Problems with 2009 Nissan Versa SUSPENSION

Drove approximating 5 miles city driving good paved streets and felt something not right with suspension. inspected suspension parts after reaching my destination to find a broken right front coil spring. vehicle is in excellent condition and no signs of rust on any parts. this spring broke in the bottom coil. *tr

At 65 miles an hour the front coil spring on the driver's side malfunctioned and broke creating a sharp edge that cut the front driver's side tire. this caused a blow out on the highway. the car on examination after the malfunction had a total of three broken coil strings (two front and one rear), and other damage to the suspension (two struts, and sway bars). vehicle was traveling on interstate highway at the time. operator was able to control vehicle and move to shoulder thus avoiding a major accident. vehicle had to be towed from shoulder. it appears these springs are defective. *tr

I drove my car to work fine that morning. leaving work i heard strange clunks while in the parking lot. looked the car over but didn't notice anything. continued to drive car on my usual route. i went over a bridge and my car bounced terribly. i made it home and my boyfriend found my driver side coil spring busted. was still able to carefully drive it to my mechanic and he found that the passenger side spring broke too. reading online i see many complaints on this happening. there should be no reason they should break on such a new car. they are defective and hazardous. i feel very lucky mine broke the way they did and not puncture my tire or lock my steering. *tr

At first i was hearing "bump" noises that sounded like a sway bar issue for a couple days. then i heard a noise that sounded like i ran over a branch, except there was nothing in the road before - or after. i drove about 100 miles home on the highway, still thinking it was related to the sway bar. after about 10 miles on the backroads, it sounded like i shed a metal part. upon retrieving the part from the road, it was about a semicircular piece of the front driver side coil spring that broke free. all unidentified noises are now gone, and dealer found nothing wrong with sway bar (after $88 diagnostic fee). dealer quotes $565 for repair, except they can't do the repair even if i wanted them to. according to the dealer, it is a nissan exclusive part, except nissan is not currently making the part and it is on "national nissan back order". the dealer advises that "i am currently paying monthly for a car i cannot drive, and cannot repair without using junkyard parts that in all likely-hood will also fail at some point. *tr

At first i was hearing "bump" noises that sounded like a sway bar issue for a couple days. then i heard a noise that sounded like i ran over a branch, except there was nothing in the road before - or after. i drove about 100 miles home on the highway, still thinking it was related to the sway bar. after about 10 miles on the backroads, it sounded like i shed a metal part. upon retrieving the part from the road, it was about a semicircular piece of the front driver side coil spring that broke free. all unidentified noises are now gone, and dealer found nothing wrong with sway bar (after $88 diagnostic fee). dealer quotes $565 for repair, except they can't do the repair even if i wanted them to. according to the dealer, it is a nissan exclusive part, except nissan is not currently making the part and it is on "national nissan back order". the dealer advises that "i am currently paying monthly for a car i cannot drive, and cannot repair without using junkyard parts that in all likely-hood will also fail at some point. *tr

I backed up my car in the morning from parking lot, heard an unusual noise. stopped the car and could not find anything wrong. as i started driving the car, even though the car was moving as usual a strange noise was coming from the front passenger side. just before pulling to the nearest mechanic, smoke started coming from the car and soon the front passenger tire burst with a loud noise. immediately pulled the car to the shoulder and found a broken coil spring fell on the road . the same issue happened to me couple of months back where the driver side (front) coil spring broke and popped out when the car was backed up in the parking lot (tire did not burst as i was already in a mechanic shop for an oil change). i think the nissan versa 2009 hb model coil spring has an issue specially when the vehicle is backed up( may be with the steering in a certain position). this is a life threatening issue if such things happen in a highway as the coil spring break followed by a tire burst can risk the lives of passengers. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 nissan versa. the contact stated that there was an abnormal noise coming from the vehicle. in addition, the front and rear coil springs fractured. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who replaced the passenger side front coil spring, but the failure recurred. the vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic who replaced the front driver side coil spring. on another occasion, the contact heard an abnormal noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who indicated that the rear coil springs needed to be replaced. the contact later received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 15v573000 (suspension) and was concerned that the recall remedy would fail to repair the vehicle. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 25,985. parts distribution disconnect. updated 02/05/16*lj *cn

