Steering locking unit (part: 48700-jf00A) failed. Note, there are revision models of this part 48700-jf00B, 48700-jf00C, 48700-jf00D, and 48700-jf00E -- all eventually fail. This part begins to fail as early as just a few thousand miles on the car's odometer. This is a common issue with Nissan 370Z 2009-2011 models. Once this happens the car is stranded as the starter is disabled. The car must then be towed to a dealership for repair. Repair costs average between $1,100 and $2,000.

- Philadelphia, PA, USA

As I was getting ready to leave my house for the evening, I attempted to start my car like I had done earlier in the day without any problems. When I went to push my start button, I noticed that nothing had happened at all except the illumination of a key lock light. After checking the gas, battery, and fuses, I was left wondering what I should do. After checking into the problem with various credible sources, I discovered that the steering lock unit had failed. I also found out that this is a major problem with 2009-10 models of my car. I was without a vehicle for 3 days, and was going to have to pay a good amount of money for a factory defective unit that fails at any given moment, leaving the driver ( and passengers) stranded wherever they may be. Thank goodness I was at home and my car was in the garage. There should be a recall on this particular part, seeing that Nissan knows that this part is prone to failure, yet does nothing to rectify the situation except discontinue the part on newer models.

- Winthrop Harbor, IL, USA

Attempted to start car using the push button. The car wouldn't start. Had aaa come out to test the battery. The battery was good. I towed to the dealership. They said it had a steering lock failure which cost $1100 to repair. It took a day to order the part. The mileage was 22,114. The service tech said he saw a lot of Altima come in with this problem.

- Oxnard, CA, USA

Attempted to start car using the push button. The car wouldn't start. Had aaa come out to test the battery. The battery was good. I towed to the dealership. They said it had a steering lock failure which cost $1100 to repair. It took a day to order the part. The mileage was 22,114.

- Oxnard, CA, USA

Steering lock assembly failed causing the vehicle to not start.

- Matawan, NJ, USA

The car stop working when I tried to turn it on. I towed it to the shop and found out the steering lock and given up and this was very rare.... I searched only and found out so many people had the same issues with the same vehicle.. how is it that the car never been in any accident and now having an issue with electrical. I had stereo issues, electrical issues, and now the steering wheel issue.. they don't cover the car cause there is no recall.. how do companies get away with this.. I can not believe there is nothing that is being done about this.

- Avenel, NJ, USA

I had the infamous "steering lock failure." It has yet to become a recall and recognized as a fault by Nissan, yet the fix is $700+. I got in my car and attempted to turn my car on only to get 0 response, whatsoever. After running through the manual and seeing there were only two options if the "key light" stayed on, I changed the battery in the key fob. That wasn't the issue, which then meant the only option was the steering lock failure. I now have to get my car towed and cough up $700+ at random (since it chooses when it's going to die). This is absolutely ridiculous. Mind you, I was under the mileage warranty (21K, not 35) but I get screwed because the year. This will be the last Nissan I ever buy.

- New Castle, DE, USA

Steering wheel lock froze. No changing of fuses, disconnecting of battery, or any other suggested "fixes" worked. Towed to Nissan dealer. " highly unusual".. hahaha found over sixty other Nissan model owners same problem. Mechanism discontinued on 2012 models. Cost &1400.00 to replace. Not covered under warranty!!!

- Conway, AR, USA

Car would not turn on. Towed to local Nissan dealer & they said the steering lock assembly failed. Vehicle locked up. Costing me $1400 to repair.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

Steering wheel lock assembly stopped working.

- Marietta, GA, USA

Parked car while getting lunch, tried to restart car afterwards and ignition wouldn't cycle (wont go to acc or on, stays at lock). Indicator light implied keyfob needed to be inserted into the slot. After doing so, still would not start. Replaced keyfob battery, jumped the car; none worked. Eventually had to be towed to local dealer. Steering lock unit was determined to have failed. Unlike most reported failures, this one failed with the steering wheel unlocked (mechanism never engaged), however it would still not start. Parts came in at $719 and labor at $259. Had I been made aware of these costs before the work was done, as I requested in a voicemail left for the dealer, I would never have agreed and would have done it myself. Although this event may not occur while the vehicle is in motion, posing an immediate and apparent safety issue, it did result in being stranded in 10degree winter weather. Fortunately, this occurred in the middle of the day with people in the vicinity to help and a cell phone charged. Had it happened 12hrs later and with a dead cellphone, it would pose a considerable safety issue in sub10 degree weather. This is a well known issue, known by Nissan, and seems to have been addressed for the GT-R's under ntb10-025 issued 3/18/10. Yet, for some reason, it has not yet been corrected for the 370Z. According to service department at dealership where this work was performed, there were too many instances of this occurrence in their system to begin counting them all when I requested that information for reporting purposes. For others information, exact part number on the sticker of the replaced unit is as follows: 48700 9N00A-B1-01 T 4601101C E08 M01 31.03.09.

- Philadelphia, PA, USA

After I drove car for 5 minutes, I parked the car for 40 minutes. When I tried to start the car, nothing happened. The car has a push button start and when I pressed it, nothing happened. No sound, no starter noise. Nothing. I tried putting the key in the dash. Still nothing. I got the car towed to the Nissan dealer and was told the locking system had failed. $1300 to fix it. I was told that when the system fails, the car will not start. This is an extremely dangerous car. It will leave your stranded anywhere and at any time. Many 350Z & 370Z owners have complained about this safety issue but nothing has been done to fix it. A recall should be forced on Nissan!

