2009 Nissan ALTIMA HYBRID - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

"parked car at a coffee shop, turned off engine, exited and locked doors. upon coming back to vehicle, the vehicle would not start. we tried jumping the vehicle battery, that did not work. we tried replacing the battery in the key fobs, that did not work. we inserted the fob into the a lot near the steering column and that did not work. we had the car towed to an auto repair shop who stated the key fobs needed to be reprogrammed, but they didn’t have the equipment to do so. we called a locksmith the reprogram the fobs, but the locksmith was not able to do so. he said the vehicle returned 6 bcm codes. he was able to remove all but 2 and recommended i take care to nissan. had car towed to nissan and they stated the steering column module lock needed to be replaced (quoted $1425 + tax). i mentioned the service campaign from 2017, but i was told my car’s vin was not eligible for the campaign and repair would be my responsibility. why is a known issue not being covered by nissan??"

"car was working perfectly. drove to school, nothing acting weird. went to leave school and would not start. this is a push start ignition and it is stuck on lock with the key lights on. one orange/yellow stays on for a while and the other is the red flashing light. this is a steering lock module defect. i have read where this is a reocurring problem and nissan has still not performed a recall and this obviously should have been done years ago. now i am going to be out over $500 for a piece that nissan should cover. this is unacceptable."

"steering column locks, causing key fob to not be recognized. hence, car will not start. this s/b recalled for a fix."

"my daughter drove the car to a gas station, pumped gas, came back out and the car wouldnt start. she was left stranded by a car that had to be towed. had she been out of town without resources nearby she would have been in a very difficult situation. the engine randomly fails to start using push-button no manual workaround, leaving drivers stranded failure to jumpstart using cables or a jump box and new battery the new replacement part wiped out the memory of the body control system causing more costs. $1200 - just to make the car start"

"my vehicle suddenly failed to start due to a defective escl, which locked the steering column. the vehicle needed to be towed to a nissan dealership to replace the part at a cost of $1500. defective escls are a known issue and a service campaign was implemented by nissan to replace these defective parts in 2009-2010 altimas and maximas. unfortunately, the campaign expired in 2020 and nissan refuses to fix this part after the expiration. i never received notification of this issue despite purchasing and owning the vehicle throughout the entire 2017-2020 campaign. despite nissan referring to this as a non-safety issue because the part is not known to fail during operation of the vehicle, this problem can cause operators to be suddenly stranded with no option of immediate repair. i believe the nissan campaign to replace these defective parts should be reopened with no expiration, as there are hundreds of thousands of vehicles impacted."

"the contact owns a 2009 nissan altima. the contact stated that while his son was attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. the contact mentioned that the vehicle failed to start and was given a jump start by another vehicle. the contact stated that the steering column box needed to be tapped in order for the vehicle to operate. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the vehicle was not repaired, and the failure recurred. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in technical service bulletin: 10119195. the approximate failure mileage was 80,000."

"my vehicle is inoperable due to electronic steering column box. this locking mechanism is not engaging and has caused the vehicle to stop operation. i have been told this system is an anti theft device. it stopped working all of the sudden and i had to have the vehicle towed home thankfully i did not get into an an accident due to this mechanical failure."

"2009 nissan altima it's relating to the steering assembly lock that was defective. i have this vehicle and  this issue came up in 2013 and it was fixed.  i had this issue come up again in late 2021 and i need to fix it again out of pocket.  i read in your article that in 2017  nissan issued a fix to this.  i paid about $600 in 2013 and now they're quoting $1800 plus tax. would i still be eligible to have this covered by nissan as it's a known recurring problem? thanks,  [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)."

"steering column is locked not allowing the car to turn on."

"drove car to to store came back 20 minutes later car would not start. red key appear on dash - had to have car towed. informed steering wheel lockout. nissian award of problem, but never issue recall. base on my research found out they did a voluntary bring in your car to fix problem, but no recall. who is going to know they have a problem until it happens< the bring in your cechile program ended may 2020 during the pandemic. now it's going to cost $1300 to repair, not counting money spent for tow and car rental. i have bought 3 nissian never will i buy another one."