I BOUGHT MY 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA HYBRID ON JULY 30, 2009. ON OCTOBER 3RD, EVENING, IT LOST POWER WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON FREEWAY 99 CALIFORNIA. DASH BOARD LIGHT ARE ON, ENGINE HAS NO POWER OUTPUT. THE VEHICLE DROPPED SPEED QUICKLY. I PULLED OVER TO THE SHOULDER AND TURN OFF THE ENGINE. ONE MINUTE LATER, I TURNED ENGINE ON AGAIN. IT BACKED TO WORK. HOWEVER, THE SAME THING HAPPENED THREE MORE TIMES AGAIN LATER IN ONE WEEK. IT MADE ME REALLY THINK ABOUT THE SAFETY OF DRIVING IT. ON OCT 7,2009, THE ENGINE COMPLETELY CANNOT BE STARTED ANYMORE AND IT WAS TOWED TO DEALERSHIP IN THE MORNING FOR A FULL CHECK UP AND DID NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG. THE TECHNICIAN SAID THEY CHECKED ALL THE WIRES AND RE-WIRED ALL THE CONNECTION CORDS. IT BACK TO WORK AND WORK ALRIGHT NOW. AFTER ABOUT 5000 MILES DRIVING, IT SEEMS THERE ARE NO SAME PROBLEMS APPEARED. BUT LOSE POWER WITHOUT ANY REASON ON FREEWAY IS TOO DANGEROUS TO DRIVER AND PASSENGERS, I HOPE THE MANUFACTURER CAN FIND THE REAL PROBLEMS AND AVOID IT'S HAPPENINGS IN ALL VEHICLES. *TR
2009 Nissan Altima Hybrid complaints
Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2009 record →
ON A SUNNY COLD AFTERNOON IN AVON CT, DOING 35 MPH, THE ABS AND BRAKE LIGHTS SUDDENLY CAME ON MY DASH OF 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA HYBRID WITH 10897 MILES. AN AUDIBLE CONTINUOUS ALARM WAS ON IN THE CAR. THE BRAKES WERE TOTALLY INOPERABLE. IT WAS A TOTAL CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO THE NEAREST DEALER AND NISSAN CLAIMS IT WAS A FAULTY ABS ACTUATOR THAT NEEDS REPLACEMENT. *TR
CAR WHEN I WAS SITTING IN TRAFFIC FOR TWO HRS, HAD TOO START CAR AND AFTER STARTING THE CAR WOULD NOT GO INTO DRIVE IT WOULD ONLY GO INTO REVERSE. *TR
I PURCHASED A 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA IN SEPT. 2009. I NOTICED IMMEDIATELY THAT THE PASSENGER AIRBAG REMAINS OFF 50% OF THE TIME WHEN MY GIRLFRIEND (APPROX. 100 POUNDS) SITS IN IT. I TRIED TO FOLLOW UP WITH THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I PURCHASED THE CAR AND A SEPARATE DEALER AS WELL. MY DEALERSHIP WHERE I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE TOLD ME IT WAS A COMMON PROBLEM AND THAT THERE IS NO WAY TO LEAVE THE AIRBAG ON OR TO ADJUST THE SENSITIVITY. HE ALSO STATED THAT OTHER PEOPLE HAD SIMILAR COMPLAINTS. I TRIED BRINGING IT IN TO ANOTHER DEALERSHIP, WHO TOLD ME THAT AT LEAST 2 OR 3 PEOPLE HAD BROUGHT THEIR CARS IN WITH THE SAME COMPLAINT AND NISSAN COULD NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. THE FREQUENCY OF THIS PROBLEM SEEMS RELATIVELY COMMON. HOW CAN SUCH A HAZARDOUS SITUATION BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH NHTSA STANDARDS? EVEN IF IT IS SAFE FOR 99% OF THE POPULATION, THE LACK OF CONTROL BY THE NHTSA IS SEVERELY ENDANGERING THE LIVES OF THE OTHER 1%. I AM ONLY ONE PERSON AND HOPE THAT THE NHTSA HELPS ISSUE A RECALL ON THIS PROBLEM. I DO NOT WANT TO SPEND THE TIME AND EFFORT TO EXPLORE MEDIA OUTLETS AND AM REALLY HOPEFUL THAT THIS CAN BE ADDRESSED. I CANNOT IMAGINE THE LAWSUITS THAT WOULD RESULT FROM AN AIRBAG NOT DEPLOYING WHEN I SEE THIS COMPLAINT ALL OVER MESSAGE BOARDS AND ON THE NHTSA SITE. PLEASE HELP US PROTECT OUR LOVED ONES. *TR
Reading these
NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Full record for the 2009 Nissan Altima Hybrid → · Every Altima Hybrid year → · How the figures are calculated →