Fell in love with the exterior styling of this car as soon as I saw the first one in summer 2002. Bought a used 2002 - didn't think there was anything curious about buying a used car in the same year of its manufacture... - and then traded it in the next summer for a 4 cylinder Altima LS, brand new, just 7 miles on the odometer - all ours! Well, trouble started small, but it's been building to a crescendo in this, it's 3rd year of existence. And our faith in Nissan is now zero. We will never buy another Altima, or Nissan, again. We recommend no else does.

Within a month, the keyfab died on us - had to have it replaced at the dealer. Had to replace the tires after less than 30,000 miles, perhaps just wear and tear, but mind you, we're not hotrodding 20 year olds, but rather sedate 40-somethingers.

Spent summer and autumn of 2005 very well acquainted with our dealer's service shop, again mostly minor issues, but...

By autumn of 2005 we knew something more major was amiss with the transmission and/or the radiator, but after at least 3 visits thru the fall and into the winter to our dealer, they could find nothing wrong, other than some small warranty repairs they got to charge off against Nissan. They refused to make repairs to the radiator that we considered to be covered by the warranty.

Finally, we wrote to Nissan America, because we had taken the Altima to a friendly mechanic who pinpointed the repairs needed as being warranty matters. Nissan America backed the dealer, though, and essentially told us 'too bad.'

We found ourselves a different Nissan dealer, who made the repairs to the radiator - a rather serious leak - under warranty, thankfully. This was April 2006. Between then and late June, we were mostly out of country, and so we drove the Altima very sparingly, but the mileage was now approaching 45,000.

Coming back from a weekend trip, the engine seizes up and dies on me, late June 2006. I spent over $500 to get the car towed, first to a dealer in NY near where the car broke down - and they don't want to do the repairs because they say it will take them two months to get a new engine for the car, and then finally I tow it myself behind a U-Haul truck to my regular new dealer in MD. No problem, they take the car, two days later they announce it's all ready, they've replaced the engine and taken care of a recall repair on the rear suspension. Grand. The car now drives...fine.

Two weeks transpire - it's now July 2006 - and we get in the car only to find 3rd AND 2nd gear gone, neutered. So, we call up to use our AAA Plus - because we now realize that we'd better have the best towing assistance available for this LEMON - and return the Altima to the dealer. Mechanics mumble to us 'torque converter, blown seal...' And our AAA phone operator mentions that she's had many, many calls for road service to Nissan Altimas...

So, yes, the car looks great, and it has great acceleration for a 4 cylinder car and is comfortably roomy inside. Perhaps these transmission, engine, suspension and radiator problems don't plague the V-6 Altima, but they do the 4 cylinder Altima.
Amount Paid (US$): 18,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: Altima 2.5 LS automatic