Nissan Altima

Which Nissan Altima years should you avoid?

Going by 15,489 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the Nissan Altima years to avoid are 2013, 2009, 2014, 2005 and 2002.

• 20132,314 complaints, 9.7× a typical Altima year, most often about the airbags.
• 20091,547 complaints, 6.5× a typical Altima year, most often about the steering.
• 20141,114 complaints, 4.7× a typical Altima year, most often about the headlights.
• 20051,091 complaints, 4.6× a typical Altima year, most often about the engine.
• 20021,047 complaints, 4.4× a typical Altima year, most often about the engine.

9 more years cleared the same bar; they are marked in the table below.

Too new to judge: 2025 and 2026. Complaints take a few years to arrive, so a new model year looks better than it is.

How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →