I have been taken advantage of when purchasing this vehicle and paid too much money. I thought I was getting a car that was safe. I was very afraid of taking this vehicle back to where I bought from because they were not concerned of my safety. However, I feel that all the problems that I had should have never happened. I don't know what to do at this point. I have very limited funds and I am a senior citizen. Where do I go from here?
2008 Altima V6 has been meticulously serviced by Nissan, including the CVT. In Oct /Nov 2014 the dealer noticed head gasket leakage during an oil change. This car was driven back to Southern Calif and examined to verify the condition at our local dealer. The head gasket was leaking on both sides of the engine. T
his car has Nissan's top of the line V6 3.5 liter engine also used in the Maxima - should be top of the line -correct?? No- after 86,000 miles of easy driving this engine took -a sh*t-crap any of the above. You would think that a Large Import Manufacture like Nissan should be able to build an engine that can last at least 100,000 miles. My GMC truck has 169,000 w/o any problems - I have been told by many of my peers how great import cars last -really. This little fiasco cost my daughter $2800. Only after filing a Nissan Consumer Complaint they agreed to p/u $1000. Big deal- my daughter still ended up paying $1800 - this is very costly for a new grad student starting a new job.
Nissan has contacted us to followed up regarding the complaint resolution. Our answer to Nissan -their product was a piece of crap and NO, she will not reconsider any Nissan related products ie. Infinity in the future. Maybe a Domestic manufacture vehicle would last longer than 100,000 miles.
This is utterly the most terrible Manufacturer to deal with in the process of not getting them to stand by their product and include my car in the recall campaign for the exhaust manifold/converter the Faulty part blew the Head Gasket which counts as total Engine Failure and will cost Thousands to fix.
I took the car to a Nissan dealership to have an A/C problem diagnosed. Nissan diagnosed a bad A/C compressor and a leak in the lower radiator hose. The dealership made no mention of a leaking head gasket. The next day, I took the car to an independent technician to confirm that the A/C compressor was bad. You can imagine my surprise when the technician called a few hours later to say that the compressor was bad, and that oh by the way, the head gasket is leaking! This car was just driven around town, had regular oil changes, and was not driven hard. The car had less than 32,000 miles!
It is obvious from the pictures that the independent technician took that the head gasket had failed. Of course, the power train warranty ended in July 2013, just 3 months ago. The technician indicated that the problem had been going on for at least six months. I called Nissan corporate to start the process to determine if Nissan would provide any financial assistance, since the problem had been going on prior to when the warranty expired. I was also concerned that Nissan did not diagnose the problem, and that if it was not for an independent technician, then I would have continued to drive the car with a leaking head gasket, which could have led to severe engine damage. I was advised that a Nissan service center would have to verify the problem.
I took the car back to the dealership to have them confirm that the head gasket was bad. FIVE DAYS LATER the service center verified that the head gasket was leaking, and that they were waiting to hear how Nissan corporate wanted to handle the problem.
You probably know how this story ends. Nissan corporate says that there will be no financial assistance, since the car was out of warranty.
Technically, Nissan is correct. The car is out of warranty by less than 3 months, and I did not buy the extended warranty when given the chance. However, let's not lose sight of the fact that the head gasket was leaking on a 5 year old car with less than 32,000 miles. This car is a piece of junk.
Nissan talks a good game about customer satisfaction, but actions speak louder than words. Stay away from the Nissan Altima, and Nissans in general. This car has been nothing but problems.
Bought a new 2008 Nissan Altima. 7 months after we bought the car,with 10,000 miles on it, we smelled coolant. Took it to the dealership, they found nothing. At 23,000 miles , took it to a different dealer with same problem, still found nothing. 3 months after that ,took it back again, still couldn't find anything wrong. Recently my husband, who is NOT a mechanic was changing the oil, and found the problem. The coolant was leaking around the head. Took it back to dealership ,they said 2 blown head gaskets. Nissan only wants to replace the head gaskets and not the engine. We have been driving this car with blown head gaskets for who knows how long, so no telling what kind of damage is done. Nissan is not being very helpful.
- April S.,
Vincent, AL, US
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2008 Altima less than 6500 miles and blew a head gasket and shut down. Had to be towed to dealer. Complained 2 weeks earlier to dealer about engine noise but they couldn't find anything. Every mechanic I talked to (except Nissan's) say head gaskets don't blow at 6500 miles for no reason. Must be a head or block problem to cause it. Head gasket failures cause coolant to go into engine crankcase etc. I doubt that's good for the engine. Want Nissan to replace engine instead of replacing gasket. So far they arrogantly refuse citing Lemon Law requirements. Can't trust this car to get me on any long trips for fear it will leave us stranded. This SHOULD NOT be with a 2008.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I have been taken advantage of when purchasing this vehicle and paid too much money. I thought I was getting a car that was safe. I was very afraid of taking this vehicle back to where I bought from because they were not concerned of my safety. However, I feel that all the problems that I had should have never happened. I don't know what to do at this point. I have very limited funds and I am a senior citizen. Where do I go from here?
- Phyllis P., Philadelphia, PA, US