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:
4 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
70,530 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.
The contact owns a 2009 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. Additionally, the steering wheel was locked. A message to wiggle the steering wheel while depressing the PUSH to START button was displayed. The contact stated that she followed the instructions however, the failure persisted. An unknown dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact related the failure to Nissan TSB Number: NTB17-018. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Car was working perfectly. Drove to school, nothing acting weird. Went to leave school and would not start. This is a push start ignition and it is stuck on lock with the key lights on. One orange/yellow stays on for a while and the other is the red flashing light. This is a steering lock module defect. I have read where this is a reocurring problem and nissan has still not performed a recall and this obviously should have been done years ago. Now I am going to be out over $500 for a piece that nissan should cover. This is unacceptable.
My daughter drove the car to a gas station, pumped gas, came back out and the car wouldnt start. She was left stranded by a car that had to be towed. Had she been out of town without resources nearby she would have been in a very difficult situation. The engine randomly fails to start using push-button No manual workaround, leaving drivers stranded Failure to jumpstart using cables or a jump box and new battery The new replacement part wiped out the memory of the body control system causing more costs. $1200 - just to make the car start
The vehicle was working just fine when I went to the grocery store and came out. I unlocked the car using the key fob, sat inside and the car stopped detected my key. The steering was locked, I tried to place it near the start push button, tried putting it in the slot but nothing happened. And I tried unlock button couple of times on the key fob and the mirrors went down. And there was no way to pull them up and I was stranded in the parking lot for no reason. I got it towed to the dealership and they told me Steering Lock Module went bad which is a common issue in 2009 Nissan Altima. Its a safety issue as I can get stranded anywhere anytime! And they are fixing it for 1300$ bucks! Please recall all 2009 Nissan Altima and change this part in them!
My vehicle suddenly failed to start due to a defective ESCL, which locked the steering column. The vehicle needed to be towed to a Nissan dealership to replace the part at a cost of $1500. Defective ESCLs are a known issue and a service campaign was implemented by Nissan to replace these defective parts in 2009-2010 Altimas and Maximas. Unfortunately, the campaign expired in 2020 and Nissan refuses to fix this part after the expiration. I never received notification of this issue despite purchasing and owning the vehicle throughout the entire 2017-2020 campaign. Despite Nissan referring to this as a non-safety issue because the part is not known to fail during operation of the vehicle, this problem can cause operators to be suddenly stranded with no option of immediate repair. I believe the Nissan campaign to replace these defective parts should be reopened with no expiration, as there are hundreds of thousands of vehicles impacted.
The vehicle steering got locked and would not want to start again, this could of happen anywhere and spend more money to tow and also a risk being in the freeway. This should be a recall due to a lot of complaints, or a free repair due to being very expensive, almost 200 for a safety issue. There is a TSB NTB10-053,
The contact owns a 2009 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while his son was attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The contact mentioned that the vehicle failed to start and was given a jump start by another vehicle. The contact stated that the steering column box needed to be tapped in order for the vehicle to operate. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired, and the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in Technical Service Bulletin: 10119195. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
My vehicle is inoperable due to electronic steering column box. This locking mechanism is not engaging and has caused the vehicle to stop operation. I have been told this system is an anti theft device. It stopped working all of the sudden and I had to have the vehicle towed home thankfully I did not get into an an accident due to this mechanical failure.
2009 Nissan Altima It's relating to the Steering Assembly lock that was defective. I have this vehicle and this issue came up in 2013 and it was fixed. I had this issue come up again in late 2021 and I need to fix it again out of pocket. I read in your article that in 2017 Nissan issued a fix to this. I paid about $600 in 2013 and now they're quoting $1800 plus tax. Would I still be eligible to have this covered by Nissan as it's a known recurring problem? Thanks, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Drove car to to store came back 20 minutes later car would not start. Red key appear on dash - Had to have car towed. Informed Steering wheel lockout. Nissian award of problem, but never issue recall. Base on my research found out they did a voluntary bring in your car to fix problem, but no recall. Who is going to know they have a problem until it happens< The bring in your cechile program ended May 2020 during the pandemic. Now it's going to cost $1300 to repair, not counting money spent for tow and car rental. I have bought 3 Nissian never will I buy another one.
Went to work with no issues. Got off and went to grocery store and when I came out to leave, car would not start. The key indicator and steering lock indicator on indicating a malfunction. Car would not start for no reason. After a day I had to have the car towed to my house at my expense. It is terrible to have so many people have the same issue and being stranded by this malfunction, which is extremely unsafe. Terrible to see how nissan will not fix this obvious error on their part to protect their customers safety. Now I am being told that the recall to fix this wasnover may of 2020 and it is going to cost over a thousand dollars. I was never notified of a recall and this fox should be honored but it is not. Terribly disappointed. Nissan, get your act together!!!!
Steering lock mechanism malfunction leaving me stranded due to the car not starting. Intelligence key lock displaying indicating the issue being a malfunction. I was left stranded over 40 miles away from home. I-€™m stranded on an island and haven-€™t had any insurance rep look at it. Vehicle is being towed over 40 miles to a Nissan dealership. There was no warning. I went to work that day without any issues and when I was ready to leave the car would not start and the key light was on. I had to spend money on a rental car to get home. This is extremely unsafe to know this can happen due to a part Nissan is very aware of.
I got in my car I drove up to the auto parts store which I took my neighbor to turn my car off went in came back out and the steering wheel was locked and would not unlock at which time I had it towed back to the house which cost me $125 and 3 hours. Come to find out the part is on recall that calls the car to do this and the manufacturer refuses to honor it saying I have to pay to replace
My steering column locked and my vehicle would not start. This also happened 8 years ago in the year 2013. I was stranded both times. The first time it was covered under the recall. But now there is no longer a recall in place. The repair is very costly.
The front suspension has caused my tyrode to come off cause the bracket that is on the strut bar that the stabalizer bolts onto has broke off from where its attached to. I can not keep the front right wheel tight it has came off with me driving down a city street which was seagoviille rd. In seagobille tx. All problems front suspension.
Went to start my car the other day and it failed to start with a little key icon on the dashboard and my push to start button reading lock. I assumed that the battery was dead because it was about -20 degrees Fahrenheit at the time, however when I went to jump it it still wouldn't even attempt to turn over when I pressed the start button. This appears to be a common issue with my make and model of car, however the manufacturer has issued a recall on only select cars for the make model and year despite it being widespread across the that line of vehicle for that year. While I was fortunate to be home when this happened, being stranded somewhere in this cold of weather without the ability to start your car could be very dangerous.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Kinston, NC, USA