Nissan Altima electrical problems

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE KEY-LESS ENTRY SYSTEM FAILED AND THE VEHICLE COULD NOT BE STARTED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER WHERE A DIAGNOSTIC WAS PERFORMED. THE FAILURE WAS LOCATED AT THE STEERING LOCK SYSTEM AND THE CONTACT WAS ADVISED THAT THE KEY-LESS COMPUTER NEEDED TO BE REPROGRAMMED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT START AFTER MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS, THE DASH READ " NO KEY". EVEN THOUGH HE TRIED THE SPARE KEY AND TRIED TO JUMP START THE BATTERY, ALL ATTEMPTS FAILED. THE DEALER INFORMED THE CONSUMER IT WAS NOT A WEAR AND TEAR PROBLEM, AND IT WAS NOTHING THAT HE DID OR DIDN'T DO TO CREATE THE PROBLEM. UPDATED 03/14/13 ...UPDATED 04-03-13 *BF UPDATED 04/12/2013 *JS

HAVE HAD THIS CAR FOR 2+ YEARS NOW, LIVED IN ARIZONA AND FLORIDA. I NOW LIVE IN MARYLAND. THIS MORNING WAS SLIGHTLY COLDER THAN NORMAL, WITH SLEET COMING IN LAST NIGHT. MY WIFE ATTEMPTED TO START THE CAR THIS MORNING WHILE I WAS AWAY AT WORK AND COULD NOT GET IT TO START. LOOKING AT THE DASH INDICATORS, IT SHOWED THE ORANGE INTELLIGENT KEY LIGHT ON, AND WHEN I TRIED TO START THE CAR, THE IGNITION BUTTON WOULD NOT SWITCH OUT OF LOCK. TRIED TO GET THE CAR INTO NEUTRAL, BUT BRAKES APPEAR TO BE FIRM IN PLACE AND WILL NOT UNLOCK THE SHIFTER OUT OF PARK. LOOKED ONLINE FOR A FEW SOLUTIONS, BUT NONE HAVE WORKED SO FAR (UNHOOKING BATTERY, MOVING THE STEERING COLUMN). CALLED THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP NEAR HERE AND THEY WANT ME TO TOW IT IN BEFORE THEY CAN EVEN GUESS AT THE CAUSE (WHICH I WOULD HAVE NO ISSUE WITH IF THIS WAS AN UNCOMMON THING, BUT THERE ARE NUMEROUS REPORTS OF THIS ONLINE, MOST POINTING TO THE SAME THING: A SHODDY PART THAT I NEED TO PAY $500 PLUS LABOR TO REPLACE ). EVENTUALLY THIS WILL HAVE TO GET FIXED, BUT WHAT IS MOST DISHEARTENING IS THE FACT THAT THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED ANYWHERE AND LEFT MY WIFE STRANDED FOR SOME TIME. I JUST LUCKED OUT AND IT WAS SITTING AT HOME. MILEAGE IS ~21K. *TR

ENTERED VEHICLE, STEPPED ON THE BRAKE PEDAL, YELLOW "STEP ON BRAKE PEDAL" LIT UP, PUSHED START BUTTON, THE "ACC" LIT, AND IT WENT TO "START" AND NOTHING HAPPENED! ALL THE DASH LIGHTS TURNED ON BUT NO STARTER ENGAGEMENT OR NOISE. I TRIED IT SEVERAL TIMES AND NOTHING HAPPENED. I CALLED AAA FOR A TOW. WHEN TOW TRUCK DRIVER CAME, I GOT INTO THE CAR AND IT STARTED! I WENT TO THE DEALER AND A CRACKED BATTERY WAS FOUND AND REPLACED. IN THE LAST MONTH THE CAR HAS NOT STARTED SEVERAL TIMES. MY WIFE HAS GOTTEN IN AN OUT OF THE CAR SEVERAL TIMES AND IT WOULD FINALLY STARTED. TODAY,I WENT TO THE DEALER AND EXPLAINED THE SITUATION AND ASKED IF THERE WAS A SERVICE BULLETIN CONCERNING THIS ISSUE. THE SERVICE WRITER STATED THAT THERE WASN'T. HE DID SAY THAT THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH (P/N 25320-AX00C) HAS BEEN A PROBLEM ON SOME VEHICLES. I HAD THEM CHECK IT AND IT WAS BAD. I HAD TO PAY $127.18! HAVING THIS PART FAILING IN UNDER 23,000 MILES IS VERY POOR. I HAVE HAD NISSAN VEHICLES WITH OVER 100,000 MILES AND NOT HAD A BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH FAILURE! THIS HAS LEFT MY WIFE STUCK SEVERAL TIMES AND VERY UPSET. *TR

