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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2021 Nissan Altima — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 70 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

Injuries

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.

2014 Nissan Altima AVOID

1,113 complaints

2015 Nissan Altima AVOID

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

2024 Nissan Altima

41 complaints

2025 Nissan Altima

7 complaints

2026 Nissan Altima

0 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Forward Collision Avoidance 22 reports

Service Brakes 21 reports

Electrical System 21 reports

Unknown Or Other 12 reports

Steering 7 reports

Engine 6 reports

Suspension 5 reports

Back Over Prevention 4 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Electrical System ODI 11707198 12/26/2025

Vehicle Breaking on Its Own While Driving I am writing to file a formal safety complaint and to demand immediate corporate intervention regarding an extremely dangerous mechanical/ADAS defect. My Nissan Altima has serious, ongoing safety issues where the vehicle will unexpectedly and aggressively apply the brakes on its own while I am driving, including on highways and regular…

Steering ODI 11444993 12/26/2021

While driving home from work I experienced my fourth or fifth malfunction error flashing across my digital display. It scares me because this time is different. This time the flash made the seat vibrate and before I had a chance to react, I totally lost control Of my steering even though I had my hand family placed on each side of the wheel none of my maneuvers resulting in …

Unknown Or Other ODI 11629804 12/10/2024

When it rains I cannot see using the backup camera at all. Car also gives false alerts when backing up when raining or after rain.

Electrical System ODI 11629419 12/07/2024

The passenger side door won’t unlock at all. By remote nor manually.

Forward Collision Avoidance ODI 11702906 12/04/2025

RE: Formal Demand for Vehicle Repurchase/ Buyback due to Critical Safety Defect- Vehicle Breaking on Its Own While Driving I am writing to file a formal safety complaint and to demand immediate corporate intervention regarding an extremely dangerous mechanical/ADAS defect in my vehicle that Nissan has failed to repair since I purchased it in 2021. My Nissan Altima has serious…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2021 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 2021 Nissan Altima reliable?

Owners have filed 70 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2021 Nissan Altima, most often about forward collision avoidance. 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.