2011 Nissan 370Z: won't start

Filed Apr 4, 2023 · Steering · GA

Steering lock module failure. Same issue as in 2016 (the federal safety agency tracking number 10929922). Car would not start. In city park and waited 4 hours for tow truck. By myself - 74 year old female. Getting dark and dealership closed. Had the exact part malfunction in 2016 and had to have it towed. Cost $1000 to fix back then. Nissan has had issues with this but has refused to recall it except for one model. This repair cost me $1400. Not just the money or inconvenience - it's dangerous. There is no way to start this car - it has to be towed!

Filed Jan 28, 2018 · Steering · TX

When my car had 22,000 miles it wouldn't start because my steering wheel locked up. I was home when this happened. Had to tow it to nissan dealership. It just happened to me again at 55,000 miles. I was about to leave work. Had to tow it back again. Not fair to pay 1,200!!

Filed Jul 24, 2017 · Steering · 19,893 miles · MS

The car would not start. I was stranded and had to have it towed to the dealership. They had to replace the steering lock unit stating that it was "bad". The same thing is noted on a recall issued for 2009 and 2010 nissan 370 z, but no recall for the 2011 even though t is the same part.

Filed Feb 1, 2017 · Steering · 24,153 miles · NY

Parked car in morning. Car would not start at night. Yellow indicator on dash. Problem was known issue with the steering lock anti-theft device. Prior model years recalled, only 2011 was not covered under recall. Car had to be towed. Over $1200 repair at dealership. Part was $775.

Filed Dec 5, 2016 · Steering · AL

Car would not start. Faulty steering lock assembly. Had to be towed.

Filed Jan 8, 2016 · Steering · 38,000 miles · TX

Nissan has a well documented problem with the electronic steering lock unit (eslu) on several models, but specifically the 2009 - 2011 370z models. The eslu is touted by nissan as a security feature;however, when it fails, you cannot start the car. That makes this a safety issue. I parked my car over the weekend and then it would not start. The vehicle was stationary. Nissan claims the latest revision of the part, 48700-jf00d, fixes the failure, but that exact part failed on my 2011 nissan 370z. I had to pay out of pocket (my year model and VIN were not included in the recall) to fix the problem.

Filed Nov 25, 2015 · Electrical, Steering · 56,000 miles · OH

Takata recall. I first occurred a problem with the z on my wedding day. My clutch dropped to the floor and we couldn't get the car in gear. We were put in the middle of the mountains with no way to call a tow truck so we did our best to make it to the closest nissan dealer. On the way we came to a four way red light and couldn't shift to a low enough gear to get to car to slow down, a semi was traveling about 60 MPH right at us, we swerved into the emergency on and the truck to barely missed us. After that my husband found out from a mechanic that he should bleed the clutch so he did and the clutch was normal again. Besides that the car has had only one other occurrence with the clutch. I am petrified to drive my car after that situation but I have no choice considering I spend most of my paycheck just to pay for the one thing that will probably send me to my grave. This is a very serious problem and should be fixed! Now to mention this morning... I woke up to go to work and went to start my car when my car wouldn't start due to a steering lock malfunction and will probably end up having to take it to a dealership if my research doesn't work out as planned. The brake light comes on when I push the clutch... The traction control light comes on and stays on for long periods. This car is going to hurt someone bad! Worried about the people drinking and driving? You should be worried about the people driving a nissan 370z !!!! So frustrated!

Filed Jun 5, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 58,000 miles · FL

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.

Filed Apr 7, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 60,000 miles · CA

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 (the federal safety agency #10051829), however they mentioned since I was beyond my extended warranty, that I would have to pay roughly $1,250.00 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.

Filed Jan 7, 2015 · Steering · 31,400 miles · TX

My car wouldn't start. There is a solid light with key on dashboard would remain lit. I tried all methods to power on the car, but failed. Had to get the car towed to the nissan dealership where I was told that the car requires a "steering lock actuator" replacement and cost runs to approximately $1150. My car is outside of the 3 year warranty period and hence it cannot be covered under warranty. It seems to be a known issue upon looking up on the internet. There should be a recall on this vehicle for this part as it is malfunctioning more than usual.

Filed Dec 10, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 23,000 miles · WA

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.