🚗 AutoDefect IQ

2015 Nissan Altima problems, complaints & recalls

Most-reported problem areas: Exterior Lighting (222) · Air Bags (134) · Power Train (128)

🧭 Reliability snapshot

53 /100
⚠ Known trouble spots — research carefully

Compared against other Nissan Altima model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →

🛣️ Complaints by mileage

<25k miles: 133 complaints 133 <25k 25–50k miles: 104 complaints 25–50k 50–75k miles: 129 complaints 50–75k 75–100k miles: 86 complaints 75–100k 100–125k miles: 53 complaints 100–125k 125–150k miles: 23 complaints 125–150k 150k+ miles: 17 complaints 150k+

545 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.

955
Complaints
10
Recalls
332
Service bulletins
46
Crashes reported
5
Fires reported
0
Deaths

Safety recalls (10)

Latches/Locks/Linkages:hood:latch 2020-05-28 · campaign 20V315000 · 1,831,818 vehicles

Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2018 Nissan Altima vehicles. If the primary hood latch is inadvertently released, there is an increased likelihood that the secondary hood latch may corrode over time.

Risk: Corrosion to the secondary latch may cause it to bind and remain in the unlatched position when the hood is closed. If the primary latch is inadvertently released again and the secondary latch is not engaged, the hood could unexpectedly open while driving, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will install a stronger release spring in the hood release lever, a warning label near the secondary hood latch, and an Owner’s Manual addendum card with instructions on how to lubricate and maintain the secondary hood latch mechanism, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 30, 2021. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Note: Recall 16V-029 remains open for any unremedied 2013-2015 Altimas and this recall app

Structure:emergency:escape/Egress/Exit 2018-12-19 · campaign 18V915000 · 341,003 vehicles

Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Altima vehicles, previously remedied under recall number 17V-040. The door latch-lock cable may not have been routed properly in the rear door when the remedy was applied. As a result, the cable may interfere with the window regulator causing the rear passenger door to unlatch and inadvertently open without warning when the window is lowered.

Risk: If the rear passenger door opens while the vehicle is moving, the rear passengers have an increased risk of injury.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will secure the latch-lock cables in the correct position using the new remedy procedure, free of charge. The recall began February 5, 2019. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7669.

Latches/Locks/Linkages:doors:latch 2017-01-18 · campaign 17V040000 · 341,005 vehicles

Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Altima vehicles. The rear door latch/lock cable on the vehicles may have been improperly routed. As a result, lowering a rear window may inadvertently cause that door to unlatch and open.

Risk: If the rear passenger doors inadvertently open while the vehicle is in motion, it may increase the risk of injury to the rear passengers.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will correct the rear door latch/lock cable routing, free of charge. The recall began on February 16, 2017. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification 2016-12-19 · campaign 16V911000 · 757 vehicles

Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Altima vehicles manufactured January 3, 2013, to July 29, 2013, 2015-2016 Rogue vehicles manufactured October 14, 2014, to August 12, 2016, and 2016 Maxima vehicles manufactured June 4, 2015, to August 19, 2015. An incorrect Occupant Classification System (OCS) Electronic Control Unit (ECU) may have been installed in the front passenger seat. The incorrect ECU and seat combination may misclassify the front passenger

Risk: If the front passenger seat occupant is misclassified, the air bag may deploy incorrectly in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the ECU and update the OCS software free of charge. The recall began February 13, 2017. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification 2016-04-26 · campaign 16V244000 · 3,296,947 vehicles

Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, LEAF, Sentra, and Pathfinder, 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60, QX60 Hybrid, and Q50 Hybrid, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue and Infiniti Q50, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Murano Hybrid, and Chevrolet City Express, 2014-2015 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, and 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles. In these vehicles, the front seat passenger Occupant Classification System (OCS) may incorrec

Risk: If the passenger frontal air bag does not deploy as intended in the event of a crash, the passenger is at an increased risk of injury.

