To whom it may concern, I wrote this letter to consumer affairs and to the ceo of nissan: dear [xxx], my name is [xxx]and I am a current owner of a 2008 nissan altima. For the past three weeks, I have been dealing with nissan's west coast regional office in regards to issues I have been experiencing with my car. I have been treated very poorly and I am astonished and disgraced by both one of your nissan dealerships here in los angeles and by your corporate representatives. As a leader myself for one of the most valuable company's in the world, I have found myself at a loss for words. [xxx], a man who has been empowered to make decisions for nissan, stated by brett locher, his supervisor, has decided that nissan should not fix the issue that I have been experiencing since the first day I leased the car. I was lied to by the sales representative that my vehicle had temporary battery issues. Later on in the year, I experienced similar issues. I was advised by your dealership in glendale, ca to pay for a new battery exchange. After purchasing the vehicle, I experienced the same issues until recently when my car became inactive to the the start/stop ignition switch not responding with the brake harness. Although I advised your representatives that I have been experiencing this problem way before my vehicle was out of warranty, they continued to explain to me that they would not be able to fix the car without charge because now its out of warranty. The car has around 29,000 miles and has never needed service. I am disappointed from an ethical standpoint and I would like to have my car fixed. It's time for nissan to stop serving crackers and cheese and begin to serve caviar for customer retention. [xxx] class action lawsuit is needed! Many people are experiencing these problems all over the net. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
2008 Nissan Altima electrical complaints
Page 4 of 4: complaints 71 to 90 of 90, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have 2008 nissan altima 2.5 s which has push button start. I.e. Person has to push button and press brake at same time to start the engine. There is a switch / sensor near brake pedal which sends signal that brake has been pressed (and also turns on rear brake lights). One day, all of sudden, when I tried to start car it didn't start. It keep saying press brake (accessories / radio etc all turn on). So the cycle of accessories - on- off kept on happening. I thought battery is weak and even tried jump start. So, after trying pushing brake + button for 30minutes , car finally started. This happened 2-3 times and I got very frustrated....finally I started reading online about this problem. Many people have posted same complain / issue. They suggested to check whether rear brake lights turn on when I press brake or not.. If not then the switch is bad .. I saw many people were able to fix problem by replacing switch ($50 expense). I did the same and car has been working fine since then (2-3 months). Dealer tries to charge $150 only for switch and then $500 for other stuff to eliminate root cause of issue.. As many people are effected by this issue, I firmly believe that nissan should recall and fix this issue at their cost. Dealers are making tons of money off 2007-2008 altima owners.
Vehicle was driving along with other normal traffic when it suddenly lost power and stalled on an incline. Driver carefully steered vehicle to a safe place downhill and called a towing company to tow vehicle to driver's residence. Upon visual inspection of engine compartment, a rubber seal on the ECM wiring harness was found buckled up. On trying to remove and re-insert the harness, it was found that ECM terminals had corroded and some pin contact had actually fallen off. Upon doing some research, this was found to be an issue covered under federal emissions warranty. Driver/owner called the local nissan dealership who immediately, presumably at their own expense, towed the car to their facility, checked and found the ECM to be faulty but blamed the faulty wiring harness for the failure. And further, the dealer claimed since the harness carries a 3 year warranty and was the "cause" of the ECM failure, this was no longer covered under federal emissions warranty resulting in a bill of $2,000+ for replacing the faulty - corroded - wiring harness and the faulty ECM. Attempts to have the dealer do more research or contact nissan USA for advise fell on deaf ears. If the car had stalled on high speed and caused fatalities on the highway, would these repairs then have been "part" of federal emissions warranty coverage for publicity purposes? It is out of sheer luck that 1. The car stalled while going downhill and, 2. The car was traveling at 40 miles per hour. I desperately need advise on this while I await for delivery of a special order for the ECM and harness. In the meantime, my rental car expenses are piling up and are not covered by any warranty.
