What ownership is like, what breaks at what mileage, what the repairs cost, and what to check before you buy one.
← All Nissan Altima generations
NHTSA complaints per catalog listing run from 13.73 for 2006 (824 complaints across 60 listings) to 149.57 for 2002 (1,047 across 7), against a generation median of 39.43. The highest year, 2002, is 3.8 times that median. No year reaches the 2.0x our rule needs together with an above-median ad share and 30 or more listings, so nothing is flagged. Our catalog holds fewer than 30 cars each for 2002, 2003 and 2004, so those yearly rates are small-denominator figures and our rule cannot flag them; read the raw NHTSA counts.
| Miles | Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| about 102,500 (average of 2002 complaints) | Catalytic converter failure (check engine light, P0420 or P0430) | $2,360 average reported on 2002 cars (CarComplaints). RepairPal's all-years Altima converter average is $1,577 to $1,682, and MechAI gives $600 to $2,400 for a Nissan bank 2 converter. | The mileage and the $2,360 come from a CarComplaints page for the 2002 model year, so they describe one year, not the whole generation. Go-Parts warns that a new converter will not clear P0420 if the real cause is an oxygen sensor or exhaust leak, so get the cause diagnosed before paying for a converter. We read these figures from search-result snippets, not full pages. |
| any | Crankshaft or camshaft position sensor failure (2.5L) | Free at a Nissan dealer when open | NHTSA recalls 03V455000 (2002-2003), 06V242000 (2003-2004) and 07V527000 (2002, 2005-2006) cover crank and cam position sensors on the 2.5L. Confirm each by VIN; a stalling or no-start history is the symptom to ask about. |
| not stated by the sources | 2.5L excessive oil consumption (2006) | Free at a Nissan dealer when open | NHTSA recall 06V223000 covers certain 2006 cars with the 2.5L for excessive oil consumption. Ask for the oil change history and check the level on the test drive. |
| any | Rear subframe cracking (2006) | Free at a Nissan dealer when open | NHTSA recall 06V046000. Look under the rear of the car for corrosion and cracks at the subframe mounts; confirm the recall by VIN. |
No year in this generation was flagged. A year is flagged by our rule only when all three hold: (1) its NHTSA complaints per catalog listing is at least 2.0x the median for its generation, (2) the share of ads that mention a problem is above the generation median, and (3) we track at least 30 listings for that year. The cutoff was fixed before we looked. Ad mentions are not failures, and a flag is a reason to inspect harder, not a verdict on any one car. We also re-ran the ad test with the 'rust' flaw left out, because the ad reader counts phrases like 'no rust' as mentions, and publish a flag only if it passes both ways.
| Year | Complaints | Top components | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1,047 | Engine And Engine Cooling, Structure, Engine | |
| 2003 | 883 | Engine And Engine Cooling, Structure, Engine | |
| 2004 | 276 | Engine And Engine Cooling, Structure, Engine | |
| 2005 | 1,091 | Structure, Engine And Engine Cooling, Engine | |
| 2006 | 824 | Structure, Engine And Engine Cooling, Engine |
source: NHTSA complaints database (api.nhtsa.gov). Complaints are owner reports, not confirmed failures.
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We don't tell you to skip a year; we flag by a fixed rule, and it flags 2009 and 2019. 2009 has 13.68 NHTSA complaints per catalog listing (1,601 complaints across 117 listings) against a 2007-2012 median of 5.25. Third-party lists most often name 2002 (24/7 Wall St) and the CVT years. 2002 has 1,047 complaints across 7 listings in our NHTSA pull, but only 7 catalog listings, so the rule cannot flag it. 2013 has 2,314 complaints across 325 listings, the most of any year.
CoverageX puts it at about $4,800 to $5,500 at a Nissan dealer. DMV JDM Depot gives a wider $1,500 to $8,000, and I-90 Nissan says $5,000 to $8,000+ for a remanufactured unit. One 2015 owner reported a $5,900 AAMCO quote at 202k miles. These are search-result snippets, not full-page reads.
Yes. Nissan's May 2020 bulletin extends the CVT warranty on 2013-2016 Altimas from 60 months/60,000 miles to 84 months/84,000 miles, and its May 2023 bulletin does the same for 2017-2018 Altimas. Both say owners who opted out of the class action may not be covered, so check the VIN with a Nissan dealer. Coverage is measured from the original in-service date, so many of these cars are now past it.
CarComplaints counts 131 catalytic converter failure complaints for the 2002 model year, with an average repair of $2,360 at 102,500 miles. RepairPal's average for an Altima converter is $1,577 to $1,682. Go-Parts warns a new converter will not clear a P0420 code if the cause is an oxygen sensor or exhaust leak. These are snippet reads.
We don't rank reliability. The 2019-present generation has the lowest complaints per listing in our data (median 0.29 against 2.00 for 2013-2018), but newer cars have had less time to collect complaints, so that partly reflects age.
NHTSA lists the 2007-2011 Altima Hybrid under its own name. We merged its complaints into the Altima counts and did not analyze it separately.