Nissan · Altima · 2008
4
Recalls
1,027
Complaints
-
Not Rated
The 2008 Nissan Altima has 4 recalls and 1,027 owner-reported complaints on file with NHTSA. Most reported issue: structure (206 reports).
Source: NHTSA Public Records · Updated Apr 22, 2026
This page combines three types of NHTSA data: recall campaigns (official manufacturer or government actions), owner complaints (unverified consumer reports), and crash test ratings (where available). A vehicle with many complaints is not necessarily less reliable — complaint volume correlates with sales volume and vehicle age. Recalls indicate identified defects, not overall quality. To compare this model year with others, use the year navigation in the sidebar or return to the model overview page.
NISSAN IS RECALLING CERTAIN VEHICLES THAT WERE EQUIPPED WITH A GARMIN NUVI MODEL 750 NAVIGATION SYSTEM. THE BATTERIES CONTAINED IN THE AFFECTED GPS UNITS CAN OVERHEAT.
Remedy Status
NISSAN WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND THE REPAIRS WILL BE PERFORMED BY GARMIN TECHNICIANS BY REPLACING THE BATTERY AND INSERTING A SPACER ON TOP OF THE BATTERY FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 16, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT GARMIN DIRECTLY AT 1-866-957-1981 OR NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.
NISSAN IS RECALLING 204,361 MY 2007-2008 ALTIMA, ALTIMA HYBRID, 350Z, 350Z ROADSTER, MY 2008 ALTIMA COUPE, ROGUE, MY 2009 MURANO, AND INFINITI MY 2007-2008 G35 SEDAN, MY 2008 G37 COUPE AND EX35 PASSENGER VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS' OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (OCS) CONTROL UNITS. A VARISTOR IN THE OCS CONTROL UNIT LOCATED IN THE PASSENGER SEAT CUSHION MAY HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED OUT OF SPECIFICATION. UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, THIS COULD CAUSE AN INTERRUPTION OF SIGNAL BETWEEN THE OCS AND THE AIR BAG CONTROL UNIT (ACU).
Remedy Status
DEALERS WILL TEST THE SIGNAL BETWEEN THE OCS AND ACU SYSTEMS USING A SPECIAL TOOL TO CHECK THAT IT IS FUNCTIONING AS DESIGNED. IF NECESSARY, THE SEAT CUSHION (CONTAINING OCS HARDWARE) WILL BE REPLACED WITH A NEW ONE MANUFACTURED TO SPECIFICATION. THE RECALL BEGAN ON NOVEMBER 4, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261 OR INFINITI AT 1-800-662-6200.
NISSAN IS RECALLING 1,018 MY 2008 ALTIMA VEHICLES. THE LEFT SIDE FRONT SUSPENSION TRANSVERSE LINK BOLT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN TIGHTENED TO SPECIFICATION. THIS CONDITION COULD CAUSE THE BOLT TO BECOME LOOSE WHILE THE VEHICLE IS BEING DRIVEN.
Remedy Status
DEALERS WILL TIGHTEN THE TRANSVERSE LINK BOLT TO SPECIFICATION FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON AUGUST 11, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.
ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES THAT HAVE HAD THE BODY CONTROL MODULE (BCM) REPLACED DURING SERVICE AT A DEALERSHIP, THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM (TPMS) MAY HAVE BEEN INADVERTENTLY DEACTIVATED DUE TO AN ISSUE WITH THE DEALER SERVICE SOFTWARE. IF THE TPMS IS TURNED OFF, IT WOULD NOT ALERT THE DRIVER TO A DECREASE IN THE TIRE PRESSURE AS DESIGNED.
Remedy Status
DEALERS WILL CHECK THE TPMS FUNCTION AND REACTIVATE IT IF NECESSARY. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JANUARY 18, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.
Suspension and steering issues purchased many new tires throughout the yrs to find out it had suspension issues. There are 4 recalls listed on my insurance policy that describes exactly what's been wrong with my car since purchased. When calling nissan and checking your data base my vin # has never had any recalls for these issues but is obvious this make and model has been affected as well. Please look into this some more car is not safe and we were sold a lemon from day 1. Going back and forth to dealership lies and mechanics to find out it's always been a suspension issue I don't know the exact terms but suspension and some type of electric issue just as the recalls stated on my insurance policy description. Please advise or help Nissan make this right to keep our streets and cars safe while on the road. I need to gather all documents from places I've gone in for these very same issues of recalls shown. Financially this has been a burden investing in a used car to just have to fix right away with these same exact issues of recalls listed but to say our vehicle was not affected by those recalls is ridiculous it's obvious I been dealing with the same exact issues. Please help. Thank you for listening and hopefully you can help make a difference with this safety issue. I bought the car during covid year and been having issues since then but today's date on incident because I'm not sure of an exact date 4-5 yrs ago when issues started. Dealership lied to us I'm sure they were experiencing same issues with suspension that lead to issues with steering wheel control arms into motor mounts and tires getting bald fast and always having to change out front tires not straight or balanced out of control all the time.
After driving over a hour or so the rpm will stick at 3 and the mph will not go over 60. The car occasionally lose power as well. I have already had the throttle body and the alternator recently done.
The contact owns a 2008 Nissan Altima. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 08V521000 (Air Bags, Electrical System). The contact called the dealer and made an appointment; however, the contact was informed that the part might not be available for the appointment. The contact arrived for the appointment and was informed 3 hours later that the part needed for the repair was not available. The contact was informed by the dealer that several other dealers and was informed that parts were not available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and informed the contact that other dealers would be contacted for parts availability, and a case was filed. The contact stated that a week later, the contact called the manufacturer again and was informed that the part was found and sent to the local dealer. The contact called the dealer and was informed that there was no knowledge of parts being sent to the dealer location and that there had not been any communication with the manufacturer about parts. The contact stated that upon sitting in the passenger’s seat, the air bag sensor failed to recognize a passenger seated in the passenger’s seat. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown. Parts distribution disconnect.
Dashboard material defective melted sticky and very reflective. No idea how toxic could be.
The drive train I believe it’s called Or transmission is malfunctioning and yes it is available for inspection upon request Our safety was put in risk when the vehicle started driving at a low speed and would not accelerate eventually stopping completely The problem hasn’t been inspected or confirmed by a dealer or service center There was no warning lamps or messages prior to the failure
The dash is melting from the heat and is very sticky. It’s really unsafe due to the glare that affects the driver vision. It has already caused me to have one near miss when a tractor pulled into road and I was unable to see him until the last second. Then I jerked the steering missing the tractor.
My 2008 Nissan Altima's dash is degrading and has caused a sticky residue to form on it. This stickiness is very shiny and causes a glare to occur on the windshield. I live in Kentucky and when the sun is shining, and actually basically anytime driving, the glare makes it nearly impossible to see. I almost hit another vehicle because I could not see but instead went off the road to avoid a collision. This is very unsafe.
The contact owned a 2008 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at approximately 80 MPH, the steering wheel became stiff, and the contact lost control of the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. As a result, the contact crashed into a concrete barrier. The front of the vehicle was severely damaged including the front driver and front passenger side doors. The air bags were deployed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard where it was deemed destroyed and discarded. A dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed for the failure. A police report was filed. The contact sustained a concussion, whiplash on her neck, and bruising on her nose that required medical attention. The contact currently was still recovering from her brain injury and receiving treatment from a neurologist. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 08V363000 (Suspension) as possibly being related to the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
Parked car due to electrical and transmission issues had left it for a couple hours to receive assistance and the car was gone it had no plates because I was attempting to register the car that same day
215/60R16 This is the second tire that failed at the sidewall needing to be replaced. First failed after less than 4000 miles. And the second w sidewall failure at about 10,000 miles of use. i have photographed the second tire failure. Seems odd that out of five brand new tires have sidewall failures 2 (40%) have very low use failures.
At first, the passenger airbag off light always turn on when a person sit on the seat(never turn off). Then few months later the Airbag light on dashboard starts flashing with no reason, 1 long 5 shorts.
Passenger airbag warning light is blinking Took to repair shop and tech said OCS is bad and needs replacing Code B1018 comes up I do not understand why there is not a recall because this is a safety Issue
Was driving and heard a knocking sound similar to taps coming from the engine. Pulled over turned car off and turned it back on and knocking sound stopped. Drive about another mile and black smoke came out the vents. Pulled over and got out of vehicle. By the time I was out of the vehicle the car was on fire. By the time the fire department arrived car was completely engulfed. No check engine light was on and car gave no previous warning as to what could have happened.
Glare off dash board is blinding on sunny days. Dashboard is melting, the melted dash reflection is distraciton/ binding on sunny days, and smell from dash is not pleasant. Not knowing actual product that is melting is concerning since melting plastics and vinyl can be toxic. Took car out for ride on sunny day had to pull over because of glare dashboard. Tried to contact Nissan about any products to resurface and contain the melted mess an smell. They offered no solutions besides take in to local dearliship. Not shelling out 500 dollars for nationally known defective material. You can contact any quality managment firm or producer that have working knowledge with plastics and vinyl to confirm that this is a major quality defect. I can not even find out what actual material was used to cover for soft dash.
While pulling into a parking spot and coming to a halt, I put the car into park mode. My foot was still on the brake. Instantly the engine went into "overdrive" and lurched forward over a parking curb and through heavy brush and finally came to a stop after hitting a pine tree. The engine was still screaming and the tires still spinning until I hit the off button. I had my foot on the brake the entire time to no avail. The heavy brush slowed the car somewhat. The airbags didn't deploy. I had several witnesses and they all stated they saw my brake lights on. I plowed approx. 50 feet through the brush before hitting the tree. I was the only one involved and was not hurt. This was Thurs. Sept. 28, 2023. It was in a state park and no police report made. Park Ranger took down info.
The dashboard is sticky and melted down. Also has cracks from the heat.
The hood under car is messed up and makes noises while driving. I heard there was a recall on the hoods underneath. I need fixed as I live on disability. Tire light won't go off sensor is not working right.
Passenger air bag indicator light has been on for 2 years and have been unable to locate issue. All air bag systems test good except error code for passenger side air bag.
Leaking power stearing fluid. The seems to be an issue with fuel system. No light just does not seem to accelerate properly.
The dashboard is melting. It's sticky and shinny. On sunny days it causes a glare on the windshield making it hard to see out of it.
Showing 1–20 of 25 complaints
The 2008 Nissan Altima has 4 recalls recorded by NHTSA.
NHTSA has received 1,027 owner-reported complaints for the 2008 Nissan Altima.
NHTSA has not published a safety rating for the 2008 Nissan Altima.
The most commonly reported complaint categories for the 2008 Nissan Altima are structure (206 reports), unknown or other (124 reports), air bags (91 reports).
Yes. NHTSA has 4 recalls on record for the 2008 Nissan Altima. Scroll up to review the published recall summaries, consequences, and remedies. To check for unrepaired recalls on your specific vehicle, use your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Look up recalls and complaints for any year, make, and model.
This page summarizes publicly available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaint counts reflect reports submitted to NHTSA by vehicle owners and do not by themselves prove defect severity or vehicle safety. Safety ratings may not be available for all vehicle-years. This site is not affiliated with NHTSA or any vehicle manufacturer. For official information, visit the official NHTSA page for this vehicle.