Got a call from the wife. On her way to work on the freeway her car began to slow, would not accelerate , with her foot to the floor & the engine screaming in a lower gear she barely made through traffic to an exit where she could safely park.I diverted my route and when I got on scene the car was smoking and smelled like burnt brakes on all four corners.She was visibly scared . She was not driving with the E-brake applied , dragging the brakes with the pedal or any other nonsense like that.She received no brake system warning lights or ABS activation lights.

Had it towed to a trusted local repair shop for diagnosis and they could find no ABS fault codes or any other fault codes for that matter. Teardown and inspection of the brakes revealed all four wheels had burnt brake pads and two severely damaged brake calipers( 1 fr. & 1 rr.). 1 set of pads was virtually welded to the rotor. Has anyone here had a similar problem and/or know of the cause & repair for it other than just to continue to throw parts at the problem. I have heard of bad master cylinders or power brake booster on other makes causing this type of brake system failure. Repair shop has no idea what would and has not yet found the cause for this condition .Local Nissan Dealer service department has no clue either.They said to "google' the problem and see if I could find an answer. High powered Nissan Motor Co. Dealership and they want me to do their homework for them? Unbelievable! Unacceptable! I am very hesitant to let her drive this car on the open road again until the exact mechanical or electronic cause of the problem is squarely found and repaired. This could have been fatal!

I have a friend with access to Mitchell On Demand that I will check with to see if there are any TSB's on this problem & post if I do. We have an extended private party warranty for the car so hopefully the cost to us will not be too much after the deductible is paid. Up until this point I thought it was a pretty good car & manuafacturer.Now I'm seriously in doubt about it.

After 5 repair attempts on the brake failure issue, it is now considered a lemon under the Beverly-Song Act. The brake failures have been reported to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Assoc) several months ago, but NHTSA never responded to my complaint. Also noted are the following: noticed paint trim began peeling at approximately 100 miles, condensation in side view mirror lenses caused both mirrors to malfunction (Nissan dealership states part is on special order and will be arriving in less than a week....it's been over 2 weeks), the battery died at 8890 miles (less than 5 months of ownership), my fuel gauge reads empty when the gas tank is full, and now the front brakes are squeeking after they have been replaced 2 months ago. What surprises me is that the NHTSA has not responded to my multiple brake failure complaint.

Purchased the 2009 Altima Coupe new in October 2009. At 2300 miles, we noticed lots of vibration upon braking and our car veered off the freeway at approximately 50 mph due to brake failure. The Nissan dealership found all 4 rotors were warped and brakes were bare, so they replaced all rotors and brakes. At 7500 miles, the car started vibrating again and there was a "clunking" noise upon braking. We were driving at 47 mph on a freeway when the brakes failed again. Luckily, we were able to slow down on the dirt shoulder and eventually stop. Another Nissan dealership stated the rotors had a "run out" and machined them. At 8440 miles, the car started vibrating again upon braking. Nissan North America has been contacted 5 times (via email and phone) since the first incident, but we are still waiting for their answer. I am now at 8500 miles and will continue to contact Nissan until they find a solution to this brake problem. In the meantime, I've contacted a few attorneys on this matter.

There is another documented incident involving the 2009 Nissan Altima Coupe which created 2 injuries from brake failure.