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:
2 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
70,167 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.
My wife and two young daughters were stranded for a time due to a sudden issue with the steering lock mechanism. This suddenly made the car inoperable and left them out in 102 Texas summer heat. After much research this seems to be a fairly common and known issue. We bought our car from a dealership in 2014 and we not made aware of this issue or any potential warranty extension. This is a $500 part (excluding labor and towing fees) that can and has stranded people with little to no notice. How is this acceptable?
My car wouldn't start. The escl box locked up for 3 days! now I have to pay $150 to have it fixed per my warranty company. I haven't had the car 60 whole days, and it's been in the shop 4 times with very little success and a lot of frustration and time lost! please call me. Will you pay for the $150 warranty fee? I had it towed to carmax norcross Monday morning. It's Wednesday. I've been without a car for 5 days now!!! [xxx] sincerely [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Won't start eslc steering wheel lock defective. Purchased car then stopped at gas station turned off car won't start again. Showed yellow key flashings light on dash.
Takata recall - although my car has not yet been affected by he recall I believe that it will be. The passenger airbag sensor is faulty which affects the amber dashboard passenger airbag light from working properly which therefore will not allow the airbag to deploy if in an accident. Or more so allowing the airbag to deploy at any given time without being in an accident. This sensor disarms the whole airbag system from working properly which is a serious safety hazard.
Car caught on fire completely totaled. It was driven less than 2 miles parked and shut off. Within 15 minutes the car was completely engulfed in flames.
Vehicle was stationary and the steering column went out. Vehicle will not start, seems there are thousands of people with this same problem, do not understand why a recall has not happened.
I bought the car at roughly 54K miles. Approximately around 62K, the air conditioner stopped blowing cold air. I work on residential ac units. My pressures are equalized. I bypassed the pressure switch temporarily during diagnostics to see if the pressure switch was the issue. The problem continued when bypassed.the issue is either the clutch specifically or the compressor is bad. Here recently, I have noticed a "jerking" motion when attempting to accelerate. Obviously, this will be the shift solenoid or the cvt. Cvt fluid is good. These issues have been going on with 2009 Altima for over 8 years now. Why hasn't there been a recall" what is required to get a recall in effect" there have been multiple complaints regarding cvts, start/stop procedures, and ac problems, but not one recall concerning this has happened. Nissan refuses to help.
Replaced steering lock December 6, 2013, and again March 7, 2017. Has left me stranded two different times. Replaced with Nissan part that they know is defective and had to replace with same defective part again 3 years and 3 months later at my own expense the second time.
The contact owns a 2009 Nissan Altima. After the vehicle was started, it failed to shift out of park and the intelligent key system warning indicator illuminated the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that unknown parts related to the steering lock mechanism needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 88,000. Updated 05/10/17
My 2009 Nissan Altima will not start, can not move gears, lock or unlock doors and windows don't work. The part had a recall that needs to be reinstated.if this happened in the middle of nowhere I could have been raped or killed. This is a tremendous safety issue!
The start push button ignition and the intelligent key will not engage.. the steering wheel is locked and will not allow the brake pad to depress for the operation of the vehicle. I am left dead in the water with no way to start or use the accessories function to turn on the radio or allow my phone to charge in the battery port. I went to pick up my family went to start the car and there was no recognition.
When I left the office to start my car yesterday evening on 2/15/2017, I used my key fob to remotely unlock my parked 2009 Nissan Altima. Upon entering the vehicle and depressing the brake though, the push button ignition did nothing. The car did not start, nor would it switch to accessory mode. On the dash cluster, an amber colored "key" light lit up. The push button ignition glowed orange while the ring around it said "lock;" nothing seemed to allow the car to start. It was as if the key fob was not recognized by the car. Even though I was repeatedly able to lock and unlock the doors remotely from outside the vehicle (the CR2025 battery inside was not dead...) and the interior lights would work (the car battery was not dead either...), the car refused to start. I consulted the manual and verified that the key fob was inserted correctly into the slot to the left of the steering column - still, the car refused to start. I called aaa to request a tow since nothing seemed to let me start the car. For the next hour and a half I sat in below-freezing temperatures while I waited for the tow truck I called for to arrive. My car was towed to the dealership where it was originally purchased. My spouse met me at the dealership with the other key fob so we could test whether my key was the only affected fob; unfortunately, the other key fob did not allow the car to start either. After searching online, others have been stranded too: Https://2009nissanaltimarecall.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/victory-2009-Nissan-Altima-steering-lock-voluntary-recall/ while at the dealership, the service advisor told me she had seen many similar failures on other 2009 Altima - she also told me it could not be driven unless it was fixed for $1,200. Nissan's carlos ghosn left me stranded with a broken vehicle and I am not a happy customer... I would never buy another Nissan again.
The contact owns a 2009 Nissan Altima. While trying to start the vehicle, the power steering lock was faulty and the warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,000.
My Nissan Altima 2009 left me stranded in a parking lot at night. The steering would not lock and the car would do nothing! luckily after several attempts the car did start. Now a month later, thankfully, this happened again in my driveway at home! I could have been murdered or raped in that parking lot! I am hearing there was a recall that was amended in January 2016. I don't have over $10000. For this repair that could have taken my life. I am afraid to drive for fear of being stranded again!
Car would not start, locked up on me. Vehicle towed to Nissan, told it will cost me close to $1000 to repair, noticed other costumers had this same problem. Nissan extended the warranty for 6 years which expired 4-25-2015. My vehicle was parked in plaza parking lot
Wife drove car to work, got ready to leave and car would not start. Security lights on dash was lit up. I came home from work tried extra key fob and tried new car battery, still would not start. Had car towed 25 miles to dealer and was informed the problem was steering lock assembly module, a well know problem with the 2009 Nissan Altima. This cost me $1124 dollars and should have been covered in a factory recall. The 2009 Nissan Altima is notorious for this problem. The car only had 68428 miles at time of incident
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Richardson, TX, USA