What is the best year for the Nissan Altima?
No official dataset can support one universal best year. Use the table to compare complaint patterns and EPA figures, then open the shortlisted years for recall campaigns and exact specifications.
Model-year matrix
Nissan Altima
which year?
Compare every Nissan Altima model year the EPA recorded, 1993 to 2026. See complaint patterns, fuel economy and configurations side by side, then open any year for recall campaigns and the full dossier. Confirm against the official NHTSA recall search.
Evidence-led answer
Looking for the best Nissan Altima year—or years to avoid?
The official records cannot honestly name a best, worst or most reliable year. Complaint totals have no sales, mileage or age denominator. They can show where more reports were filed and which components were named, giving you years to investigate more closely before checking the exact car and its VIN.
Which Nissan Altima years should you avoid?
The records cannot justify a blanket avoid label. Years with more reports are surfaced below as research priorities, not predictions about every car from that year.
01 · More reports to inspect2013
2,307 indexed complaint reports; air bags is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2013 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect20091,547 indexed complaint reports; steering is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2009 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect20141,113 indexed complaint reports; exterior lighting is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2014 dossier →Do not read this as an avoid list. Older and higher-selling model years usually accumulate more reports. A low count can also mean a newer, rarer or poorly matched vehicle—not a safer one.
Complaint totals are counts of owner-submitted allegations, not confirmed defects, and they carry no denominator: they are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received. A high-volume or older year will usually show more reports than a rare or recent one. The site does not convert these into a reliability score, because the data needed to do that honestly is not in the public record.
Direct comparison
Compare two Nissan Altima model years.
Choose any two years. The URL keeps the pair so you can return to the same comparison. Every figure below is an observed official record or EPA estimate—not a reliability score.
2025 Nissan Altima
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 6
- Combined EPA economy
- 28–31 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 3
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,000–2,200
- Fuel labels
- Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelsair bags 1back over prevention 1electrical system 1
Open the 2025 evidence dossier →2026 Nissan Altima
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 0
- Combined EPA economy
- 28–30 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 2
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $2,050–2,200
- Fuel labels
- Regular Gasoline
Most-reported component labelsNo component label indexed
Open the 2026 evidence dossier →Observed complaint-record difference
2026 has 6 fewer indexed complaint allegations than 2025.
This is not a rate or reliability finding. The counts have no sales, mileage, age or exposure denominator, and newer years have had less time to accumulate reports.Side by side
Nissan Altima by year.
Complaint bars are scaled against this model’s own highest year, so they compare years with each other and with nothing else.
| Year | Complaints | Most-reported components | Combined MPG | EPA configs | Annual fuel cost | Dossier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 | — | 28–30 | 2 | $2,050–2,200 | Dossier → |
| 2025 | 6 | air bags 1back over prevention 1electrical system 1 | 28–31 | 3 | $2,000–2,200 | Dossier → |
| 2024 | 41 | unknown or other 8engine 5forward collision avoidance 5 | 29–31 | 4 | $2,000–2,100 | Dossier → |
| 2023 | 29 | electrical system 10engine 6forward collision avoidance 6 | 29–31 | 4 | $2,000–2,100 | Dossier → |
| 2022 | 30 | forward collision avoidance 13unknown or other 9electrical system 7 | 29–32 | 6 | $1,900–2,100 | Dossier → |
| 2021 | 69 | forward collision avoidance 26electrical system 21service brakes 18 | 29–32 | 6 | $1,900–2,100 | Dossier → |
| 2020 | 157 | electrical system 42unknown or other 35engine 33 | 29–32 | 5 | $1,900–2,100 | Dossier → |
| 2019 | 227 | electrical system 58forward collision avoidance 52unknown or other 48 | 29–32 | 5 | $1,900–2,100 | Dossier → |
| 2018 | 224 | unknown or other 61service brakes 48electrical system 37 | 26–31 | 3 | $2,000–2,350 | Dossier → |
| 2017 | 390 | power train 133air bags 72unknown or other 62 | 26–31 | 3 | $2,000–2,350 | Dossier → |
| 2016 | 552 | power train 235engine 86unknown or other 80 | 26–31 | 3 | $2,000–2,350 | Dossier → |
| 2015 | 947 | exterior lighting 268air bags 175power train 161 | 26–31 | 2 | $2,000–2,350 | Dossier → |
| 2014 | 1,113 | exterior lighting 298power train 210air bags 208 | 25–31 | 2 | $2,000–2,450 | Dossier → |
| 2013 | 2,307 | air bags 513power train 505exterior lighting 443 | 25–31 | 3 | $2,000–2,450 | Dossier → |
| 2012 | 425 | power train 149engine 68air bags 57 | 21–26 | 6 | $2,350–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2011 | 241 | power train 69unknown or other 40engine 36 | 21–33 | 7 | $1,850–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2010 | 380 | electrical system 74power train 73unknown or other 70 | 21–34 | 8 | $1,800–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2009 | 1,547 | steering 862electrical system 466unknown or other 146 | 21–34 | 9 | $1,800–3,600 | Dossier → |
| 2008 | 1,028 | structure 313unknown or other 199visibility/wiper 168 | 22–34 | 9 | $1,800–3,450 | Dossier → |
| 2007 | 471 | suspension 121air bags 64power train 64 | 22–34 | 5 | $1,800–3,450 | Dossier → |
| 2006 | 824 | structure 224engine and engine cooling 192engine 166 | 21–24 | 5 | $2,550–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2005 | 1,091 | structure 354engine and engine cooling 266engine 141 | 21–24 | 5 | $2,550–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2004 | 276 | engine and engine cooling 112structure 42electrical system 32 | 20–23 | 4 | $2,650–3,100 | Dossier → |
| 2003 | 883 | engine and engine cooling 474structure 128engine 117 | 19–23 | 4 | $2,650–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2002 | 1,047 | engine and engine cooling 660structure 130engine 92 | 19–23 | 4 | $2,650–3,250 | Dossier → |
| 2001 | 159 | engine and engine cooling 61suspension 21electrical system 19 | 21–23 | 2 | $2,650–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 2000 | 160 | engine and engine cooling 51electrical system 26vehicle speed control 21 | 21–24 | 2 | $2,550–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 1999 | 87 | service brakes, hydraulic 17air bags 13tires 12 | 23–24 | 2 | $2,550–2,650 | Dossier → |
| 1998 | 123 | fuel system, gasoline 16air bags 15electrical system 15 | 23–24 | 2 | $2,550–2,650 | Dossier → |
| 1997 | 108 | air bags 37electrical system 16unknown or other 9 | 21–24 | 2 | $2,550–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 1996 | 92 | air bags 38electrical system 11engine and engine cooling 10 | 21–24 | 2 | $2,550–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 1995 | 180 | air bags 61engine and engine cooling 30power train 27 | 21–24 | 2 | $2,550–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 1994 | 106 | air bags 42electrical system 14engine and engine cooling 12 | 21–24 | 2 | $2,550–2,950 | Dossier → |
| 1993 | 122 | vehicle speed control 36air bags 21seat belts 20 | 21–23 | 2 | $2,650–2,950 | Dossier → |
Evidence snapshot generated . “Not indexed” means NHTSA holds no complaint record matching this exact year, make and model — not that no fault occurred. Recall campaigns are not summarised here: NHTSA publishes no bulk recall dataset, and fetching them per year would take longer than the page should. Each year’s dossier shows its recalls in full, live from NHTSA.