I have experienced several incidences where when pressing the brake & trying to start the car (by the push start ignition) the car will not turn over. All electrical components in the vehicle will turn on (radio, power windows, air, etc) but the car will not start. I've had the battery tested numerous times and it always passes as a good battery. After doing some research online, I found several forums where others have complained about the same problem with their 2008 nissan altimas. From the sounds of it, it might be a problem with a brake cable. With as many other complaints that I've seen on this, how come there hasn't been a recall issued?
This vehicle is a 2008, nissan altima with 45,500 miles driven at the time of failure. We purchased the car new in early 2008. The problem started when, on several occasions, my wife could not get the car to start. Then on nov. 4, 2011, I witnessed the failure myself. After contacting the texas aaa motor club and having them come and verify that the car's battery was fully charged and could run the starter, the car started without any corrective action being taken. The car was then driven to the local nissan dealership and the service report complaint was entered as: "customer states vehicle will not start at times". On the invoice it states "cause: brake lamp switch failed - not sending signal to bcm for start".' the replacement part was listed as a "25320-ax00c switch asm"'. The cost of the switch was $39.17 with $52.50 labor. Prior to repair, I was given the choice of the $91.67 switch installation, or the installation of a different switch assembly and a replacement cable harness for approximately $250.00. I chose the replacement switch option because the first switch lasted 45,500 miles, and if the second switch lasted that many miles, it would not need to be replaced until around the 90 or 95 thousand mile mark.
Brake lamp switch malfunctioned at 10000 (april 2009) and 43000 (january 2012) miles, and replaced. When this occurs, the brake lights will not illuminate when the brake is applied, which is a hazard that could result in a crash. Because brake must be applied for engine ignition, the vehicle will also not start.
I recently having issue with my brake light coming on and off at random times. Which after researching online it appears to be a common issue for many others, with brake leaks. I have noticed a slight difference in the brake effectiveness, which causes concern for me. I have an 2008 nissan altima 2.5 se with roughly 56,000 miles. I bought this car used with only 22k miles roughly in 2009 and have other issues with electrical work in the radio. The radio has already been replaced by the dealership when it was still under warranty and now it is happening again where my volume dial doesn't turn the volume up or down it locks between three volume numbers and at times the screen fades in and out.
I recently had a service call with my nissan dealer to fix a intermittent starting issue (push button start) on my 2008 nissan altima. It turns out that the brake light switch was defective and needed to be replaced. I believe that this is a safety issue that should be looked at since nissan does not believe it warrants a recall. If it were not for the intermittent starting problem I would not have known that my brake lights were not working. Given that this is intermittent the vehicle does have the possibility to start yet later not have brake lights functioning. With the replacement of the switch the issue has gone away.
My 2008 altima with push button start has failed to start twice. Once at 25,000 miles and again at 50,000 miles. Both times the dealer replaced the brake switch which solved the problem. The second time the dealer took the switch apart and the contacts were pitted.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 nissan altima. The contact stated the keyless ignition push button start and remote keyless fob failed to operate approximately four times. In addition, both key and battery warning symbols illuminated on the instrument panel intermittently. The contact replaced two key fob batteries and the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing where they were unable to detect a failure code. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified which resulted in no resolution. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.
2008 altima has push start button that won't work at random times. Dealer has not been able to resolve the issue. They have asked me to stomp on the brake pedal real hard when this happens to engage the brake sensor so the car would start. Still unresolved and I'm unhappy.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 nissan altima. The contact was driving approximately between 10-15 MPH on wet road conditions. When braking the anti-lock brake system failed to engage. The vehicle slid across the roadway and crashed into another vehicle. There were no personal injuries. The police was not called to the scene. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to the residence. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for body damage repairs. In addition, the day before the failure the "vehicle dynamic control off" (vdc) and "slip" warning light indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The warning indicators remained illuminated until the engine was turned off. The failure mileage was 18,000.
