2003 NISSAN SENTRA Complaints

WE BOUGHT THIS LOW MILEAGE CAR FROM A FAMILY MEMBER BUT AFTER BUYING THIS CAR IT STARTED GETTING PLAGUED WITH THE CAR SUDDENLY AND MYSTERIOUSLY SHUTTING OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF DRIVING. ENGINE DIED UNANNOUNCED CAR CUTS OFF AND THE POWER STEERING AND POWER BRAKES STOP WORKING. IT WOULD HAPPEN UP TO 5 TO 7 TIMES A WEEK INTERMITTENTLY. WE HAD TAKEN IT NISSAN TWO DIFFERENT TIMES IN APRIL TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE SITUATION THEY WERE UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE OR SOLVE THE PROBLEM FOR US OR REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM DURING TEST DRIVES. IN AUGUST TOOK THIS CAR BACK IN AFTER IT WOULDN'T RUN AT ALL AND THEY FINALLY TOLD ME IT WAS A CAMSHAFT POSITIONING SENSOR. AFTER REPLACING THIS PART IT RUNS FINE NOW. AFTER LOOKING ONLINE ON THE NHTSA WEBSITE IT SEEMS THIS PART IS PART OF A RECALL FOR THIS MAKE AND MODEL YEAR HOWEVER I WAS TOLD IT DIDN'T APPLY TO MY VIN. I SPOKE TO NISSAN HEADQUARTERS AND THEY AGAIN TOLD ME THEY WOULDN'T COVER THIS AS IT IS NOT PART OF A RECALL. THIS PART LOOKS LIKE IT IS PROBLEMATIC IN THIS MODEL YEAR AND MAKE AND ALSO FOR OTHER CARS ACROSS THE NISSAN LINEUP. I EXPLAINED THAT THIS WAS A SERIOUS PROBLEM AND IT RESULTED IN SOME SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUES. EACH TIME I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY PULL OFF THE SIDE OF THE ROAD BUT IF IT STALLED AND I WASN'T ABLE TO GET OFF THE HIGHWAY, OR IT STALLED AT AN INTERSECTION OR PULLING INTO TRAFFIC SAY THE CONSEQUENCES COULD HAVE BEEN DEADLY. I WAS ALSO LUCKY THAT THE STEERING WHEEL DIDN'T LOCK UP TURNING THE WHEEL WITH THE CAR OFF. OUR SYMPTOMS WITH THIS CAR WERE CLASSIC. I WAS VERY SURPRISED THAT THEY COULD NOT DIAGNOSE THIS PROBLEM IN APRIL AS THE SYMPTOMS MATCH THEY HAVE FOR KNOWN RECALLS ON THIS AND OTHER CARS. I WOULD LIKE IT COVERED BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY I THINK THE RECALL SHOULD BE EXTENDED TO OTHER VEHICLES AND VINS TO SAVE LIVES. *TR

WHILE DRIVING INSTRUMENT CLUSTER PANEL SHUTS OFF THEN COMES BACK ON REPEATEDLY, SPEEDOMETER, OIL GAUGE, RPMS, WATER TEMP., ETC. CAR STAYS RUNNING BUT YOU CAN'T TELL WHAT YOUR SPEED OR RPMS ARE. BROUGHT TO NUMEROUS SHOPS AND DEALERS KNOW ONE CAN FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM. *TR

RECENTLY WHILE ON THE HIGHWAY MY CAR DIED FOR ABOUT 3 - 5 SECONDS WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY THEN RESUMED. MY CAR HAS STALLED A FEW TIMES IN THE PAST BUT USUALLY WHILE ACCELERATING IN FIRST OR SECOND GEAR SO IT WASN'T MUCH OF A CONCERN. BUT IF MY CAR JUST DIES WHILE DRIVING 60 -70 MPH I THINK THERE ARE SOME SAFETY ISSUES AND IT SHOULD BE TAKEN CARE OF. RESEARCH INDICATES IT IS AN ISSUE WITH THE CRANK SENSOR AND THERE IS A RECALL FOR IT. FOR SOME REASON MY VIN IS NOT INCLUDED. *TR

MY PRE CAT WENT OUT SO TOOK IT TO SHOP TO HAVE IT REPLACED. COST ME 1000$. SINCE THEN IT HAS BEEN BURNING OIL VERY BAD UP TO A QUART A TANK. AND WHITE SMOKE IF ACCELERATE EVEN REMOTELY MORE THAN GENTLE. NISSAN SAID MY CAR ISN'T ELIGIBLE FOR THE PRE CAT RECALL. BUT IT FITS DESCRIPTION AS FAR AS 2003 SENTRA WITH THE 2.5L QR25DE ENGINE. IF THE DON'T WANT TO REPLACE THE ENGINE I WOULD LIKE THEM TO BUY THE CAR FOR BLUE BOOK. I AM ONLY SECOND OWNER. IT HAS ROUGHLY 87500 ON IT NOW. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN SENTRA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH, THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND THE ENGINE STALLED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER, WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE CRANK SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN NHTSA RECALL NUMBER: 06V242000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 103,000. UPDATED 08/27/14*LJ UPDATED 09/17/2014 *JS

