Complaint volume
171 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2020 Nissan Altima Complaints
171 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2020 Nissan Altima, grouped by component category.
171 Total complaints
16 Crash reports
7 Fire reports
10 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are unknown or other, electrical system, engine. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 16 crash reports, 7 fire reports, 10 injury reports, and 1 fatality report. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 45 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 39,198 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, electrical system, engine?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2020 Nissan Altima?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2020 Nissan Altima
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2020 Nissan Altima complaints?
16 Crash
7 Fire
10 Injury
1 Fatality
15 Towed
6 Medical attention
What are the most common 2020 Nissan Altima complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 18
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 16
ENGINE 15
POWER TRAIN 8
VISIBILITY/WIPER 6
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 5
STEERING 5
AIR BAGS 4
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 4
STRUCTURE 4
171 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2023 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | What component or system failed or malfunctioned and is available for inspection upon request? On June 6th, the vehicle started losing power when accelerating, happened at night when driving back home, and scared me because there were no lights indicating any issues. The following day, less than a mile from the dealership, all the dashboard lights turned on, the vehicle lost complete power, and then i turned vehicle off and try to turn it back on but it didn't started. I called a tow truck and left it at the dealer. They informed me that they would provide me with the reason for the failure by the end of the afternoon. I was later informed by the dealership that there was an electrical problem with the transmission system. The system failure was related to a power train not getting communication due to a broken/damage wire harness that was close to the left side powertrain/engine mount. The harness was damaged because of the engine mount bolts broke and metal part of the mount cut part of the harness, creating an electrical short to the powertrain system as seen in the attached photos. This kind of short can definitely create heat into the harness that could have gotten my car to catch fire. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes, the same dealer informed me about the damage, and they themselves were puzzled because they couldn't find an explanation for how this could happen, but they did not take any ownership by the fact that that defective engine mount could have had me into a major accident if I was driving in the highway. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others? All the work was carried out at the dealership itself. And I don't think that the dealership send any notification to the manufacturer about the early failure of such an important component but going through different mechanics shops they all share the same opinion that the...... | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The forward collision warning light comes on saying their is a malfunction. It stays on for a couple of days, and then it goes away and comes back again a couple of days later. I had my sister husband hook up a diagnostic scanner on the car, and he said that it displayed no error codes for the problem. I believe this should be a safety recall because i noticed a lot of people driving the 2020 nissan altima have the same problem as me. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | AIR BAGS | Vehicle was in two different front end collisions one of which the whole front end is destroyed including the windshield and the airbags DID NOT deploy. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | All 4 door actuators have gone out. I cannot lock or unlock my car with the key fob or manually with the key from the outside. The driver side door is unable to be manually locked/unlocked causing me to get locked in and out of my car randomly. Within the last month, it has gotten more frequent with the driver said. The rear doors went bad months ago. The passenger door started approximately 2 months ago and the driver door within the last month. This was confirmed by Modern Nissan in Winston Salem, NC on 06/10/2023 and I got a second opinion on 06/16/2023 who also confirmed all 4 door actuators needed to be replaced. There were no warning lights or messages. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while the vehicle was at a standstill in a parking lot and using the seat heater for approximately 30 minutes, the front driverside seat heater caught fire. The contact extinguished the fire with bottles of water he had available. The contact sustained superficial burns on his lower back and continues to have trouble breathing but hasn't sought medical attention. The contact drove to the nearest fire department but was under construction and was unable to file any fire report. The contact also stated later on that day he drove to a police department and filed a police report. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000. The VIN was not available. | Crash: No Fire: Yes Injuries: 1 | 55,000 |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I just recently had my brakes done & the ABS light came on, along with the brake light, then the rear & front automatic emergency braking sensor lights came on as well. My independent repair shop did a diagnostic & said it was a Faulty ABS pump went out. They also told me to take to the dealership to get it looked at too. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | Problemas en los frenos | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | STEERING | The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V138000 (Steering) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was unknown. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car continually goes into malfunction mode. It goes away when the car is turned off and re started. It throws a code for mass air flow sensor. Have replaced mass air flow sensor three times. No dealership or mechanic can find an issue. Sometimes, the collision warning goes off for no reason causing panic. This has been going on for a year. Began March 2022. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES | When making a routine right-hand turn, the steering system failed. Driver had an unresponsive vehicle which crashed into a bridge rail. Driver was taken for medical attention. No warning lights prior to the crash. Vehicle has only been serviced by the dealer Nissan Peacock of Houston since purchased in December of 2019. A vehicle recall (NHTSA Campaign ID: 21V138000) was issued for this year, make, and model, but not for this particular VIN. This recall was for the tie rod ball joint fasteners. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | During a Code scan on the vehicle, the Intelligent driver assistance system Showed to refer to OEM repair manual for code description repair. The next day the vehicle crashed at 15 mph due to loss of control. Tie rod broke causing vehicle to crash and tire was detached. Vehicle is available to inspect. No warning lamps or message other then scan results . | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at 55 MPH, the sunroof inadvertently exploded without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 90,000 |
