NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2020 Nissan Altima. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
Trunk latch broke entirely, cannot shut trunk and cannot repair myself. Did not slam trunk lid, just shut normally.
•My driver’s seat motor tract assembly failed to move back & forth. It can be available for inspection. •My Safety was @ risk due to the seat inability to move back & forth. My foot couldn’t reach the accelerator or the brakes because the seat malfunctioned while the seat was moved so that I could get out of the car. •The problem has been confirmed & inspected by the Nissan Dealership where I purchased the car. •No, there were no warning signs or messages that indicated the seat malfunctioning. • This driver seat motor tract assembly has failed 2 times now. •The first time the seat motor tract malfunctioned was on 07/08/2023. The Dealership stated that a small comb was lodged in the tract. There was N/C. •The second time the seat motor tract malfunctioned was on 06/13/2024. There was nothing blocking the seats’ movement. The Dealership charged me $175.99 to find out what was causing the seat to fail again. The serviceman said that he beat on the motor until the seat eventually moved. It was stated that I’d have to replace the seat motor tract assembly if it malfunctions again.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima, The contact stated that while attempting to unlock the front driver's side door with the vehicle remote, the door would not unlock. The contact also noticed that both rear doors would not unlock from the remote either. The contact stated that the doors were able to unlock with the vehicle's key, but not the remote. The only door that would unlock was the front passenger side. The local dealer was contacted however the vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage 40,000.
It’s been 2 times that I get the WARNING ️ Sign of Engine Malfunction Power Reduced Service now and at the same time another warning that’s says Malfunction see owners Manual and my car looses it’s power
3 OF 4 VEHICLE DOOR LOCKS FAILED SIMULTANEOUSLY CAUSED DIFFICULTY TRYING TO SECURE THE VEHICLE. APPEARS TO BE A SAFETY VIOLATION IF VEHICLE CAN'T BE SECURED PROPERLY BY THE DRIVER. APPEARS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE NISSAN VEHICLES
Engine failed prematurly with less than 40k miles. All service was completed in a timely fashion. Nissan is taking a long time to get back to me with what next steps are. They are still investigating after 10 days. Pls help.
Unpredictably vehicle acceleration is delayed by approximately 3-4 seconds. Car then proceeds to take off after transmission kicks in. I almost got hit by a semi during a left turn. And similar near miss incidents have occurred. Car also fails to accelerate in a predictable manner when needed rpm goes up but vehicle will stall/hesitate. The vehicle is under warranty and has been to the dealer 3 times. They will not perform any maintenance on the vehicle. Saying it needs to be replicated in person. The Issue is not easily replicated, but when the issue presents itself, it poses a great safety risk to occupants in the vehicle and all drivers/pedestrians on the road around the vehicle. This seems to be a known issue by Nissan but they fail to implement a recall or any other corrective action. I can provide invoices/Statements of work but will have to retrieve them from the dealer. I also have video evidence of the issues occurring. Dealer has seen the videos but refuses to repair, replace, or recompensate for the issues listed above off the videos alone.
This has been happening multiple times since December 25th, 2023. Presently, it's in the shop for the 6th time. This orange light comes on and then right after the vehicle just stops or slows down. Nothing is in front of or behind me. It's random...happens at night or anytime during the day and it stops itself while driving. It has been taken to the dealership 6 times since December and the problem has not been remedied. It is scary getting into the vehicle every time because I wonder, will it happen today? And what if someone is behind me? That could cause a major accident with injuries.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the front driver’s side and rear driver’s side door locks failed to operate as designed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the lock actuators had failed and needed to be replaced. The dealer also informed the contact that the front passenger’s side door had experienced the same failure. An independent mechanic had repaired all three doors. The manufacturer had not been made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 91,228.
Unable to open driver’s door from the inside of the vehicle. To exit the car I have to climb over and exit through passenger door or roll down the window and open the door from the outside handle. This is a potential safety concern of not be able to get out of the car in an emergency or injuring myself when I have to climb over the console to exit through passenger door. This issue has bot been resolved and is still a concern.
I have a 2020 Nissan Altima SR that both rear door lock actuators have randomly gone out resulting in my back doors not unlocking in case of an emergency. My doors also do not lock with any of the buttons, and if I forget to manually lock my rear doors, they are left unlocked and someone can break into my car, resulting in injury.
My driver door does not lock and unlock automatically. This poses a risk because my door remains unlocked when I think that it is locked. Also, I have to go in through the backseat of the passenger seat in order to get in my car posing risk of someone coming up behind me. I had the back actuators replaced a couple of years ago, I asked about the front since the car was still under warranty and I was told they would not replace them since they were not acting up at the time. I was told at one point it would be around $800 to have the front ones repaired. The lock has been working intermittently probably for the last year and a half, but have now completely quit working.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the forward collision avoidance system chimed and the vehicle started braking. The contact stated that there was no vehicle in front of the vehicle. The contact stated that the forward collision avoidance system system engaged after several school buses had driven past his vehicle in the opposite lane. The contact stated that he was able to disengage the forward collision avoidance system, and he continued driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by a local dealer or an independent mechanic. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.