Would like to bring to your attention a defect that I believe needs to be corrected in at least some, if not all, of nissan, latest altima vehicles. The problem occurs when the car is left running and the vehicle doors are closed with the remote "keyless". This problem could create a serious safety & health issue if a driver forgets to shut off the engine before using the remote key to close the vehicle doors.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 nissan altima. The contact received a recall notice for the federal safety agency campaign id number 08v521000 and immediately called the dealer for repairs. The vehicle was repaired according to the recall because the front passenger side air bag continued to illuminate on the instrument panel. In the event of a crash, the air bag may not function properly. He called the manufacturer and was referred back to the dealer, but they could not remedy the failure. The failure still persists. The failure and current mileages were 21,000. Updated 06/27/09 *bf updated 06/23/09.
While driving down road a strong odor of gasoline would fill the inside of car also had smell of antifreeze inside car took it to paul barnett nissan in brookhaven they could not duplicate the problem car was sluggish while driving and the radio went out twice . The interior lights would become very bright and dim while driving.
I recently purchased a 2008 nissan altima coupe. To turn the car on/off it utilizes a push button rather than an actual key. The other morning I drove to work and parked in the public garage @ 8:00 am. I must have forgotten to push the off button because when I returned to the vehicle that evening 4:30 pm it was running and had burned 1/4 of a tank of gas. Besides feeling real stupid, I thought about how dangerous this could have been. Because the engine was running the doors did not lock, therefore the car was running and unlocked all day. The vehicle could have been ransacked, stolen or worse, if this had taken place in someone's home garage, or driveway or on a street, a child could have gotten into the vehicle, engaged it in drive and caused damage or injury to someone or personal property. Vehicles with this "smart key" technology should have a built in safety/anti-theft system that would automatically shut the engine off after 15 minutes of idle. It should not have run 8-1/2 hours. Please advise.
There were no events leading up to the failure. The car had been parked all night and at 330 a.m. It caught on fire. It had never been any problems with the vehicle. The fire department was called and they put out the fire. They said that the electrical fuse box caught on fire.
I have a 2008 nissan altima. It has a push button star/stop switch and no keys are needed. I accidentally left the car in drive and pushed the off button and left the car. The car turned off and rolled out of the parking lot and into oncoming traffic. I was not in the vehicle at the time. This is very dangerous.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 nissan altima. While driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle lost power and then restarted soon after. The contact drove the vehicle to the dealer and they stated that the electronic control module needed to be reprogrammed. The mechanic also stated that there was a recall related to this specific failure. She called the manufacturer and was informed that her vehicle was included in the recall. The repairs were performed on the vehicle, but the failure recurred soon after. She returned to the dealer and was informed that the crank shaft position sensor needed to be replaced. The manufacturer stated that there was no recall for this failed component and they were not liable for the repairs. The vehicle has not been repaired. The VIN, the federal safety agency campaign id number, and failure mileage were unknown.
First day for pick up, headlight pop, fix it the next day, took 90 minutes just to fix one headlight, after 6 weeks, car turns off when driving one of the most busiest hwy and the steering locks; only way to start it is by putting it to "park" hold brakes down all the way then push the button and coming from that, it was not safe at all, drivers were honking and swerving just to maneuver away from me, called dealership to where I purchase car to fix the problem, told them that the car had turned off 4 times on the same hwy and thank god it turned off on a straight away not while turning, showed them a video in which I intend to hold for evidence. Drop it off 7:00am, dealership had said about codes; there was nothing wrong with the car and had replug every plug that was on the car in which it would be reset, gave car back within 9 hours saying the car will not turn off again and if it happens again bring it back. After a week and a half, the car had turned off plus with the gauges(not knowing the speed I was going) and radio display went out and this is when it was raining hectic and I wasn't able to use high beams automatically to where it locks forward but to pull it towards me manually while driving. Already told dealership that this car is a big concern on the road for safety because when it turns off I become a crashing incident in which if that happens I will blame nissan for that.
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