Vehicle Data Hub

2009 Nissan Altima engine problems

117 complaints about engine have been filed for the 2009 Nissan Altima, which is 5% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the 3rd most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
117 5% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
80,000 miles 89 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
3 and 4
Injuries and deaths
1 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When engine problems show up

Engine complaints by mileage, 2009 Nissan Altima Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 80,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 4 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 9 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 8 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 21 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 16 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 9 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 9 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 7 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 3 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 2 complaints 200k+ miles: 1 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 80,000 miles
Based on 89 complaints that include mileage. 24% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles4
20k to 40k miles9
40k to 60k miles8
60k to 80k miles21
80k to 100k miles16
100k to 120k miles9
120k to 140k miles9
140k to 160k miles7
160k to 180k miles3
180k to 200k miles2
200k+ miles1

What the data shows

Of the 89 engine complaints that report mileage, the median is about 80,000 miles, and 24% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 3 crashes, 4 fires, 1 injury.

What owners wrote

Driving down the road when the car started to stutter pulling over to the side of the highway the car begin to smoke under the hood. I came to a complete stop and got out the car. Flames begin to come from under the hood. After the fire was put out we spoke to the fire marshall ([xxx]) who stated the fire started from mid engine line. And more than likely the car was on fire while I was driving.

Reported at 57,000 miles, April 2013 Fire

My wife drives our 2009 nissan altima 2.5s to work on 3rd shift and on her lunch break goes to her car and takes a nap with the car running and was complaining to me for a month or more that she has this smell in her car like a "gas smell" and also was complaining of being tired and nauseous when I spoke with her about it. I noticed her car was abnormally louder when she started it at home and it had not been run that day.

Reported at 100,000 miles, September 2019

Other problems reported for the 2009 Nissan Altima

Engine problems in other years

Engine problems across all Nissan models