Nissan Repair: Nissan Altima 01, nissan altima, plastic cowl

Question
While driving through a rain storm on the way to work today, I had a bit of a scare.  I was driving at 70mph and in the center lane of I87 in New York when my driver's side windshield wiper suddenly died, midway through a stroke.  My passenger's side wiper got caught on the driver's side blade and my vision became impaired.  I reached out of my window and pulled the driver's side blade so that it was vertical.  It was competely dead.  Once freed, the passenger wiper blade began working again.  Fortunately, I was able to lean to the passenger side of my car and drive to work.  
Is this a common occurance that is reported to you? What, in your opinion, could have been the cause of this happening?  
Is it an expensive repair?
Thanks,
Mike


Answer
Mike,

The pivot arm came off.  There is an arm under the cowl that the wiper arms connect to and these connect to the wiper motor.  The clip that holds the arm is probably come off or it broke.  Remove the plastic cowl un front of the windshield and you will see what is loose.  A cheap fix if you do it yourself.  The clip from Nissan would only run about ten bucks.  If you took it in they will charge a couple of hundred due to the labor involved.