hmm you are correct....its funny thats the only problem i got with this thing....

 

YEAH!!! our cars are twins!!!!!! lololol 5/09

 

I just checked my 2010 Maxima. The manufacturing date just shows 8/09. So how can I determine if the car was built in the range of 8/3 -8/14? Is there another place I can check for the specific date?

 

Specific dates are not always easy to determine. Nissan will know, and if you get a letter next month, then your car was built between August 3rd and August 14th.

The date the car came off the assembly line is stamped on a small paper sticker they slap on the bottom rear of the car. On some years they put it on the gas tank, some years they put it on the muffler, and some years it is on the bottom of the rear bumper. BUT, it always comes/falls off, usually in the first wash, which is done before the car is put on the display lot. The only times I have seen that sticker is when the cars are being unloaded off the auto carriers when arriving at the dealer.

In the meantime, you can sort of guess. The assembly line began producing 2010 Maximas on August 3rd, so all 2010 Maximas built before August 15th will be recalled. It generally takes at least ten days, sometimes longer, for an assembled Maxima to travel to the dealer, have the transportation protection material removed, have the paperwork processed, the car checked and cleaned and put on the display lot. If your 2010 was on the dealer's display lot by August 25th, it will almost surely be recalled.

One other thing you can check: In the very bottom right corner of the window sticker that came on the left rear door window of your car, there is a tiny twenty character code. The first eight characters of that code are the YYYYMMDD representing the date paperwork was initiated that would tell the assembly line workers what they are supposed to build. If you add around five to seven days to that date, you should have a good idea of when your car rolled off the assembly line.

 

Thanks Lightonthehill. I should be safe with 20090311.

 

Thanks for the info Lightonthehill.

 

Thanks for the info. Took a look at the codes. That puts my cars birthday on July 22, 2008.

 

Im not sure how true the dates are but i had this PROBLEM long ago with a few other members and i got my car 11/08

 

I have the same thing, 8/09. I'll be on the lookout for a letter.

 

It is more likely that your problem is worse than just the bad upper front strut insulator, which breaks with a loud pop, then is fairly quiet afterwards. I would think your problem is probably a bad strut, and the entire strut may need to be replaced. A few bad struts seem to be mandatory with every year Maxima I can remember.

 

that would be nice if mines not included..Thanks Lightonthehill...

 

mines says 6/09 guess i will be looking out for the notice

 

I'll be waiting for my notice as well Kind of disturbing, but at least they don't have to tear too much apart. It will be interesting to see when I get the letter....

 

Most dealerships service department can give you a print of your cars "born date", I obtained mine from Courtesy Nissan for my Max and 370.

 

This is interesting: I noticed this evening that I getting a "knock" sound that appears to be coming from somewhere up near where the strut towers are. I should say thats where I "feel" it coming from, since I can't be 100% sure that's where it is coming from. Anyway, I get it pretty much every time I load the suspension in either direction. Left turns, right turns, left right transitions, and hard on the brakes. It is subtle, but my 8 year old daughter heard it, so I'm not crazy.

For those more mechanical than I (which is most of you): could this be related to the recall?

Note: I don't remember a loud noise pre-dating this at any point. Not to say it didn't occur; I just don't remember it. Perhaps the loud noise is right around the corner at this point?

Will be calling the dealer in the AM to see what their take on it is, but I'd like to get your opinions as well.

Thanks!!!

 

Fill us in. Do you have a 2009 or 2010? More importantly, check the little silver plate inside the driver's door and let us know the month and year your car was built.

Your description of the problem does not sound like the recall situation, and by having the date, we might be able to eliminate this as the recall problem immediately.

Knowing nothing, I suspect you may have a bad strut.

 

It's a 2009 with a build date on or around 7/7/09 which puts me right in the middle of the recall window.

It doesn't seem to affect handling in any way at this point. I just took the car out and took some hard corners to load up the suspension and the knock is definitely still there. It seems more pronounced in left corners (when I load up the right). Again, it's pretty subtle - my wife could probably drive the car this way for years and never notice a thing.

Knock might not be the best word to describe the sound; this may sound bizarre but it kind of sounds like when you sit on a bad mattress and the one of the springs kind of pops/shifts. I can actually kind of feel it. That's not to say its in the seat. I checked that already as I know it has been a problem area as well for some. Its coming from up front somewhere.

It just started doing this. I've only had the car for a few weeks at this point and have really been enjoying it. Its definitely something I would have noticed when I bought the car.

