CarComplaints.com Notes: You don't want to get 2009 and 2010 Altima owners started about their cars. That is, unless, you know how to start their cars.
These vehicles can suddenly become impossible to start thanks to a faulty electronic steering column lock (ESCL). Nissan dealers will gladly replace it, but that will run you $1000.
More info & videos about the Nissan ESCL defect are available over at NissanProblems.com.
It's one of the many reasons this car was named CarTalk's Turd of the Week and given our Beware of this Clunker badge. Two dubious honors.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
39,454 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
1. the dashboard totally melted creating a blinding glare while driving. It is completely sticky to touch, which is great if I wanted a permanent and highly effective bug trap. The glare it creates on the windshield is so blinding that I've almost hit pedestrians crossing the street on several different occasions. The dealership where I purchased the car only offered to replace it at a ridiculous cost that I cannot afford as a school teacher. It was only 2 years old, however old enough to not be under warranty. My major concern is having an accident or hitting someone crossing the street. Will Nissan cover damages then" 2. headlights: Plastic headlight is completely covered in film creating a visibility hazard at night. Restoration processes did not work. Again after only 2 years they had a film over the lenses. Now they are worse. As a school teacher with a limited income I depend on my car lasting. I cannot even sell the car in these conditions for a decent price. Nissan is not holding up to the standards it should; especially safety standards. Let's hope myself or someone else does not wind up as another statistic. Let this be on records as a safety hazard complaint for the manufacturer and others who share the same occurrences. If pictures are needed, I have plenty. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my car! however, this is completely unacceptable and I am concerned for not only my safety but the safety of those around me, and all because of the manufacturer slacking in their safety standards division. Please help"
The dashboard of the car is melting. The areas on the dashboard that are affected are very sticky and can't be cleaned. With the dashboard melting, there is a glare that comes up from the dashboard onto the windshield which makes driving during the day both difficult and hazardous because of the limited visibility. I also don't know if this melting issue is causing any type of toxins or fumes to collect in the car interior.
Dash board is melting causing intense glare on windshield. First noticed last summer 2014 and now that hot warm weather has returned 2015 it is getting worse! dashboard is sticky/gummy. Unable to see clearly due to glare. Im am afraid to drive my car and cause an accident since it has become very difficult to drive. Glare obstructs visibility. I have always used a windshield sun shade dashboard is still hot and sticky when I return to my car and check it.
Driving home at 4pm, the glare from my dashboard affected my vision. When I touched the dashboard, it was melting and sticky. This was causing the glare on my windshield affecting my outward vision.
- Hilo, HI, USA
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The dashboard on my Nissan Altima 2009 becomes really sticky for no apparent reason. This problem becomes a safety hazard because the stickiness tends to spread to the windshield blocking the visibility. Please help!
Last year right before my 2009 Nissan Altima was paid off, the dash became very sticky. This problem became progressively worse in the heat of the Mississippi sun. Dust, bugs, flora, paper become embedded in the goo. It never dries. It just stays sticky and makes a dangerous glare on my windshield. I mistakenly thought my husband or I had done something wrong by cleaning the dash, but water would not cause this mess. I finally took it to my dealership who said they didn't know what had happened and gave me a $2000 estimate to replace the dash. Really" my car does not even have 60,000 miles on it now so Nissan has stuck us! I expected better from them. I recently discovered that there are 100's of 2009 melting dashes when I googled the subject. We have owned 2 Sentra, 1 frontier truck, 1 stanza, and a maxima. I we are suffering from mental stress over this ridiculous situation! Nissan should recall these melting dash vehicles. Where is the morality???"
I drive a 2009 Nissan ultima over a year ago I noticed something sticky on my dashboard. I had no idea what was happening. I finally realized "my dashboard is melting" I filed a complaint with Nissan but because the warranty was up they would not fix my $2,000 dashboard if I would have known this was to happen I would have never bought the car.
1. dashboard totally melted creating a blinding glare while driving. It is completely sticky to the touch. The glare is so blinding almost hit a pedestrian crossing the street.. the dealership where I purchased the car only offered to replace it at a ridiculous cost I cannot afford as a school teacher. It was only 2 years old, however, old enough not to be under warranty. My major concern is having an accident or hitting someone crossing a street if I get hit with the glare. Will Nissan cover damages then? 2. headlights: Plastic headlight is completely covered in film creating a visibility hazard at nighttime. Restoration processes did not work. Again after only 2 years they had a film over the lenses. Now they are worse. As a school teacher with a limited income I depended on my car lasting. I cannot even sell the car in these conditions for a decent value. Nissan is not holding up to the standards it should; especially safety standards. Let's hope myself or someone else does not wind up as another statistic. Let this be on records as a safety hazard complaint for the manufacturer and others who share the same occurrence. If pictures are needed I have plenty.
On October 31st the red airbag light started flashing on my dashboard. I took the vehicle into my nearest dealership on November 13th to complete a diagnostic. I was informed that it was that there is no signal coming from the passenger occupancy sensor for the airbag and that in the event of an accident the airbag may or may not deploy. Also it was noted on the invoice that there is no sign of any damage to the wiring. Of course my vehicle is not under recall and no longer under warranty. My dashboard is also melting and the material that is used causes extreme glare. So not only do I have a large glare across my window which increases my risk of an accident but possibly no airbag to boot. I contacted Nissan since this exact same issue has been found in other years of my model and recalled. All Nissan has continued to do is say my vehicle is no longer under warranty and that they will forward my complaint for review.
