2020 Nissan Altima Complaints

TIRES — Filed 08/27/2026

I leased and then bought a new 2020 Altima in 11/19 with 4 Continental tires. On 8/27/26 I saw a hole and fissures in the sidewall of the right-rear tire (Continental Pro Contact TX 215 / 55 R 17. All 4 tires had 7/32 wear on 11/30/25 and were rotated front to back. Threads are good.

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING — Filed 06/13/2026

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the message "Engine Malfunction" was displayed. Additionally, the vehicle experienced excessive coolant consumption and the engine overheated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the thermostat was replaced; however, the failure recurred and worsened. The vehicle was returned to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with a cooling system and head gasket failure. The dealer was contacted and provided with the diagnostic trouble codes, and the dealer recommended an engine replacement. The vehicle was not repaired and remained parked at the residence for two months. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 06/01/2024

The CVT issue remains with this car even though I have complained. The car will randomly de accelerate and randomly accelerate which has cause minor fender bender. The car continue to studer and jerk and continues to show since of transmission issues. These cars need to be recalled before someone is seriously injured from the known CVT issues.

SEAT BELTS — Filed 02/23/2026

My vehicle was in a car accident and during the impact my seat belt came undone

AIR BAGS — Filed 10/15/2025

2020 Nissan Altima involved in a 3 car collision. Altima was rear ended by a vehicle travelling approximately 50 MPH and forced Altima to rear end the vehicle in front of it. Vehicle is a total loss. No air bags deployed.

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE — Filed 06/15/2025

This car is going to kill me! It randomly hits the brakes on the highways! I am literally driving a deadly weapon. I turn the emergency brakes off and had it checked and STILL brakes. It break everytime I pass a shade spot on the road and even highway going over 60 miles per hour! It hits the breaks while I am in traffic making the driver behind me almost hit my car. It breaks whenever I go under a tree. It breaks when I am in a parking garage when there are NO cars around. It breaks randomly in traffic with no cars too close by to create a collision. It breaks in front of a school bus that was driving close behind me. It hit the breaks going 30 miles per hour. If the school bus would have hit me then that would be child endangerment. The bus driver thought I would break checking him but it was hard to explain it was my emergency breaks. It’s been getting so bad that I am writing a complaint until something can be fixed or changed. It’s ruined my breaks in general from always setting off the emergency breaks. It is not even emergency breaking, it’s breaking to kill at given moment. It’s ruining my car and my ability to drive! This is not correct and it’s keeps going off even more. I am scared to even drive it. This has been happening since I got the car but for the past year since I turned off the sensor, it’s gotten SO much worse. It can turn deadly on my end or someone else’s. This was not properly designed for safety. It’s doing the exact opposite. This happens literally every week! So there is not way of giving you every single date nor do I have the time to wipe my phone out to take a video during those moments because it’s random.

AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE — Filed 04/29/2025

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the collision avoidance system failed to activate, and the vehicle crashed into the rear of a second vehicle. During the crash, the front end of the vehicle was severely damaged, but no air bags deployed. No injuries were reported. A police report was taken at the scene. The vehicle was driven to the home and later to the body shop. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer have not yet contacted. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 67,000.

STEERING,SUSPENSION,STRUCTURE — Filed 02/09/2023

Tie rod ball joint snapped and broke at 15mph causing vehichle to loose control and forced off-road into a fence post. No Collison warning or lane departure warning. I had the vehichle towed back to dealership Nissan Wesley chapel. I was in process of possibly purchasing vehichle. Couldn’t find financing for me so received a letter rescinding their transaction. My ins agency Esurance concluded it a tota loss. Never heard back from Nissan or my ins. agency on what caused it to break. Everytime I asked I was never given a response. I have several photos of vehichle and found a recall for tie rod and ball joint fasteners on same make and year. Would like some answers to this safety issue being if I was going faster I could have been killed. 2 days prior to accident began hearing clicking noise when going over speed bump. Took vehichle for private inspection and a vehicle system scan reported systems w/codes for intelligent cruise control/advanced driver assistance system and laser/radar.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 09/18/2023

