The brakes on my 2005 Nissan Altima needed to be completely replaced due to wear for the second time in only 60K miles. The first time was at 25K and I was surprised because I have never had problems like this on any vehicle I have owned.

- Billerica, MA, USA

We own a 2005 Nissan Altima with 24,000 miles. While on vacation last February 2007 and we heard this noise coming from the back of the car. Had no warning before this. If we had we would have left this car home. We live in rochester, NY. The noise started in winchester, va. Since to us it was still a new car we did not think anything about it. We drove to savannah, ga. Since the noise was getting worse we took it to a Nissan dealership. They told us that road salt had rusted the left side rear caliper. We had a very mild winter in 2005-2006 and 2007 winter started off very mild/ he stated that the left side rear brake pads, no problem with the right rear brake. Pads and rotor)and left rotor wore out. They cleaned both rear calipers, resurfaced right rotor, replaced rear pads and left rear rotor. It cost us $309. We feel that this was a defective part not wear and tear. The car has not been abused since I am the one that drives it most. Nissan states that since we did not do the 15,000 warranty check they can not help us. We also found out that rear brakes should get at least 60,000 miles. Also when we asked a close relative who was a service manager for Nissan he consulted another person who said that since the repair was done in a different" warranty zone "than were the car was purchased that would be difficult to follow up. To me that makes no sense since car mishaps can happen anywhere. We feel we have a legitimate gripe and should get reimbursed from Nissan. One of the reasons we purchased this car was that consumer reports gave the braking system a very good rating.

- Rochester, NY, USA

I had noticed a grinding noise coming from the rear of my vehicle; I brought my vehicle to the Nissan dealer where it was purchased to have them take a look at it. The technician told me that the rear brake pads were stuck inside of the caliper slides and were not releasing from the rotor. They recommended repairs costing ($320 + tax). The service technician then advised me that this shouldn't happen to a 1 1/2 year old car w/ 15,600 miles on it and he would see if the manufacturer would cover the charge for the repair work needed. Nissan declined covering the repairs at that time and I couldn't afford to fix it right then and there. In August of 2006, I brought the car to another repair facility to have repairs done at the cost as $338.37, which included tax. Taking into account the age and miles on the car, the nature of the problem w/ the brakes and the service technicians statement, this obviously seemed to be a manufacturer's defect which I should not have to incur the cost of to correct. I submitted a letter with the receipts for the work done and the original invoice from the dealerships service department to Nissan two times over a 3 month span before I got a response from their Consumer Affairs department. Their response was, one, I already got the work done so there is nothing they can do now and secondly these are all wear and tear items. I was advised being that I live in upstate NY and the vehicle is exposed to snow and salt in the winter this could happen. My argument was I've lived here my whole life and have never put these items on a vehicle w/15K on it. Needless to say they refused to rectify the situation and my opinion now of Nissan as a manufacture is very poor, their customer service is awful and obviously they make a poor product that should not be sold in states where there is snow as their product is not made for its intended use in these areas. I will never buy a Nissan product again and would advise my friends and family of the same.

- Cicero, NY, USA

In March 06 I brought my 2005 Nissan Altima, which I bought brand new, in for an oil change at 19,000 miles when my mechanic stated that my rear brakes were worn. I then brought it to my dealer and the too stated that my rear brakes were prematurely worn, the pad down to the metal more so on the passenger side, they don't know why but warranty would not cover it. After numerous phone calls to Nissan of America and my dealer I had to pay $260 for rear brakes. Now its December and 10,000 miles later and the rear brakes are grinding again. I brought it back to the dealer and they stated again that they were worn and would replace just the right rear pads and resurface the rotor. I said there must be something wrong and they stated that there wasn't anything wrong and again the don't know why the brakes were worn. They just said that Altima go through brakes faster. I don't buy it. I have a call into Nissan now, maybe this time they will do something.

- Upton, MA, USA