2002 Infiniti Q45Recalls, problems, MPG & safety

“IN MARCH 2008 MY 2002 INFINITI Q45 WOULD NOT START, HAD IT TOWED FROM FAYETTEVILLE, NC TO INFINITI DEALER IN RALEIGH, NC. THEY R/R STARTER ASSY TO RESOLVE ISSUE AT NO CHARGE, OLD PART NOT AVAILABLE. ON 5/15/08 MY CAR WOULD NOT START, HAD IT TOWED FROM FAYETTEVILLE TO INFINITI DEALER IN RALEIGH. THEY R/R STARTER ASSY TO RESOLVE ISSUE AT NO CHARGE, OLD PART NOT AVAILABLE. ON 7/26/08 CAR WOULD NOT START AGAIN. HAD IT TOWED FROM FAYETTEVILLE TO INFINITI DEALER IN RALEIGH. THEY SAID MOTOR BURNED OUT DUE TO IGNITION SWITCH MALFUNCTION & R/R STARTER ASSY & IGNITION SWITCH TO RESOLVE & CHARGED $1,205.54. I ASKED ABOUT RECALL I FOUND ON NHTSA WEBSITE REGARDING ENGINE & ENGINE COOLING BECAUSE IT STATED THIS COULD CAUSE A NO START CONDITION. THEY DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THIS RECALL AND THAT'S WHY THEY CHARGED ME. I WOULD LIKE SOME ASSISTANCE IN DETERMINING IF THIS RECALL IS CAUSING MY CAR TO PERIODICALLY NOT START. THIS SEEMS TO OCCUR EVERY 2 MONTHS. *TR”

“HAVE HAD 3 HID HEADLIGHT ACTUATOR/BALLAST FAILURES, LEADING TO INOPERATIVE LAMPS (TWO LEFT SIDE, ONE RIGHT SIDE). THE BALLAST IS A HIGH-VOLTAGE TRANSFORMER THAT DRIVES THE DISCHARGE LAMPS. OCCURRENCES AT 24K, 95K, AND 105K MILES. CAR ONLY HAS 110K. FIRST FAILURE REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. LAST TWO REPAIRS ALMOST $1,000 EA FOR PARTS AND LABOR (MUST REMOVE ENTIRE FRONT FASCIA OF CAR TO REACH BALLAST UNITS). THE PART APPEARS TO BE SERIALLY DEFECTIVE, WITH THE OBVIOUS SAFETY HAZARD OF HAVING ONLY ONE WORKING LIGHT UNTIL TIME AND MONEY FOR REPAIR ARE FOUND. CALCULATED MEAN TIME BETWEEN FAILURE SEEMS TO BE ONE THOUSAND OPERATING HOURS OR LESS. *TR”

“I HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY CAR, WITH THE TIRES CONSTANTLY LEAKING. I HAD TO FILL THEM WITH AIR ALL THE TIME, HAD THEM CHECKED A NUMBER OF TIMES, AND HAD TO HAVE THE RIMS CLEANED AND REGROUND, ETC., TRYING TO DETERMINE AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM. AFTER INCREDIBLE AGGRAVATION, WE FINALLY TRACKED THE PROBLEM DOWN TO CRACKS IN THE VALVE STEMS. THE VALVE STEMS CONTAINED THE AIR PRESSURE SENSORS AND WERE EXPENSIVE TO REPLACE, PARTS WERE AS MUCH AS $135 OR SO EACH, PLUS LABOR, WHICH COULD BE $200 OR MORE, AND THEN ALL THE TIRE PRESSURE SENSORS HAD TO BE RE-SET - I THINK THE TERM WAS RECALIBRATED OR SOMETHING, WHICH MOST PLACES DIDN'T HAVE EQUIPMENT TO DO OR COULDN'T DO CORRECTLY, AND I ALWAYS ENDED UP HAVING TO GO TO A DEALERSHIP. AT LEAST THEY SOMETIMES DIDN'T CHARGE AS MUCH AS THEY COULD, AS I WAS A CAPTIVE; IF THEY DIDN'T DO IT, NONE OF THE SENSORS WOULD WORK. I DISCOVERED THAT THESE VALVE STEM SENSORS WERE SUBJECT TO CRACKING, AND HAD JUST BEEN PUT ON THE CAR FOR THAT MODEL YEAR. MIDWAY THROUGH THE MODEL YEAR, THEY WERE REPLACED WITH ANOTHER TYPE MADE OUT OF BETTER MATERIAL. BEFORE MY MODEL YEAR, THE TYPE USED WAS IN SERVICE I THINK FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THE MID-YEAR…”