
With federal safety officials conducting an investigation into the problem, Nissan is conducting a “service campaign” for 200,000 Altima sedans due to potentially faulty suspension part.
A service campaign is often instituted just before a recall is issued. Owners of affected vehicles will be informed this fall about when they should bring their vehicles in for service.
In this instance, Nissan will replace a rear lower control arm. Part of the vehicle’s suspension, it may come loose from the frame due to corrosion. The issue typically affects vehicles in states that use salt on their roads to combat ice in winter.
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The company issued a statement noting the corrosion issue hasn’t been seen outside states that use road salt. Based on field inspections, few cars outside the salt states would experience the problem, the statement said.
NHTSA said there have been complaints about the problem from 139 owners, but that no crashes or injuries have been reported.
The service campaign could let Nissan avoid a recall, which would get it out of NHTSA monitoring and requirements to report progress to the government.
(For more on Nissan’s weak 2018 fiscal year performance, Click Here.)

The agency started its investigation last year after getting complaints that the parts could crack and fail. Control arms let the wheels and tires move up and down over bumps. On Thursday, it expanded the probe to include more than 2 million Altimas from the 2013 through 2018 model years, according to the Associated Press.
NHTSA and Nissan say cracks can develop in the parts, which are made worse by corrosive road salt. The parts were redesigned in January 2018 to improve durability, NHTSA said. The agency says that Nissan has determined that the rate of incidents reported is 0.003% of the cars, AP reported.
The company told NHTSA that if the part fails, the vehicles can still be controlled. For those reasons, Nissan “does not believe the subject control arm failure poses an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety,” the agency wrote.
(Nissan recruits new design chief from Lincoln. Click Here for the story.)
NHTSA says it will keep collecting data and either it or Nissan will do more comprehensive testing. Nissan owners who feel their car isn’t performing properly should take it to a dealer.
I was driving my 2013 Altima with my two grandchildren with me when the control arm broke and the car was wobbling badly, making it extremely difficult to drive. I pulled off at first place available and got out to inspect underneath the car. I could see the broken piece and knew I had to turn around and try to get the car back home. This was not easy as the car would not turn easily and kept pulling, making it very hazardous to drive. There is no way this car can be safely driven to a Nissan dealership. I think Nissan should be responsible for this repair as it IS a safety issue.
Judith,
First, check to make sure there was or want’s a recall. You can find a link to the federal recall website online.
Second,check with the dealer and, if necessary, the factory rep to see if they will cover repairs.
Paul E.
I just paid nearly $500 for a replacement of my right rear lower control arm on my 2013 Altima which had eroded and rusted and broke right off. Can somebody help me is there a way to get a refund of my money from Nissan?
Driving on 84 & rear control arm just snapped. Was able to pull of on exit & call tow truck. Now it’s costing me $1100.00 plus tax to replace both & of course wheel alignment on my 2013 Nissan Altima. The tow company guy told me this was his 4th one this week with the same problem. How can I get a refund?
On June 8, 2022 one of our rear lower suspension links broke and left my husband on the side of the road two weeks ago. After having it towed home we learned about service campaign P9324.
Sevice campaign P9324 states “certain Nissan Altima vehicles currently or previously registered in specific U.S. states with high road salt usage for model year 2013 and model years 2013-2014 in Canada are potentially affected”. Illinois is considered high-users of road salt.
Called the dealership and he confirmed that all parts and labor would be covered. We then had our vehicle towed to the dealership on June 9, 2022.
Within an hour, the service department called and stated our VIN was not covered. Brad Brees, the service manager can be reached at (815) 633- 3460. He will be able to confirm our situation and he agreed that this should not be happening with a vehicle that has been owned and driven in Illinois for 7+ years.
We immediately filed a claim with Nissan North America consumer affairs department. After waiting four business days we learned that our claim was denied. When my husband asked if the representative had read the service bulletin, she stated that she had not. When my husband asked for the denial to be put in writing, the consumer affair representative hung up on him.
We went ahead and got our car fixed by the dealer. It was at that time, we learned about the extended warranty on this problem,. We filed the extended warranty claim form and included our receipts for the repair and the tows. We asked that all correspondence be made in WRITING, either by mail or email. A representative called and notified us that again our claim was denied. They will not put in writing a reason for our denial. As customer’s we want a valid reason. While we don’t understand why our vehicle is not included we are extremely concerned that Nissan Consumer Affairs won’t put the denial and reason in writing.
We have the VIN history of our vehicle. AT 8 miles it was registered in Colorado and owned by Hertz rental. We bought the car April 2015 and it was officially registered May 14, 2015 in Illinois with 53469 miles. This vehicle has been registered from 2015-2022 in Illinois. Again, Illinois is a high salt road state. Needless to say, Nissan Altima has no intention of remedying the situation for customers like ourselves, which are impacted.
From what we understand, the campaign service bulletin and extended warranty are both steps by Nissan North America to avoid a recall. If they are unable to remedy the situation for those actually affected, We submitted a complaint with the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration urging them to issue a recall.
We disagree with Nissan Altima’s statements that this is not a safety concern. Luckily, the driver’s speed was around 40 mpg and had nobody behind him during the breakage.
It’s obvious that HIGH SALT has led to corrosion of our rear lower suspension link.
Campaign Bulletin
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10167402-0001.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3oDaL9zYHg97b0WASxnjJwRt6OqikTgX3dZ02drrcLsZ7FN_CnUtadNgI
Extended warranty
https://www.nissanassist.com/campaigns/certain-my-2013-2018-nissan-altima-and-certain-my-2016-2018-nissan-maxima-rear-lower-suspension-links
Please let us know how this story develops.
Paul E.