CarComplaints.com Notes: Here's a disturbing trend for the 2002 Nissan Altima: the engine starts burning oil like crazy, the catalytic converter goes bad, the head gasket blows and eventually the entire engine needs replacement. Sound familiar? Like a script from a horror film, these Altimas seem doomed to fail around 95k miles.
When I first got this car (brand new) there was an annoying whistling sound to it. After making sure all the doors and windows were closed, we finally narrowed in on the windshield. Took it to the dealership OVER 10 different times--each time they told me NOTHING was wrong with the windshield. I took the service rep for a drive (the whistling sound was on the passenger side too) and even though he HEARD it, he said there was nothing wrong! The car soon took on a mildewy smell and after lodging a complaint w/Nissan USA, the service dept finally agreed to have a "windshield specialist" come in. This person stated nothing was wrong. I finally said ENOUGH and got the service manager and took him for a drive to the local car wash, where he proceeded to see the side of the windshield leak profusely down the side into the carpet (which by now had a mold ridden pad underneath!!) They finally removed the windshield, completely resealed it, tore out the entire carpeting of the car & replaced it as well as the cabin micro-filter. All of which could have been avoided had they just resealed it the first time I came in!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
When I first got this car (brand new) there was an annoying whistling sound to it. After making sure all the doors and windows were closed, we finally narrowed in on the windshield. Took it to the dealership OVER 10 different times--each time they told me NOTHING was wrong with the windshield. I took the service rep for a drive (the whistling sound was on the passenger side too) and even though he HEARD it, he said there was nothing wrong! The car soon took on a mildewy smell and after lodging a complaint w/Nissan USA, the service dept finally agreed to have a "windshield specialist" come in. This person stated nothing was wrong. I finally said ENOUGH and got the service manager and took him for a drive to the local car wash, where he proceeded to see the side of the windshield leak profusely down the side into the carpet (which by now had a mold ridden pad underneath!!) They finally removed the windshield, completely resealed it, tore out the entire carpeting of the car & replaced it as well as the cabin micro-filter. All of which could have been avoided had they just resealed it the first time I came in!!
- pgrace, Palm Coast, FL, US