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.
For years, there have been widespread defects in the electronic steering column lock (escl) that disabled the push-button ignition in a wide range of Nissan and infiniti vehicles. The escl's primary job is to keep the steering wheel locked until you bring your key fob in range of the vehicle. It's meant to prevent theft. However, when the escl malfunctions (even with the fob present and working) the escl won't detect it and, therefore, won't release the wheel. When you press the start/stop button to start the car, nothing happens. However, the "intelligent key warning light" symbol comes on, indicating you have a problem. Nissan has been aware of this issue fo years and has issued a voluntary service campaign for various models. However, they have not done so for the 370Z, even though this model is experiencing the exact problem as the models included in the voluntary service campaign. This malfunction has nothing to do with general "wear & tear". this malfunction is due to a defective part and poor engineering. I am asking NHTSA to encourage Nissan to conduct a voluntary or mandatory recall to address and correct this issue at no cost to vehicle owners.
Steering wheel lock sensor broke, failed in lock position, happens to most every Nissan fob key system at 1 time or another. The dealer charged me $1100 to fix and it took them less than 2 hours. This is a scam by Nissan and the internet is full of people compalining about this issue. It left me stranded and I had to be towed. Please make Nissan start a recall for this problem. When the steering lock fails it will not allow the car to start.
First incident happened at around 37,000 miles, the car would not start and the push button lights up the lock light but seconds later started working. On June 3rd 2015, after driving to my job to pick up tools to head to the airport I park the car, came back to a car that would not start, the car recognizes the key but locks me out from starting the car. The car had random won't start, I brought this up to the Nissan dealers about ongoing issues with other owners of the same car. Now my car does not start and I am hearing that this is a going issue with the steering wheel lock/intelligent key. I am unable to move the car and will have to tow it to the dealer that denied issues with the inelligent key system locking owners from starting their cars. I want to bring this up so that way we speak out since there are so many people having issues but not enough post it so that a recall can be made for Nissan to fix this for owners affected.
Yesterday afternoon, after leaving work to my car within the parking lot, my vehicle did not start. I assumed it was due to a low battery within the intelligent key for the push to start ignition, so I replaced the battery at a local wal-mart. Upon returning to the car, I had the same problem. The key was able to lock and unlock the doors to the car, however when I pushed in the clutch and brake per usual followed by the start button, nothing took place. The indicator remained on the 'lock' position and failed to move over to the 'on' position to start the car. No sounds took place at all as if it was even trying to start. As a result, I left the car overnight and had it towed to the local dealership. They informed me a few hours later that my steering lock unit had 'failed'. I mentioned that I had seen this problem reported on numerous car blogs (NHTSA #10051829), however they mentioned since I was beyond my extended warranty, that I would have to pay roughly $1,250 for the part and labor. It is currently being serviced, however I wanted this incident logged as I have seen a number of 370Z owners recommend this route. Extremely disappointed with Nissan's coverage and handling of this situation.
Key indicator light came on about a week prior to the incident. Made 2 phone calls to local Nissan dealerships (one in portland or and one in vancouver, wa) both dealerships claimed they had no idea what was going on but I should bring it in for a diagnostic test which ran around $118 just to look at. Since nothing appeared wrong with my car I waited because the "key" light would go off. It came back on the day I had the incident and left me stranded on my lunch hour with no power to start my car. I again called Nissan and they were not sure what the problem was. I had to have my car towed to the nearest Nissan dealership which ran a diagnostic test. I then received a phone call that afternoon to say it was my steering lock assembly and the part was expensive to replace. I was told the labor would not be much since it was an easy fix. So this problem turned out to the a $1,200 fix. I decided to go online to see if I can find this part any cheaper. I then ran across many websites and blogs with Nissan owners having the exact same problem with car from 2009 to 2011. Apparently this is not something Nissan was unaware of. The service rep at the dealership said she has seen other 370Z's with this same problem and just had one towed to the service center 2 weeks ago. I find it hard to believe that with this may cases being reported and blogged about online why Nissan is not doing something about this. This can be a very dangerous situation if left stranded in a car that will not start. When you try to be proactive Nissan service centers claim they are unaware of the issue. Something needs to be done and quickly. This will be the last Nissan ever purchased if not resolved and reimbursed for expense.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Rochester, MI, USA