I can be driving and all of a sudden the collision symbol starts flashing,it has done it at least ten times
Many times while I'm driving, I feel a jerky motion. when I am at a stop light, and proceed to hit the accelerator, it will not pick up. I have lost power, the car will jerk while I'm driving. The RPM will rave go up. It's very dangerous because I can be driving and the engine will lose or reduced power. I get a whining sound, like my transmission, is gonna go out.
AEB system malfunction for front end. Will not allow cruise control to be used because of it.
My issue began 1 month after buying the vehicle. Regardless if I'm on the highway or back road no transition from one lane to another needs to be initiated , my whole dash will light up red and the car will come to a complete stop , at this time I just hold on and brace myself .Im a RN w/2 kids I went back to the dealer they said they checked it out but on my own I found out the car was in 2 accidents those things were not revealed to me during the buying process. I didn't know how to report this Im pretty ignorant to this type of thing however I did complain to gm by way of phone few times I called early on. No one at the dealership will help. Im literally in fear of me and my children's life. I test my luck because I don't know what else to do and can't afford another vehicle. Please help this complete dead stop sometimes turns the back end of my vehicle if im going over 70 when it stops, for this reason I drive like 40mph. I hope knowing this issue you can help there is no reason I know of for this incident which is now happening approximately once a week. Again this happen almost immediately after buying ,I went to the Mngr no one will help but this is very scary for me and two children will it take a nurse dying in an accident before someone does something , I dont now what else to do Again out of nowhere no matter the speed the dash turns red all lights come on and vehicle comes to ABRUPT STOP.Thank you and its at this point once a week,by the way I only guessed the parts involved d/t effects of incident I do notknow which or what from the car would have these issues from because I absolutely bought it like this
Front crash warning malfunction on my dash
Vehicle goes into limp mode (shows all engine warring signs flashing ) and my speed goes down to 5-15 miles. This happens instantly and my car will jerk and basically stop where it is at. This is happening when the temp. is below 0 and it is snowing. There is no warring or time to get out of the way of traffic and on the hwy cars are coming up on you. Someone can hit you from behind instantly when this happens. My vehicle has been towed twice to the dealer and i have filed 3 complaints with NIssan consumer care but this is not resolved. All they can do is reset the computer each time. The dealer tells me this is happening all the time but they can not get it do duplicate when they have it . I have 18K miles and this has happened 3 times in total.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while using the key fob to unlock the doors, the rear driver’s and rear passenger’s side doors failed to unlock as needed. The contact also stated that over time, the front driver’s, and passenger’s side doors failed to open while using the key fob. In addition, it was difficult to unlock the front driver’s door manually with the key. The local dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided an estimate for the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.
Transmission went out at 145k miles
1. Power steering cuts off while driving. Occurs intermittently -- once every two weeks or so. I am guessing that the intermittent nature of this is why more have not reported it. Warning lights show on dash indicating ABS, etc. but codes disappear when car is turned off and back on. Yes, you can inspect this. We bought a BlueDriver OBDII with an app because we couldn't capture this and the dealer couldn't recreate the problem. I have the records of the codes. We were able to get the vehicle to the dealer while still running and they are fixing it by replacing the ABS computer (at significant cost). 2. Sudden loss of power steering could result in a major accident -- especially in emergency situations, at higher speeds or if the driver was weaker/smaller. My wife drives this car, and it was a major shock when this happened. Fortunately, she was moving less than 30 mph when this happened -- and she was not trying to avoid an accident. 3. The problem has been reconfirmed by Regal Nissan Service at this time. [XXX] See above for description of how hard it was to capture this condition. 4. The component has been deemed unworking. I believe that the dealer is just replacing it, however, vs, in-depth diagnosing at the corporate level. 5. The warning lights come on at the same time the power steering stops. There is absolutely no pre-warning. We have no idea if the ABS system also stops working because conditions were dry, speed was low, no slamming on of brakes -- but I am guessing that the ABS also wouldn't work. That's a guess. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while turning the steering wheel to the left or the right there was an abnormal clicking and grinding sound coming from nearby the front-end passenger’s side tire. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had been taken to a certified mechanic who stated that the Automotive electromagnetic compatibility system needed to be reprogrammed. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 185,165.
