2002 Nissan Altima 2.5 S from North America - Comments

I have a 2002 Nissan Altima that I bought new. First the heat stopped working at idle unless I was traveling at high speeds. I took it to the dealer 3 times before the warranty expired and 3 times after and the heat is still not fixed.

2 weeks ago my car wouldn't run past 40 mph. I took it to the dealer and they diagnosed the Catalytic converter as needing to be replaced. A week later the car still didn't run properly. I took it back to the dealer and they told me that the cat broke apart and fragments ended up in the engine and now the engine needs to be replaced. I've called Nissan and am awaiting a response. If I have to end up paying for a new engine I will get as many nissan owners who have had similiar problems and put a news story together starting in Philadelphia. Email me at vincent.marsico@verizon.net if you've had similiar problems.

"..that the cat broke apart and fragments ended up in the engine..". Coming from an ex-mechanic: This is simply not possible.

Are you sure the dealer is straight about this?

Did you replace the Catalytic converter and then the new one "broke" and ruined the engine, or was the original one still in the car?

2002 Nissan Altima, 2.5L Engine:

This problem, (catalyst breakdown, ruins engine), is all over the Internet. It seems that Nissan Canada WILL replace the engine if the catalyst breakdown occurs and ruins the engine, but Nissan USA, WILL NOT. Nissan Canada, acknowledges this design flaw in their recall statements,...but is suspiciously omitted from the USA recall statement,...hmmm (last sentence in Canada, "hanger pin" recall).

Also notice how the "hanger pin" recall, is LINKED to the "catalyst breakdown". Does this make sense to anyone except a lawyer and Mr. Nissan?,... Lets think intelligently about this,..."a piece of road debris gets hung up on the hanger pin,...causing the catalyst to overheat,...breakdown,...back pressure forces fragments of the catalyst back into the cylinder,...destroying the engine. Considering,...my hanger pin was removed per the recall over a year ago,... then last month, my car contracted this disease,...what caused the catalyst to overheat and breakdown?...road debris,...or DESIGN FLAW!!!

We were basically told by several dealerships in our area,..."your car made it to 100000 miles,...there is nothing we can do for you except,...set up an appointment to replace the engine for $5000.00". Thanks Nissan,...you know the 2.5 engine is junk and obviously do not anticipate repeat customers. How is this staying out of the news anyway!!!

I took my 2003 Nissan Altima 2.5 in to the shop today and it came back with the same issues everyone is talking about. I need a new cat. converter and new engine. I can't believe Nissan has not addressed these issues. I work in the auto industry (not for Nissan) and I know how effective online sites like these can hurt their reputation. I hope the dealer will understand that this is a major issue and if I need to this will become a bigger issue if we all get together and file a class action law suite against Nissan. If there are others out there that have the same issue I would love to hear from you on how your dealer treated you.

J_Porte@msn.com.

I have a 2003 Nissan Altima with 76,000 km and was told two weeks after the warranty was done that I needed a new engine. Nissan Canada said there was nothing they can do for me because the warranty is finished. Well I gave them a few choice words and threatened to go to media and drive my vehicle around town with lemon stickers on it.

My dealership that I bought the vehicle from brand new and maintained to date has been very good to me. They emailed Nissan Canada on my behalf with the argument that the Catalytic converter was replaced back in December of '07 when warranty was still good. Their first email was declined, it took two emails and just the right wording from the Assistant Manager at my dealership to get us a new engine put in at the cost of Nissan Canada.

The person that I spoke to at Nissan Canada was very rude! If it wasn't for the Assistant Manager at our dealership, I would be dishing out lots of money for a new engine, which would be ridiculous for a 5 year old vehicle with almost 76,000 km.