2009 Nissan Altima

VEHICLE WILL NOT START DUE TO FAULTY STEERING LOCK MECHANISM. I WAS IN A PARKING LOT WITH MY TWO YOUNG CHILDREN WHEN MY CAR WOULD NOT START. APPARENTLY, THIS ISSUE HAS CAUSED A LOT OF PEOPLE TO BE STRANDED. NISSAN IS WELL AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND THAT THEIR MECHANISM DURING '09 AND '10 WAS FAULTY. HOW COULD ANY MALFUNCTION THAT LEAVES PEOPLE STRANDED NOT BE CONSIDERED A SAFETY ISSUE! THE PART IS VERY EXPENSIVE AND ONLY CARRIED THROUGH NISSAN... THAT IN ITSELF SHOULD BE SUSPICIOUS.

I HAVE A 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA WITH PUSH-START IGNITION AND RESPECTIVE 'SMART KEY'. WHILE 2 HOURS AWAY FROM HOME AND ALONE, THE ELECTRONIC STEERING COLUMN LOCK MECHANISM MALFUNCTIONED AND THEREFORE DID NOT RECOGNIZE MY SMART KEY WAS IN THE VEHICLE AND WOULD NOT ALLOW ME TO START THE CAR. I WAS STRANDED ALONE, AT NIGHT, 2 HOURS FROM HOME WITH A VEHICLE THAT WOULD NOT START DUE TO MALFUNCTIONING PART. I HAD TO HAVE THE CAR TOWED TO MY LOCAL NISSAN DEALERSHIP WHERE THE DIAGNOSIS WAS MADE THAT THE STEERING COLUMN LOCK MALFUNCTIONED AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. UPON CALLING NISSAN CORPORATE, I WAS INFORMED THAT THIS WAS A KNOWN ISSUE, HOWEVER MY CAR WAS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY AND IT WOULD NOT BE COVERED. I PURCHASED THIS CAR AS CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT ANY SAFETY RELATED KNOWN ISSUES WOULD BE ADDRESSED. I WAS NEVER MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE OR THE POSSIBILITY THAT I COULD BE PUT IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION. NISSAN TOLD ME THAT WHILE THEY WERE AWARE THE PART WAS MIS-MANUFACTURED, THE PART WAS NOT A 'RECALL' (AS DETERMINED BY NHTSA) CRITERIA) AND AS SUCH WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PROACTIVELY FIXED IF NOT BROKEN. THEY DID HOWEVER EXTEND THE WARRANTY ON THE PART, BUT ONLY FOR 6 YEARS, ASSUMING IS A DRIVER HAD THIS PROBLEM IT WOULD HAVE OCCURRED IN THE FIRST 6 YEARS OF OWNERSHIP.MY OCCURRENCE WAS WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS 8 YEARS OLD. I FEEL LIKE THIS A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN ESPECIALLY IF THERE WAS POTENTIAL FOR THE STEERING COLUMN LOCK TO MALFUNCTION WHILE DRIVING AND NISSAN SHOULD HAVE ISSUED A VOLUNTARY RECALL OR INDEFINITELY EXTENDED THE WARRANTY.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ENTIRE TOP SURFACE OF THE DASHBOARD MELTED AND WAS STICKY AND SHINY. THE DASHBOARD BECAME PROGRESSIVELY WORSE OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE SUN GLARE REFLECTED OFF THE DASHBOARD ONTO THE WINDSHIELD, WHICH DISTORTED THE VISIBILITY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE ISSUE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 68,000.

ON 2/11/2016, I WENT SHOPPING. I LEFT THE STORE TO RETURN HOME AND THE CAR WOULDN'T START. THE KEY FOB DIDN'T WORK. STEERING WAS LOCKED. GEAR SHIFT WAS LOCKED. LIGHTS AND LOCKS WORKED. I HAD A FEELING I KNEW WHAT IT WAS BECAUSE MY COUSIN, WHO OWNS THE EXACT SAME CAR AND YEAR, HAD THIS PROBLEM. AFTER 2 TOWING CHARGES, ONE TO OUR LOCAL MECHANIC AND ONE 50 MILES TO A NISSAN DEALER, IT WAS VERIFIED TO BE THE SAME STEERING LOCK MECHANISM PROBLEM. WE LIVE IN A RURAL AREA. THIS HAD THE POTENTIAL OF BEING A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE. I AM UPSET WITH THE $920.06 COST OF REPAIR (WITHOUT THE TOWING CHARGES) FOR A 6-1/2 YEAR-OLD CAR WITH 69,000 MILES. NISSAN KNOWS OF THIS PROBLEM AND SETS A LIMIT ON WARRANTY REPAIR.. OF COURSE OURS IS 6 MONTHS AND 13 DAYS PASSED THE WARRANTY EXTENSION. NOT ALL OF US CHOOSE OR CAN AFFORD TO TURN CARS IN EVERY YEAR OR TWO. THERE IS A KNOWN FAILURE OF THIS PART. WHY MUST THERE BE A WARRANTY EXTENSION LIMIT?

CAR WOULD NOT START DUE TO A FAILURE OF THE ELECTRONIC STEERING COLUMN LOCK THUS LEAVING MYSELF AND PASSENGERS STRANDED FOR HOURS. THIS IS A LATENT DEFECT IN THE CAR, AND A KNOWN ISSUE, WHICH NISSAN HAS ALREADY ACKNOWLEDGED BY EXTENDING THE WARRANTY FROM 3 TO 6 YEARS. UNFORTUNATELY THE ISSUE ONLY OCCURRED AFTER THE 6 YEARS SO WAS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. NISSAN NEEDS TO ISSUE A RECALL AS THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE WITH STRANDED DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS.

