March 12, 2013

Murano Drivers Side Seat Breaks – TSB’s But Nissan Fails To Issue Recall

Here’s another reason not to buy Nissan and how they don’t stand behind their product.  A 2006 Nissan Murano owner just wrote in about her driver’s seat breaking while driving.  The frame needs to be replaced, which is a costly repair, owners reporting dealers quoting upwards of $900-$1,000.

I did some online research and found this is a common problem with many Murano owners posting online complaints.  And Nissan fails to issue a recall, although according to a posting by davemunyan at the forum at nissanmurano.org, here are the Technical Service Bulletins (TSB) Nissan issued on the problem:

TSB# 05043
Date of Bulletin: Mar 29, 2007
Summary: DRIVERS SEAT NOISE AND/OR ROCKS BACK AND FORTH. *SC UPDATED 04-06-07. *KB

TSB# 05095
Date of Bulletin: Oct 15, 2003
Summary: DRIVER’S SEAT ROCKING/SQUEAKING. *TT

This was the same as my car, there were at least three TSB’s on my Sentra.  A TSB is issued by the manufacturer when they know there is a problem, and the TSB is to help the dealers fix the problem.  But for whatever reason, read costs, Nissan does not care about their customers enough to issue a recall.

davemunyan also reports the dealer originally quoted him $900 for the fix and he got them to repair it for $300.  Another poster, MCowher, says he got Nissan Corp. to do a “Goodwill Repair” and fix it for free (much better than the $948 he was originally quoted).

Here is a Youtube video on how to repair yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViOSqIrrLRY (Disclaimer: I do not condone this nor do I have any knowledge to it’s effectiveness).

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation on this problem in 2008 on the 2005 Murano, but closed it in 2009 because according to them, the risk while driving could not be demonstrated. Here is the full report:

NHTSA Action Number: N/A NHTSA Recall Campaign Number:
PE08065 N/A
Make: NISSAN Model: MURANO
Manufacturer : NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
Year : 2005
Component :
SEATS

Date Investigation Opened : November 18, 2008
Date Investigation Closed : July 2, 2009
Summary:
THIS INVESTIGATION CONCERNS STRUCTURAL FAILURE OF THE ANCHOR/BRACKET ON THE LEFT REAR SIDE OF THE DRIVER’S SEAT. THE CONCERN IS THAT SUCH FAILURES MAY ALTER THE DRIVER’S SEATED POSITION SO AS TO REDUCE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE OCCUPANT PROTECTION SYSTEM OR POTENTIALLY COMPROMISE VEHICLE CONTROL. FAILURE OF THE SUBJECT ANCHOR BRACKET RESULTS FROM METAL FATIGUE AND CAUSES REARWARD TILTING OF THE DRIVER’S SEAT. THESE FAILURES USUALLY OCCUR DURING DRIVER INGRESS BUT MAY ALSO OCCUR WHILE THE VEHICLE IS BEING OPERATED. THE SAFETY RELATED CONCERNS DURING ACTUAL VEHICLE USE WERE NOT VALIDATED BY THIS INVESTIGATION. WHILE THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS OF THIS PROBLEM IS RELATIVELY HIGH, ONLY THREE VERY MINOR, UNDOCUMENTED INJURIES WERE REPORTED. THE REPORTED INJURIES OCCURRED DURING DRIVER INGRESS, NOT WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION. INVESTIGATION DISCLOSED THAT THE APPARENT RISK OF COMPROMISE TO VEHICLE CONTROL HAS NOT BEEN DEMONSTRATED. INVESTIGATION ALSO DISCLOSED THAT THE APPARENT RISK OF COLLAPSE OF THE DRIVER’S SEAT BACK HAS NOT BEEN DEMONSTRATED A SAFETY RELATED DEFECT TREND WAS NOT IDENTIFIED AND THIS INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN CLOSED.

Here’s some of the research showing this is a big problem with the Nissan Murano:

2006 Murano:
http://www.justanswer.com/nissan/4lp9i-2006-murano-driver-s-seat-snapped-rocking-a-recall-will-not.html

http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/82-1st-gen-2003-2007/16393-driver-seat-broke.html

2005 Murano:
http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/66-problems/10406-more-drivers-seat-problems.html
http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/66-problems/2744-seat-track-replacement-3.html
http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/66-problems/14617-drivers-seat-cheap-repair.html – has a picture of where to weld it to fix it
http://forums.nicoclub.com/2005-murano-seat-lifter-rail-broke-t470215.html

2004 Murano:
http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/66-problems/1548-drivers-seat.html

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Remember, this is why you:

DON’T BUY NISSAN

BUY THE COMPETITION

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Changing the world one post at a time. Dedicated to providing current Nissan owners with information to help them, and to all consumers to provide research in order to help them learn that you: Don’t Buy Nissan, Buy the Competition.

My aim is to give a truthful, accurate account of the four year nightmare of owning my Nissan Sentra and the stress, exhaustion, and anger I experienced dealing with Nissan Corp. and the three dealerships. If anyone I mention here or elsewhere on my blog wishes to email me with any comments on anything I say, or wishes to contradict or challenge anything I say, I will be more than happy to review any comments, to post your comments and then comment on them myself, or remove anything that I find out to be inaccurate.

THIS IS THE THE TRUTH ABOUT NISSAN AND HOW NISSAN CORP. AND THE DEALERSHIPS TREAT THEIR CAR OWNERS.