- Metairie, LA, USA

Drove my car to work. Upon trying to leave work, the fob key unlocked the car, but the car displayed a key warning light indicated no fob detected. I inserted the fob into the intelligent key slot to the left of the steering wheel, no luck. I tried a backup fob (with good batteries), and even jump starting the car...still no luck. Headlights and brake lights work indicating power to the vehicle. Apparently a defective steering lock solenoid failed and caused car to cease to start or operate and was left stranded. Upon research online this is a known issue for 2009 for many many people. This is unfortunate because Nissan doesn't cover this part after most of the reports I read online failed (36,000+ miles) out of the warranty period costing consumers $1,000+ in repair plus cost to tow and extra for a rental if need be.

- Matawan, NJ, USA

Steering wheel lock has failed, rendering car unable to be started.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

Drove to 7/11 to get gas. Turned the car off. When I got back in the car to leave the car would not start. There was an amber key on the dashboard. There have been a major number of complaints filed for this same reason. The immobilizer locked out the wheel shaft which locked out the key faub. Since the car thinks it has been stolen the car will do nothing. No Nissan dealership is open on a Sunday and they are knowingly doing nothing about the issue. I never received any notices that there could have been an issue in the 3 years I've had my car. There has been a huge number of complaints on blogs which I discovered today after attempting to get my car started again.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

Vehicle won't start because the steering lock malfunctioned. This is a very well documented issue with the 370Z, and people in forums weren't surprised at all about the issue. This renders the car inoperable since it won't start. Nissan themselves seem to be aware of the issue, since 2012 and up models of this car don't even have the steering lock anymore. But even though they are aware of this issue a recall hasn't been issued. I had read about this issue before I even bought the car since it seems to be very common. In hindsight I wish I had educated myself more on the subject to take preventive measures since this issue is so common and so expensive to fix (part costs North of 500 dollars). But then again, buyers shouldn't be concerned with this at all, but Nissan should be very concerned. So I'm hoping you can get Nissan to issue a recall for this.

- El Paso, TX, USA

I parked to get gas and when I went to start my vehicle, it did nothing. Checked battery and everything else to my knowledge then had it towed to my local dealership. The dealership diagnosed the problem as the "steering wheel lock has gone bad." Towing cost was $65 and total cost of repair was $1198.50. My warranty ended in October of 2012, so this was paid out of pocket. I was without a vehicle for 4 days. It happened without warning and I was stranded at the gas station. If your steering lock control unit is a "reva" or "revb", it is jut a matter of time before yours fails. Nissan needs to do something about this like they did with the Nissan gtr.

- Denton, TX, USA

The "steering lock" lock the steering wheel. It makes the car impossible to turn on, I had to get it towed and it cost me $1100 dollars to repair it. Even though the 09/10 370Z's have had this issue Nissan has refuse to recall the part, even though the same part was recall on the 09 gtr's. this is issue is causing cars to get stranded all over the place. This issue makes the car go into shut down mode meaning you cant roll up your windows if they are down, you cant turn the steering wheel, etc. People are having to pull the steering lock fuse or cutting the wired to make the steering lock not functionable. This is an issue Nissan needs to deal with, and recall the steering lock. You can go online and see hundreds of people who have experience this issue!

- Brentwood, CA, USA

My car failed to start after on 3 1/2 years of owning it. When I took it into the dealer, I was told that it was a "steering lock mechanism" failure, and because my car was 6 months out of warranty, I would be required to pay $1,337.96 to get my car up and running again. While I was at the dealer, I was told this item has had problems since they started making the 370Z. The mechanic told me that he's fixed countless steering locks on the 370 & advised me to contact Nissan. Prior to contacting Nissan, I did some research of my own & lo & behold, I'm not the only person with this issue! there is a 370Z forum (the370Z.com) where multiple people expressed their displeasure with this part. I was 3 pages into the discussion & had already counted 15 instances where this item had failed. I find it very troublesome that Nissan would not only produce a faulty part, but won't even stand behind it their mistakes. I contacted Nissan via letter through their Consumer Affairs department & was told there's nothing they can do; since my car was out of warranty. To me, that shows Nissan does not care if they are producing faulty parts or not. That is why I am writing you. I believe this issue needs to be resolved one way or another as I'd hate to see someone else have the same misfortune as I did. Everything I've read states that this item was over oiled during assembly, which tells me 1 thing; this item needs to be recalled & customers that had this problem should be reimbursed for their troubles. Please look into this issue as Nissan does not seem to care one bit! thank you for your time!!

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

Drove to the grocery store and parked. Upon return to car it would not start. Windows and locks worked but that was it. The yellow key light stayed on and the car was dead in the water. Called Nissan and they said to check the battery and if that was not it the car would need to be towed. Seriously who would design something that you could not override to at least get to the dealership. Got the car towed and later the dealership phoned to say it was the steering wheel column lock and it would cost $1000 to fix. The dealer said they had another car in their service for the same thing on that same day!!! I did some research and it appears that this is a common problem on 2009 Nissan vehicles not just the 370Z. I also read that Nissan no longer uses this part in 2012 vehicles because of all the problems that have occurred. I think Nissan needs to step up and take responsibility for this part that is defectively manufactured. What if someone had injured themselves and needed to get medical attention but the car would not start. What if you were in a dangerous situation and could not start your car to get away. Nissan claims it is not a safety issue but I beg to differ. Please, please, please, help us get Nissan to take responsibility for this and pay for repairs and reimburse those who already paid for this nonsense.

- St George, UT, USA