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.
I have a car that is now 9 years old with 38,000 miles on it. I work about a mile from where I live hence the low miles. I wanted to never have to buy another car. I have taken car of it, parked it in the garage...there is not a dent or scratch on it!
Last year in August, the seal coat started to deteriorate. In 8 weeks there was not a part of my car that didn't look like crap. It has completely broken down. Nissan sent me a form letter saying that cause of the age and miles on my car, I was s.o.l. I contacted my Nissan dealer and he had never seen anything like it. The dealership body shop couldn't believe how quickly it broke down. Nissan didn't care. When I wanted to dispute it, they told me the case was closed. Funny that the woman that closed my case and refused to talk to me was fired the day after my case was closed.
There have been so many people that this has happened to. Nissan knows they have issues with the seal coat on the 2008 and 2009 vehicles and won't do anything about it. They should be doing the right thing and repainting these vehicles. Believe me, I will tell the thousands of people I interact with every year not to buy a Nissan, and I think they will listen.
The paint job failed! The sealant is cracking. The car looks like someone ran a wire brush over the top and hoods of the car. We were told by an auto body shop that it was a sealant issue and that insufficient sealant was used to cause this early failure of the paint job. What a drag. It would cost more than the car is worth to have the car repainted. I also found out Nissans apparently lose their value quickly.
Thought I just needed a good buff/simonizing job done to get the car looking new again and to get rid of some minor scratches. But instead learned that the seal has burned off the hood, roof and the trunk area of the car. Made contact with Nissan and was told that there have been no recalls on this matter, in other words a run around. So, guess I will have to pay the money out to get a paint job, as I do not want the body to start rusting. I don't plan on buying a brand new car again anytime soon, so I need to take care of this one. Never thought body work would be needed on a 6 yr old car, outside of an accident happening.
The only thing ever used on this car was mild soap and water. Car has 25,000 miles and used very little. We put Turtle Wax paste on it and when we finished you could see where the paint was separated and all the clear coat is gone, even on the top which had not been waxed. You can see the separation lines clearly. I took the car to a very reputable car repair company, he stated that he has seen this many times with this particular car, the paint is actually a dye with a clear coat. This is a manufacturing problem that is going to cost us $1500.00. I would NEVER buy or RECOMMEND a Nissan to anyone. They will not stand behind their products and should not be allowed to do business.
I see there are many, about 500 such complaints, about paint defects on the web. What can we do? Anyone got any real satisfaction from Nissan on this? We are senior citizens and this was to be our last car purchase. We babied this car and it looks like a junker. Nissan is ripping off (WHAT GOOD IS A WARRANTY) everyone, even the old senior citizens. I am so ashamed of this and the Nissan Company.
IN DEC. 2011 I PURCHASHED A CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED VEHICLE FROM MOSSY NISSAN ESCONDIDO CA. 92026. THE CAR FAX STATED THE VEHICLE WAS NEVER IN AN ACCIDENT. ON 12/13/2012 VECHILE WAS IN A LONE CAR ACCIDENT , HITTING THE EXACT SAME PLACE WERE THE VEHICLE WAS IN A PREVIOUS ACCIDENT.
THE 2009 WAS TAKEN TO MY INSURANCE COMPANY "CALIBER-OCEANSIDE' 4156 AVENIDA DE LA PLATA, OCEANSIDE CA. 92056 760-414-1518-FAX760-414-1519. THE ESTIMATE OF RECORD WAS WRITTEN BY CYNTHIA MATTHEWS, at 12/14/2012 3:26pm. The fist words from her was "this car has been in an Accident before!!!!
So we decided to have the dealer repair it due to them selling us a car advertized as certified Pre-Owned never in an acciedent vehicle. As soon as it was towed there we were treated as if we were not even in the dealership. My insurance company called me and my daughter for two weeks letting us know that mossy nissan of Escondido was not returning their calls or calling them. I had to go to the dealship call my insurance on my cell phone and hand it to the supervisor of the colision dept.After that I did not hear back from Mossy for three weeks. We had paid 3 months of car payments and renewed the regs. at $550.00 and have not seen the car .I complained to Nissan Corp. But that got turned into another complaint about the brakes. They totally blewoff the fact that there MOSSY NISSAN DEALERSHIP WAS SELLING CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED VEHICLES WITH CLEAN CAR FAX THAT HAVE BEEN IN PREVIOUS ACCIDENTS. I have photos , bondo and witnesses to the fact that this car was in a previous accident. Therefore they should have sold the vehicle to me for the price of a used vehicle and not the extra $8000.00 dollars that they get for a pre-owned vehicle.WHATS UP WITH MOSSY LETTING THERE DEALERSHIPS GET AWAY WITH THIS TYPE OF THEIFERY......PLEASE HELP PLEASE HELP PLEASE HELP.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
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I have a car that is now 9 years old with 38,000 miles on it. I work about a mile from where I live hence the low miles. I wanted to never have to buy another car. I have taken car of it, parked it in the garage...there is not a dent or scratch on it!
Last year in August, the seal coat started to deteriorate. In 8 weeks there was not a part of my car that didn't look like crap. It has completely broken down. Nissan sent me a form letter saying that cause of the age and miles on my car, I was s.o.l. I contacted my Nissan dealer and he had never seen anything like it. The dealership body shop couldn't believe how quickly it broke down. Nissan didn't care. When I wanted to dispute it, they told me the case was closed. Funny that the woman that closed my case and refused to talk to me was fired the day after my case was closed.
There have been so many people that this has happened to. Nissan knows they have issues with the seal coat on the 2008 and 2009 vehicles and won't do anything about it. They should be doing the right thing and repainting these vehicles. Believe me, I will tell the thousands of people I interact with every year not to buy a Nissan, and I think they will listen.
- Julie P., Bloomington, US