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.
On July 15, 2014 on the advice of my mechanic, I took my car to a dealership (52,146 miles) to have a head gasket leak repaired. The dealership told me they could not find any leaks. I took my car back to my mechanic on January 8, 2015 (59,393 miles) for an oil change and asked him to check the head gasket again. I also asked him to take pictures this time if the leak was still there. He took pictures and told me the leak had worsened since he saw it in July. I took my car back to the same dealership on January 13, 2015 and this time they admitted there was a leak but cited Nissan bulletin #NTB14-057 and said the leak did not qualify for repair.
My mechanic could not believe this and asked me to get a second opinion from another dealership. I took my car to a second dealership on January 18, 2015 and this dealership cited the same bulletin from Nissan and told me they could not authorize a repair. They did however advise me to open a Nissan consumer affairs case. I opened a case on January 19, 2015 and after some back and forth with the Nissan representative my case was closed on January 26, 2015. I was told my case was closed because two separate dealerships had conducted an inspection and deemed my car did not qualify for repair.
In my estimation, the dealerships did not repair my car because they were able to cower behind the bulletin. The Nissan consumer affairs department did not authorize repair of my car because they were able to cower behind the dealerships diagnosis. It’s a pretty sweet setup they have but I’m wondering if there’s anyone out there who can help? As you know this is a costly repair and I only have ~450 miles until I’m out of warranty. Can I fight this from another angle? Can I get an independent review of my situation outside of the Nissan/Dealership look that I’m in?
I’m obviously not real happy with Nissan, but I’m not in a position to sell my car. Thanks.
Took the car in for an oil change, and the dealer told me the head gasket was leaking. To their credit, the dealership was up front with me about the problem, and they're repairing the engine. The service rep told me that the head gasket has been redesigned by Nissan, which makes me wonder how common this is. The dealership is replacing both gaskets, which required considerable work on the engine (they've had the car over a week now).
Frankly, having this happen after 50k miles is very worrying. I bought this car to last me 10 years like my Honda Civic did, and after this problem I'm not sure I'll be confident that it can make it to the end of the loan, never mind another 6 years beyond that. If this is indicative of the longevity of Nissan engines, I'm going to be looking at another manufacturer sooner than I'd hoped.
- watcher,
EXTON, PA, US
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On July 15, 2014 on the advice of my mechanic, I took my car to a dealership (52,146 miles) to have a head gasket leak repaired. The dealership told me they could not find any leaks. I took my car back to my mechanic on January 8, 2015 (59,393 miles) for an oil change and asked him to check the head gasket again. I also asked him to take pictures this time if the leak was still there. He took pictures and told me the leak had worsened since he saw it in July. I took my car back to the same dealership on January 13, 2015 and this time they admitted there was a leak but cited Nissan bulletin #NTB14-057 and said the leak did not qualify for repair.
My mechanic could not believe this and asked me to get a second opinion from another dealership. I took my car to a second dealership on January 18, 2015 and this dealership cited the same bulletin from Nissan and told me they could not authorize a repair. They did however advise me to open a Nissan consumer affairs case. I opened a case on January 19, 2015 and after some back and forth with the Nissan representative my case was closed on January 26, 2015. I was told my case was closed because two separate dealerships had conducted an inspection and deemed my car did not qualify for repair.
In my estimation, the dealerships did not repair my car because they were able to cower behind the bulletin. The Nissan consumer affairs department did not authorize repair of my car because they were able to cower behind the dealerships diagnosis. It’s a pretty sweet setup they have but I’m wondering if there’s anyone out there who can help? As you know this is a costly repair and I only have ~450 miles until I’m out of warranty. Can I fight this from another angle? Can I get an independent review of my situation outside of the Nissan/Dealership look that I’m in?
I’m obviously not real happy with Nissan, but I’m not in a position to sell my car. Thanks.
- bdkpsu1, Pasadena, MD, US