME PROBLEM-AS NOTED ON THIS WEBSITE AND OTHERS. I CALLED NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS IN AN EFFORT TO GET REIMBURSED FOR THE COST. I READ THE WARRANTY AND I ASSUMED IT WOULD BE COVERED UNDER THE POWER TRAIN WARRANTY. I WAS INFORMED THAT THE IT FELL UNDER THE FEDERAL EMISSIONS LIMITED WARRANTY AND WAS NOT COVERED. I THOUGHT THIS WAS ABSURD BECAUSE THE 2002 ALTIMAS HAD A RECALL ON THIS SENSOR. SINCE THE 2002 BODY STYLE WAS THE SAME IN 2003, IT IS WELL-KNOWN THAT THE MECHANICS OF THE VEHICLES STAY THE SAME. ALL I WANT IS TO BE REIMBURSED FOR THE REPLACEMENT. THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT OTHER 2003 ALTIMA OWNERS HAVE EXPERIENCED. NISSAN NEEDS TO HAVE A RECALL OR REIMBURSE EVERYONE WHO HAVE ALREADY REPLACED THE SENSORS. *NM

RADIATOR LEAK WAS DISCOVERED BY TECHNICIAN WHILE PERFORMING A DIAGNOSTIC INSPECTION ON MY ALTIMA FOR SOME ENGINE PROBLEMS I WAS EXPERIENCING. AT THAT TIME MY CAR HAD 43K MILES. I WAS INFORMED THAT I HAD A RADIATOR LEAK AND THE COOLANT RESERVOIR WAS EMPTY. THEY FILLED IT WITH COOLANT, BUT I DID NOT REPLACE THE RADIATOR. FOUR DAYS LATER, MY CAR STALLED ON THE HIGHWAY AND HAD TO GET IT TOWED. I TOWED IT TO A DIFFERENT PLACE THAN WHERE I HAD BEEN 4 DAYS AGO. I WAS INFORMED A SECOND TIME THAT MY RADIATOR WAS LEAKING AND THAT IT WAS ABOUT 1/2 EMPTY. HE FILLED UP THE RESERVOIR. JUST TO NOTE, MY VEHICLE STALLED BECAUSE OF 2 SENSORS THAT HAD GONE BAD. DURING SECOND DIAGNOSTIC INSPECTION I WAS INFORMED OF THE RADIATOR AGAIN. ON MAY 17TH I TOOK MY CAR TO THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP IN AN EFFORT TO GET MY RADIATOR REPLACED BY GOODWILL THAT DEALERSHIPS EXTEND. NISSAN CHECKED THE RADIATOR AND CONFIRMED IT WAS LEAKING AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED VERY SOON, BUT WOULD NOT USE THE GOODWILL TO PAY FOR THE REPLACEMENT. I HAVE NOT REPLACED THE RADIATOR TO DATE. I'VE BEEN FILLING IT WITH COOLANT AS THE RESERVOIR GETS LOW. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO WORK WITH NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS TO HAVE THIS REPLACED AT NO COST. I WAS TOLD THAT THIS IS PART OF NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR, BUT I ABSOLUTELY DON'T AGREE. FOUR OTHER PEOPLE I KNOW THAT HAVE THE SAME MODEL AND YEAR HAD TO GET THEIR RADIATORS REPLACED WHILE UNDER THE 36K MILE WARRANTY. I BELIEVE THAT IS ENOUGH PROOF TO SHOW THAT THE RADIATORS NISSAN IS INSTALLING IN ITS NEW ALTIMAS ARE LOW QUALITY. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED A RECALL WAS FOUND ON THE WEBSITE, ALTHOUGH NO PROBLEMS HAVE OCCURRED WITH THE VEHICLE, THERE IS A CONCERN IT MIGHT HAPPEN. THE DEALER DETERMINED THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. THE RECALL # 03V455000, CONCERNING THE ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING. UPDATED 7/11/2006 - THE VEHICLE WAS MANUFACTURED AUG 2002. THE RECALL IS FOR THE CRANK POSITION SENSOR OR CAM POSITION SENSOR. *NM

(1) CAR WAS BACKED INTO BY A HEAVY TRUCK, WEIGHING OVER 2 TONS. THE IMPACT WAS AT A SPEED OF APPROXIMATELY 15 MPH. CAR WAS AT REST, THE OFFENDING VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION. (2) THE 2003 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5S WAS SEVERELY HIT. CAR WAS VIOLENTLY HIT AND HAS SUFFERED EXTENSIVE FRONT END DAMAGE TO THE BUMPER, FENDERS, GRILLE AND BACK INTO THE RADIATOR, ALTERNATOR AND OTHER BELTS. BOTH THE DRIVER SIDE AND PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. I WAS HIT INTO THE STEERING WHEEL. HAD THERE BEEN A PASSENGER, THEY TOO WOULD HAVE BEEN HURT. (3) CAR IS IN THE CARE OF THE TOWING COMPANY, WAITING THE INSPECTION OF THE CLAIMS ADJUSTER OF THE OFFENDING PARTY. *JB