The left front coil spring snapped while pulling out of my driveway. cost to fix - $389. nissan has 33,000 miles and is a few months out of warranty. the service dept manager acknowledged the part as defective and urged me to contact nissan. nissan corporate, after two weeks of back and forth, told me too bad, not their problem. *tr

I had hopped into my car today, started it, put it in reverse and had moved about two feet before i heard an extremely loud *clunk* that came from the front passenger side. i immediately stopped my car, put the e-brake on, turned it off and got out to see what had happened. at first i didn't see any damage, then i looked under my car and saw a cylindrical curved piece of metal. i picked it up and not knowing what it was or where it came from i didn't want to move my car again until i had some answers. my friend and i walked to the nearest garage and showed the piece to a mechanic and he quickly diagnosed the issue: my passenger side suspension coil had snapped off at the base (about 6 or 6.5 inches had broken from the bottom of the coil.) the break is very, very clean--almost like glass. there was no sign of rust or any other sort of damage to the coil, and after reading the many complaints on this website that are identical to mine i am thinking that this incident today was only caused by a factory malfunction! i do not drive over bumps or holes like a maniac, i drive over them sensibly just as i'd think many other people with this same problem do also. i am a very poor single mother & college student and something needs to be done about this! scary to think about what would have happened had i been driving down the highway. *tr

After investigating strange noise from front suspension area, discovered that both left and right side coil springs were broken. one broken spring end came close to puncturing tire (which had to be replaced). have owned many cars over many years and never had a coil spring break. car is not driven under any extreme conditions. cost to replace springs and damaged tire was nearly $1000. nissan will not acknowledge any known problem with versa front springs, but nearly 50% of nhtsa complaints on versa are for broken front springs! if spring had punctured tire at high speed, could have been deadly. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 nissan versa. the contact stated that while driving 10 mph, the vehicle exhibited a clicking noise was. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was advised to the contact that the coil springs need to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 56,835. *tr

I noticed that the car was leaning toward the ground on the driver's side. i decided to take it to the dealership to have it checked out. the car was bouncy on the drive to the dealership. the tech looked at it and said it was not safe to drive because the left front coil spring was broken. he said the broken coil could break the brake line or puncture the tire. the versa has never been in an accident, is only 7000 miles over warranty, and i can't see how the coil could have broken if the part was not faulty. *tr

I noticed a strange noise coming from the front area of my car when i turned the wheels or hit a bump. i took the car in for a safety check and was shown that i had a broken left front coil spring. unless it's defective,i can't believe this spring should break except in an accident. *tr

Front driver side suspension spring broke when pulling out of driveway. there is no valid reason for a suspension spring to snap on a 2009 automobile. this caused damage to the tire. the cost to fix this issue is $700.00 for the spring and new tire. what would have happened had i been on the expressway driving at 65 mph? *tr

Within days of buying the new car in 2009, i noticed a loud, clunking squeak and a pop from around my front wheels when i would make a turn after slowing down to a stop. this had been happening during the entire 3.5 years that i have had the car, so i figured it was normal and harmless because the car was already doing it brand new (right now there are still only 37,343 miles on the vehicle, i park it in my garage, and it has had no accidents.) however, last night, the sound seemed to be louder and looser near the front-right wheel. then this morning i drove out of my neighborhood and as i began accelerating to 50 mph, a large piece of metal flew out violently from under my car. i was able to find it in the roadway, so i backed up and inspected the part. it is the bottom coil of the coil spring that is over the right-front wheel. luckily it did not hit anybody behind me or cut my tire. the metal was not only broken, but the face of the break was already slightly rusted, as if it had been cracked for a while before snapping. *tr

The driver side spring of my 2009 nissan versa broke when i was pulling out of the garage. i heard a big bang and assumed it was from ice build up. i continued to drive and the vehicle pulled hard to the left. turns out the spring had sheared previously (as rust had built up on the break point) and it let go at that time. my driver side strut is bent as a result of the spring breaking. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 nissan versa. while driving at 15 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the suspension failed. the vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. the vehicle was towed to the dealer, but was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 35,200.

