2012 NISSAN ALTIMA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 421 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: POWER TRAIN (121 complaints · 28.7%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 24
  • Fires 2
  • Injuries 26
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2011 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution POWER TRAIN appears in 121 of 421 owner complaints (28.7%) in this vehicle snapshot. POWER TRAIN: 121 complaints, 28.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 121 · 28.7% · 1 crash reports AIR BAGS: 40 complaints, 9.5% of reports AIR BAGS 40 · 9.5% · 8 crash reports ENGINE: 37 complaints, 8.8% of reports ENGINE 37 · 8.8% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 36 complaints, 8.6% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 36 · 8.6% · 1 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 29 complaints, 6.9% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 29 · 6.9% STRUCTURE: 29 complaints, 6.9% of reports STRUCTURE 29 · 6.9% · 3 crash reports VISIBILITY: 13 complaints, 3.1% of reports VISIBILITY 13 · 3.1% SUSPENSION: 11 complaints, 2.6% of reports SUSPENSION 11 · 2.6% · 3 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 10 complaints, 2.4% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 10 · 2.4% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 102 complaints, 24.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 102 · 24.2% · 6 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
POWER TRAIN 121 28.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 40 9.5% 8 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 37 8.8% 1 crashes · 1 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 36 8.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 29 6.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 29 6.9% 3 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 13 3.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 11 2.6% 3 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 10 2.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 102 24.2% 6 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jul 2011. 2011-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2012-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2012-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2012-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2013-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2013-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2013-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2014-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2014-Q4: 13 owner reports 13 2015-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2015-Q2: 13 owner reports 13 2015-Q3: 10 owner reports 10 2015-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2016-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2016-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 2016-Q3: 18 owner reports 18 2016-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2017-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2017-Q2: 19 owner reports 19 2017-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 2017-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2018-Q1: 17 owner reports 17 2018-Q2: 18 owner reports 18 2018-Q3: 16 owner reports 16 2018-Q4: 17 owner reports 17 2019-Q1: 14 owner reports 14 2019-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 2019-Q3: 27 owner reports 27 2019-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2020-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2020-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 2020-Q3: 19 owner reports 19 2020-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2021-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2021-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2021-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2021-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2022-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2022-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2022-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2022-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2023-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2023-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2023-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2024-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2024-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2024-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2025-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2025-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2026-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 Owner reports Jul 2011 Jul 2026 Investigation EQ12002 ● Investigation EQ12002
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2011-Q3 Owner reports 1
2011-Q4 Owner reports 4
2012-Q1 Owner reports 3
2012-Q2 Owner reports 7
2012-Q3 Owner reports 5
2012-Q4 Owner reports 6
2013-Q1 Owner reports 5
2013-Q2 Owner reports 5
2013-Q3 Owner reports 2
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 5
2014-Q3 Owner reports 10
2014-Q4 Owner reports 13
2015-Q1 Owner reports 8
2015-Q2 Owner reports 13
2015-Q3 Owner reports 10
2015-Q4 Owner reports 10
2016-Q1 Owner reports 4
2016-Q2 Owner reports 11
2016-Q3 Owner reports 18
2016-Q4 Owner reports 5
2017-Q1 Owner reports 7
2017-Q2 Owner reports 19
2017-Q3 Owner reports 12
2017-Q4 Owner reports 6
2018-Q1 Owner reports 17
2018-Q2 Owner reports 18
2018-Q3 Owner reports 16
2018-Q4 Owner reports 17
2019-Q1 Owner reports 14
2019-Q2 Owner reports 11
2019-Q3 Owner reports 27
2019-Q4 Owner reports 6
2020-Q1 Owner reports 9
2020-Q2 Owner reports 8
2020-Q3 Owner reports 19
2020-Q4 Owner reports 8
2021-Q1 Owner reports 7
2021-Q2 Owner reports 3
2021-Q3 Owner reports 3
2021-Q4 Owner reports 8
2022-Q1 Owner reports 3
2022-Q2 Owner reports 5
2022-Q3 Owner reports 1
2022-Q4 Owner reports 5
2023-Q1 Owner reports 5
2023-Q2 Owner reports 2
2023-Q3 Owner reports 2
2023-Q4 Owner reports 2
2024-Q1 Owner reports 2
2024-Q2 Owner reports 2
2024-Q4 Owner reports 2
2025-Q1 Owner reports 1
2025-Q2 Owner reports 2
2025-Q3 Owner reports 1
2025-Q4 Owner reports 1
2026-Q2 Owner reports 1
2026-Q3 Owner reports 2
Defect investigation 1 EQ12002
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 421 complaints · page 1 of 17

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources