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.
8.6
pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$960
Average Mileage:
90,350 miles
Total Complaints:
467 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
replace steering wheel lock (171 reports)
not sure (109 reports)
replace steering lock controller unit (99 reports)
ESCL Service Campaign - Nissan is conducting a voluntary service campaign on specific MY2009-10 Nissan Altima, Altima Coupe, Altima Hybrid, and Maxima vehicles to replace the existing Electronic Steering Column Lock (ESCL) with an Electronic Steering Column Box (ESCB).
My 2009 Nissan Altima did not start due to a malfunction of the ESCL (electronic steering column lock) I was stranded in a parking lot. I had to have my car towed. The repair cost me 893.90. This is my 4th Nissan I have owned. They extended the warranty knowing this was a problem and of course the warranty ended 3 months ago.
I'm trying to leave work at the end of the day and my car won't start out of the blue. The key light is blinking, but won't start, on a fairly new vehicle.
Another one bites the dust. Seems like another electrical problem preventing the car from starting. Had trouble starting the car, opened the hood and checked if the terminals were tight, wiggled a little on the ground cable and voila. Battery all looked fine. Kept having problems every time I stopped that day, but the fix worked. Overnight had the car in the garage and in the morning again wouldn't start, tested the battery 12.54 V and on the load test barely goes down. 12.5 V. Battery is 1 year old and Houston hardly get cold.....
The starter motor switch seems to not engage.(hear clicking sound)
With all the complaints around the electrical system, probably need to look to get rid of this thing and look for a different brand.
- medinatx,
Houston, TX, US
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Looking on-line, there seems to be a lot of people with this problem. They say that Nissan will fix the problem for $700-$1000. We do not have that kind of money. I am sure there are a lot of people in this same boat. The website Nissanproblems.com says you can beat on the steering lock that this might help. Since they know that this is a problem why don't they have a recall.
The yellow Key light on the left side of the dash has come on and the car will not start up. Called the dealer he said he would look into if it was covered on a recall or something, Never heard back from him. When I called back I was told he had left for the weekend. Now my car sits unsafe until the dealer is open where the car can go into the shop.
Turned off car for two minutes. Won't start. Called Nissan and they confirm its steering lock. Towed. This is bullshit! Looks like $1000 to fix since the 72 month warranty up this past January. This should be a recall not a warranty. Anybody knows where else I can complain to help that happen let me know. Was thinking of purchasing a new pathfinder. Not if this goes out of my account. Toyota here I come if that happens.
Update from May 4, 2015: Just find this interesting..... when I picked up my card and paid close to $1000 for the repair, I get told that the part and labor are warrantied for 12 months. WTF!!! This should be a recall, you charge me $1000 and it may happen again???!!! Looks like a new car from another manufacturer is in my near future.
The net says the Nissan had known about this for years, but would only fix it after a failure. I never got a notice.. But, it wouldn't help since the unannounced warranty extension would have expired a month or two ago. Very unhappy! Not a future customer. Not recommending a Nissan product.
Luckily, I was at home when the car wouldn't start due to the steering wheel column being locked. Had to have it towed to dealership & it spent 1-2 days there. It cost $1,100, but also thankfully I bought the extended warranty for $1,600 when I bought car Glad I did!! This could be really bad for someone if it locks out on someone out in the sticks or when it sub zero degrees outside. Not acceptable, hopefully they will do a recall on it because it is extremely expensive to fix.
I had called Nissan USA asking about concerns regarding this problem, knowing this has been an issue. They had extended coverage on this part for 6 years unlimited mileage knowing full well it was a defective part and a flawed design. I have two concerns first the admitting of the company there is a a defective or flawed design on the car and they were extending coverage on the defective part.
I had purchased an extended warranty from Nissan when purchasing the vehicle which is still in time wise but out due to mileage, apparently the $1500.00 spent on that policy has no bearing except on their pockets, and no relation to the unlimited mileage they are offering in the extended warranty they are offering.
With the major car company goals of meeting or exceeding customers expectations Nissan falls far short of that goal in this area.
After working 16 hours, I get in my car and it would not start. It's cold as hell outside. It's 11 o'clock at night. I'm like what the f*ck! The next day, I had to pay to have it towed to the shop that shop couldn't fix it. They say it has to got to a Nissan dealer, only they can fix the problem. I get the car to the shop and was told the extended warranty just expired two weeks prior, for the issue I brought the car in for. Now I'm really pissed! If they(Nissan) knew it was a problem with steering lock, they should have notified the customer and left the warranty open. It cost me $150 for towing and $1277 to get my car fixed. On top of that, this all happened four days before my birthday. Mad woman. Nissan should reimburse who ever had to pay for any type of recalls or extended warranty for defected car parts.
Driving my 2009 Altima all day yesterday with no problem... Came out of salon appointment with my wife, who is wheelchair bound.. went to start the car and nothing happens! The key light is flashing, which I later find out is a known problem with the steering lock system going bad.
I bought the car used from Nissan in 2011... apparently the warranty expired on 03/03/2015.. The steering column lock issue happens to me on 03/04/2015!!
I have the car towed to the dealer.. I leave the car and I am informed less then 30 minutes later that the problem is the steering column lock issue and it will cost me $960 to repair... Get a call 2 hours later that the car is all done and ready.
