YACT: Recall liability?

My sister bought a 1996 Nissan Sentra in December 1999, with 28,000 miles on it. In mid-2000 (I think), the front coil springs BOTH broke at the same time, thus ruining her suspension (she drove around a parking lot trying to figure out what was wrong, and basically fscked the entire front end). It cost about $1200 to fix, and it's been paid for and everything. My parents are currently in possession of the receipts.

However, today I was browsing the Nissan website and found this recall:

1995-1996 Sentra Front Coil Springs Recall

Applies to 1995-1996 Sentra, produced at Aguascalientes plant ONLY, the following Vehicle Identification Number Range: 3N1AB41***L000101 - 009085.
The number of vehicles potentially affected is approximately 14,500.
Please review the disclaimer located at the bottom of this page for more instruction.

Reason for Recall
In areas of the country where significant amounts of salt are used on the roads in the winter, there is a possibility that a front coil spring may break as a result of corrosion due to the salt. A broken spring could puncture a tire and result in loss of control of the vehicle, which could cause a crash.

States which use a significant amount of salt include: Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, Rhode Island, District of Columbia, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, West Virginia, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin.

If your Sentra was not operated in any of the states listed above, it does not have to be repaired. Please leave the notice in your Sentra for any future owners who may operate this vehicle in one of the above states. However, if you know that your Sentra has been driven for a significant period of time in one of these states where it was exposed to road salt in the winter or you are not sure, then you may have your vehicle repaired as described below.

What Nissan Will Do
In order to prevent this incident from occurring, your Nissan dealer will replace the two front coil springs. This free service should take about two hours to complete, but your Nissan dealer may require your vehicle for a longer period of time based upon their work schedule.

What You Should Do
Contact your Nissan dealer at your earliest convenience in order to arrange an appointment to have your vehicle repaired. Please bring the notice with you when you keep your service appointment. Instructions have been sent to your Nissan dealer.

If the dealer fails, or is unable to make the necessary repairs free of charge, you may contact the National Consumer Affairs Office, Nissan North America, Inc. at P.O. Box 191, Gardena, California 90248-0191. The toll free number is 1-800-NISSAN1 (1-800-647-7261). If you reside in Hawaii, please call 1-808-836-0888.

You may also contact the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration, 400 Seventh Street S.W, Washington, D.C. 20590 or call the toll free Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236.

Basically stating the exact problem my sister had. We were not notified of this recall by ANY means (I'm assuming b/c it was sent out before we bought the car). Thus, we were not aware of any recall and were not notified by Nissan of any recall, and the problem that the recall was supposed to prevent happened to us.

Is there any recourse for this? I realize that a statute of limitations may be in effect here, but I'm wondering if anyone knows automotive law and what sort of stipulations apply in a case like this. The original owner never took the car in for the recall replacement, as far as we know.

 

[Ryan]

It's probably best to call Nissan's customer service hotline and ask them.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

I do'nt know, this will be a bump.
Have you called and/or emailed Nissan yet?
Be firm be not aggressive..

 

I haven't called Nissan yet; I just discovered this recall about 25 minutes ago. Just came here looking for advice. I'm going to call the Nissan hotline, but I want to have my parents there and have the receipts in front of me too.

 

[StageLeft]

HAHA goodluck with nissan. I hear their customer service sucks (yes I said it), but maybe you'll be ok.

 

Originally posted by: Skoorb
HAHA goodluck with nissan. I hear their customer service sucks (yes I said it), but maybe you'll be ok.

Yeah, I think luck is what we'll need to get us anything, in this situation. Any money we got from Nissan would be a bonus, since the repair has been performed and paid for already, so I'm not TOO concerned about it, but I'd like to hold Nissan accountable for their poor manufacturing.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Nissan has already indicated a defect by issuing a recall. Thats in your favor.
You paid to have it fixed rather than rent a car. You can fudge on that.
You have the bills but they may want the old parts.
Please tell us you kept or can still get the old springs.
Possession of them is what they may hang you on..

 

[Quixfire]

The problem is you had the car repaired after the publication of the recall. Most car companies won't refund a repair after the first notification letter, even if you didn't receive it.

I would still call and see what they are willing to do. If nothing else you could contact a lawyer and see if they could help.

 

Originally posted by: galvanizedyankee
Nissan has already indicated a defect by issuing a recall. Thats in your favor.
You paid to have it fixed rather than rent a car. You can fudge on that.
You have the bills but they may want the old parts.
Please tell us you kept or can still get the old springs.
Possession of them is what they may hang you on..

I can assure you that the springs are most likely existing today as a recycled soup can on the shelf of Kroger in Wichita, KS.

🙁