Weird stuff. Hope you guys have some insight. I will keep everyone posted on it regardless.

Thanks!

 

My Sticker date is 20080717. Looks like mine is included in the recall. THAT SUCKS!!!
EDIT: Never Mind. I must be tired. I'm a year behind. I'm not included in the recall. Whew!

 

I talk to my dealer and they claim don't haven't heard any info about a recall.

 

Of course, in typical Nissan fashion, fix the cheap problems, but leave those with well-known issues (*cough6thGentransmissioncough*) to the wolves!

At least they got this one right.

 

Your car will definitely be on the recall list. Since you are already having a problem which is either the recall problem, or probably in the same area of the car, you should print the referenced letter that started this thread. Then take the letter and your car to your dealer and tell him you have a subtle knock or thump under the front of your car when you turn either way, and you feel it is either the recall problem or a bad strut. Tell them (very politely, of course) that, whichever it is, you are not interested in waiting for the recall letter to arrive; you would like for your problem to be fixed now.

 

Done. They couldn't get me in until Tuesday, but they were actually interested to check this out. I will take the letter with me. Of course, with my luck, the knocking will magically disappear....

Either way, I'll let the board know what the outcome is.

 

thestumper, I also have the same noise when turning left and right. My build date is July 09 as well. I am very interested in what your dealership finds and how they plan to correct it. My level of mechanical knowledge is limited too so please forgive a basic question...but when they install the new insulators, will they have to align the front end? I'll be contacting my dealership soon.

 

I have the knock as well but it's not a major mechanical issue, just more of an annoyance. The recall notices haven't even been shipped out to the customers and the dealers have not been notified so we're probably jumping the gun here. Let's see which of us gets the official notice.

 

Same here bought in July 09 4th maxima and nothing but noise fom front end. 3 trips to shop and 16 days in their hands and they tell me today that there may be a problem and to drive the car until a solution is found.. They tightend and replaced rack and pinion this trip to shop.. Also seat rocks when come to a stop and they tell me that is acceptable... Should i pick car up or demand the fix now instead of later?

2009 maxima with every option included

 

Same exact problems with suspension here...today they replcaed the rack and pinion and then told me Nissan techs at factory said give car back until they find solution. My mind is telling me to not take car back until all is fixed.. Any thoughts from anyone?

thanks
2009 maxima all bells and whistles

 

I would suspect that the situation is this: Nissan knows what the problem is, and has a fix for it.

BUT

There are three flies in the ointment:

1 - While trying to quickly build a supply of replacement parts (twenty-some thousand sets of insulators will be needed), Nissan does not plan to notify dealers of this recall until the first week of October. That puts the dealer in an uninformed and awkward situation.

2 - The dealer almost surely does not have the replacement parts in stock yet (Nissan will eventually get the parts to the dealers, but will not do it by sending them parts they feel they need in Smyrna in order to keep the assembly line running, producing new Maximas).

3 - There is no way dealers can replaced the bad part on all affected Maximas (and Altimas) at once. So letters will be sent out to owners of affected cars, but not all at once. The letters will be 'staged' in small groups, enabling dealers to have the workload spread out in a manageable way. The letters will tell owners of potentially affected cars to schedule an appointment with their dealer to have the work done.

If I were you, I would print the recall letter referenced in the first post in this thread, take it to the dealer, tell him your situation is not a POTENTIAL problem, but an ACTUAL problem that is ruining what should be a very satisfying experience of owning a new Maxima - Nissan's flagship.

The dealer can't replace the bad insulators until he can get them from Nissan, so even putting a gun to his head won't change that. All you can do is let him know that Nissan knows exactly what the problem is, and has the fix available, and he should try very hard to get his hands on the replacement parts as soon as possible, because this problem takes all joy from your good-faith purchase of a Maxima, and leaves you with no confidence in the reliability or safety of your car.

 

Yes. I have litigated with VW.

On safety related issues, I recommend never accepting a vehicle back until factory authorized repairs are completed. Even if it takes months.

 

That's probably good advice, and depending on where you live, lemon laws would come into play at some point. I doubt it would come to that, but then I'm not going to drive around with the front suspension making odd noises either...

 

My car was manufactured 04/09. But we've already found the front strut issue on the driver side. Already replaced the gasket/insulator. Looks like they got it wrong again. The passenger side just started knocking. They didn't even check that side when I had it in the shop.

