Brakes, collision avoidance and steering issues among the top complaints received by the NHTSA from vehicle owners
The 2019 Nissan Altima continues to be a top choice for car buyers. Previous models successfully provided many years of reliability and style. Moving into the newer generation, Nissan claims this vehicle is “Impossibly Smart.” What owners find is something entirely different. They find a faulty electrical system, defective service brakes, malfunctioning vehicle speed control and poor visibility.
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When it comes to a modern vehicle’s electrical system, consumers expect everything to work seamlessly. After all, today’s car uses many technologically innovative features that require maximum power. In the Altima, drivers find that there are plenty of glitches and bugs that still need to be worked out.
One customer illustrates the problems in this Edmunds review. “Too many issues with this car. Problem 1, the car wouldn’t connect to ANY device a week after driving it off the lot. Field maintenance rep from headquarters had to come out to fix it. Problem 2, remote isn’t responding to car. I could literally be a couple feet from my car and no response. They replaced batteries, checked settings and reprogrammed remote but still having issues. This biggest issue. Occasionally, I am not able to get in or out the driver side door (5 occurrences). Vehicle will unlock, but door will not completely unlatch. Extreme safety hazard. I was initially turned away because “issue could not be duplicated” ( I have 2 videos of me struggling to open the door) After a little push back, finally something is being done. Currently waiting for an actuator to be delivered. Now I have to go back up there AGAIN for the remote. Yesterday while driving error message said remote not detected….it was sitting in the cup holder!!!!!!!”
One of the only components this customer didn’t talk about is the back-up camera. Among the electronic devices, the back-up camera is one that must work properly for maximum safety. While it might appear that it doesn’t have any issues, there is a recall available on this vehicle related to the back-up camera. It is labeled with NHTSA Campaign Number 19V654000. In this recall, it’s addressed that the back-up camera won’t display an image. The dealer will update the system and hope that it works. Based on how well they handle the other electronic systems, no one is feeling too confident that these issues will be resolved. Maybe their tagline should be Impossibly Dumb instead.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT VENT CONTROL FUNCTION FOR THE HEAT AND AIR CONDITIONER FAILED TO OPERATE. THE CONTACT PREVIOUSLY TRADED IN A 2016 NISSAN ALTIMA FOR WHICH AUTONATION NISSAN REPLACED THE AIR COMPRESSOR. CURRENTLY, THE 2019 ALTIMA WAS EXPERIENCING THE SAME FAILURE. THE DEALER DIAGNOSED THAT THE AIR COMPRESSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE PART WAS TO BE REPLACED BY THE DEALER; HOWEVER, THE CONTACT FELT THAT THE OEM PART MAY BE FAULTY AND WOULD NOT PROVIDE A PERMANENT REMEDY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE CONTACT WANTED TO THE VEHICLE TO BE BOUGHT BACK IF THERE WAS NO REMEDY. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
THE GAS TANK NOTIFICATION SAYS THAT I HAVE NO GAS WHEN I HAVE GAS IN THE CAR IT ALSO GIVES ME A BURNT SMELL AND LOUD STATIC NOISE EVEN WHEN THE CAR IS OFF, THE STEREO STOPPED WORKING AND I JUST BOUGHT THE CAR
| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
| Electrical System | |
| Service Brakes | |
| Unknown Or Other | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking | |
| Engine | |
| Visibility/wiper | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings | |
| Vehicle Speed Control | |
| Air Bags | |
| Suspension |
With the previous experience of the components included on the Altima, it’s fair to assume that very little is going to go correctly. The vehicle speed control is another part that shows massive signs of failure.
Just look at this report created by the NHTSA. “The contact leased a 2019 Nissan Altima. While driving under 30 mph, a red light flashed for the emergency brake and the vehicle abruptly stopped. The failure caused the driver and front passenger seats to jerk forward. The vehicle was driven home and parked due to the failure. In addition, the cruise control failed to properly engage and disengage. The contact had to check the component to ensure whether it was on or off. Also, the emergency warning indicated flashed intermittently more than once and a clunking noise was heard when the vehicle was in operation. The vehicle was towed.”
Again, Nissan is strangely quiet. There aren’t any recalls or service bulletins to discuss the issues raised by owners. The automaker is impossibly challenging to work with because they don’t want to acknowledge any concerns that might exhibit weakness. Instead, they feel the better option is to allow drivers to battle their electronic, braking and vehicle speed control systems. All of this “smart” technology is making it more difficult to drive the Altima because it is defective.
I OWN A 2019 NISSAN ALTIMA AWD AND HAVE EXPERIENCED A FEW PROBLEMS. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM IS THE DEFECTIVE FORWARD COLLISION SAFETY FEATURE. TWO TIMES THE VEHICLE HAS IMPROPERLY AND ABRUPTLY APPLIED BRAKES, THE FEATURE IS INTENDED TO AVOID COLLISION, BUT INSTEAD ITS MALFUNCTION IS CREATING ROAD HAZARDS. I CONTACTED NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND THEY HAVE EVADED ME AND EVERYTIME I CALL THEY SAY YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED A CASE AND SOMEONE WILL CALL YOU SOON. I ATTEMPTED TO SERVICE THE VEHICLE TWO TIMES THIS WEEK AT TWO DIFFERENT NISSAN DEALERSHIPS. ONE TURNED ME AWAY STATING IT’S A KNOWN PROBLEM AND NISSAN DOES NOT HAVE A FIX YET. THE SECOND NISSAN DEALERSHIP WAS IN THE PROCESS OF ISSUING ME AN ALTERNATE VEHICLE WHEN THEY RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE SAME FOLKS WHO WON’T RETURN MY CALL NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS INSTRUCTING THE DEALER NOT PERFORM ANY SERVICE OR A LOANER. THIS IS SO OUTRAGEOUS, BUT I ACTUALLY HAVE IT IN WRITING TO PROVE THE LEVEL OF NEGLIGENCE AND ILL SERVICE TO FORCE A CUSTOMER TO STAY IN A VEHICLE THAT THEY DON’T FEEL SAFE IN. NONE THE LESS THEIR FAILURE TO DO THEIR DUE DILIGENCE. THE SAFETY FEATURE MALFUNCTIONED ON THE HIGHWAY ONCE AND THE NEXT TIME ON A INCLINE RAMP IN MALL PARKING GARAGE TO A FORCEFUL HARD STOP. I HAVE SPOKEN WITH 3 GENERAL MANAGERS AND 3 DIFFERENT CONSUMER AFFAIRS CALL CENTER REPS, BUT YET NO SERVICE OR CALL BACK FROM NISSAN NORTH AMERICA. NEGLIGENT NEGLIGENCE NEGLIGENT. NISSAN IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE. STAY FAR AWAY AND TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO STAY FAR AWAY. I AM THE OWNER OF A MODEL YEAR VEHICLE WITH FULL WARRANTY AND THIS IS HOW THEY ARE TREATING ME. WHAT WOULD YOU GET?
ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL AND AUTOMATIC BRAKING ARE DISABLED DUE TO “FRONT RADAR BLOCKED”. THIS IS A BRAND NEW VEHICLE I HAVE HAD FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS (LESS THAN 1,000 MILES). AFTER DOING SOME INTERNET RESEARCH, THIS APPEARS TO BE A KNOWN ISSUE WITH NISSAN VEHICLES. THE ISSUE WAS FIRST NOTICED WHILE DRIVING WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL ENGAGED AND I KEPT GETTING CLOSER TO THE VEHICLE AHEAD OF ME WITHOUT MY VEHICLE AUTOMATICALLY SLOWING DOWN (I.E., THE CAR MAINTAINED THE CRUISE CONTROL SET SPEED.) AFTER MANUALLY BRAKING AND RESETTING THE CRUISE CONTROL, THE CRUISE CONTROL WOULD EVENTUALLY SHUT OFF AND THE ATTACHED MESSAGE WOULD BE DISPLAYED. PRIOR TO THE ISSUE BEING OBSERVED (APPROX. FIRST 500 MILES DRIVEN), THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL AND AUTOMATIC BRAKING WORKED FINE.
THE INTELLIGENT FORWARD COLLISION WARNING IS BROKEN WARNING LIGHTS COME ON AND SAY IT’S NOT WORKING DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY, WHEN YOU TURN OFF THE CAR IT RESETS BUT DRIVING AGAIN IT SHOWS THE WARNING LIGHTS AGAIN. ONLY 6000 MILES
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As far as safety features go, there is nothing more basic than the service brakes. It’s what stops the vehicle and keeps occupants from crashing. When this system fails, everyone is at risk.
One NHTSA review illustrates the trouble the Altima is having. “I’ve had my vehicle for 1 month and on at least 10 different occasions, my AEB system had locked my brakes up on me for no reason. Each time I’ve been driving straight and it’s been in my work parking garage when no other vehicles or people are in motion around me. Although I’ve been lucky so far and it hasn’t caused me to be rear ended, I still see the potential for that happening if this continues and is not fixed.”
There are no recalls related to this incident or any service bulletins provided by the company. With something as serious as this fault, there should be something addressing the malfunction. The brakes applying themselves are telling consumers to stop driving this Altima. Even the car itself is trying to get the owner’s attention.
TL* THE CONTACT RENTED A 2019 NISSAN ALTIMA. WHILE DRIVING 50 MPH, THE ABS ACTIVATED ON ITS OWN AND THE CONTACT SLAMMED ON THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE FAILURE OCCURRED SEVERAL TIMES. THE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOT CONTACTED. THE CONTACT DID NOT KNOW IF THE VEHICLE WERE DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 2,500.
AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING (AEB) FUNCTION FAILED AT A RED LIGHT. AEB HAD BEEN SET IN A 3-VEHICLE DISTANCE. HOWEVER, UPON ARRIVING AT THE RED LIGHT, ON A CITY STREET, WITH ANOTHER VEHICLE IN FRONT OF US, NISSAN ALTIMA 2019 DIDN’T ACTUALLY RESPOND TO THE CONDITION AND KICK OFF ITS AEB SYSTEM TO 1) SLOW DOWN 2) STOP THE MOVING VEHICLE. THIS IS A DRIVING EXPERIENCE DATED ON JUNE 01 2019.
Aside from mechanical systems, the visibility of the Altima must also be perfect in order to see what’s ahead. There’s not much that could go wrong with this – after all, it’s just a piece of glass. Windshield designs and sunroof constructions were perfected many years ago. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.
Yet, Altima owners face many problems with the windshield. Just look at this review left on the NHTSA website. “While driving along a highway in the middle lane, my finance heard a loud noise that sounded like a loud bang. He thought something had fallen on top of the sunroof but found it strange because there was no trees around for that to happen. When he stopped and got out of the car, he found that the entire windshield had shattered into little pieces. Luckily, he was not injured and no glass came through the car because the shield was closed. There were no dent or impact marks on the sunroof or any part of the car. When we had a mechanic look at it, he told us that the break band from the inside and was almost pushed up. In a way, Nissan had denied our claim, and paying the deductible and getting it fixed, I still hear a rattling noise coming from above.”
Again, we see no resolution from the automaker. What we do see is two further recalls that consumers should be aware of, both related to a fuel leak. If this goes unrepaired, it could lead to a fire. Overall, it’s safe to say that the engineers and designers of this Nissan are not impossibly smart – so how could they have created a car that is?
WHEN USING THE WINDSHIELD WIPER FLUID IT BARELY SHOOTS OUT. IT ONLY COVER 1/4 OF THE WHOLE WINDSHIELD. THIS BECAME VERY DANGEROUS WHEN I WAS DRIVING BACK HOME IN THE HIGHWAY WHEN LOVEBUGS COVERED MY WINDSHIELD.
I BECAME AWARE OF THE AUTOMATIC WINDSHIELD WASHER PROBLEM WHEN I TRIED TO CLEAR OFF DUST AND GRIME FROM OUR NEW 2019 NISSAN ALTIMA WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY. WHEN I ACTIVATED THE WASHERS TO CLEAN THE WINDSHIELD, THE WASHER FLUID BARELY SPLASHED ONTO THE BOTTOM OF THE WINDSHIELD. I HAD TO REPEATEDLY ACTIVATE THE SYSTEM TO EVEN GET THE WINDSHIELD PARTLY CLEAN.
Think you have a lemon? Sit back and let the experts work out your lemon case at no cost to you. The law makes Nissan pay legal fees. You may be able to get your lemon out of your life. Every year, auto manufacturers buy back, replace or pay cash settlements to thousands of ‘lemon’ owners like you.
Brian Jones spent more than 30 years working as an ASE Certified Master Tech and Parts Specialist at multiple dealerships. Brian has become an authority in the industry, traveling across the country to consult for car dealerships and contributing his expertise as a writer for several major automotive publications. In his spare time, Brian enjoys working on pickup trucks, muscle cars, Jeeps and anything related to motorsports.
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My 2019 Nissan Altima after braking two weeks after having the car I went under an underpass and my car braked suddenly. Then I went inside and found my windshield has a large crack I had no recollection of a rock hitting the car
I have a 2019 Nissan Altima and I have only had to issues with it and it was the engine malfunction where it it gives you a warning and all of sudden shuts off. It the worst thing ever especially when your driving on the highway. Both times it happens in the winter where it is 5 degrees or so.
I have a 2019 Nisan Altima. Have had radio issues where it would not change the station. Then on the freeway at 55 mph the whole dash went black for 3 seconds. I smelled burnt wire right after that. The fuel gauge stopped working along with the fuel trip mileage. The dealer tried to fix it and it didn’t work. Next, the mpg fuel economy stayed the same for 3 months, and now I start the car and watch the fuel economy go from 30.1 to 24.7 in 2 minutes in the driveway. Now the drivers side door lock will not unlock after you shut the car off. I had to climb out the passenger’s side door. I shut the car off for 10 minutes and came out the use it and the dash said shut the car off to save the battery. The car was not running. The dealer said there is a known problem with the radio not working but has not fixed the other issues. Going to the dealer again to try to get it fixed.
2 of 4 lock actuators have failed on my 2019 Nissan Altima SR at 39k miles. Both on the passenger side (front and rear). Not sure if it is worth replacing per all the comments I have read thus far.
LOVE MY 2019 ALTIMA TOOK IT TOO OKLAHOMA TO SEE THE GRAND CHILDREN AND WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE PERFOMANCE OF THE VEHICLE MILEAGE WAS AT TIMES 40.6 TO THE GAL. HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH THIS CAR.
2019 Altima S-23,898 miles. Today out of nowhere my car couldn’t read either of my keys, then my collision sensors went off, and my car said engine malfunction, power reduced, service now. I have 2 codes-p0603 (KAM error) and p062f. My door locks don’t work, remote start never worked, one of my USB’s in the front never worked, my radio knob is constantly non functional, and my collision sensors have randomly come on while going slowly over a bump. I’m so over this car.
This is the second Nissan problem I’ve owned. My first experience was with a 2013 Sentra. Transmission replacement at 60k miles, then my shifter locked up and when I got my car back, the ABS system completely malfunctioned, leaving me in the rain with absolutely no brake pressure with my children in the car. I had to get the Bureau of Automotive Repair involved for that car and it took quite some time for them to repair the car. They were forced to tear it down piece by piece and then it had to be inspected by the BAR before being returned to me.
My 2020 Altima started flashing a sensor indicating that the front collision safety feature couldn’t be detected. Immediately after I noticed the sensor, the emergency brake would automatically go on as I was driving when I drove under an overpass (sudden change in lighting). After several times, I was actually fearful driving the car. I took it to the dealership and the service manager insisted that I must have hit something with the front end of my car and shifted the sensor (that is located inside of the car). After explaining that there wasn’t so much as a scratch on the front of the vehicle so it is impossible that I hit something, they agreed to replace the sensor for $1500. My car had 24,000 miles and was still under warranty. Initially, they tried to make me pay and said it wasn’t covered. After I explained that I’ve done research on the issue and it is clearly a defect, they repaired the problem under the warranty.
Within one month of the repair, the sensor light reappeared. At first it was flashing on and off intermittently but within 2 days, the emergency brake went on again while I was driving. This is a terrifying experience. I parked the car and insisted that my husband pick it up and drive it to the dealership. They seemed unconcerned about the danger of this issue and informed us they can’t get it into the service department for 6 days. We haven’t driven the car since and are seriously considering trading it in.
My 2019 Nissan Altima continues to give me
Problems. The collision light continues to come on, as well as the gas cap indicating the gas cap is off. Now yesterday the transmission light went on and is still on. I’ve taken the car in to be serviced for this types of lights coming in FOUR TIMES and each time they have said they have fixed the issue. I have to take my car back in on Monday to see why the transmission light is on. I’m starting to think I have a lemon.
I brought a 2019 Nissan Altima SR in March of 2019. The windshield after 2 weeks was not sealed. The battery
In the car and the keys had to be replaced after a year and a half. Now the ABS, VDC and the MIL lights are on and my car lost speed and is not changing gears. The THINK it is the throttle box but are not sure. Nissan consumer is a joke took my claim and it is now
Going on 3 weeks on a rental that they provided. That
car now has one of the same lights flashing. They going
To see if I can get financial assistance. They sold me
a lemon and I refuse to pay a dime for a car that is not even 3 years old. Nissan sucks will never purchase from them again!
I also have had 4 actuators replaced on my 2019 Altima AWD – i now have 39 thousand miles on it
yesterday i have a engine warning message come on my screen and tell me i was at reduced power and need to have my engine serviced .
I opened and closed the gas cap and today its fine but I’m waiting for it to happen again.
I also have experience the brakes coming on automatics with no cars at all in front of me .
Honestly if this stuff keeps up i will trad it in for a Toyota .
Bought 2019 Nissan Altima SL March 2020 been having problems with computer systems malfunction indicator always coming on also transmission is acting up !
I have a 2019 Nissan Altima. My car fob battery was dead and I replaced it but then car won’t start. I got it jump started and drove for hours. Next day, I took it to Nissan dealership but they didn’t find anything wrong. But 2 days later, the car won’t start again. No lights at all.
Where do I start my 2019 Altima started having issues at 5,000 miles with the AC driver side not cooling and found that the first time they brought into shop for this issue was at 193 miles after 4 separate attempts to fix the AC which was total of 1 month they got it fixed. However still feel like there is something wrong with the fan speed randomly changes. Just had my car malfunction for the 2 nd time while driving I could feel transmission feeling different and all my dash lights came on and it said warning malfunction see owners manual. Owners manual says to see dealer immediately. No word yet on what is going on with my car.
My Nissan Altima 2019 driver side door panel hand rest upholstery began to crack, looks awful. Have to replace the door panel. I already had front radar sensor replace.
Bought 2019 Nissan Altima SR AWD. I’ve driven about 29k miles on it. The front end collision warning goes off every time I enter an area where there is a lot of shadows. This happens about twice a day now and i usually ignore it but it still freaks me out sometimes. Last winter I was driving and went through a little bit of a snow bank and the engine went into limp mode and I could only go 5mph. It would display a message “Engine Malfunction, Power reduced, please service now”. Next day it worked fine. This winter every time I turn it on it displays “Engine malfunction, power reduced, please service now”, but the power isn’t reduced. When I turn off traction control to distribute 50% power to front and back wheels since it is AWD, and I drive for 10 mins, it will display a message, “AWD system overheated, please power off”. Every once in awhile the car radio doesn’t work properly and just won’t work. My volume dial on the center dash doesn’t work anymore. I try to turn the volume up and it just freaks out and goes up and down the whole time even though I’m twisting the dial in one direction. Last summer I had to get one of my tires replaced because the side wall bulged out for n o reason. I hadn’t ever curbed that wheel before. The dealer said it wasn’t covered by warranty since “it’s possible that I hit something”.
All four of my door actuators have been replaced and now the 2 rear ones are malfunctioning again. The windshield washer fluid only shoots up about a third of the way and it’s more like a weak dribble than a stream.
My ‘19 Altima SR was misfiring. Dealer replaced spark plugs and coils multiple times. They replaced fuel injectors and thought it was fixed until they drove it and it broke down. They had to tow it back to the shop. Finally they got permission to replace the engine harness. I have 22,500 miles on the car. Radio and antenna have been replaced. I’ve had numerous issues with the e-brake randomly engaging. Front sensor going off for no reason. One dealer told me there was nothing they could do about the e-brake and the front sensor was just designed ‘that way’. No recalls from Nissan. Car was in the shop for over 6 weeks to fix the misfiring issue. I’m currently waiting to hear from arbitration about replacement or reimbursement. Very disappointed.
My 2019 Altima has had all 4 lock actuators fail at separate times TWICE now .Approx 10,000 miles on the car. Took it to the dealership who then took 19 DAYS to diagnose and fix the problem. During those 19 days I had maybe 3 updates on the progress. Usually they just berated me and told me it was somehow my fault. At one point telling me I tampered with the a BCM body control module and tried making me pay 2300 to replace it. After refusing to pay that price and asking some common sense questions they dropped the blame game and ended up ordering all new actuators and that fixed the problem. No apology whatsoever for blaming me of course. 19 days with no offer of a loaner car or anything. My car sat inside the shop for 19 with the doors and windows open. They gave it back to me disgustingly filthy inside and out , scratches everywhere from dismantling pretty much the entire car to figure out the problem, and some terrible metal like layer all over the outside of my black car. When I ran it thru the carwash and tried towel drying it off the rag wouldn’t even move across the surface of my paint it was so rough. I have no idea what had settled onto my car from inside of that repair shop. None. Cut to about 3 month ago 16,000 and 3 of the 4 lock actuators have all failed again. I’m at a loss of what to do. When I called to let then know they admitted to possibly seeing this happen on other 2019 altimas. They ordered all new actuators again but I’ve decided after being treated so terribly not to take it back to that same Nissan dealership. But having to start this whole process over again with another Nissan dealership seems almost unbearable.
The main media screen glitched out today on my 2019 Altima. Have not gone through manual but with only 14000 miles it’s not an issue we should be dealing with.