Owners have filed 13,443 complaints on the Nissan Altima, covering 1993–2025. The system named most often is Power Train (725 reports). Worst years by volume: 2013, 2009, 2014; cleanest: 2025, 2022, 2023. 711 reports describe a crash, 187 a fire, 13 a death. On average the car was 5.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Nissan Altima
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 13,443 Altima complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 725 Read
1).Sometimes I can smell exhaust gas inside the car room like in my previous car Nissan Maxima SE 2008, which is extremely dangerous. 2).The rear camera works no so well - sometimes rearview disappearing completely. Also, approximately a year ago, I received a letter regarding Nissan Altima SV 2017 recall(s). I…
Follow-up to issue #11479380 Just 6 days ago, I filed a complaint regarding acceleration issues with my 2017 Nissan Altima. Unfortunately, yesterday (8/20/2022), I was involved in an accident with the car as a direct result of these ongoing acceleration issues. I was the driver in the driveway of a friend’s house and…
The contact's mom owns a 2017 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while his mom was at a stop light, a one-ton truck crashed into the vehicle. The driver attempted to reverse from the intersection. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact had previously reported an incident for acceleration and…
Air Bags 673 Read
Desconocidos
Had a wreck and the air bags came out and I got cut by it
Takata recall airbag threw metal scraps injuring left wrist permanent scar state farm totaled vehicle in 2014. Furthermore tramatic brain injury. Still seeing nurologist have problems with short term memory and balance problems. Please take airbag off market. Please recall drivers side airbag as soon as possible…
Exterior Lighting 588 Read
This is one of the absolutely worst kind of problems that fundamentally affects the safety of the car when driven at night. Problem: Delamination of the headlight reflective material resulting in severely degraded headlights. A multitude of accounts including at least 2 YouTube videos with many comments confirming the…
Very dim headlights which create issues in less than ideal nighttime conditions
I have had issues with the very bad low beam lighting at night. Its so terrible that its like having no lights on at all and riding with them on constant high beams has resulted in me being pulled over on numerous occasions by police but its also unsafe to all other drivers I pass. The low beams were why I had an…
Electrical System 331 Read
I was stopped on interstate due to collison in front of me I was struck from behind my drivers seat broke backward, I struck the car infront of me and my air bags deployed, I was struck in the rear again. After the collison I cllimbed out of the car and immediately notice it was on fire. The fire began in the driver…
A warning indicator comes on and flashes in my Nissan Altima 2022 I've called told them and I had a electrical short and sparked and smoke came out of my air vents and I told and told them some thing was wrong with my car if it has to do with ace line and dash why did it smoke and caught a fire in my ace dash and. I…
I purchased this car in April 2023 and in December 2023. I had to get a new battery when I purchased a car. They told me that there was no worries or mishaps with the vehicle they said just only normal wear and tear for is a used vehicle. My car is a 2021 Nissan Altima so the car would’ve been about two years old…
Suspension 191 Read
I was hit front passenger side at 45mph and air bags didn’t deploy. And now I have suspension and electrical issues on my 2019 Nissan Altima
On the seventeenth of march,2024 a 2019 nissan altimawith alittle over 25000 miles on the odo was backed from a garage and driven forward about 100 feet on dry,smooth pavement in a cul de sac when the right front wheel came loose . This caused the auto to veer right and sideswipe a vehicle parked at the curb.this…
While maneuvering my altima in a parking lot at a very low speed, the rear control arm separated from the vehicle. So loud it startled me, and I bumped a truck with a trailer hitch. The hitch damaging the front nissan emblem. This is a scary feeling. I carefully drove the altima home, about 3 miles from the scene.…
Steering 178 Read
The driver owns a 2005 nissan altima. The contact, on behalf of the driver, stated that the driver was involved in a crash in which the steering wheel became extremely hot and burned the driver's hands. A police report was filed and no other injuries were reported other than the driver. The vehicle was towed by the…
This request is due to my concern that a possible manufacturing or other defect in the 2024 Nissan Altima’s steering and/or wheel mechanisms caused a sudden loss of steering control and resulted in a collision and serious injuries. The car was taken possession by National Car Rental. I am unsure if the vehicle or…
Steering becomes tight and “feels to lock up” with no control. Happened 2 times previously, 3rd time resulted in a crash
Engine 146 Read
First there was a random misfire when I first started it that morning. Eventually got it to start, allowed it to run for a few minutes, and then attempted to pull out of the driveway. Once I put it in drive in and moved a few miles the engine completely shut off. Got it back home, changed the camshaft sensor and while…
I was driving down the freeway at about 70 miles an hour. When a warning came up, saying engine malfunction power reduced, the car then started the shaking a bit and not getting any power. Smoke started pouring out of the hood. I then pulled over open the hood. It was then on fire(small).I put it out with some water.…
The contact owned a 2017 nissan altima. While driving 35 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. While the vehicle was being manually pushed out of the roadway, it caught on fire. The contact stated that the fire started under the hood on the passenger side of the vehicle. The fire department was called and was able…
Vehicle Speed Control 143 Read
The contact owned a 2003 nissan altima. While the vehicle was in neutral at a car wash, it accelerated independently and crashed into a parked vehicle. A police report was filed. The contact was injured and required medical attention. The air bags deployed and emitted smoke. The vehicle was destroyed and towed. The…
The contact owned a 2023 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle suddenly began to accelerate and seemed to steer on its own, prompting the contact to attempt to slow the vehicle. With the brake pedal depressed all the way to the floorboard, the vehicle failed to come…
While I was parking the car suddenly accelerated rapidly, causing me to hit the parked vehicle in front of me. I have not yet had the car inspected
Altima years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Air Bags,structure,seats | 1 | — | |
| 2024 | Air Bags | 7 | 1 | |
| 2023 | Electrical System | 4 | 1 | |
| 2022 | Air Bags | 4 | 1 | |
| 2021 | Air Bags,unknown Or Other | 6 | 1 | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 15 | 6 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 21 | 4 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 10 | — | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 23 | 7 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 28 | 3 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 39 | 4 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 44 | 8 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 59 | 9 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 19 | 2 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 10 | 5 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 18 | 9 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 31 | 8 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 47 | 12 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 22 | 18 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 37 | 14 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 36 | 17 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 10 | 2 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 36 | 12 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 23 | 24 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 14 | 1 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 20 | 3 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 14 | 2 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 14 | 1 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 23 | 1 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 17 | 4 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 1,445 |
| Average complaints per series | 9.3 |
| Worst single series | 111 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.5 years |
A model average of 9.3 hides a worst series at 111. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Altima?
By complaint volume, 2013, 2009, 2014 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Altima years are the cleanest?
2025, 2022, 2023 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Nissan Altima have?
13,443 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1993–2025. Of those, 711 describe a crash and 187 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.