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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2016 Nissan Altima — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 553 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

553

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

32 / 1

Injuries / Deaths

across all reports

Years to Avoid

Nissan Altima — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

2010 Nissan Altima

381 complaints

2011 Nissan Altima

241 complaints

2012 Nissan Altima

426 complaints

2013 Nissan Altima AVOID

2,312 complaints

2014 Nissan Altima AVOID

1,113 complaints

2015 Nissan Altima

954 complaints

2016 Nissan Altima

553 complaints

2017 Nissan Altima

391 complaints

2018 Nissan Altima

226 complaints

2019 Nissan Altima

232 complaints

2020 Nissan Altima

179 complaints

2021 Nissan Altima

70 complaints

2022 Nissan Altima

20 complaints

2023 Nissan Altima

29 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Power Train 235 reports

Engine 86 reports

Unknown Or Other 81 reports

Air Bags 70 reports

Vehicle Speed Control 65 reports

Exterior Lighting 42 reports

Electrical System 42 reports

Structure 29 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Air Bags ODI 11499630 12/31/2022

My airbag light is on. It just came on one day. (No accident or anything else to cause this to happen) I checked to see if a recall was on my vehicle but it was not. There are other Nissan Altima"s that have a recall for this reason.

Steering ODI 11057711 12/31/2017

STATING BRIEFLY AUTO NOT IN MOTION TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL SIDE TO SIDE THERE IS A CLANKING NOISE IN THE STEERING COLUMN ...WHILE DRIVING IN MOTION MAKING RIGHT / LEFT TURNS STEERING COLUMN FEELS KIND OF SLACK. OCCURRENCES CITY AND H'WAY. THIS WAS REPORTED TO THE DEALERSHIP DURING A SERVICE OIL CHANGE IN SEPTEMBER 2017..

Vehicle Speed Control ODI 11707918 12/30/2025

Icc stopped working

Exterior Lighting ODI 11707933 12/30/2025

Headlight lowbeams are dim. Replaced with new bulbs, no improvement. Headlight lens are crystal clear from being clear vinyl wrapped when purchased new.

Electrical System ODI 11633077 12/30/2024

I have had this vehicle since December 28, 2017, and during that time, the battery has been replaced nearly five times at the dealership. The reason they provided is that the battery now lasts less than two years. I have repeatedly asked them to investigate whether there might be an issue with the electrical components, but they have refused to do so, even while my vehicle was…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2016 Nissan Altima, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

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Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2016 Nissan Altima reliable?

Owners have filed 553 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2016 Nissan Altima, most often about power train. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.

Which Nissan Altima years should I avoid?

The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.

Where do these complaints come from?

Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.

Do complaints mean a recall is coming?

Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.