1996 Nissan Altima problems
NHTSA has received 117 complaints about the 1996 Nissan Altima, and 32% of them involve air bags. After that come electrical system (9%) and engine (7%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 117 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 33% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 27 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 18 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 83,000 miles 10 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 0 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 2 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 5 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 10 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 83,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 27 complaints mention a crash; 5 complaints mention a fire; 18 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 93% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1996 ranks 24th most-complained-about out of 32 model years of the Nissan Altima with enough data (80 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Around curve swerved to avoid collision, on wet pavement applied brake, skidded to left/fought to gain control, steering jerked to right, locked up, hit pole
Consumer is concerned that air bags did not deploy, consumer was involved in an accident in which the vehicle was hit from the back, causing him to rear end another car.
While driving at 25 MPH, the vehicle had a frontal collision in which the air bag deployed and the front driver's seat came off, causing the occupant to be stuck in between the airbag and the seat, resulting in injuries to the occupant.
Consumer states while driving at any speed and with no warning the air bag light comes on and the air bag could be inoperative in the event of a vehicle accident. Dealer notified.
I have a 1996 nissan altima gxe. The air bag system developed a problem, I.e. The indicator light would not go out - it continued to flash. Upon diagnosis by the nissan service department, they determined the problem to be a malfunctioning control module. This will cause the unit to not operate properly. I have learned through the NHTSA website that nissan has had prior problems with these air bag systems, and my problem may be a continuation of these.