Steering Anti-theft Device Problems of Nissan Maxima

The contact owns a 2009 Nissan Maxima. The contact received notification of an undisclosed recall. The contact stated that while the vehicle was off, the push to start button was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to start. The immobilizer warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the key fob and the steering lock needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.

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The steering lock system (an anti-theft device) failed. It locked my steering wheel and disabled the start button on the car. The car was stationary; I was stranded in a parking lot away from home with a car that would not start. Nissan is aware of the problem and had issued a TSB, but no recall. Nor was I notified of the potential problem as an owner.

My 2010 Nissan Maxima experienced the steering lock failure. It leaves people stranded when the steering lock anti-theft mechanism fails. The steering wheel is not locked but the vehicle will not start. The steering lock device fails to fully disengage so the Smart key system does not recognize the key. This may not cause accident, but it can strand a person anywhere at any time leaving them with the towing fee and anywhere from 700-1000$ in dealership fees. I drove my car to work and back and forth for lunch. At the end of the day it failed to start due to what I later found out was the steering lock device failure.

See all problems of the 2010 Nissan Maxima 🔎.

Came out to my car; car wouldn't start. Push start/stop button in "lock" mode; key light indicator flashed; anti-theft light in "steady" mode. Called niss. Roadside asst. To be told that it would be $82 for towing to the nearest dealership after only wanting help with battery testing. I put the towing on hold. Called the nearest niss. Dealership directly. Was told that it may be the key fob batteries. My daughter and I walked home for close asst. To drive to niss. For new key fob batteries. Returned back to my car to test the key fob with no luck. Doors lcked/unlcked, windows let down; didn't let back up; it was raining! used my own jumper cables for battery testing. Not the battery! lights worked. My battery was brand new and recently purchased. Contacted my ins. For overnight tow to Nissan. Researched on the issue and came to the steering column unit failing often. Nissan ext. Warranty is 6 yrs/unl. Mileage; was relieved. Nissan worked on my car from 7:21a to 3:40p. Told me the steering column unit was out of warranty last yr. Only had the car for 5yrs! took Nissan 5hrs for a diagnostics on my car saying my battery was dead; need to swap it out with theirs to run the test. My battery was brand new! 1hr. Later, diagnosed as faulty steering column module. Contacted niss. Consumer affairs and escalated to regional. Niss. Gave me a price of $1071 to fix. Told Nissan I would try to fix the module myself and have it towed to where I originally bought my battery due to existing warranty. However, towing was too expensive and fixing it myself would prb not work. Spoke with service mgr. Who said they could charge me for swapping out batteries but will only charge me $1027. 98. Total ripoff and Nissan lied about my battery results. Took it to my orig. Shop; ran the battery; was in good condition and fully charged! want a full refund; should be a recall!!!! lost a customer!!!!.

Got into my vehicle to leave for work, brake was hard to push, steering wheel locked in position that it was in, push button start would not work. Tried both keyfobs with no change in status. Light on the dash that I hadn't seen before (a key with a rectangular box around it) changed batteries in both fobs with still no change. Was late for work and had to have my vehicle towed out of my own garage. After researching found that the steering wheel lock would not disengage, which in turn triggered the anti-theft security system and my car would not recognize my own keyfobs. There's no other way to start the vehicle, no general override switch or button of any kind. I had a vehicle that I could not use.

I had driven my car to church, everything was fine. After chruch, I got in my car and it wouldn't start. Nothing would work. The keyless remote would unlock the doors but when pushing the start button nothing happened. The auxiliary didn't even work. I had to have the car towed to a mechanic. After running diagnostics on the car, I was told the car had to go to the Nissan dealership due to Nissan doesn't release all coding. Another tow bill to have the car taken to local Nissan dealership. Diagnostics ran on the car and it was the "electronic steerling wheel lock". This is part of the security/anti-theft mechanism that is located in the steering column. It had to be replaced at owner's expense. This is known defect in 2009-2010 Nissan altima, Maxima and 370z. The owners have no warning before this happens. You are total stranded at that spot. After googling this problem, I have found multiple complaints and that Nissan is not accepting responsibility. This part is now been "redesigned" so that this isn't happening.

There was absolutely no activation of the ignition system. After following all trouble shooting advice in the car's manual, I towed the car to dealer where they flagged an issue with the steering lock control unit (part# 487009n00b) and it needed to be replaced. This is all part of the vehicle anti-theft immobilizer system. The cost to replace this unit was $703. 43. I feel this is a serious safety flaw in the 2010 Nissan Maxima. 1. This was a fully functioning car (except for anti-theft circuit glitch) that left my pregnant wife stranded in freezing temps in an empty school parking lot late in the evening. 2. Nissan promotes how safe, reliable and economical their cars are, but the anti-theft system can disable the vehicle leaving driver stranded with only one option, which is, to be towed to a dealer because of ant-theft system glitches. 3. The car, being economical, should not require such an expensive repair because of an anti-theft device circuit malfunction. 4. There are several conditions that can occur that will result in the Nissan Maxima becoming immobilized stranding drivers. I am stating only one. This is particularly dangerous especially to female drivers. 5. I feel that Nissan should come up with an override code or device that will allow a driver to escape from potentially dangerous situations that were created by Nissan's vehicle immobilizer system. Especially when the car is fully functional except for an anti-theft immobilizing circuit falsely telling that the vehicle is not ready to start when it is. I believe this is a serious safety flaw in their vehicle security system.

The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Maxima. The steering wheel would lock with the ignition knob in the off position, but the vehicle transmission would not be in the park position. The vehicle was taken to the dealer multiple times. His vehicle identification number was excluded from recall # 06v402000 (steering:column locking:anti-theft device), therefore he was ineligible for a free remedy. No repairs were made. The current mileage was 60000.

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: the contact stated while backing out of a parking space the steering wheel locked on a position and would not turn. The contact shoved the steering wheel each time to get the steering wheel to unlock. This occurred four times within a 5 minute interval. The contact drove the vehicle home. The next day the vehicle operated normally without any problems.

See all problems of the 2004 Nissan Maxima 🔎.

Vehicle keeps pulling to right. There is a whining noise coming from the right side while driving. Uneven heating and defrost improper. Theft warning alarm will sound for no reason. Trunk and hood is asymmetrical. Vehicle gets bad gas mileage.

See all problems of the 2000 Nissan Maxima 🔎.