Fire Hazard from Garmin Nuvi Prompts Recalls from Suzuki and Nissan

After Garmin announced a voluntary recall of 1.25 million units of its popular Nuvi GPS system at the end of August amidst concerns that the batteries could overheat and catch fire, Suzuki and Nissan followed with a recall on several vehicles equipped with the affected Garmin Nuvi navigation systems including the 750, 760, or 765 models for the same reason.

The recalled Garmin units can be found on certain Suzuki vehicles including the 2008-2010MY SX4 crossovers, 2010MY Grand Vitara SUVs, and 2009-2010MY Equator vehicles, and the 2008-2010MY Nissan Altima, Frontier, Pahtfinder, Rogue, Sentra, Versa and Xterra vehicles.

In both cases, the automakers will notify owners of the affected models, and the repairs will be performed by Garmin technicians who will replace the battery and insert a spacer on top of the battery free of charge.

2010 Nissan Altima Coupe: Facelifted Model Fully Revealed and Priced

The subtly refreshed 2010 Nissan Altima Coupe was officially revealed today. In a nutshell, the Japanese automaker's two-door model receives minor cosmetic tweaks, new available colors and upgraded option packages while the 3.5 SR model designation replaces the previous 3.5 SE. The most obvious changes for the 2010 model year concern the redesigned front end that gains a sculpted bonnet with a pronounced 'bump' in the center, newly styled projector beam headlights, a different treatment for the grille and a new bumper design with three air inlets instead of one.

The refreshed 17-inch alloy wheel designs (18-inch with Michelin P235/45R18 tires for the 3.5 SR models) and the three new available colors (Crimson Black, Navy Blue and Ocean Gray) pretty much complete the list with the exterior updates.

The Coupe's cabin has been refreshed with revised interior fabrics and finishers, a new red leather-appointed interior color selection and a revised Blonde interior color while the instrument cluster has been tweaked to incorporate a new white illumination color.

Nissan says that the most important news inside for the 2010 Altima Coupe is a new premium audio system that includes a 4.3-inch color display, USB port with iPod connectivity, Bluetooth Hands-free Phone System, MP3/WMA CD-ROM playback and XM Satellite Radio. Furthermore, this package also includes a RearView Monitor.

Also new for the 2010 model year is a next-generation Nissan Hard Drive Navigation System with 6.5-inch VGA color display, USB port with iPod connectivity, Bluetooth Hands-free Phone System with audio streaming, 9.3GB Music Box for music storage and playback, advanced map data including speed limit advisories, Zagat restaurant guide, XM NavTraffic and XM NavWeather and an RCA input for auxiliary audio/video connectivity.

As with the 2009MY, the new Altima Coupe is available with two gasoline engines, a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine that makes 175HP and 180 lb-ft of peak torque, and a 3.5-liter V6 with 270HP and 258 lb-ft. Both engines are offered with a choice of a 6-speed manual transmission or Nissan's Xtronic CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission).

Prices -excluding applicable tax, title and license fees- for the 2010 Nissan Altima Coupe range from $22,400 to $29,600.

2010 Altima Coupe	Engine/Trans.	M.S.R.P.
Altima Coupe 2.5 S	2.5L I4 6MT	$22,440 USD
Altima Coupe 2.5 S	2.5L I4 CVT	$22,940 USD
Altima Coupe 3.5 SR	3.5L V6 CVT	$27,270 USD
Altima Coupe 3.5 SR	3.5 V6 6MT	$29,600 USD

2010 Nissan Altima Sedan Photo Leaks Online after Pre-Production Recall!

Nissan may have wanted to keep the 2010 Altima -mostly- under covers for a week or so, but a full blown picture of the redesigned version of the sedan made its way onto the internet today along with the news that the Japanese firm is recalling 26,398 Altimas and Maximas from the 2009 and 2010 model years, including some 2010 Altimas that never went on sale, due to a potential safety issue regarding the front struts.

The new photo confirms that the 2010 Altima sedan gets a new front grille, tweaked headlamps that look a bit like the ones featured on the now discontinued 350Z, a restyled front bumper with three separate air-intakes and a more sculpted hood plus new alloy wheel designs.

From what we've heard, it won't be long before Nissan officially released detailed information and photos on both the sedan and coupe variants of the 2010MY Altima.

Kudos to Mehdi - Via: Altima Forums , Motortrend and Autonews

2009 NISSAN ALTIMA vs 2010 NISSAN ALTIMA

Nissan Releases Teaser Photo of 2010 Altima Sedan Facelift

About a month after an example of the refreshed 2010 Nissan Altima was snapped on the road during a commercial shoot out, Nissan decided to sate our appetites with the release of a single teaser image of its redesigned mid-size sedan. From what we can tell by looking at the photo, changes for the 2010 model year include a new front grille, tweaked headlamps, a newly designed front bumper and the more sculpted bonnet.

Expect to see similar cosmetic tweaks on the coupe model while according to Nissan, the 2010 Altima range will also benefit from refinements to interior as well as from new or upgraded option packages.

The facelifted Altima is due to fully revealed within the next few weeks and go on sale in the U.S. sometime in November.

2010 Nissan Altima Facelift Spied at Commercial Photo Shoot?

*Updated with higher-res photos

We just received note from Auto Cars 2011 reader Mehdi that a member over at the Altima Forums has posted a low-resolution picture showing what appears to be the 2010 Nissan Altima facelift. It seems that the photos were taken during a commercial shootout that included the new 370Z Roadster.

Even though the low-quality image doesn't help much to track all the changes -or for that matter, to make out if it's the coupe model with a new grille or the sedan, but it looks like the 2010MY Altima gets a newly designed front bumper and quite possibly, revised headlamps.

Nissan previously informed us that the all-three variants of the Altima aka the sedan, coupe and hybrid models will receive "refinements to the exterior, interior and option packages" for the 2010 model year with official details to be provided closer to the car's on-sale date in fall 2009.

We'll keep an eye on the story and keep you posted if anything new turns up.

Source: Altima Forums , Thanks for the tip Mehdi!

2009MY Nissan Altima Coupe and SEDAN

NYPD Introduces Nissan Altima Hybrid Police Cars

The boys in blue are going green in New York as the police department announced it will replace 40 of its squad cars with Nissan Altima Hybrids. They're the first gas-electric hybrids to be used as regular patrol cars by the largest police department in the U.S. The 40 hybrid vehicles -18 marked and 22 unmarked- will be used in patrol precincts and other units in all five boroughs of the city.

At $25,391 per vehicle, the Altima hybrids cost about $1,500 more than the conventional Impala. However, due to the fact that the hybrids return 35mpg for city driving compared to the Chevy's 16mpg, NY Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that they will cover the difference in a short period of time.

"These new patrol cars will help fulfill the PlaNYC goal of reducing City government's carbon footprint," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Through savings in fuel, these Altimas can quickly cover their additional cost, from then they will save taxpayers money – another example of how going green is good for our environment and our pocketbooks."

New York City officials said that after a after a year of monitoring the Altima Hybrids performance the Department will determine whether or not to further expand them into the fleet.

Photo: NYC

Nissan Recalling MY’09 Altimas over faulty Alloy Wheels

Nissan has issued a recall for more than 3,400 MY’09 Altima vehicles equipped with 16-inch alloy wheels. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, some of the alloy wheels may not have been manufactured to the correct specification, something that could lead to one or more of the five lug nuts attaching the wheel to the vehicle to become loose. Nissan dealers will inspect the vehicles and if necessary, replace the faulty alloy wheels new ones. Owners can contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.