ON A RECENT COLD MORNING I GOT INTO MY 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA, AT 7:00 AM AND DROVE SON TO SCHOOL. CAME HOME AND PARKED VEHICLE. GOT BACK IN CAR AT 3:00 PM AND CAR WOULD NOT START. THE CAR HAD BEEN FINE THAT MORNING. PUSH START WOULD NOT GET OUT OF "LOCK" POSITION. HEADLIGHTS, INSIDE LIGHTS, BRAKE LIGHTS ALL WORKED. STEERING WHEEL WAS NOT LOCKED. WOULD NOT GET OUT OF "PARK". BATTERY WAS TESTED AND NOT THE PROBLEM. FUSES WERE CHECKED AND BRAKE SWITCH CHECKED AND NOT THE PROBLEM. LOOKED ON INTERNET AND FOUND MULTIPLE INCIDENTS WHERE STEERING LOCK MECHANISM WAS FAULTY ON 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA, AND WAS NOT ENGAGING AND THEREFORE THE CAR WOULD NOT START AND WAS LOCKED BY IMMOBILIZER. THE ONLY OPTION IS A $500.00 PLUS PART FROM NISSAN AND ANOTHER $500-600.00 TO INSTALL. CAR WAS TOWED TO DEALERSHIP AT COST OF $109.00 TO ME, AND THE ESTIMATE FROM THE DEALER TO FIX THE NOW DIAGNOSED STEERING LOCK MALFUNCTION WAS $1,100.00 MAKING THIS A TOTAL COST OF $1,209.00 ON A VEHICLE THAT HAS LESS THAN $60,000 MILES. I LOOKED ON THE INTERNET AND FOUND THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION BY ANOTHER DISSATISFIED CUSTOMER : 1. NISSAN DID A RECALL ON THEIR MORE EXPENSIVE MODEL NISSAN GTRS WAS RECALLED, PART NUMBER 48700-JF00A OR 48700-JF00B, BEING REPLACED BY 48700-JF00C AND CALLED CAMPAIGN ID P0309. 2. SAME PART NUMBER IS FAILING FOR NISSAN 370ZS AS WELL, SAME YEARS AND SAME PART NUMBER 48700-JF00A OR 48700-JF00B, YET THEY ARE NOT BEING RECALLED. 3. THIS PROBLEM IS ALSO OCCURRING IN NISSAN MAXIMAS AND NISSAN MURANOS HOWEVER I COULD NOT FIND THE PART NUMBER. 4. IN ALL MODELS OF NISSAN THIS PART WAS REMOVED IN MID 2010 DUE TO CONSISTENT FAILURE. THERE SHOULD BE A MAKE-WIDE RECALL FOR ALL MODELS FOR THIS PART, NOT JUST THE GTR BECAUSE IT'S THE MOST EXPENSIVE OF THEM. CALL 1-800-NISSAN 1 AND COMPLAIN, I AM... *TR

