Consumer Complaint Detail

NISSAN / ALTIMA / 2003

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 007113146 Incident Date: Jul, 24 2007
Consumer's City: SMYRNA Consumer's State: GA
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Nissan North America, Inc.
Model Name: ALTIMA Model Year: 2003
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Engine and engine cooling
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 1N4AL11EX3C Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Jul, 24 2007 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Jan, 28 2005
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: I have an 03 nissan altima with 77,000 miles that i kept well maintained. six months ago my engine cut off while sitting at a light, and then it cut off again a month later while driving at 25 mph. this second incident happened after i took my car in for the ecm reprogram recall. my mechanic told me it was probably the mass air flow sensor, and so i paid the money to replace it, though now i wonder if this was a mis-diagnosis. a month ago, my service engine soon light came on, and since then i have had difficulty starting the car and the engine makes a weird puttering sound like it?s about to cut out while in idle. i called the nissan dealership and was told that it sounded like the same recall issue and said that about 50% of the time, the ecm program is somehow lost and has to be reprogrammed a second time. i told him that didn't make much sense, it should be fixed the first time, and he said they could not figure out why it keeps happening. i took the car in to have it looked at and that's when he told me, never mind, this is actually an issue with the crank position sensor, which will cost $330 to replace. i did some research and found a recall back in 2003 on several 02 and 03 altimas for replacing this exact part, and when i mentioned this to the dealership, they simply said my vin number was not included in this recall so the issue with my car was unrelated and i would have to pay for it myself. seemed like too big of a coincidence to me, so i called corporate nissan to file a complaint. after several persistent phone calls, i was told they would make a note of my complaint for review, but they could not cover the expense for me. i am now taking my car to my independent mechanic who quoted me half the price to have the part replaced on my own dime. i can see i?m not the only one with this engine startup/stalling problem and it is a huge safety concern. please make nissan own up to the problem and fix the underlying issues, not just the ecm. *jb