In February 2009 I purchased a new 2009 Nissan Altima. The purchase was made at maroone Nissan (now autonation) of pembroke pines, Florida. The vehicle was a gift to my teenage daughter. The dashboard is melting causing a dangerous glare, and making it hazardous to drive. The issue of the melting dashboard started in about September of 2012 while my daughter was away at college. The melting dashboard caused a shiny glare in the windshield making it difficult to see. She put a blanket on the dashboard so she could see out the windshield. In August 2013 when she was home from college she brought the melting dashboard to the attention of Nissan autonation in pembroke pines, Florida. The vehicle had 25,390 miles at that time. We have an invoice documenting this complaint. My daughter was told by the service manager to contact Nissan directly about the issue. Because she was uncertain what to do and was returning to college, the concern was not addressed. On January 18, 2014, after seeing how bad the dashboard was myself; I brought the vehicle back to autonation and spoke with the customer care manager. He indicated that our dashboard was the worst he had ever seen. He gave us the number to contact Nissan directly and initiate a case. I made contact with Nissan by calling 800-Nissan-1 number and initiated a case. Unfortunately, on January 22, 2014, I received an unfavorable response from Nissan, who denied the claim, without ever having seen the vehicle or asking for photos. I asked Nissan what appeal options might be available to me and the company indicated there were none. I find it challenging to believe that Nissan would not stand behind their vehicles, particularly when there is knowledge that a wide-spread safety hazard exists with a particular model. This specific Nissan Altima's dashboard started melting in less than four years.
Help, a melting and shiny sticky dash on my 2009 Altima generates a tremendous glare on the windshield and prevents me from clearly viewing the highway in front during the day. It also distors the viewing during the night due to the on-comming vehicles headlights. It is highly serious and dangerous driving safety hazard problem that could/will "it is just a timing issue" cause an accident, the dash can't be clean and is melting. It is also minimazing the value of the vehicle. Please advise if there is solution or recall from Nissan to fix this problem.
My dashboard is melting because of the sun. I contacted the Nissan dealership and they said they can't help me because my warranty expired. It is very difficult to see out my windshield because of the shiny glare from the dashboard melting. This makes driving extremely hazardous.
Last summer (2013), I noticed that my dashboard had started to have this sticky gluey substance on it. At first, I thought I had spilled something on the dashboard and so I started to clean it. I've used both car wipes and both a damp towel and the substance does not rub off. Rather, it collected the fibers from whatever I've used and it has gotten worse (due to the houston heat of the summer). I then concluded that the dashboard becomes sticky because it is melting. It's not so much the melting dashboard that gets me (even though it does diminish the value of the car, it's only a 2009), it is the glare that the melting dashboard reflects. The dashboard reflects a powerful glare in my front view window and it has become extremely difficult to drive. I constantly have to wear sunglasses in order to help with the glare that the dashboard reflects. Over the course of the year, the dashboard has gotten so bad that I have to ask a member of my family to drive me to where ever I need to go. This is an extreme problem. If the glare is this bad for me, I can only imagine how bad to must be for older generations that own this particular car. This spreading glare has the potential to be a big problem. It could be the onset of multiple accidents and even major harm. And so I ask you if you could please have Nissan fix this problem.
My 2009 Nissan Altima dash is melting. Dash has cracks as well near the front passenger air bags and near the instrument cluster. Read in forums that the car dealerships say that when the dash has cracks and is melting air bags could not deploy correctly. Nissan will not replace dash due to the car being out of warranty and expect me to buy a new one when this seems like a manufacturing issue not taken into account as part of the design.
I notice a shine started to build up on my dashboard. I thought that the car wash place might have used too much product so I stopped going to the carwash. I decided I was going to clean it off myself and when I went to clean it off I realized there was a thick film of sticky residue. The residue is was so sticky that nothing could take it off and everything would get stuck to it. After a few months the film kept growing to the point where the shine became almost glassy and too reflective. I realized the substance had become a hazard to my safety and those of others, so I proceeded to try a number of products to try and remove the film. I was unsuccessful and proceeded to do some research online, where I discovered that this is not a maintenance problem, but rather a factory defect that is well documented now with both this Agency and Nissan itself. As far as I can tell there are at least 100 other cases. I would like Nissan to acknowledge and repair the problem before lives are lost.
My vehicle is 5 years old and the dash is completely melting. The glare from the mushy, sticky mess on the dashboard makes it very hard to see while driving. I have contacted Nissan and they refuse to admit this is poor craftmanship.
Well I have a black 09 Nissan Altima and I started to notice that my dashboard is very sticky and shiny and it looks like its melting. There is such a big glare that blocks your view when you're driving. I look online and saw that other people in Florida have the same problem I do. In Florida the weather is always hot. The cars in Florida should be made to withstand the hot weather and not start melting. This is such a safety hazard for drivers.
The dash on my Altima coupe is "melting". the dash has never been cleaned with any chemicals and is very tacky to the touch around the vents and seams. Due to the location of the melted components, it creates a very blinding glare that impairs my forward visibility through the windshield. I have contacted Nissan and they refuse to help me although this is a common issue with this model vehicle. Nissan has already had a replacement dash made with different materials which uses a different part # than the original dash. This is a very dangerous issue as I have almost gotten into accidents due to being blinded by the glare.
The contact owns a 2009 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the windshield became cracked without any warning. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 98,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- West Palm Beach, FL, USA