The contact owned a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that her husband had driven the vehicle and had parked the vehicle in the driveway. The contact stated that 25 minutes later, the vehicle alarm sounded persistently. The contact stated that the husband opened the front door and saw that the driver's side of the cabin was in flames. The contact's husband used a water hose to extinguish the fire. The fire department also assisted the contact's husband in extinguishing the fire. A fire department report that indicated that the fire had started in the dashboard due to electrical shortage, was filed. There was no police report filed. There was no injury sustained. The vehicle remained at the contact's residence, awaiting to be totaled. The dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the failure was a thermal event; however, the vehicle was not inspected. No assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 132,000.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 09/12/2023

Vehicle caught on fire while inside home @ 4:00am cst. Fire department and police department were at the scene as well. Fire department was forced to pry open the trunk to stop fire from spreading. Police gave police report at the scene due to the incident. State Farm is involved as well as the investigation team currently. State Farm insurance informed me to provide this information.

AIR BAGS — Filed 06/12/2023

Vehicle was in two different front end collisions one of which the whole front end is destroyed including the windshield and the airbags DID NOT deploy.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 06/03/2022

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while the vehicle was at a standstill in a parking lot and using the seat heater for approximately 30 minutes, the front driverside seat heater caught fire. The contact extinguished the fire with bottles of water he had available. The contact sustained superficial burns on his lower back and continues to have trouble breathing but hasn't sought medical attention. The contact drove to the nearest fire department but was under construction and was unable to file any fire report. The contact also stated later on that day he drove to a police department and filed a police report. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000. The VIN was not available.

STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 03/10/2023

When making a routine right-hand turn, the steering system failed. Driver had an unresponsive vehicle which crashed into a bridge rail. Driver was taken for medical attention. No warning lights prior to the crash. Vehicle has only been serviced by the dealer Nissan Peacock of Houston since purchased in December of 2019. A vehicle recall (NHTSA Campaign ID: 21V138000) was issued for this year, make, and model, but not for this particular VIN. This recall was for the tie rod ball joint fasteners.

LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE — Filed 02/09/2023

During a Code scan on the vehicle, the Intelligent driver assistance system Showed to refer to OEM repair manual for code description repair. The next day the vehicle crashed at 15 mph due to loss of control. Tie rod broke causing vehicle to crash and tire was detached. Vehicle is available to inspect. No warning lamps or message other then scan results .

UNKNOWN OR OTHER — Filed 02/05/2023

Caught on fire, burst into flames within minutes of seeing smoke. My son barely got out before it blew up. His dog in the backseat unfortunately didn’t make it out. Would like investigation on what could have caused this. Before someone else loses theryre life

AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS — Filed 09/27/2022

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while his wife was driving at 40-45 MPH with his daughter sitting in the front passenger seat, the vehicle crashed into another vehicle that failed to yield at the stop sign. The air bags failed to deploy and the seat belts failed to engage. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact's wife and daughter sustained back pain and headaches but did not seek medical assistance. A police report was filed. The contact met his wife at the scene and assisted her with driving the vehicle to his residence which was approximately 300-400 ft. away. The contact, a certified autobody technician, determined that the air bags and the restraint system failed to operate as needed. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that he would need to tow the vehicle at his own expense for diagnostic tests. The contact declined and the manufacturer informed the contact that they could not assist unless he complied with their request. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE — Filed 06/06/2022

Driving on the freeway car started losing power, pulled over and then caught fire in matter of minutes the whole car was engulfed in flames. Fire department said it was an electrical fire near the battery and the fire wall on the driver side.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 06/05/2022

Driving car on the freeway and car lost power. Turned the car off and checked all the fluids to make sure they were at proper levels and found no issue. Started car back up and then started smoking, open the hood and an electric fire had started, tried putting out with a fire extinguisher and it did nothing 2 min later the whole car was in flames.

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM — Filed 03/14/2022

While I was parking the car suddenly accelerated rapidly, causing me to hit the parked vehicle in front of me. I have not yet had the car inspected.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM — Filed 03/02/2022

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle and turning off the engine white smoke was suddenly present inside the cabin of the vehicle. After exiting the vehicle flames and smoke could be seen coming from under the steering wheel. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. A fire report was taken at the scene. The failure mileage was 17,930.

