Nissan review: rust holes in botton of altima 2002 ( 19 comments)

My 2003 Nissan Altima has the same problem.

The way to get Nissan to pay is to get many people with the same problem to gather in front of the Nissan Canada office.

I can guarantee you that there are many with that problem. If you see a Nissan Altima owner stop, him or her and get him or her to check the floor pans for rust.

Let's make Nissan pay!

My story is the same as above, Same thing, 2005 NISSAN ALTIMA SUCKS, all they want to do is patch work, after one car before me gets the whole bottom done. What is in your warranty.Is no good.When it is ok for NISSAN to repeir or replace parts.They make the call. P.S EVERYONE WHO HAS AN ALTIMA PLEASE CHECK UNDER THE FRONT OF YOUR PASSANGER SEAT OUTSIDE. RUST SPOT THAT WILL GO. I need a Lawer. Gerald C.

Lets get a Lawer and sue NISSAN (Montreal)

Get a Lawer or consumer protection

This whole rust problem epidemic with Nissan is unbelievable. Just this week, took a well-maintained 2000 Altima GXE (we are the original owners) in to my independent mechanic for service. We had taken the car in for servicing because it was loosing oil. When the car was put up on the lift, we found rust and rot_ everywhere! The degree and extent of very serious rot was astounding. A 3" diameter section of the right front floor pan in the passenger area was completely rusted out. The metal was just gone_ rusted and flaked away. I was looking up through the pan area right at the fiber pad under the carpeting. But there was more ROT, everywhere. Several areas of the frame, including crumpl-zone sections of the frame were rotted out to the point that a screwdrive blade could be pushed right through the frame with only light-to-moderate pressure. Coming through the paint, there was rot in the lower side panel just forward of the rear tires. I just went on and on. Fuel lines. Everywhere.

This is much more than a repair problem, more than a cosmetic problem. It is a serious safety problem. Nissan should be held accountable and forced to provide compensation to affected car owners.

one more comment. The oil loss was due the the fact that the oil pan had rusted out!

Well I certainly feel the same way - my 05 Altima 3.5SE developed rust underneath passenger and drivers seat and dealer offered to take pictures, statement and submit the claim with Nissan. I don't expect anything out of it as my car is.. guess what - out of warranty.

If nissan does not fix this I am starting Anti-nissan campaign and will setup website along with posting video on youtube, and all over the internet and contact local media as well. I know I am not the only one BUT I will make a difference... they will beg to give me a new car how much [censor]-storm I will bring on Nissan and Infiniti name... their cars are equal to ZERO QUALITY GM CRAP!

I wouldn't feel so cheated if the rest of the car had rusted away at the same rate; I'd just feel like I'd bought a lousy car. Who's bought more than one car and not done that? But this car is OK. It starts, runs, is reasonably comfortable, and looks good.

The trouble is, somebody designed the car with a fundamental flaw. I've looked at lots of Altimas, and the rust always seems to start in one area and radiate outward. Some cars are worse than others, but the majority are rusting away (80% have clearly visible rust in the same area---look at the pics). The sheet metal on every one of these cars will eventually disappear, leaving holes in the bottom of the car. We know the holes are there. We don't know if the structural integrity of the car is compromised by the holes.

What I can't figure out is why Nissan responds the way they do. They have two options: ignore the problem and make everybody who has it mad (and there seems to be a lot of us). You're here reading some of the results of that. How many of us will ever buy a Nissan product again, and how many of our friends will ever buy a Nissan (or an Infiniti) after they talk to us? A similar occurrence happened to me in the mid '70's with a GM car. I haven't bought one since. Lots of cars. Not one from GM.

The more sensible approach would be to admit there's a problem, engineer a permanent fix, issue an inspection recall and fix all the cars that need it. My guess is they could figure out a way to do a repair in a systematic manner and cut the costs way down.

And think of all the free advertising they'd get from a large set of happy customers.

The way they're handling this looks like incompetent management to me.

