"How reliable is the 1999 Nissan Altima?"

"Based on 110 NHTSA complaints, the 1999 Nissan Altima has a median complaint mileage of 88500 miles. The most common issue is AIR BAGS:FRONTAL."

"What are common problems with the 1999 Nissan Altima?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1999 Nissan Altima is AIR BAGS:FRONTAL, accounting for a significant portion of the 110 total complaints filed."

1999 Nissan Altima: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 110 complaints

110

Total Complaints

88,500mi

Median Mileage

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

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

41,750 25th Percentile

88,500 Median Mileage

111,500 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

TIRES

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

TIRES:TREAD/BELT

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

AIR BAGS

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

SUSPENSION

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"WHILE DRIVING ABOUT 25 MPH, VEHICLE WAS INVOLVED IN A FRONTAL COLLISION, AND THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE DEALER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED. *AK"

"DESIGN OF VEHICLE DOOR CAUSED CONSUMER TO HIT EYE ON DOOR EDGE (SHARP AND POINTED) WHEN EXITING THE VEHICLE. NLM"

"EXHAUST FUMES COME IN THROUGH CAR DURING ALL SETTINGS OF HEAT, RECYLCLED AIR, DEFROSTER. SMELLS LIKE ROTTEN EGGS, SEWAGE, EXHAUST, GAS. HAVE BEEN TO DEALER TWICE AND TALKED TO NISSAN AND BBB AUTO LINE WITHOUT SATISFACTORY RESOLUTION. I HAVE USED A HIGHER OCTANE GAS AS THE DEALER RECOMMENDED AND I..."

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

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL 9 complaints

Median: 113,000 mi

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 complaints

Median: 100,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 14 NY: 12 IL: 11 PA: 9 TN: 8 FL: 5 VA: 4 CT: 4 AZ: 3 GA: 3

Who Files Complaints?

40%

Original Owners

60%

Second+ Owners

Nissan Altima — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1993	150	122,000	AIR BAGS:FRONTAL	25
1994	120	126,000	AIR BAGS:FRONTAL	37
1995	216	110,500	AIR BAGS:FRONTAL	49
1996	117	83,075	AIR BAGS:FRONTAL	27
1997	141	120,000	AIR BAGS	40
1998	141	120,000	AIR BAGS:FRONTAL	20
2000	199	84,000	ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING	34
2001	201	69,500	ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING	29
2002	1321	87,000	ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING	41
2003	1099	86,300	ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING	61
2004	334	71,000	ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING	18
2005	1358	85,000	STRUCTURE:BODY	71
2006	1043	90,000	STRUCTURE:BODY	58
2007	597	65,000	SUSPENSION	39
2008	1373	71,000	STRUCTURE	73
2009	2149	78,000	STEERING	55
2010	538	51,603	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	40
2011	317	72,000	POWER TRAIN	18
2012	575	75,000	POWER TRAIN	39
2013	2970	62,000	AIR BAGS	104
2014	1376	62,500	EXTERIOR LIGHTING	74
2015	1188	51,000	EXTERIOR LIGHTING	61
2016	778	57,692	POWER TRAIN	43
2017	498	55,000	POWER TRAIN	32
2018	314	36,000	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	16
2019	326	14,000	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	40
2020	266	21,171	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	27
2021	96	41,000	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	11
2022	50	-	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	8
2023	33	5,300	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	8
2024	55	-	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	13

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