Fix: Nissan will notify their owners. Chevrolet City Express owners will be notified by General Motors. Dealers will reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in Altima, Maxima, Murano, Rogue, and Sentra vehicles, and replace the OCS ECU in LEAF, NV200, NV200 Taxi, Pathfinder, Infiniti Q50, JX35, and QX60 and Chevrolet City Express vehicles, free of charge. Interim notices were sent to owners on May 31, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy par

Latches/Locks/Linkages:hood:latch 2016-01-22 · campaign 16V029000 · 846,000 vehicles

Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Nissan Altima vehicles manufactured March 6, 2012, to December 31, 2014. In the affected vehicles, the secondary hood latch may bind and remain in the unlatched position when the hood is closed.

Risk: If the primary latch is inadvertently released and the secondary latch is not engaged, the hood could unexpectedly open while driving, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

Fix: These vehicles were previously included in recalls 14V-565 and 15V-116, however the previous remedy plan may not have been performed consistently to remove the safety risk. To correct this issue, Nissan will re-notify all affected owners and dealers will replace the hood latch with a new one, free of charge. The recall began on February 17, 2016. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261. Note: This recall supersedes recalls 14V-565 and 15V-116.

Service Brakes, Hydraulic:foundation Components:disc:caliper 2015-11-05 · campaign 15V733000 · 119 vehicles

Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2015 Altima and 2016 Maxima vehicles manufactured October 6, 2015, to October 7, 2015. The affected vehicles have front brake calipers whose mounting bolts may not be properly tightened.

Risk: If the bolts were not properly tightened, the caliper may detach and reduce braking ability, increasing the risk of a crash.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will check the brake caliper mounting bolts, tightening them as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on December 14, 2015. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification 2015-10-20 · campaign 15V681000 · 919 vehicles

Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Altima and Pathfinder vehicles, 2013-2014 Nissan Sentra vehicles, 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles, 2014-2015 Infiniti QX60 vehicles and 2014 Infiniti QX60 Hybrid vehicles. The affected vehicles received an incorrect occupant classification system (OCS) control unit during a repair. These OCS control units may incorrectly classify the front passenger seat as empty, when it is occupied by an adult.

Risk: If the OCS does not detect an adult occupant in the passenger seat, the passenger air bag would be deactivated. Failure of the passenger airbag to deploy during a crash (where deployment is warranted) could increase the risk of injury to the passenger.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will update the OCS software, free of charge. The recall began on November 30, 2015. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.

Fuel System, Gasoline 2015-08-04 · campaign 15V486000 · 46,846 vehicles

Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) notified the agency on July 31, 2015, that they are recalling certain model year 2016 Nissan Maxima vehicles manufactured February 10, 2015, to August 18, 2015. On October 14, 2015, Nissan expanded the recall to cover an additional 41,388 vehicles, including certain model year 2013-2015 Altima 3.5 vehicles equipped with a V6 engine manufactured March 30, 2012, to August 18, 2015 as well as the vehicles covered by the July 31, 2015 notification. In the affect

Risk: If fuel leaks from between the fuel sending unit and the tank, it may increase the risk of a fire in the event of a crash.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will install a retainer ring between the fuel tank and the fuel sending unit. The recall began on September 28, 2015. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

Latches/Locks/Linkages:hood:latch 2015-02-27 · campaign 15V116000 · 625,400 vehicles

Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Nissan Altima vehicles manufactured March 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014. In the affected vehicles, the secondary hood latch may bind and remain in the unlatched position when the hood is closed.

Risk: If the primary latch is inadvertently released and the secondary latch is not engaged, the hood could unexpectedly open while driving, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will be instructed to modify the bend angle of the hood actuation lever to eliminate potential interference with the hood inner panel. In addition, dealers will clean and lubricate the latch joint as needed. If significant corrosion is observed, the latch assembly will be replaced. This repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began March 31, 2015. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261. Note: This recall is an expansi

Service bulletins (332)

Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.