I WAS PULLING THROUGH A SHOPPING CENTER, WHEN MY SENTRA STARTED STALLING. I PARKED THE VEHICLE AND IT WOULD NO LONGER START. I BOUGHT A CODE READER AND IT STATED A FEW CODES SUCH AS ECM, CAM SHAFT POSITION SENSOR, AND ACCELERATOR POSITION SENSOR. I HAD IT TOWED TO HUDSON NISSAN AND THEY STATED THAT THE ECU/ECM HAS SHORTED AND SHORTED THE THROTTLE BODY SENSOR. WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS IF I WERE TRAVELING AT A HIGHER SPEED, OR IN TRAFFIC. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN SENTRA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED. THE FAILURE WAS EXPERIENCED SEVERAL TIMES. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE AND RESUME NORMALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN NHTSA RECALL NUMBER 06V242000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 168,000. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 174,000.

MY CAR HAS STALLED 3 TIMES OVER THE PAST YEAR. ONE MINUTE I AM DRIVING, THE NEXT I AM COASTING. THANKFULLY, I WAS ALWAYS DRIVING SLOWLY WITH NO ONE BEHIND ME. IT STARTS RIGHT UP. NO "CODE" SHOWING UP FOR DIAGNOSTICS. I CALLED NISSAN RE: MULTIPLE RECALLS FOR ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS THAT CAN CAUSE STALLING, BUT THEY SAID MY CAR WASN'T PART OF THE RECALLS. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 NISSAN SENTRA GXE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 20 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED AND WOULD REPEATEDLY STALL ONCE RESTARTED. IN ADDITION, THE INSTRUMENT PANEL BACK LIGHT WOULD FAIL ONCE THE VEHICLE WAS RESTARTED WITH ONLY THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO ADVISED THAT THE CENTRAL COMPUTER WOULD NEED TO BE REPROGRAMMED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 130,000. *TR

I SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT AT TONY NISSAN IN WAIPIO, HAWAII, OAHU TO FIX THE FRONT PASSENGER AIR BAG INFLATOR RECALL PER THE NOTICE I WAS MAILED. (NHTSA RECALL 13V-136). I WAS INFORMED WHEN I MADE THE APPOINTMENT AND PER THE RECALL NOTICE I WAS MAILED THAT THE REPAIR WOULD TAKE LESS THAN ONE DAY. TONY NISSAN INFORMED ME THAT RECALL REPAIRS WERE DONE IN THE MORNINGS ONLY M-F, AND MY CAR WOULD BE READY FOR PICK-UP IN THE AFTERNOON. WHEN I ARRIVED AT TONY NISSAN, AFTER HAVING TAKEN OFF WORK TO DO SO, I WAS INFORMED THAT THE RECALL TAKES TWO (2) DAYS TO REPAIR AND I WOULD HAVE TO BRING MY CAR BACK DURING ANOTHER WEEKDAY, HENCE TAKE OFF ANOTHER DAY OF WORK. I WAS ALSO TOLD I NEEDED 4 NEW TIRES ($810) AND A NEW BATTERY ($172). I NEVER REQUESTED THOSE REPAIRS AND WAS PRESSURED BY THE TONY NISSAN REPRESENTATIVE TO MAKE AN IMMEDIATE DECISION AS THEY DID NOT HAVE MY TIRES ON-SITE AND WOULD HAVE TO ORDER THEM. A RED FLAG IMMEDIATELY WENT OFF, I TOLD THEM I WANTED TO RETURN AND PICK MY CAR UP AND ASKED THEM WHEN THEY WOULD BE DONE "LOOKING AT MY AIRBAG" TO SEE IF I NEEDED THE RECALL REPAIR. I WAS TOLD THEY HAD NO IDEA AND I WOULD HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THEY CALLED ME. THIS WAS AFTER I WAS TOLD BY A REP WHEN THE SERVICE APPOINTMENT WAS MADE THAT RECALL REPAIRS WERE ONLY DONE IN THE MORNINGS AND MY CAR WOULD BE READY NO LATER THAN EARLY AFTERNOON. I CANCELLED THE APPOINTMENT. MY RECALL REPAIR HAS YET TO BE REPAIRED. I LOST A DAY OF WORK FOR NOTHING, AND APPARENTLY WILL NEED TO LOSE 2 MORE WORK DAYS IN ORDER TO HAVE THE REPAIR COMPLETED. I AM GOING TO TRY TO ARRANGE THE APPOINTMENT AT THE ONLY OTHER NISSAN DEALERSHIP ON THE ISLAND AND HOPE THEY WILL BE PROFESSIONAL. *TR