My husband has 2007 Altima. Similar story to the first one. We always brought it back to the dealer for service. This last visit he was told the floor board was extremely rusty on the passenger side and recomended a person to fix it. We took it to a local body shop to get an estimate and he said there are 2 plug holes that are not plugged so the water gets in that area and has no where to go. Next time we bring it in to service, we will bring it to their attention.
It's going to cost around $500 to fix.
I have a 2008 Altima, my husband checked and the plug hole is not filled. We do intend to bring it to the dealers attention.
What a Racket!

i have a 2000 nissan altima and the oil pan rotted out & was told it was a safety issue & they called the dealer & was told it was a recall but you had to bring it in during a certain time frame to have it fixed & the date had well passed
so i had to pay 382.00 to have it replaced
I feel this is not acceptable i never recieved the
notice on the recall & agree if it is a safety thing then nissan should be held accountable

The problem is that Nissan used absorbent material as the sound proofing on the floor. This holds mosture and sits right on top of the metel on the floor. This is a design flaw and Nissan knows about it. It's an expense recall, so they are avoiding the problem. Someone will eventualy get killed because of their negligence. Tell everyone you can that Nissan makes crappy products and don't stand behind their products.

ignition key wont come out of ignition, hubcaps wont stay on, brakes squeal

I just found out myself about this potential safety hazard. My '02 Altima has zero rust on the body, and for the mostpart under the car. But, right under the floor where your feet rest I have a large, rusty, flaking hole developing! I am shocked and surprised about it. Then I search the internet and see this problem is with everyone, and Nissan hasnt sent recall or safety notices out to all the consumers! They know this problem exists and absolutely dont seem to care! Just wait till someone dies due to a crumbling car thats involved in an accident. They'll wish thay had fixed the problems earlier. In my opinion, this is on thier back, to fix, or compensate owners with this problem. Its just inexcuseable!

This appears to be a very common problem. It's obviously a manufacturer defect. Where is the RECALL! Nissan used a sound dampener material that retained mosture and caused the rust on the floorboards. They know about this problem. It won't be until someone dies and the Nissan lawers and their CFO figures the cost to ignore the problem is too much. Us stupid Altima buyers won't be able to get their floorboards repaired by Nissan yet. Everyone needs to report it to the National Highway Safety https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ . Have your VIN# ready.

Same here. Bought my '05 Altima in the summer of '08 and has 67, 000 miles on it because I drive my beater p-up in the winter. Tonight I read about all the rust issues and thought I'd cross my fingers and look. Sure enough, rusting through on the passenger side and just starting on the driver's side. I saw a post asking us to call NHTSA Headquarters. I will tomorrow and hope anyone reading this does too...
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, West Building
Washington, DC 20590
Toll-Free: [protected] / Hearing Impaired (TTY): [protected] / Media inquiries: [protected]
USDOT General Information Main Switchboard (including personnel locator): [protected] / Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5:30pm Eastern, excluding Federal Holidays.

EVERY COMMERCIAL THIS COMPANY MAKES IS INCREDIBLY ANNOYING, MAKES EARS BLEED

3 years ago I had to have the engine replaced on my Altima because the recall for the Catalytic Converter defective design, didn't work, and I ended up with holes through the entire engine. I was told I was lucky that it didn't catch on fire or that I wasn't on the highway when it finally gave out! NOW, I find out that there are HOLES in the floor of my car and that it is too dangerous to be road worthy! I can't even get it to pass inspection without sinking another $2, 000 to $3, 000?! I'm so angry about this. I want the car that I drive my kids in to be safe. I'm terrified to drive this thing. Even if I get it repaired, I'll just be waiting for the next death trap! Nissan is not the company I thought they were. BEWARE, I am finding hundreds if not thousands of complaints on [protected] models. Don't trust it. Get it checked out!

I have Nissan 2003 and has the same problem, Can any one suggest how to fix this or how you have fixed this and cost for that ?

2006 Altima here, with rusted floorboards on both sides (worse on the passenger side). Dealerships referred me to Nissan Canada. Nissan Canada offered no help, explaining the car was past warranty, and there is no recall for the issue. Nothing they can (or were willing to) do.

Opened a case with Transport Canada. Transport Canada explained there were 30 cases reported in the US (NHTSA) for this model/year, and 10 in Canada. Not enough to order a recall. They understand the issue as being more common, but few report the issue to Transport Canada or NHTSA.

Most of the body shops I took the car to said they do not do this work. The ones that do this type of work explained that the Altima floorboard problem is well known. They correct it by pulling up the carpet, cutting out rusted metal, and welding a new piece in place. I will get this done in the near future.