2018 Nissan Altima Problems

2018 Nissan Altima problems owners report most

2018 Nissan Altima problems are documented in public: owners have filed 226 complaints with NHTSA, the earliest in 2018 and the most recent in 2026. Sorting those by the component the filer named puts the something the filer did not categorise clearly first, at 60 of the 226 complaints, about a quarter of everything filed.

A complaint is not a repair bill and not a defect finding. It is one owner telling the regulator something went wrong. What makes the count useful is the concentration: when one component takes 27 per cent of everything filed on a car, the pattern is doing more than chance.

Against the 2017 car, this model year has drawn 42 per cent fewer complaints (226 against 393). The 2017 car was led by its powertrain instead, so the pattern shifted between the two years.

Of those complaints, 11 describe a crash and 0 describe a fire. Filers reported 6 injuries.

Recalls on the 2018 Nissan Altima

A recall means the manufacturer or the regulator found a safety defect, and the repair is free at a franchised dealer however old the car is. There are 2 recalls on this model year. Your own car may be covered by some, all or none of them, so check the VIN rather than the model.

In owners own words

These are complaints filed about the something the filer did not categorise, quoted as written. They are one persons account rather than a diagnosis, and they are here because a symptom described by a driver is easier to recognise than a component name.

I LEASED A 2018 NISSAN ALTIMA (FROM NISSAN) ON 3/24/18. APPROX 12K MILES INTO LEASING THE VEHICLE I HAD A BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH/BRAKE LAMP SWITCH (BRAKE SWITCH) GO BAD. THE VEHICLE IS A PUSH TO START VEHICLE AND THE BRAKE SWITCH IS A SENOR ABOVE THE BRAKE THAT WHEN YOU PRESS ON THE BRAKE, IT TELLS THE VEHICLE THAT YOUR PRESSING THE BRAKE TO START THE VEHICLE. THE PART WAS BACK ORDERED SO NISSAN AS A WHOLE HAD ZERO BRAKE SWITCHES TO REPLACE MY BAD ONE. I EXPLAINED TO THE NISSAN SERVICE REP THAT IM IN THE MILITARY AND I NEED MY VEHICLE TO DRIVE ME TO DIFFERENT DUTY LOCATIONS AND ALSO I HAVE COUR

SINCE I PURCHASED THIS 2018 ALTIMA (I HAD PREVIOUSLY DRIVEN A 2016 ALTIMA WITHOUT AEB), I HAVE GOTTEN FALSE POSITIVES FROM THE FRONT SENSOR, STOPPING MY CAR AT RANDOM TIMES IN CLEAR DAY LIGHT TRAFFIC, ON DRY PAVEMENT, WITH NO LEAVES OR OTHER ROAD DEBRIS. FRONT SENSOR HAS CONTINUOUSLY REPORTED THE "FRONT SENSOR NOT AVAILABLE" ALERT MULTIPLE TIMES IN MY CARS SHORT LIFETIME, FOLLOWED BY THE CRASH ICON AT RANDOM TIMES OF THE DAYS, AND ALL SPEEDS INCLUDING IN THE STOPPED POSITION. THE SENSOR GOES OUT REGARDLESS OR WHETHER THERE ARE OTHER VEHICLES AROUND. I REPORTED THESE ISSUES BEGINNINGIN OCTO

WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE, NOTIFICATION OF "FEB: UNAVAILABLE FRONT RADAR OBSTRUCTION" COMES ON AND STAYS ILLUMINATED FOR UPWARDS OF 5 TO 10 MINUTES BEFORE TURNING OFF. THIS OCCURS WHEN THERE ARE NO VEHICLES IN FRONT OF MINE AND NO ROAD HAZARDS THAT WOULD HAVE TRIGGERED IT TO TURN ON. I FEEL THAT THIS IS A BIG SAFETY ISSUE WITH THE WAY THE CAR IS DESIGNED TO STOP WHEN IT DETECTS A HAZARD. THIS STARTED OUT RANDOMLY OVER THIS PAST SUMMER AND IN THE LAST WEEK, HAS BEEN A DAILY OCCURRENCE. WHEN I SPOKE TO THE DEALERSHIP ABOUT IT, THE SOONEST THEY HAD AN OPENING TO ADDRESS IT IS A MONTH AWAY. NO A H

WHILE DRIVING A SENSOR LIGHT APPEARS AND READS OBSTRUCTION UNAVAILABLE AND STAYS FOR SEVERAL MINUTES BEFORE TURNING OFF THIS HAPPENS AT LEAST 5 TO 6 TIMES A WEEK. ANOTHER PROBLEM IM HAVING IS A KNOCKING SOUND UNDER DRIVER FEET WHILE DRIVING AND TURNING I TOOK IT IN TO HAVE IT CHECKED AND THE TECHNICIAN DROVE IT HEARD THE SOUND KEPT THE CAR A WHOLE DAY BUT SAID HE COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG BUT CLEARLY THERE IS A PROBLEM IF HE AND I HEAR CAN HEAR THE NOISE. WHEN I PICKED THE CAR UP IT STILL MAKES THE SAME SOUND AND I'M AFRAID WHILE DRIVING SOMETHING MAY HAPPEN TO THE WHEELS. IT SOUNDS TO

Every component, by complaint count

The full breakdown of what owners named when they filed. Components below the top ten are grouped out of this table.

How other model years compare

The same nameplate across the years we hold. Complaint counts fall naturally for newer cars because fewer of them have been on the road for long, so read the column as a rough signal rather than a ranking. In this set the 2016 Nissan Altima has drawn the most complaints and the 2021 Nissan Altima the fewest.

How to use this before you buy or repair

The reports do not gather around one obvious symptom, so read a handful of the complaints above and see which descriptions match what your car is doing.

Buying a used 2018 Altima

Bring the complaint list to the inspection and ask the mechanic to check the components named most, rather than running a general once over.

If you already own one

Check your VIN for open recalls first. A recall repair costs nothing whatever the age or mileage of the car.

• Check the VIN for open recalls, not the model year.
• Ask the inspecting mechanic about the components named above.
• Get the part number before comparing retailer prices.
• Keep parts and labour as separate lines in any quote.