peppa_sauce

Okay guys, I thought I'd share my problem and resolution for those unfortunate members on here and offer some help.

My car was. A victim of the steering lock problem. At 2 30am, my car was left stranded at a wawa, and it wasn't starting. Long story short, I got towed to the dealer right away at 7am, and had to spend $860 in labor and parts to fix the steering lock module. I was very heated, because I work part time, and a student, and I shouldn't have to pay $860 to start my car. So I took it to nissan hq with a complaint. After a long process I went through with consumer affairs only to hear they wont reimburse or help me in anyway. Btw my car only had 46k miles when this happened.

My whole issue is tho, is that this problem occurs on many other models Nd nissan vehicles and they failed to issue a recall.

So I then took it to the better business bureau. Www.bbb.com and filed a complaint. 3 days later a nissan rep called me a offered me an extended warranty up to 100,000 miles, and upgrading my power train to 100,000 also in return for the pain I went through. I thought it was a fair deal since they didn't want to reimburse me the cost of the repair. Not a bad trade, what do u guys think?


So if u guys had this problem and had to pay like me, (unti i figured out the pull fuse option), u should file it to the bbb, or nissan consumer affairs.

Btw, here's a pic of my max.

Serpent

Congrats. Happy to hear someone get something positive after going through such a crappy problem. Good for you. Hope others can get the same.

esco115

iTrader: (1)

Not sure if this has been identified before but my 2012 doesnt lock the steering and I really never cared to find out why, anyways, I looked under the hood in the fuse book and the spot that has the steering lock has no fuse, so my guess that was Nissans quick fix to the issue... lol Never seizes to amaze me...

Ghozt

congrats on the outcome!!

this issue should only affect the 09 Maximas, 370z's and GTR's, 10+ have the fuse removed that controls the module, or in some cases may have the module removed

eesjunin

Awesome...i was able to get all but the cost for the part back from Nissan...but completed warranty extended to 100K thats a much better deal! Good for you!

PSU09MAXIMA

I wonder if this is only happening on the Sport and Premium Package Maxima's with the power tilt column wonder if anyone out there with the non power tilt column have had this happen...

eljoker

iTrader: (1)

Question, I have an 09, is it possible to disable it so i dont run into this issue? I.E. pull the fuse?

Ghozt

Yup, I did. Check out the thread here - http://forums.maxima.org/7th-generat...ock-issue.html

doubler8

Yes, pull the fuse. I have an 09 and did it successfully.

Great news on the extended warranty, I would have taken that deal. I fixed mine with the fuse option so I never paid for anything. I got lucky...

peppa_sauce

I have the non power tilt if that's what it referring to, and it happened to me

peppa_sauce

Hats exactly what I told the nissan rep

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

It happened to Peppa_Sauce and its happening to us 09 to early 11 370Z guys and we don't have a power tilt column.

Ghozt

yea the power tilt is unrelated, thats just a convenience feature. the steering column lock-out is something they included in all of these cars for some reason

peppa_sauce

Do you guys know ways that I can benefit from this warranty? Ex, what is covered and what can I take my car in for just to take advantage of it?

sonomamax

It depends on which one they give you, is it the nissan sentry program. if it is it will be a $50 usd co pay, but it covers a lot. you would have to get the paper work on it, they should send that to you. Good luck and glad you made out,

RichS

My steering lock has been noisy from day one. Dealership replaced it and it still persists. I posted about it awhile back.
http://forums.maxima.org/7th-generat...nge-sound.html

After reading about pulling the fuse, I just now pulled it. And what do ya know?! It fixed my problem! Thank God! It's been driving me nuts.

Thanks guys!

-Rich

zoemayne

iTrader: (4)

This wouldnt even be an expensive recall this is probably just the cheapest type of recall there can be just get the dealer to remove the part or would they rather sale us parts??

Ghozt

At $800-1400 a repair it's definitely not hurting Nissan to not acknowledge it officially. This is the kind of thing that needs class action lawsuits / filling out that BBB form / etc to get their attention

peppa_sauce

Well, it depends how u look at it. Nissan prolly figures that people wled be too lazy and pu$$y to take it to another level, Unlike me. So, if this probably happens to let's say 10,000 nissans, they figure maby only 300 wouldn't be lazy and make them pay up. Hence, they save on helping the 300 out by giving extended warranties, rather than fixing 10,000 or recalling the part in other words. Whoever this has happened to, file that bbb report and get some compensation. When I get my warranty papers, I'm going in an *****ing about every single thing. Have no idea how hard I'm going. Lol

Ghozt

on top of the fact that each recall they have to issue im sure is a big black mark on their record as a manufacturer. im sure the less recalls they actually have to officially issue, the better for their PR

Jmad505

Like many others I got stranded in my Nissan. I ran into the bank for 10 minutes, and came out to a locked up car. Nothing I tried worked, and I Googled everything. Thank goodness for roadside assistance because I didn't have a towing cost to eat, but I was not looking forward to the cost of labor and parts according to countless others who went before me. My car was towed to the Nissan dealership, and I let them trouble shoot the issue. Of course it came back that the steering lock mechanism was shot. Surprise. And it was about $800 to fix it. They admitted it is a known issue, and that Corporate Nissan will not help. I said I wanted the actual part back when they replaced it so I could include it in my complaint to the BBB and they agreed to get it for me. The next day I got a call saying that Nissan would cover the cost of the parts and labor even though it was not under warranty. Done! I encourage everyone to file a complaint. Try to work with your Nissan dealership, and be nice, they didn't build your car, they are just trying to fix it. Corporate Nissan is the culprit, and you should complain.

Tonyblock

is it best for the car to be running or not when you pull the fuse

Akiyukio

iTrader: (1)

The car should be running, or at least turned on, and engine not running.

The lock automatically engages once you turn off the car (hence the led light that says "lock"), so if you pull it out while it is off, then you are disabling the lock in the locked position (unless you REALLY want that).

eljoker

iTrader: (1)

But can we have the Engine completely on tho? Ima post a DIY for the Maxima tonight on this! Stay tuned folks!

molibya

I have a Maxima 2010 SV with 37,000 miles. Just had this happened to me in the middle of the night and left me stranded. Towed it ($85) to my Nissan dealer and surprise surprise, it's the steering lock module. They said they the parts and labor will cost $850.

I plan on contacting Nissan Consumer Affairs to demand reimbursement and if not, file a formal complaint to the better business bureau.

I'll keep you guys updated. I plan on quoting alot of you here as my "friends" that received reimbursement or extended warranties.

Richard66

Moliby
I received a notice from Nissan (Nissan North America WBI/13-009) about 6 months ago stating that the steering wheel lock unit warranty was extended to 6 years with unlimited milage. They even gave me a sticker to paste on my warrenty information booklet. BTW I drive a 2009 SV so ask your dealer if the 2010 and above model years are covered.