My 2020 Nissan Altima is having issues with the transmission . When you accelerate the engine Jerks, Vibrates , Shutters. It hesitates even when stopping acts like it doesn’t want to shift into another gear . My Tires are always loosing air as well . The Front of my car is always making a sound think suspension issues .
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the steering wheel seized. The power steering warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road, turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the steering wheel operated as needed; however, the failure recurred while making a turn. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle and drove to AutoZone and was informed that the vehicle was designed with an electric power steering. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving, and the steering wheel failed to operate as needed after turning off and restarting the vehicle. The vehicle was in the process of being towed. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V138000 (Steering); however, the VIN was not included. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 50,578.
The contact owned a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that her husband had driven the vehicle and had parked the vehicle in the driveway. The contact stated that 25 minutes later, the vehicle alarm sounded persistently. The contact stated that the husband opened the front door and saw that the driver's side of the cabin was in flames. The contact's husband used a water hose to extinguish the fire. The fire department also assisted the contact's husband in extinguishing the fire. A fire department report that indicated that the fire had started in the dashboard due to electrical shortage, was filed. There was no police report filed. There was no injury sustained. The vehicle remained at the contact's residence, awaiting to be totaled. The dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the failure was a thermal event; however, the vehicle was not inspected. No assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 132,000.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle and shifting into reverse, he became aware that the back-up camera was not functioning. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the rear camera wiring harness. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related it to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V628000 (Back Over Prevention), and the VIN was included, but parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 4,500.
Vehicle caught on fire while inside home @ 4:00am cst. Fire department and police department were at the scene as well. Fire department was forced to pry open the trunk to stop fire from spreading. Police gave police report at the scene due to the incident. State Farm is involved as well as the investigation team currently. State Farm insurance informed me to provide this information.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power with the key fob not available message displayed. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stopped at a service center. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and drove the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle was diagnosed and stated that the battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 21,171. The VIN was not available.
The forward emergency braking system on my vehicle disables itself. I receive a message stating "front laser obstructed". There is no obstruction on vehicle. I relly on the emergency braking system to give me a heads up on possible forwars collision. Problem started around 50000 miles. It went away for a few months then came back
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and making a turn, the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed by a dealer with hub bearing and tie rod failure. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.
I've taken my car for repair service 4 times due to a malfunction warning and front driving aids off warning. They replaced speed sensor as well as cv axle as well as a hub and bearing and it still is not driving right and has almost caused me accidents with my children in the car to where I pulled over and cried I was scared to continue driving. They cannot figure out the problem.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while attempting to open the driver’s door, the door was difficult to open. The contact stated that the door handle was operational however, the door lock failed to release as needed. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent at first however, the door became inoperable and no longer was able to be opened. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,698.
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.
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......
Key system error Started a few months ago. It happens at random and when it does the car won't start. It on occasion will come on while driving which I read can cause loss of control and not being able to turn the vehicle off.
Transmissions seem to jerk a lot when slowing down and picking up speed again, also all 4 door locks have gave out being unable to lock or unlock the doors using the bottom or key, this is a hazard especially if you have children sitting in the back seats
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.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving 55 –60 MPH, with a kayak attached, the roof rack detached from the vehicle. The kayak struck the rear windshield and fell to the highway. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a collision center. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. There were no reported injuries. The Police arrived on the scene and aided with the removal of the kayak and roof rail. The manufacturer was contacted and informed the driver that the kayak was not installed properly and sent the contact a manual but provided no additional assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled while in park(P). The contact stated that she was able to restart the vehicle; however, the failure recurred while driving at an undisclosed speed. The contact was able to drive to her destination. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.
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.
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.
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.
Problemas en los frenos
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 .
Tie rod ball joint snapped and broke at 15mph causing vehichle to loose control and forced off-road into a fence post. No Collison warning or lane departure warning. I had the vehichle towed back to dealership Nissan Wesley chapel. I was in process of possibly purchasing vehichle. Couldn’t find financing for me so received a letter rescinding their transaction. My ins agency Esurance concluded it a tota loss. Never heard back from Nissan or my ins. agency on what caused it to break. Everytime I asked I was never given a response. I have several photos of vehichle and found a recall for tie rod and ball joint fasteners on same make and year. Would like some answers to this safety issue being if I was going faster I could have been killed. 2 days prior to accident began hearing clicking noise when going over speed bump. Took vehichle for private inspection and a vehicle system scan reported systems w/codes for intelligent cruise control/advanced driver assistance system and laser/radar.
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.
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
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.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact stated that the message "Engine Malfunction" was displayed, and the check engine, traction control, and Forward Collision Avoidance warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the mass air flow sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure reoccurred days later. The vehicle was then taken to an independent machinic where it was diagnosed and determined that the battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The contact stated that the battery was replaced three additional times by several independent mechanics; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026