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 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
5 / 0
Average Mileage:
3,500 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.
In Oct 2011 car surged at stopped sign called dealer he said if happen again bring it in Nov 2011 car surged again took it to dealer he could not find anything wrong in Jan 2012 car surged again but this time there was a vehicle in front of me. The Nissan was completely damage in the front. The air bags did not open up. I traded the car in on a new and different company car. I was afraid to drive this any more. Gas pedal ## VIN failed ## 2010 Nissan Altima ##
I was driving normal speed limit 60 mph on the fwy when we heard a noise like a big pop sound. Right away when I tried to slow down to get over ( when I applied the brake) the steering wheel began shaking so bad that I was unable to control the wheel. It felt as if the brakes weren't working. The car spun out of control and crashed in the carpool divider. This was a brand new Nissan Altima 2010 coupe with 60K miles on the car. We did not hit anything at the time or even before the accident occurred, all parts on the car was brand new. I remembered that the more that I tried to apply the brakes the steering wheel shock harder and harder to where I was unable to even control it.
Last week I rented a Nissan Altima from hertz. This was the first time that I had driven this car. There is a design problem with the location of the brake pedal and spacing between the accelerator. I wear a size 10 shoe and the edge of my shoe kept getting caught on the edge of the brake pedal when I moved my foot to apply the brake. I narrowly escaped several accidents as a result of this. There is no space between these 2 pedals!
- Vail, AZ, USA
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- Va, VA, USA