AIR BAGS — Filed 07/20/2020

Airbag has hole in it and all chemicals inside were splashed on passengers arm. Said felt as if person was impaled.to be exact on injuries; passengers arm from armpit to elbow was chemically burned. Coronavirus so couldn’t go to hospital. Very painful long healing and lots of home bandage replacements. A lot of skin was missing from underarm had to sleep with arm up for like two weeks. Rental vehicle from enterprise

STEERING,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE — Filed 10/25/2020

DURING A SNOW STORM A COUPLE WEEKS AGO IN COLORADO MY 2020 NISSAN ALTIMA'S FORWARD COLLISION ADAS KICKED IN LOCKING UP MY BREAKS CAUSING ME TO SLIDE INTO A CURB AND NEARLY REAR END ANOTHER VEHICLE ALSO CAUSING ALIGNMENT ISSUE'S AND PROBLEMS WITH THE TRACTION SYSTEM. DUE TO LOCKING THE BRAKES THIS ACCIDENT WAS CAUSED. IT WAS ON A CITY STREET WHILE I WAS IN MOTION HOWEVER THE FORWARD COLLISION KICKED IN WAY EARLY AND SLAMMED THE BRAKES WHICH IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS IN COLD AND WET ROAD CONDITIONS. THERE IS A STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY ISSUE NEAR THE CARS SUSPENSION WHERE A ROD IS ROUNDED AT THE ENDS, BUT FLAT IN THE CENTER AND WHEN THE COLLISION WITH CURB HAPPENED IT BENT THAT BAR AT THE FLAT PART CAUSING THE ALIGNMENT ISSUE. THIS ACCIDENT ALSO CAUSED MY CAR TO LIFT OFF THE GROUND ABOUT 6 INCHES AND TO DRIVE STRAIGHT REQUIRED ME TO TAKE ONE WHOLE LANE OF TRAFFIC AND TURN MY STEERING WHEEL 90 DEGREES TO STAY STRAIGHT AND ON THE ROAD. THIS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS FOR THIS SYSTEM TO REACT AS IS DID AS IF IT DID NOT REACT I HAD PLENTY OF TIME AND SPACE AND WOULDN'T HAVE WRECKED. THE SPEED LIMIT IN THE AREA IS 15MPH AND I WAS GOING NO MORE THAN 10MPH DUE TO THE SNOW AND FROZEN ROADS. THIS HAS GIVEN ME MIGRAINES AND I HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH MY WRISTS, NECK, BACK AND RIBS DUE TO THE WHIPLASH CAUSED AS THE CAR ENDED UP SPEEDING UP HEADING INTO THE CRASH DUE TO THE ABRUPT HARD SLAM OF THE BRAKES CAUSED BY THE FORWARD COLLISION ON ICY ROADS. THE IMAGES ATTACHED ARE OF THE PASSENGER SIDE REAR WHEEL.

SEATS — Filed 10/11/2020

I WAS IN A NISSAN ALTIMA WITH THREE PASSENGERS, TWO IN THE BACK SEATS AND ONE IN THE FRONT SEAT. WHEN IN THE PROCESS OF TURNING LEFT SOMEONE CRASHED INTO THE REAR OF MY VEHICLE. BOTH THE FRONT SEATS BROKE AT THE HINGE PUSHING THE SEATS BACK INTO THE BACKSEAT PASSENGERS. THIS RESULTED IN MINOR INJURIES TO THEM; SCRAPS ON LEG AND HEAD, BLOODY NOSE AND BRUISED TEETH. IF THE SEATS HAD NOT FAILED, THESE MINOR INJURIES WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURED. IT IS ALSO UNCLEAR HOW NECK ISSUES ON THE DRIVER AND PASSENGERS WERE EXACERBATED. MY VEHICLE WAS MOVING SLOW AND WAS NOT YET AT A FULL STOP. IT WAS ON A RURAL TWO LANE ROAD. THE SPEED LIMIT WAS 50 MPH.*DT

SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 07/16/2020

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2020 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT UPON APPROACHING A STOP LIGHT, HE ATTEMPTED TO STOP THE VEHICLE BUT THE BRAKE PEDAL FAILED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL TO THE FLOORBOARD BUT TO NO AVAIL; DUE TO THE BRAKE FAILURE, HE BUMPED INTO THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF HIM AT 5 MPH. THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY UPON IMPACT. NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED DUE TO THE FAILURE AND A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO RESUME NORMAL DRIVING AFTER THE ACCIDENT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FORWARD EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM FAILED WITHOUT WARNING WHICH CAUSED THE ACCIDENT. CONCORD NISSAN (1290 CONCORD AVE, CONCORD, CA 94520) WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED HIM TO BRING THE VEHICLE IN FOR INSPECTION; THE VEHICLE HAD YET TO BE INSPECTED. THE VEHICLE HAD YET TO BE REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 260.

LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES,SERVICE BRAKES — Filed 03/31/2020

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2020 NISSAN ALTIMA. CONTACT STATED SHORTLY AFTER THEY PURCHASED THEIR VEHICLE THEY NOTICED THE HOOD OF THEIR VEHICLE WOULD NOT ALIGN PROPERLY. CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A SPECIALIST WHO REPAIRED THE VEHICLE WITH A BUMP STOP NOD. HOWEVER, VEHICLE'S HOOD BECAME LOOSE AND BEGAN TO MAKE A RATTLING NOISE. CONTACT STATED THE VEHICLE' S REMOTE START BUTTON BEGAN TO MALFUNCTION. ALSO, WHEN THE CONTACT WAS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT, OR WHENEVER, THEY ATTEMPTED TO APPLY THE BRAKE PEDAL, THEY NOTICED THE VEHICLE WOULD HESITATE TO BRAKE AND HESITATE TO ACCELERATE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE'S EMERGENCY BRAKES WOULD SUDDENLY ACTIVATE OR THE BRAKES, THEMSELVES, WOULD PREMATURELY ACTIVATE WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP (COGGIN NISSAN ON ATLANTIC IN JACKSONVILLE ADDRESS: 10600 ATLANTIC BLVD, JACKSONVILLE, FL 32246 PHONE: (904) 747-3915) WHO INFORMED THEM THAT SENSORS NEEDED TO BE CLEANED AND THE SHUTTER GRILL WAS MALFUNCTIONING. THE VEHICLE'S SHUTTER GRILL WAS REPLACED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THREE DAYS AFTER WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH WHEN ANOTHER VEHICLE CUT IN FRONT OF ANOTHER VEHICLE, THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO APPLY THE BRAKE PEDAL, HOWEVER, THE BRAKE PEDAL TRAVELED TO THE FLOOR CAUSING THE CONTACT TO REAR-END ANOTHER VEHICLE. THE AIR BAGS DID DEPLOY. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE CONTACT RECEIVED INJURIES TO THEIR RIGHT LEG, BOTH ARMS AND HEAD. MEDICAL ATTENTION WAS NEEDED. THE CONTACT CONTACTED THE MANUFACTURER WHO STATED THAT THE BRAKES WERE A SUPPLEMENTARY AID, AS WELL AS, OPENED A CASE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 1,619. *LN THE CONSUMER STATED ON 01/19/2020 WHILE DRIVING 60MPH, THE EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM PREMATURELY ENGAGE CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO SLAM ON THE BREAKS. THE WARNING LIGHTS WERE ILLUMINATED AND THE TIRES BEGAN SPINNING. DEALER WAS NOTIFIED. ON ANOTHER OCCASION THE BRAKES FAILED RESULTING IN A CRASH.*JS CONSUMER STATED WHILE DRIVING SHE WAS CUTOFF BY ANOTHER CAR. WHILE BRAKING TO A COMPLETE STOP HER DRIVER ASSISTANCE TECHNOLOGY FAILED WHICH CAUSED A REAR END COLLISION. AIRBAGS DEPLOYED HITTING THE CONSUMER IN THE FACE UPON IMPACT.*JB