| Issue ID | 1060761 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 10584732 |
| Manufacurer | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| Brand | NISSAN |
| Model | ALTIMA |
| Model Year | 2010 |
| File date | 10/04/12 |
| Component | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | My 2010 nissan altima has had difficulty starting. All the electrical components would come on but the engine wouldn't turnover. At first i could get it to start after a few tries (i would pump the brakes, slam the car hood, bang on the steering wheel). Then i noticed while driving the vds (traction control), abs and parking brake light would remain illuminated while driving. This meant that my vds was not functioning and as such i lost control of my car several times on wet surfaces. On 4/22/2014 i tried starting my car and could not. I had it towed to a nissan dealership (orr nissan in corinth texas) where the service manager informed me that it required a new brake light switch, harness and band hoses. He told me there was a nissan service bulletin as this was a "known issue". So much so that nissan had actually developed a more dependable brake switch. The service bulletin number is ntb10-139- which was released on november 23rd 2010. He told me to repair it was going to cost over 500. 00. The faulty brake switch is a safety hazard as it causes the car to throw error codes which deactivates the traction control and abs. Why has this not been a recall? Why is a dealership charging 500 dollars to repair a malfunctioning component that shortly after the car was released, the manufacture acknowledged it was faulty? Furthermore, based on my calculations the dealership is putting a 300% mark up on the parts required. Why would the nhtsa wait until somebody dies in a crash caused by the vds and abs features not working before they force a recall/repair of this known issue? I am sending a copy of this to local and national news organizations. |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | 40000 |
| Number of Occurences | 1 |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | LANTANA, TX |
| VIN pattern | 1N4AL2AP2ANXXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | 0 |
| No. of fatalities | 0 |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | N |
| Anti-lock brakes | N |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | 4 |
| Drive train type | |
| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | 0 |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | |
| Dealer's telephone number | |
| Dealer's city | |
| Dealer's state code | |
| Dealer's ZIP code |