Audited US model-year file

2021 NISSAN Altima

Exact make, model and year evidence from official US sources. Recall campaigns, ODI investigations, complaint allegations and EPA estimates remain separate.

Model-year evidence is not a VIN check.

A campaign may cover only certain production dates, plants or equipment. A zero result here is not safety clearance. Use NHTSA’s official VIN tool for the individual vehicle.

Official VIN lookup ↗

01 · Safety actions first

2 NHTSA recall campaigns

Exact model-level NHTSA results for 2021 NISSAN Altima. Campaign records are official safety actions; applicability to a particular car still requires its VIN.

01
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2021-03-04

STEERING:LINKAGES:TIE ROD ASSEMBLY

Campaign 21V138000
Summary

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Nissan Altima vehicles. The tie rod ball joint fastener was not tightened properly, which could result in the tie rod ball joint detaching from the steering knuckle.

Consequence

A detached tie rod ball joint can cause a loss of steering control, and increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will tighten the left and right-side tie rod ball joint fasteners, or install new fasteners as necessary, free of charge. The began March 31, 2021. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7769. Nissan's number for this recall is PC795.

02
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2023-09-08

BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

Campaign 23V628000
Summary

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Altima and 2020-2021 Sentra vehicles. Damage to the camera harness can cause distortion or loss of the rearview camera display image. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Consequence

A rearview camera that does not properly display an image can reduce the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Dealers will inspect the rearview camera and harness for damage and replace them as necessary. If no damage is found, the dealer will apply protective tape and reroute the rearview camera harness. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed October 19, 2023. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R23C3.

02 · Owner allegations

70 NHTSA complaints

Counts are not adjusted for sales, vehicle age, mileage, publicity or reporting behavior. They are allegations, not defect findings or a reliability score.

Crash mentions
7
Fire mentions
1
Injuries reported
4
Most-reported component labels
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE22
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM21
SERVICE BRAKES21
UNKNOWN OR OTHER12
STEERING7
ENGINE6
Complaints across nearby Nissan Altima model years

Totals for the same nameplate, scaled against its highest year here. They are not adjusted for how many were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received — an older or better-selling year will usually carry more reports. This shows where the reporting sits, not which year is better.

  1. 2272019
  2. 1572020
  3. 702021
  4. 302022
  5. 292023
  6. 412024

A dash means NHTSA holds no complaint record for that exact year, make and model. See all Altima years with specs and fuel economy →

03 · Agency review

2 NHTSA ODI investigations

An investigation means ODI reviewed a possible safety issue for this exact model-year identity. Opening one is not a defect finding; closing one does not by itself clear a vehicle.

AQ22003
Open in imported snapshot · opened 2022-12-16

Hertz/Vehicles Rented with Open Recalls

NHTSA source ↗

LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:HOOD:LATCH · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.

PE23023
Closed 2025-07-18 · opened 2023-12-13

Complete loss of motive power due to engine failure

NHTSA source ↗

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:HARD PARTS INTERNAL/MECHANICAL · No associated recall campaign number was published in this investigation row.

04 · EPA configurations

Fuel economy & specifications

FuelEconomy.gov records are summarized as ranges where this model name has multiple engines, drivetrains or trims.

EPA configurations
6
Combined economy
29–32 mpg/MPGe
City / highway
25–28 / 34–39 mpg/MPGe
Engine displacement
2–2.5 L
Cylinders
4
Fuel type
Regular
Drive
All-Wheel Drive · Front-Wheel Drive
Vehicle class
Midsize Cars
Annual fuel-cost estimate
$2050–2250

05 · Evidence strength

Exact identity. Explicit limits.

No opaque score. Evidence strength is expressed through source availability, exact match method, jurisdiction and honest empty states.

exact match

Recall campaigns

2 exact US model-year records in this bounded view.

exact match

Complaints

70 exact US model-year allegations; narratives and VIN fragments are omitted.

exact match

ODI investigations

2 exact US model-year action numbers in the approved import snapshot.

canonical only

Model aliases

Only the exact NHTSA vPIC model name is published; unverified aliases are not merged.

not published

Manufacturer ownership

No rights-reviewed official ownership record is joined to this exact model-year.

PUBLIC EVIDENCE PASSPORT

Identity, freshness and provenance.

The canonical URL is this file’s permanent public identifier. Source IDs and timestamps show exactly what was matched and when; they do not turn the evidence into a verdict.

Permanent public ID
https://modelyearfacts.com/vehicle/2021/nissan/altima
NHTSA make ID
478
NHTSA model ID
1904
Match key
2021 · NISSAN · Altima · US
Live evidence requested
EPA publication catalogue
Complaint matrix snapshot
Imported safety snapshot
nhtsa-investigations · exact match

NHTSA ODI investigations

Action number, component, subject and open/close dates from the approved bulk import; long summaries omitted.

Open official source ↗
US-market boundary

Only NHTSA vPIC, NHTSA ODI complaints and investigations, NHTSA recalls and FuelEconomy.gov contribute to this vehicle claim. CPSC equipment notices are searched separately and never joined to vehicle fitment. UK MOT, Canadian, New Zealand and European records are not merged into this US claim.

06 · Research paths

Diagnose first. Confirm fitment.

These are transparent searches, not diagnoses or endorsed parts. Recall remedies come before purchases; exact part fitment requires VIN, trim, powertrain, production date and OE number.

Offers status: held

Awin US and R2 affiliate inventory are not published until a US programme, merchant and exact-fitment projection are approved. No offer currently has both merchant approval and exact vehicle fitment, so commercial links never count as evidence.