NHTSA investigating Nissan Altima for brake fluid leaks

I purchased a pre-owned 2007 nissan altima. Two months after purchasing this vehicle, the brake light started to come on. The car has a small leak in the master cyclinder, and it may have afftected the booster. I believe nissan has a responsibility to recall this model.

I am having the same issue with the master break cylinder leaking fluid in my 2007 altima.

I am too having the same issue. My brake light keeps coming on and my brake fluid is low...

My Altima needs brake fluid added about every three months now. Not happy knowing that the leaking fluid is corrosive and may be doing other damage.

I have a 2008 Nissan Altima with 27000 miles. Brake light started to occasionally appear on dashboard. Took to dealership for oil change and to check into brake light. I was told that I needed back brakes and a new master cylinder. Of course car out of warranty, so $$$ out of pocket--wasn't cheap. Did some research online to seen numerous other people have has same issue with master cylinder. Sure sounds like there should be recall from Nissan. Very frustrated customer!

Report your issue to NHTSA so we can get it recalled. Hard to believe only 20 people so far have complained about this issue to NHTSA. I just had to get mine replaced and so did my sister who bought the 2008 coupe. Mine is the 2007 Altima Sedan.

Go to the NHTSA 's website and there is an option to file a complaint, I just did. It takes 2 mins BUT you need to have your VIN number to sumbit.

Just brought my 2007 Nissan Altima with only 25000 miles on it in for the brake light coming on and yippe for me it is the master cylinder. Did some research and found as did all the others that it is a well known problem and has had a recall for the Sentra
but not the Altima. Makes no sense to me!! So now I have to fork out a large amount of money to pay for something Nissan knows is faulty.
I will be reporting this to the NHTSA as suggested by MTS. And just in case Nissan is reading this, which I doubt, not stepping up
to the plate will lose you repeat customers. At least Toyota took care of their issues!

Filed report to the NHTSA about 1 week ago. Time will tell what action will be taken. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Just had mine replaced. 2007 Nissan Altima. Had the same issue as above, light would go on/off while driving and since there was no noticable issue with my brakes I didn't worry about it. Last oil change I had the dealership look into issue and the master cylinder was leaking and had to be replaced.

I find it surprising ONLY 20 people have reported this to the NHTSA. I just reported my complaint to NHTSA. Takes only 5 mins but you need to have your VIN # to submit form. Even if you didn't have your master cylinder replaced, still notify them about the light coming on so we can this recalled and money back in our pockets!

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm

I heard back from NHTSA after submitting my complaint, and they followed up with Nissan. Don't know if this applies only to my Nissan, but they informed me that Nissan's investigation concluded that there is no safety issue, therefore probably no recall. They acknowledge the widespread defect, but since there have been no accidents or brake failure reports, there will likely be no recall. The leak is so slow that consumers are likely to refill it during maintenance or brake work. Guess Nissan doesn't care about their quality reputation, or standing behind their product. Score minus 1 for Nissan.

I probably have this same problem. Light came on a couple of weeks ago and my fluid was low. Added brake fluid and light went off but brakes are now very mushy. Increasingly worse so that now I'm not sure if car will even stop. Checked brake pads and they are okay. Guessing I have the same master cylinder leak problem.

My brake light and VDC Off and Slip lights kept coming on. I took it in to the dealership for an oil change and asked about the lights....they knew immediately what the issue was! I have had NO issues with my 2008 Altima until now. I think it is very irresponsible and crooked of Nissan to ignore such and issue that is affecting so many of their vehicles. They want to charge me $500 to repair a faulty master cylinder.....nutso.

My brake light and VDC Off and Slip lights kept coming on. I took it in to the dealership for an oil change and asked about the lights....they knew immediately what the issue was! I have had NO issues with my 2008 Altima until now. I think it is very irresponsible and crooked of Nissan to ignore such and issue that is affecting so many of their vehicles. They want to charge me $500 to repair a faulty master cylinder.....nutso.

My brake light and VDC Off and Slip lights kept coming on. I took it in to the dealership for an oil change and asked about the lights....they knew immediately what the issue was! I have had NO issues with my 2008 Altima until now. I think it is very irresponsible and crooked of Nissan to ignore such and issue that is affecting so many of their vehicles. They want to charge me $500 to repair a faulty master cylinder.....nutso.

just an update from Carol.
I posted on Oct 14 about the master brake cylinder, and I just want to let everyone know about my experience.

I called Nissan Corporate after I posted back then, spoke to an extremely polite rep (Kayla I think) about why I felt this was wrong and that I shouldn't have to pay for a problem they know about . The following Monday I received a call from another great rep (Tony) and for about two weeks I would hear from him every few days with an update.

Yesterday I received a check in the mail covering the whole expense associated with the repair of the Master Cylinder!!!!
That's parts, labor and sales tax!!!

I have to say my hat is off to those two great reps and to Nissan Corp for backing their name and their product. My tune has
changed for the corporation.

Good luck to those who read this and give it a whirl you should get the same results. I just needed to fax them my paid invoice from where the work was done.

Carol...that's great news. Glad you were able to get a refund! My sister too was able to get one, but through the dealership. Since she was just outside of her warranty, they granted her a "one-time goodwill warranty coverage" right after they replaced it.

Ofcourse this made me a little upset, that they didn't do the same thing for me (went to the same dealership 2 days prior to her) Called the service manager and he recommended I call nissan's customer service hotline. I have about 20k more miles on mine than hers, but hopefully they are just as helpful. I service my car every 3,500 miles/single owner/bought new from dealership. I don't think mileage should play a factor in this, as yours went out at 25,000 miles. Must be due to the 'age' of the car.

Called nissan's hotline and they created a file and should hear back from their regional customer rep in the next couple of days...wish me luck! An extra 500 before the holidays would be nice.

More info from Carol

The corporate office I contacted was in Tennessee. I just looked it up online then and now so I hope the number is the same that I called, the number I found now is 615-725-1000.

Good luck, I had a great experience with Corporate, the dealership ticked me off but corporate was great.

Marcie,

My Altima is a 2007, 3.5 and only had 25,000 miles on it when I brought it in for the brake light coming on.

good luck!

Great news...my check is in the mail for a full refund to replace the master cylinder. After filing a complaing to NHTSA, I recommend calling into either the number Carol provided or their customer service hotline 1800-NISSAN1 It took less than a week to open a ticket with them, until I was approved a full refund.

This has been my only issue since owning a Nissan and glad to say I'm still a happy customer.

Good luck to others!