"How reliable is the 1996 Nissan Altima?"

"Based on 117 NHTSA complaints, the 1996 Nissan Altima has a median complaint mileage of 83075 miles. The most common issue is AIR BAGS:FRONTAL."

"What are common problems with the 1996 Nissan Altima?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1996 Nissan Altima is AIR BAGS:FRONTAL, accounting for a significant portion of the 117 total complaints filed."

1996 Nissan Altima: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 117 complaints

117

Total Complaints

83,075mi

Median Mileage

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

71,000 25th Percentile

83,075 Median Mileage

88,750 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

AIR BAGS

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS

STRUCTURE:BODY

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"CONSUMER INVOLVED IN RECALL 95V173000, TOOK VEHICLE FOR REPAIRS ON SPECIFIED DATE OF APPOINTMENT, REPAIRS WERE NOT DONE ON VEHICLE, DUE TO PERSONNEL SHORTAGE."

"BRAKES MALFUNCTIONED AND HAD A FRONTAL COLLISION. TT"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28