Owners beware - It took over 4 weeks to get the parts in back in August. In that time, I had to continue driving my vehicle and now the top of my car is creaking over bumps in the road. When I mentioned this to the techs at the dealership I was told that because it's a dual sun roof top that its going to do this from now on and there isn't anything they can do to fix it. It never did this before they finally found the problem with my vibration and knocking. It's all due to being out of alignment for so long. My rear passenger side tire was also not centered on the wheel so these two corners pulling in different directions have completely ruined my vehicle. Of course the first dealership that I took it to said the tires were fine and found no cause for the vibration. So at least the second dealership has found and corrected the problems. But it doesn't make me feel any better about the $39K car that I bought being a piece of ****.

 

hey all... im new here and havent been checking this forum for awhile now. have been working hard to pay off payments for the car. just got on today and found out this recall. i was crossing my fingers and checked out the date.... 06/2009 guess i have to wait for the letter huh?

 

If you still have your original window sticker, look at the tiny 20 character code in the very bottom right corner. If the first 8 characters are 20090611 or lower, you should be fine. If those 8 characters are 20090616 or higher, your car will be recalled. If those first 8 characters are between 20090612 and 20090615, the chance of having your car recalled rises from 'less likely' at 20090612 to 'very likely' at 20090615.

In other words, your car should be assembled in about 5 days (+/- a few days) after that setup date on the window sticker.

 

mine stated 10/08.... i think im good!!!

 

im affected right? 07/09?

 

My sticker said 08/08 so I should be good!

 

illjc25 - Sorry, my friend, but you indeed will receive a recall letter in October. At least the repair is under warranty, and will not cost you money.


D-STREET-ALTIMA and choice89 - You are both, as you suspected, fine. No recall for you.

 

Printed letter, took to dealership today, nothing they can do yet, other than wait for the parts and service bulletins to arrive. The suspension makes a pinging noise over bumps, but REALLY makes loud noises (sounds like a rusty leaf spring suspension over parking lot speed bumps) especially if you roll over the bumps at a slight angle. Seems to be primarily on passenger side. I was wondering if this suspension issue, or maybe a broken strut? could be the cause of the vibration I get between 70-80 mph, had the tires balanced, rotated, force balanced twice and the virbration seems to come and go. Even took them to the local goodyear dealer and they replaced the tires with brand new ones, after finding what they called high and low spots on the tires. Still vibrating... grrr... Had the car two months now and I'm at my wits end. Help!

 

Right there with you. I took mine in yesterday with the letter and was told there was nothing they could do at the moment. They were nice about it, which was appreciated, but my symptoms are nowhere near as pronouced as the last posters. I have intermittent light noise coming from somewhere in the front suspension. I don't have the "crunch" that he has. Which begs the question:

If the car is broken, and it could potentially be a safety issue (I don't really care WHAT Nissan says...), do owners have any other recourse?

There was a post here that implied that you should never accept a broken car back. In my case, it could be argued. In the previous posters case, there's no question that there's a problem. Could a person simply drop the car off and say "I don't want it back until its fixed..." and then start the lemon counter?

Just curious. Not sure that there is good solution at this point. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and if it gets really bad, there's no way I'm going to "just drive it".

 

I just drove my 2010 Maxima home last night. I love the car. I am hoping that I don't have the defect. Mine was built in 08/09. The first 8 digits on the window sticker read 20090812. Does that mean I am part of the recall?

I don't understand the process. Why not fix the car before they present it ready for sale?

Is Nissan required by law to notify all owners with the bad part. I assume they must know by the VIN which cars are bad.

 

Your window sticker reading of 20090812 means that the work order for assembling your car was made August 12th. That means your car was probably assembled around August 17th, give or take a few days.

The last Maximas with the bad strut insulators were assembled August 14th. You have better than a 50-50 chance your car will not be recalled.

The reason the car is not fixed while sitting on the lot awaiting sale is because most dealers have lots of Maximas and many more Altimas that need these parts replaced, and there is no way they can fix all those at one time. So, unless there is a serious safety issue involved, the common practice is to wait and see which cars sell, then have the customer bring the car in for repair.

In this particular instance, the issue is even more complex, in that the dealers have not been notified of this recall yet, and no recall letters have gone out to customers yet. The impending recall notification was just sent to the government a few weeks ago. I doubt Nissan even has enough of the replacement parts available yet to meet the demand from dealers once customers are notified.

Nissan knows exactly which VIN serial numbers are involved, and will send a letter to the owner of each car that should be recalled. If you are concerned a letter may be sent, but may not reach you, wait a few weeks, then have your dealer check and see if your VIN will be recalled. He will be able to do that by mid-October.