Left front coil spring broke. car was parked in garage and when it was started in order to pull out of the garage, my boyfriend found an 8 inch portion of the coil spring - the bottom part of driver's side spring that sits in the saddle of strut, on the garage floor. *tr

While driving at low speeds i heard a loud pop. the vehicle seemed to drive fine but that weekend i took it in for regular service at a local service shop. i asked them to check for the source of the loud pop in addition to the normal service. they informed me that not one but both of my front coil springs were snapped and that i was lucky the coil springs were retained on the upper support shelf as they could have sliced a tire potentially causing an accident. this vehicle has 87,000 miles, has never been in an accident, and is only driven to and from work 90 miles round trip daily on good highways.. *tr

The first instance happened on the driver's side of my car as i was backing out of the parking spot at my house, i heard the loud ping of metal snapping. i backed up a little farther and stopped to find a piece of what i would later learn was part of the coil spring on the front driver's side. i took my car the dealership where they told me it could have easily sliced open my tire or brake line had i been going fast. after a lot of back and forth between us they repaired it without charging me. fast forward to january 12, 2014, 64,500 miles. i don't know exactly when the break occurred this time, but as i was driving home, i would here a clanging sound whenever i turned or hit even the slightest bump in the road. i checked the car the next day and noticed the front end was low. upon closer inspection, the passenger side spring is now broken. i haven't been able to get a closer look at it yet, but it looks broken in a similar manner to the first one. everything i've looked up tells me that these springs are normally suppose to last over 100,000 miles, and yet both mine have broken now before hitting 65,000 miles. once again the spring could have easily sliced the tire or a brake line, and had i been on the highway when that happened it could have easily ended badly. this really needs to be looked into, from all the other related problems i've seen, it sounds like a bad batch of springs. *tr

I have a 2009 nissan versa that i had been hearing popping when i turned so i had to replace the cv axel and now i am having to replace the ball joint bushing because that is what caused my cv axel to start to go now i hear a grinding and the car has 63000 miles on it. *tr

Driver's side front coil spring failed while sitting at a stoplight. fortunately not driving in traffic at the time. no reason given for failure, vehicle always kept on paved roads <43k miles. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 nissan versa. while driving approximately 40 mph, the front passenger side tire deflated without warning. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the front passenger coil spring fractured and punctured the front passenger side tire. the vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred on three other occasions on both front coil springs. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 12,000. updated 7/21/15*cn the muffler, tire pressure sensor, blower motor and battery were replaced. the coil springs and tire pressure sensors were replaced more than once. updated 07/30/15

I have a history of complains with nissan about the steering. my complaint was about a pinging noise coming from the front end. you could also feel this ping in the steering wheel. nissan ignored this complaint and explained it was my abs calibrating. as time went by the noise got worst. nissan would even charge me $150.00 each time they look at the car for this noise and could not find anything wrong. last week nissan told me there is a problem with the spring moving when the steering wheel turns. the spring tightens and loosens with each turn of the wheel. they have identified the problem and have a fix for it, but they want me to pay for it. to me this sounds like a defect in design and i should not be liable for the charges, however they wont repair it unless i pay for it. *tr

2009 nissan versa hatchback less than a month the alignment needed fixing the car pulls to both sides. the beginning it goes to the left then putting the car back straight it goes to the right. it gets worse when the car goes over 40 miles per hour. *tr

Vehicle wanders at speeds above roughly 45 mph. wandering is severe at speeds above 60 mph. *tr

Within weeks of my purchase of a 2009 nissan versa sl, i noticed, when making right or left turns at slow speeds (5-10 mph), especially going over a bump and when the steering wheel is turned 1- 1 1/2 times (as in going into a driveway) i experience loud clunking and vibrations in wheel, and it can be easily heard coming from the steering column. the clunk is always there at 1 to 1 1/4 turn from the full clockwise stop. i have taken it in the dealership for this problem at least 5 times; they have been unable to fix the problem. several times, the service writer said he couldn't hear or feel the 'clunk' but the mechanic said he could. the versa does move around quite a bit at high speeds on the freeway, but i am unsure if that is caused by the above described problem or the light weight of the versa. the sound and feel of this 'clunk' is very disconcerting, and given the number of complaints i've seen for 3 years about this problem, i'm wondering if the government/automaker are waiting for someone to die before they act.