| Feb 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Caught on fire, burst into flames within minutes of seeing smoke. My son barely got out before it blew up. His dog in the backseat unfortunately didn’t make it out. Would like investigation on what could have caused this. Before someone else loses theryre life | Crash: No Fire: Yes Injuries: 1 Fatalities: 1 Medical attention | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | I was driving the car at about 70 mph on the expressway and it just randomly de-accelerated dripping from 70-34 mph and would not allow me to accelerate and then proceeded to shut down stating engine stall I almost got hit from the back when the car de-accelerated and couldn’t do anything about it after about 10-15 seconds I pressed the gas again and it took off abruptly. I’m scared to drive my car anywhere that I’ll get hit if my car de-accelerates again. Nissan can’t replicate the issue to come up with a conclusion. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | TIRES | 235/40R1992V | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I have been noticing electrical issues with the vehicle that have been going unresolved. This is the third time I'm taking it to a dealership. On 15 Nov 2022 the vehicle gave a frontal collision warning with no other vehicles around it felt like the emergency braking system engaged because the brakes became solid as a rock. I had to put the car into park and restart the vehicle to begin driving again. Then on 16 Nov 2022 the car battery was dead around 4:48 pm and I had to get the taco shop's help, they gave me jumper cables and my wife's co-worker got the car started. Now, 18 Nov 2022 the vehicle is in another dealership waiting to see what they say and the car is staying the weekend to be evaluated. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS | The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while his wife was driving at 40-45 MPH with his daughter sitting in the front passenger seat, the vehicle crashed into another vehicle that failed to yield at the stop sign. The air bags failed to deploy and the seat belts failed to engage. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact's wife and daughter sustained back pain and headaches but did not seek medical assistance. A police report was filed. The contact met his wife at the scene and assisted her with driving the vehicle to his residence which was approximately 300-400 ft. away. The contact, a certified autobody technician, determined that the air bags and the restraint system failed to operate as needed. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that he would need to tow the vehicle at his own expense for diagnostic tests. The contact declined and the manufacturer informed the contact that they could not assist unless he complied with their request. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 2 Towed | 35,000 |
| Oct 2022 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | MY BATTERY COUGHT FIRE AS I WAS DRIVING ALL OF A SUDDEN | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Crash Malfunction is randomly coming on while driving. It comes on even when there is NO vehicle in front of you. It comes on at random speeds from 2 to 40 MPH. I feel that if there was a warning, it may not come on. Problem has been going Vehicle is being inspected by Nissan today however the technician cannot duplicate the issue since it is random. It has come on 12 times in the past 15 days. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE | 1. The volume knob for the radio is VERY touchy. Turns all the way up when trying to turn it down. 2. When I have cruise control on and am trying to avoid getting hit by a car that has gone too far out of their lane, the lane keeping assistant will fight me for control. 3. If labe assistance is fighting me for control then that means it's not detecting that a car is too close to me. 4. Back up camera image became garbled like it was getting bad TV reception. 5. Car hesitates at times or gets a sudden burst of speed. I am in the beginning stages of making this list to take to the dealership; so they have not checked the car yet. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When first purchased car headlights on passenger side did t work. They had to change the computer system. Had car whole week to complete. Then had to straighten the hood because it was off track. Now they states I have to get axle gears dropped and greased. Only had car 3 months and warranty doesn’t covers anything. States I need fuel induction and injection serviced | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | Driving on the freeway car started losing power, pulled over and then caught fire in matter of minutes the whole car was engulfed in flames. Fire department said it was an electrical fire near the battery and the fire wall on the driver side. | Crash: No Fire: Yes | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Driving car on the freeway and car lost power. Turned the car off and checked all the fluids to make sure they were at proper levels and found no issue. Started car back up and then started smoking, open the hood and an electric fire had started, tried putting out with a fire extinguisher and it did nothing 2 min later the whole car was in flames. | Crash: No Fire: Yes | Unknown |
| May 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Its not unknown. I arrived at work on Thursday the 12th of May, AT 8:00 A.M. I work in an Industrial Park where there is no traffic. My car was looking great, I put my sunshade cover up and proceeded to go into work. After working all day I came out to my car and my windshield was crack starting from the top of the car and flowering down. Nothing hit my car on my way into work, and actually there is nothing that shows it was hit a all. This is a factory defect and there are bubbles when the glue or whatever they use is a mess. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving from a complete stop, the vehicle would hesitate and shudder. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that no issues were found; however, the failure reoccurred. Additionally, the contact stated while the vehicle was parked, she shifted into drive(D) and depressed the accelerator pedal however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact was unable to drive the vehicle after several attempts. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission had failed. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle would be repaired at her own expense. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle could not be repaired under the power train warranty due to the mileage. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000. The VIN was not available. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 59,000 |