Structure:body 2026-04-13 · NTB09-131C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions

certification label and vin plate replacement service information because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “certification label” or “vin plate/label” may be needed. hint: certification label = fmvss (federal motor vehicle safety standards) label. these items may be availabl

Structure:body 2026-04-13 · NTB09-131C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions

certification label and vin plate replacement service information because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “certification label” or “vin plate/label” may be needed. hint: certification label = fmvss (federal motor vehicle safety standards) label. these items may be availabl

Air Bags 2024-09-19 · NTB19-071D · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions

dtc b00a0-00 stored this bulletin has been amended. see amendment history on the last page. please discard previous versions of this bulletin. if you confirm dtc b00a0-00 (occupant detection sensor unit) is stored, and ocs zero point reset cannot be performed, (continued on the next page)

Power Train 2024-06-07 · NTB12-103I · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions

cvt/tcm calibration data “write” procedure this bulletin has been amended. see amendment history on the last page. please discard previous versions of this bulletin.

Electrical System 2024-05-21 · NTB13-107G · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions

vehicle key not detected / authenticated, engine will not start this bulletin has been amended. see amendment history on the last page. please discard previous versions of this bulletin.

Electrical System 2024-05-21 · NTB13-027D · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions

can communication – network diagnostic flow chart this bulletin has been amended. see amendment history on the last page. please discard previous versions of this bulletin.

Showing the 6 most recent of 332 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.

What owners report

2026-10-12 · Unknown Or Other

“on sunday 10/04/26, the hood unexpectedly flew open while i was driving. i am very lucky i was the only person on the road at the time this occurred as this blocked all of my visibility. i had to stop my vehicle with the hood completely blocking the windshield, i could barely get the hood back down as it was bent, a bolt even broke off the front o…”

2026-09-28 · Electrical System:instrument Panel:speedometer/Odometer · 117,974 mi

“odometer fraud. the contact purchased a 2015 nissan altima. the contact discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy after the purchase. the vehicle was a used car dealer sale. at the time of purchase, the mileage was 73,328, and the carfax report provided by the bank listed the mileage as 69,850 on august 19, 2022. however, while attempting to …”

2026-09-18 · Exterior Lighting

“the headlights are so dim we cannot see safely at night, we have had everything professionally cleaned and installed new super bright bulbs, it has made zero difference. does someone really have to die for this to be taken seriously? there was a huge lawsuit apparently but we never heard about it and missed the window! …”

2026-09-11 · Electrical System · 💥 crash

“my car was hit and airbags did not deploy from driver side. the front driver side of my car is totalled. not sure what force of an impact is needed for airbags to deploy but if my driver side tire rod broke and tire came off is this not sufficient force. this 2015 nissan altima has had many recalls. the last one was my front driver side head lamp a…”

2026-09-10 · Air Bags

“a vehicle airbag light is staying on which indicates my airbags will not work this is a common problem in a 2015 nissan altima sl but it is not showing up as a recall on my certain vehicle. this recently started happening at 114,000 miles. when the light first came on it would go on and off at different times it would not be every single time i sta…”

2026-09-09 · Wheels

“service brakes, hydraulic foundation components: disc: caliper the bolts on all 4 of my tires are constantly going loose and i have problems with my front brakes never lasting as long as they should and always burn out very fast. …”

2026-09-01 · Suspension

“the passenger side rear spring mount/lower control arm separated at the weld and failed at highway speed. control of the vehicle was momentarily lost and i was able to safely pull to the side of the highway to await a tow truck. vehicle is not drivable. mechanic confirmed it was an "insufficient weld" consistent with a safety bulletin that expired …”

2026-08-31 · Suspension

“the rear lower control arms (lower links) on my 2015 nissan altima are actively cracked and broken at 91,359 miles. an authorized nissan dealership inspected the vehicle and confirmed the severe structural failure on video, explicitly stating it is an immediate safety hazard. however, the manufacturer is refusing to repair this dangerous manufactur…”

2026-08-15 · Suspension

“today (8/15/26) the vehicle broke down while driving. a component to the rear left suspension has busted off that appears to be the rear lower control arm/link. not drivable. steering wheel and tire are crooked. i have read that for the years 2013-2018 this is a known issue for these makes and models. …”

2026-08-15 · Exterior Lighting:headlights

“the headlights are dangerously dim. there has been a class action lawsuit for these specific makes and models for the reflectors in the headlights being damaged over time, resulting in the entire headlight assemblies needing replaced. …”

Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.

Other Nissan Altima years