"How reliable is the 2018 Nissan Altima?"

"Based on 314 NHTSA complaints, the 2018 Nissan Altima has a median complaint mileage of 36000 miles. The most common issue is UNKNOWN OR OTHER."

"What are common problems with the 2018 Nissan Altima?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2018 Nissan Altima is UNKNOWN OR OTHER, accounting for a significant portion of the 314 total complaints filed."

2018 Nissan Altima: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 314 complaints

314

Total Complaints

36,000mi

Median Mileage

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

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

15,217 25th Percentile

36,000 Median Mileage

49,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

SERVICE BRAKES

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

AIR BAGS

POWER TRAIN

ENGINE

STEERING

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"7000 MILES AND VEH INTELLIGENT KEY WILL NOT START CAR"

"BROUGHT VEHICLE TO PETERS NISSAN IN NASHUA N.H. ON OCTOBER 10TH WITH 7,000 MILES ON IT DUE TO HEARING A POPPING SOUND COMING FROM THE RIGHT FRONT TO HEAR THE SOUND IT WOULD BE TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL AND ACCELERATING, GO OVER BUMPS PUTTING ANY KIND OF FLEX ON THAT RIGHT FRONT. TECH FOUND OUT AFTE..."

"I PURCHASED A NEW 2018 NISSAN, THE FRONT END COLLISION SENSOR IS ALARMING AND HAS EVER SINCE THE CAR WAS NEW. I HAVE TAKEN IT TO TWO DIFFERENT DEALERS AND THEY HAVE REFERRED ME TO NISSAN AND SAY THAT I SHOULD WAIT FOR THE RECALL. I THINK THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE AS MY CAR IS NOT SAFE WITH THE FRONT END..."

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.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER 58 complaints

25th: 14,484 mi Median: 37,000 mi 75th: 45,000 mi

SERVICE BRAKES 48 complaints

25th: 14,734 mi Median: 31,000 mi 75th: 44,000 mi

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 36 complaints

25th: 21,000 mi Median: 31,000 mi 75th: 47,250 mi

AIR BAGS 34 complaints

25th: 36,488 mi Median: 46,477 mi 75th: 62,987 mi

POWER TRAIN 19 complaints

25th: 5,000 mi Median: 10,000 mi 75th: 14,209 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

FL: 34 CA: 28 TN: 23 TX: 20 NY: 18 VA: 17 SC: 14 MD: 14 NC: 13 GA: 11

Who Files Complaints?

1.3%

Original Owners

98.7%

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
1999	110	88,500	AIR BAGS:FRONTAL	29
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
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