MY 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA HAD ITS STEERING COLUMN LOCK MALFUNCTION AND LEFT MY WIFE STRANDED IN A BLIZZARD. SHE WENT TO WORK, WAS GOING TO HEAD HOME FOR THE DAY AND THE CAR WOULDN'T START. SO I STARTED THE PROCESS, CHECK THE BATTERIES IN BOTH THE CAR AND THE KEY FOB. AS IT TURNS OUT FROM RESEARCHING THE PROBLEM THAT IT'S A STEERING COLUMN LOCK FAILURE. THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH 2009 AND 2010 ALTIMAS. NISSAN HAS FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THIS ISSUE, BUT FAILS TO RECALL THESE CARS. THEY DID EXTENDED WARRANTY ON THIS PART, BUT OF COURSE, THIS OCCURRED AFTER THE EXTENDED WARRANTY HAD EXPIRED. ITS A $1000 PLUS REPAIR MINIMUM AND THE PART THAT THEY WANT TO REPLACE IT WITH IS FAULTY AS WELL. IN EFFORTS TO CONTACT NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS I WAS TREATED LIKE CRAP. THEY CANT DO ANYTHING FOR ME UNTIL I HAVE IT TOWED(AT MY EXPENSE) TO A CERTIFIED NISSAN DEALER(45 MILES AWAY) AND HAVE THEM DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. AFTER WATCHING NUMEROUS VIDEOS ON THIS ISSUE. I'M SURE THAT THIS IS THE ISSUE AND I HAVE MANY HESITATIONS ON HAVING THE PART REPLACED BECAUSE AGAIN THE NEW PART IS ALSO FAULTY, AND COMES WITH NO WARRANTY. SO NISSAN HAS LEFT ME WITH TWO CHOICES. OPTION A: HAVE CAR TOWED, PAY THE LABOR, AND REPLACE WITH ANOTHER FAULTY PART($1100 AT LEAST). OR OPTION B: TRY TO FIX MYSELF BY BI-PASSING THE PART ALL TOGETHER. UNFORTUNATELY THIS OPTION IS GOING TO BE A TEMP FIX AND THE PART IS RIVETED SO ACCESS TO IT IS DIFFICULT. NOT TO MENTION AFFECTS MY RESALE VALUE. ITS ALMOST LIKE THIS WAS NISSAN'S PLAN WITH DESIGNING THIS STEERING LOCK MECHANISM. ITS A SAFETY HAZARD AS MY WIFE AND COUNTLESS OTHERS HAVE BEEN STRANDED ALONE. AFTER WATCHING NUMEROUS DIY VIDEOS I WAS ABLE TO GET THE CAR HOME BY TAPPING THE PART NUMEROUS TIMES WITH A HAMMER. WE WERE ABLE TO GET THE CAR HOME, BUT THERE IT SITS IN THE DRIVEWAY USELESS. IVE TRIED TO START IT SINCE AND GUESS WHAT...NOTHING. THE VEHICLE IS USELESS.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE FAILED TO START. WHEN THE CONTACT HIT ONE OF THE STEERING COMPONENTS, THE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO START. THE FAILURE PERSISTED. THE CONTACT WAS NOT ABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE BY HITTING THE SAME COMPONENT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 85,000.

STEERING WHEEL LOCK FAILED. YELLOW KEY SYMBOL ON DASH. STEERING WHEEL FREELY MOVES WHILE CAR POWERED OFF. NOW UNABLE TO POWER ON VEHICLE AT ALL. I HAVE BEEN THE ONLY OWNER OF THE VEHICLE. CALLED UP NISSAN TO GET A WARRANTY CLAIM SINCE THE EXTENSION ENDED FOR ME IN JAN. 2015. WHEN ASKED FOR ASSISTANCE, WAS TOLD THAT THEY HAVE DONE SO IN THE FORM OF THE WARRANTY EXTENSION. TOOK THE CAR TO DEALER FOR DIAGNOSIS PER CORPORATE'S PROCEDURE EVEN THOUGH I KNEW THE ISSUE, NOW OUT $158 AND WAS QUOTED $1,600 FOR THEIR REPAIR. CANT DO ANYTHING WITH THE CAR, ITS UNUSABLE AND NON-SELLABLE ALL DUE TO A DEFECTIVE PART. NISSAN SHOULD ISSUE A RECALL AND TAKE CARE OF THEIR DEFECTIVE PART.

ELECTRONIC STEERING WHEEL LOCK IS DEFECTIVE. NISSAN KNOW ABOUT IT....EXTENDED THE WARRANTY, BUT IT EXPIRED IN 2015. NOW I'M STUCK WITH A $960 REPAIR BILL FOR A PROBLEM THAT THE COMPANY KNOWS IS A WIDESPREAD DEFECT. THOUSANDS OF COMPLAINTS ONLINE. CONSUMER AFFAIRS TOLD ME: "WE WON'T PROVIDE ASSISTANCE" SINCE IT IS OUTSIDE THE WARRANTY EXTENSION. YET THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTS, AND THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE NATIONWIDE ARE LEFT STRANDED WHEN THEIR CARS WONT START!