Totally freaking pissed!!! Wife tried to take kids to school one morning and car wouldn't start. Doors would unlock with intelligent key but wouldn't start car. She tried everything, so no car to take kids to school. After much research we discovered the problem with the steering lock failure. We couldn't believe all the people having the exact same problems with their car. We did try the removing of the casing under the steering wheel and banging on lock until it disengaged. This actually worked for a couple days. In the meantime Nissan says that they know nothing of the problem and have car towed in we'll look at it for you. For $200!!!!

You gotta be kidding I'm telling you what the problem is. Oh by the way car is dead again, won't start and don't have the hundreds of dollars to fix. If Nissan knew this piece was faulty, which they did because they stopped putting it in the 2010, NISSAN NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE!!!

I get off work at 2:00 AM. Went to resturant to eat, when I came out my car would not start. Had to call and wake up someone to come get me. Next day tried jumping it off and putting new battery in fob, nothing worked. Had it towed to mechanic and was told it was an anit-theft steering lock problem that a LOT of people have been having with their Nissan. After a 50.00 tow bill and 800.00 later at mechanic I am fixed. I called Nissan and they gave me a case number and told me to tell anyone else I knew having this same problem to call also. The # 1-800-647-7261 EVERYONE CALL AND COMPLAIN !!!!! Keep your receipts from having it fixed and if they have a recall you can get your money back.

I was a faithful lover of Nissan vehicle since I was 20 years old I am now in my sixties and over the last 7 years I have been getting from Nissan and its dealers some bad deals and this is the latest where Nissan has an ongoing problem with the starting of the Altima and this has happen almost all owners of this car yet Nissan is not view this as a recall problem .The dealers are making money on the labour and part replacement also Nissan is making money on the sale and manufacture of this part so there no need for them to make a recall.So I have made a decision from here on my family and I will never buy another Nissan vehicle again.As I said earlier the dealers are no good too, so I now settling with buy Kia vehicles their warranty is better and vehicles are giving a better BANG for your money. Nissan has to know there is a problem with car and also there is with some of its"DEALERS" because they should monitor the internet and see the number of complaints about the Altima and some it Dealers.From Neverbuynissan

Won't start until several minutes/attempts. Replaced Brake switch, Steering switvch, battery and batteries for key

Update from Sep 9, 2013: Replaced sub Harness and 4 days later-won't start. Noticed that it generally fails after sitting for several hours. Key indicator light on when key is in car. Sometimes it comes on while driving down the road. Seems to intermittently not see that key is in vehicle. Dealer says they are at a loss. Of course, since it happens when first starting it won't fail when I take it to them. They finally gave me a loaner and plan to call Nissan tech support today. This makes at least ten visits since March and no solution.

I've had a few days where my car didn't seem to recognize my key was nearby, but after a long hard day at work, it was the first time the car would not start at all. The car knew I was there...the doors unlocked okay, and the lights all worked fine, so the battery wasn't dead. But nothing happened at all when pushing start. Just a black dashboard, aside from a new little yellow light that said KEY. Which was completely unhelpful. The manual was also completely unhelpful in this situation. Husband came, and neither his key nor mine had any effect on the car. When we had problems last summer, we put fresh batteries in the fobs. So the fob should work. Put the keyfob in the port, still nothing. Had to have the car towed, and now I hear it will be nearly $800 to fix the steering wheel lock mechanism, IF they can get the part. Which may not be available for weeks. What the heck am I supposed to do in the meantime? This is our fourth Altima, and we have never experienced anything like this before. I am stunned that there is no way to override an anti-theft flaw. Very pissed off.

I bought an 09 Nissan Altima, having trusted Nissan for years, with 5 Nissan owners in the family. As a result, no one including myself, a first time car buyer, will ever buy a Nissan again and have no reason not to sell all 5 of our Nissan vehicles. There was an open circuit in the steering lock control unit, which has been documented quite frequently online. The problem has happened so frequently the dealership I took it to had 3 or 4 to replace in the past month, not to mention they had the rather uncommon part in stock! I have attempted to get reimbursed for the almost $800 repair but Nissan has refused to refund a cent so far. This is unreasonable. The part should be recalled as nothing provoked the issue and it has happened so frequently. It also leaves the user in a potentially very dangerous position, say being stranded in the back parking lot of a Minneapolis bar at 3 in the morning with 30 below wind chills. This is absolutely unacceptable and I have no reason to ever go back to Nissan and suggest anyone even considering purchasing a Nissan find a more reliable vehicle with better customer service.

