Hey everyone, so below is a copy of the letter I intend to e-mail to several car sites/blogs. Ken, I linked to your DIY, hope you don't mind
Let me know what you think (i.e. tell me what I'm missing)! Thanks, guys!
[Work Address]
January 23, 2012
[Address]
To the staff of [insert publication name],
Hi, my name is David, and I’m writing to you today because I wanted to alert your publication to a serious issue that has been suddenly arising amongst many Nissan 370Z’s and in particular, the 2009 and early-2010 models. Many owners of such vehicles have reported experiencing the sudden inability to start their cars, and have had to tow their vehicles to dealerships; these failures have been cited as being related to a faulty steering lock mechanism in those earlier models. While dealers have replaced the faulty parts under warranty, those without warranty (and the warranties on 2009 models begin to expire this year) have been stuck with repair bills between $500-$1000. Even worse is that the replacement part is currently out of stock, with wait times varying between two to four weeks.
Upon further investigation, the 370Z community at “the370Z.com” discovered that the scope of the steering lock failure issue spread across several Nissan models, to include the GT-R, Maxima, and Altima. The GT-R received a voluntary service recall for the defective part, but none of the other vehicle models have had the same service notice, even though they share essentially the same part (the failure-prone steering lock mechanism in the 370Z, which was subject to the voluntary recall in the GT-R, is exactly the same part). The voluntary service recall cited an issue with the steering lock unit being “over-oiled” thus causing a failure in the electrical components of the mechanism.
As an owner of a 2009 Nissan 370Z myself, I’m highly concerned with this issue possibly afflicting my vehicle, but Nissan’s response to owners seeking clarification has been resigned to canned responses, telling owners to follow technical service bulletins for all servicing-related information. This is simply unacceptable. The part in question is not a wear-and-tear item by any means, and the fact that Nissan has made no public effort to raise awareness to a factory problem means that owners of Nissan vehicles may suddenly become stranded with a non-operable car. Even worse, Nissan has since removed the unit altogether on their 2012 370Z model, which suggests that they may be aware of the issue (note: this has not yet been fully verified by 2012 model owners, but was reported by a dealer).
Hopefully with your help, this issue will be brought to sufficient light so that owners of Nissan vehicles will be better aware of this potentially stranding issue, and Nissan will be forced to respond with better information – that way, we can all work towards finding a viable solution across multiple platforms. Thank you for your time and your consideration.
For more information on this issue, as it pertains to the Nissan 370Z, please see:
DIY: Replace dreaded steering-lock on 2009s and early 2010s.
And, as it pertains to the Nissan GT-R, please see:
DIY Write Up: Steering Lock Fix - NAGTROC - The Nissan GT-R Owners Club
For the Nissan GT-R’s voluntary recall of the defective steering lock unit, please see the attached Nissan Service Bulletin, dated March 18, 2010, Reference #NTB10-025.
Sincerely,
David