2010 Nissan Altima problems
NHTSA has received 543 complaints about the 2010 Nissan Altima, and 14% of them involve electrical system. After that come drivetrain & axles (11%) and air bags (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 543 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 14% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 40 and 14
- Injuries and deaths
- 62 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 52,000 miles 391 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 | 73 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 74 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 68 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 49 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 28 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 29 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 38 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 14 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 7 |
| 200k+ miles | 7 |
What the data shows
Among the 391 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 52,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 47,000 miles (59 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 40 complaints mention a crash; 14 complaints mention a fire; 62 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2010 ranks 14th most-complained-about out of 32 model years of the Nissan Altima with enough data (276 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
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 contact was a passenger in a 2010 nissan altima. While the contact was seated in the front passenger seat, another vehicle crashed into the rear driver side of the vehicle occupying the contact. A third vehicle crashed into the vehicle occupying the contact also. The contact's driver sustained burns to the face and chest and suffered mental anxiety. The air bags deployed, but the passenger side air bag exploded. The contact sustained injuries and burns to the chest, arm, and right side of the body.
I was driving normal speed limit 60 MPH on the fwy when we heard a noise like a big pop sound. Right away when I tried to slow down to get over ( when I applied the brake) the steering wheel began shaking so bad that I was unable to control the wheel. It felt as if the brakes weren't working. The car spun out of control and crashed in the carpool divider. This was a brand new nissan altima 2010 coupe with 60k miles on the car.
My check engine light came on, so I took the car to the mechanic, they told me that I had an error p0402 catalytic converter malfunction. They told me that this is a known issue with the nissan altima and that nissan knows about it and does not care to anything about it; he told me to google it and see the number of complaints online from nissan altima owners. I did just that and was amazed at how many complaints there were.
My 2010 nissan altima has a "melting" dash, particularly around the defroster area. It is sticky in other parts of dash on sides and where it is molded. This problem has been reported on nbc5 in dallas, tx in the month of july for 2008-2009 models. To my surprise, my 2010 has same issue. I took car to dealer and they said they have seen lots altima's with the same problem and nothing could be done except replacement, over $1000 dollars.