I was 750 miles away from home when my car would not start and was stranded in Minnesota Weather during the winter. Being from out of town alone and female I was grateful the hotel came to jump my car, however, my car would not start . The lights came on, radio, etc. After having to leave my car in the mall parking lot and begging security not to tow it overnight, the next day I called my local dealership back home who told me if I could turn my steering wheel back and forth that it was the steering lock had broke and would have to be replaced. Are you kidding me!!! I only have 34,545 miles on the car, however, not under warranty due to car is now 3 yrs 5 months old. I had it towed the dealership in Bloomington, MN where they confirmed the Steering Lock issue and the cost came to 907.09 to repair including my tow. After researching the internet, I found that this has been a huge issue on the Nissan Altima and should in most opinions be considered a recall on the part. Seems this is supposed to be an anti-theft system not allowing the car to start if steering wheel will not lock, Bad part is, it is costing the consumer time, money, inconvenience. The brakes at to be replace after just 17,000 miles. This is my 1st Nissan and will be my last if Nissan can't get this fixed.

Car totally DEAD. - lights would go on - ( it was a brand new battery... ).

To add insult to injury - you cannot get the car out of Park - - so cannot move the car unless you get a tow truck to lift the front end of the car. No prior warning. Have to get a dealer to fix it. Fixed, but the dealer didn't complete the reprogramming so could not open / close doors by touching the sensor on the handle. (another trip to the dealer...MY time isn't worth anything to them) Now the car makes kind of a "zipping noise" - when you start it which doesn't give me much comfort that it is fixed. This is the FIRST bad experience I've had with Nissans - we've had three Altimas - But I LOVE THIS CAR.... ... it is the best driving car I've ever had - so it really is frustrating to have such a bad problem. Of course the car died when my daughter was driving it - it was cold and raining - making it more delightful... the best thing the AAA tow truck driver was pleasant and helpful...

I recently got stranded in a parking lot when my '09 Altima would not start. Try as I might, pushing the brake down and pressing the magical "Start" button did absolutely nothing. Luckily, I was at Wal-Mart, where I purchased an expensive battery, thinking this would solve the problem (like so many of you have also done. The car is 5 years old, I figured it was time...). Nothing. I started Googling on my smart phone, and found out that the electronic steering control lock was faulty.Thankfully, I was able to start it after taking some internet forum poster's suggestion by tapping the control module at the base of the steering wheel. I was able to get home. Although, the lingering thought of being a woman stranded somewhere was hanging over my head...

Two weeks later, I receieved a letter in the mail from Nissan USA telling me that the warranty was extended on- you guessed it!- the electronic steering control lock! Since I had done my research and found out that it was going to cost between $700- $900 to replace with no guarantee that it would fix the problem, I decided to keep a hammer in my glove box to beat my car in to submission, when needed.

I scheduled to take my car to my local dealership to be fixed. I was told that the part was in stock, and that it would take an hour and a half to replace. 5 hours later, I had to call the dealership myself since I received no phone call about the progress of my vehicle, as promised. I was then told that because my car was not incapacitated right at that moment, that they would NOT replace the faulty steering lock. I called Nissan Assist, and was given a bull crap answer about how the dealership was "following protocol" and that they would not do anything about it.

I sure hope a zombie apocalypse doesn't start when my Nissan Lemon decides to not start again. That would suck. Just sayin'.

I am a long time Nissan customer and have two personal vehicles that are nissan and one that is a work vehicle. I plan on trading in all 3 three for either a Honda or Toyota. Since we've owned this 09 Nissan Altima, we have had nothing but problems with it and mainly with starting the vehicle.

In January, 2013, the vehicle would not start and had to be towed to the dealer. The dealer determined it was the steering mechanism and it had to be replaced. The Nissan dealership said this was very unusual and unfortunately for me I was now out of the 3 yr 36K warranty and this part would not be covered. Stuck with a vehicle that would not start I had no choice but to have it repaired immediately, or so I thought. After giving the dealer the go ahead he then tells me that the part is BACK ORDERED 3 WEEKS. I was furious and obviously this is very common problem for the part to be in that demand. After much complaining the dealer agreed to provide a loaner vehicle until the part came in. Two weeks later that part came in and the problem was fixed to the tune of $800.00 parts & labor.

Now two months later I contact Nissan consumer affairs about another problem with my Nissan Titan where two catalytic converters failed on that vehicle at 61K miles. The customer service representative then tells me that the issue on the Altima with the steering mechanism is now covered under the warranty and they will be refunding $641. No resolution on the Titan yet.

Now the Nissan Altima is back at the dealership with the same no start problem, sitting next to the Nissan Titan with the faulty catalytic converter. These will likely be the last Nissan's we ever own.