OUR ALTIMA HAS FAILED TO RECOGNIZE OUR INTELLIGENT KEYS AND WILL NOT START. THE DOORS WILL LOCK AND UNLOCK. THE ALARM WILL SOUND AND THE TRUNK WILL OPEN BUT THE CAR WILL NOT START. I'M BEING TOLD THIS IS DUE TO A FAULTY STEERING LOCK MECHANISM THAT HAS BEEN RECALLED IN SOME NISSAN MODELS BUT NOT THE ALTIMA. THE PART ITSELF IS $500 AND THE LABOR WILL TAKE IT TO ALMOST $1000 OR MORE. THIS IS COMPLETELY ABSURD. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THIS HAPPENED TO MY WIFE AND INFANT DAUGHTER ON THE WRONG SIDE OF TOWN. WHAT IF THIS PART HAD FAILED WHEN WE WERE IN THE MOUNTAINS OR OFF THE BEATEN PATH. IF A PART IS GOING TO BE RECALLED IN ONE MODEL, IT NEEDS TO BE RECALLED IN ALL MODELS. THIS IS EXTREMELY UNSAFE AND TO KNOW THAT NISSAN IS AWARE OF THIS ISSUE IS UNACCEPTABLE. WE ALSO OWN A MURANO THAT USES AN ACTUAL KEY TO START --- I'M CONSIDERING REPLACING BOTH AFTER LEARNING ABOUT THIS. I HOPE SOMEONE WILL RESPOND TO THIS. *TR

AFTER OUR FIRST REAL FREEZE OF THE WINTER (LOW 20'S), THE CAR WAS LOCKED UP FOR NO REASON. PRESSING THE PUSH BUTTON IGNITION, INSERTING THE FOB INTO THE KEY HOLDER, NOTHING WILL START THE CAR. THE BRAKE PEDAL IS HEAVY, NO LIGHTS COMES UP ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND THE STEERING WHEEL IS TOTALLY LOCKED OUT. HAD TO GET THE ALTIMA TOWED INTO A LOCAL DEALERSHIP AND COME TO FIND OUT IT'S A STEERING WHEEL LOCK OUT CONTROL UNIT THAT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. CAR JUST CAME OFF THE 36MONTH WARRANTY IN SEPTEMBER'12 AND I AM NOW TURNING IN THE 39MONTH LEASE AND NOW A $1K REPAIR. THANKS NISSAN... ALSO, HAD THE NISSAN ORIGINAL BATTERY REPLACED TWICE! ORIGINAL BATTERY ONLY HAS AN 18MONTH PRORATED WARRANTY! NOT SURE IF IT ALL RELATES SOMEHOW. THIS STEERING WHEEL LOCK CONTROL SHOULD BE A MANUFACTURER'S RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP IT FOR THE LIFE OF THE CAR. *TR

WHEN I ENTERED MY CAR I NOTICED THAT THE PUSH BRAKE LIGHT WASN'T ON LIKE IT NORMALLY IS FOR THE INTELLIGENT KEY START. I PUSHED DOWN ON THE BRAKE AND IT FELT VERY STIFF. A YELLOW KEY LIGHT KEPT FLASHING AND EVERYTIME I WOULD TRY AND START THE CAR IT WOULD STAY IN LOCK AND WOULDN'T EVEN TRY TO START. I DIDN'T HEAR THE IGNITION, NOTHING. I TRIED TO CHECK THE BATTERY, I USED A DIFFERENT KEY, I PUT THE KEY IN THE SLOT AND NOTHING WORKED. I WAS STRANDED. THE CAR WAS WORKING FINE AND HAD NO PREVIOUS INDICATORS THAT SOMETHING COULD GO WRONG. AS I SEARCHED ONLINE FOR A FIX I FOUND MANY PEOPLE WHO HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND HAD TO PAY A HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY TO GET IT FIXED. NISSAN PROMOTES HOW SAFE, RELIABLE AND ECONOMICAL THEIR CARS ARE, BUT THE ANTI-THEFT SYSTEM OF THE STEERING WHEEL LOCK CAN DISABLE THE VEHICLE LEAVING A DRIVER STRANDED WITH ONLY ONE OPTION, WHICH IS, TO BE TOWED TO A DEALER. THIS A SERIOUS SAFETY FLAW IN THE 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA. NISSAN WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A REPUTABLE COMPANY. HOWEVER, WITH THESE TYPES OF MALFUNCTIONS, AND NO SUPPORT FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS, I FEEL VERY UNSATISFIED AND UNSAFE WITH MY PURCHASE. NISSAN NEEDS TO PROVIDE A RECALL AND FIX THESE SENSOR ISSUES. *TR