2005 Nissan Altima problems
NHTSA has received 1,364 complaints about the 2005 Nissan Altima, and 29% of them involve engine. After that come body & structure (26%) and electrical system (7%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 1,364 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 30% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 71 and 25
- Injuries and deaths
- 91 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 85,000 miles 1,105 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 | 124 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 71 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 139 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 162 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 209 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 144 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 103 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 79 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 30 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 22 |
| 200k+ miles | 22 |
What the data shows
Among the 1,105 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 85,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 78,000 miles (348 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 71 complaints mention a crash; 25 complaints mention a fire; 91 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2005 ranks 7th most-complained-about out of 32 model years of the Nissan Altima with enough data (525 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
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.
Tl* the driver owns a 2005 nissan altima. The contact, on behalf of the driver, stated that the driver was involved in a crash in which the steering wheel became extremely hot and burned the driver's hands. A police report was filed and no other injuries were reported other than the driver. The vehicle was towed by the contact's insurance company. The failure was not diagnosed and the vehicle was in the process of being repaired for body damages. The failure and current mileage was 120,000.
While stopped in traffic in sevierville, tennessee on 2/12/2005, my 2005 altima was hit in the rear by a car that failed to stop. The driver of that car was determined to be at fault by police. Four vehicles were involved in the accident with my car being the most damaged. Police estimated the car that hit me was going approximately 30-35 MPH. At impact. The impact drove my car forward into the vehicle in front of me.
Got a letter stating that there was a recall that could cause engine to stop and cause a crash which has already happened to my car , it was a total loss.
Our engine seized up while we were driving, oil light came on and the brake light came on as the car died but not before the car died, while we were out of town coming home from a business trip. The nissan dealership said that the drain plug was missing. The oil light is supposed to come on no matter what when it gets low on oil, that is an electrical problem which is covered under the warranty that they pressured us into buying for $1500. Now they are not honoring any service agreements they made.
Problem begun by my vehicle being hard to start. You could attempt to start the car for 5 or so minutes without success. You could wait about 10 minutes and try again and the vehicle would eventually start but run pretty rough. It would also perform with poor power during operation. The problem got worse when the "service engine soon" light came on. Now the engine shuts down while you are driving. This has happened on 4 to 5 different occasions. The engine will re-start but runs rough.