I called in to Nissan to complain about this while I am waiting for dealership to do the repair.. At this point I am waiting for them to call me back before I have to go pickup the car. I am going to jump up and down to get them to cover this under warranty since it happened less then 24 hours after the 6 year/999,999 mile warranty on this problem expired... I certainly hope they do the right thing!!!!!!!
I called Nissan Head Quarters 800-NISSAN1, they opened a case to help resolve the issue. Our vehicle is currently with Riverside Nissan. Looking forward to getting this issue resolved with the assistance of Nissan.
This car is a piece of crap. I had to take my car in for another issue and after only 2 weeks of it being out of the shop, I go out to get in my car and it won't start. The key icon is flashing on the dash, so I changed out the battery in my fob, no luck. I tried to start the car by inserting the fob into the manual override, nothing.
I do not have any extra money to spend in this car and have to wonder if the issue had anything to do with the dealer having to tear apart my transmission 2 weeks earlier. I had contacted Consumer Affairs 2 weeks prior in regards to another issue with the car and was told that "it's out of warranty, nothing we can do." Stuck with this piece of crap and can't even drive it. Sitting in my driveway rotting as I do not have any more money to fix it.
Honesty, I'm a loyal guy and I really take care of my cars but when it's a manufacturer problem there is nothing I can do to it. I just want to make sure people are doing their job correctly and show that they care as if it was their problem .
The steering lock failed after the extended warranty period ended (which makes me wonder who the extended warranty period was supposed to be helping, if the car owners are still having problems after the warranty has expired). I'm looking for legal advice on how to settle this in small claims court, as I've heard that other people have received reimbursement from Nissan after taking similar action.
Of course, the people at the local retailer couldn't do anything for us, as it would be more expensive for Nissan if they could. But I'm hoping that the law is on my family's side this time. Nissan has faulty parts, and because they didn't recall them or tell us about them my mom could've been stuck an hour away rather than at work. Something terrible could have happened. The fact that Nissan's extended warranty period is over and we're still encountering problems indicates that Nissan took the cheap way out. They didn't offer to reimburse everyone with this problem that they know all about, instead they helped a select few people out. Those lucky people didn't have to deal with the problem that this car company caused! How fortunate for them. But now I do, as with everyone else who has a 2009 Nissan Altima with the steering lock failure occurring outside of the extended warranty period.
1) When my car did not start I was in another state 100's of miles from home. I attempted to replace the battery in the key but that did not solve the issue. I waited it out, which took about 30 minutes, sometimes longer.
2) This is not my first experience of this issue. I had it towed into a dealer over a year ago and was told the part was recalled and they replaced. This helped for about 1 1/2 years.
3) After the first few times it started to happen on a regular basis. I replaced the key, it did not happen again for over a year.
4) Removing the battery cables to reboot the car helped for a few months.
5) Now my current issue is while driving down the road all of a sudden my car does not recognize my key. It's been scary driving on an interstate and my car acts like I have stolen it. Headlights flash, the air or heat stops, no wipers, no radio....
6) This is happening more often while I am driving. It has happened three times in the last week. Twice while I was on my way to work in the rain. The wipers stopped, even putting the key into the dash does not have an effect on the outcome.
7) I have just looked up recalls and of course there are none.
8) I planned on giving it to my daughter for her sixteenth birthday. I am thinking it's time replace the car and go upside down on another.
Electronic steering column lock had locked on my 17 year old daughter, she was at work.. Had car towed to closest Nissan dealership where we had purchased car... We find out that this is happening to a lot of 2009 Altimas and Nissan did a warrant extension, But, never let anyone no about it.. So Nissan knows that this part is gonna fail but they don't warn anyone. Then happens to be that they will not extent warranty to us because we are 4 months too late on a problem they knew we were gonna have..
THIS PROBLEM SHOULD NOT HAVE A EXTENSION DATE ON IT, IT SHOULD BE A RECALL PROBLEM, MANY. MANY. PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS PROBLEM SO THEY KNOW IT'S GONNA HAPPEN BUT HOPE YOUR OUT OF THE WARRANTY SO YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT, OVER 900 DOLLARS ...WHAT A RISK IF YOUR DAUGHTER IS IN SOME REMOTE AREA AND THIS HAPPENS NISSAN. VERY DANGEROUS...
I was leaving work and when I got in the car to start it, it didn't start. I tried several times by pressing the start button and the message on my dash said "no key". I was able to lock and unlock by doors with my key fob but I couldn't start the car. I checked my engine and there wasn't any corrosion and my lines to my battery were tight. I had just called AAA 2 weeks prior and installed a new battery.
I called AAA again to test the battery and it was fine. They determined that steering was locked. The steering wheel was tight and the brake was hard and wouldn't move.
I ended up having the car towed to the dealership and every certified Nissan mechanic that I have called said that they couldn't repair it because the key, etc has to programmed by Nissan. Having a new battery installed in my key fob didn't help either.
I was left stranded for over 2 hours in the cold. It was extremely inconvenient and there was no warning sign.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Known defect which Nissan should have paid for, IMHO.
- David B., Yountville, US