How many miles will a Nissan Altima last?
Half of the 10,423 NHTSA owner complaints on the Nissan Altima that list mileage came after 71,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 134,000 miles. They cover the 1993–2024 model years in NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026, and each records the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the car lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 10,423 complaints on the Nissan Altima that list mileage, the middle half came between 40,000 and 102,000 miles; 26% came after 100,000 miles, 6% after 150,000 and 1% after 200,000.
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VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a high-mileage Altima.
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For $14.99, VIN Lookup delivers an original ClearVIN vehicle-history PDF for the Nissan Altima VIN you enter: title brands, odometer readings, accident and auction records on file. ClearVIN is on the U.S. Department of Justice’s list of approved NMVTIS data providers; VIN Lookup sells that original report. The records returned vary by VIN.
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How many miles is too much for a used Altima?
There is no hard cutoff. NHTSA's file records when owners reported problems, not when an Altima wears out, and how a car was maintained matters more than any one odometer figure.
Where the complaints cluster: the middle half came between 40,000 and 102,000 miles, and 6% came after 150,000 miles (593 of 10,423).
Complaint mileage rises with a model year's age: older Altima years were reported at higher odometer readings because they had more time to cover miles. The table below shows when owners of each year reported problems; it does not rank the years.
Complaint counts by model year, every year compared: Nissan Altima years to avoid →
Nissan Altima mileage at failure by model year
Each row is a Altima model year with 10 or more NHTSA complaints that list a mileage, with the median of those mileages: half of the year’s complaints came at or above it. Years with fewer are left out. Medians rise with a year’s age, so the table does not rank the years. A linked year opens that model year’s own page: its problems by component and its recall campaigns.
| Model year | Complaints listing mileage | Median mileage at failure |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 Altima | 13 | 122,000 |
| 1994 Altima | 16 | 114,000 |
| 1995 Altima | 21 | 110,000 |
| 1997 Altima | 20 | 88,839 |
| 1998 Altima | 29 | 94,000 |
| 1999 Altima | 30 | 99,000 |
| 2000 Altima | 84 | 83,000 |
| 2001 Altima | 99 | 66,000 |
| 2002 Altima | 799 | 88,155 |
| 2003 Altima | 725 | 84,900 |
| 2004 Altima | 225 | 73,480 |
| 2005 Altima | 903 | 86,000 |
| 2006 Altima | 647 | 90,000 |
| 2007 Altima | 394 | 60,000 |
| 2008 Altima | 697 | 70,000 |
| 2009 Altima | 1,287 | 78,500 |
| 2010 Altima | 282 | 53,953 |
| 2011 Altima | 177 | 70,000 |
| 2012 Altima | 307 | 75,000 |
| 2013 Altima | 1,670 | 65,000 |
| 2014 Altima | 726 | 64,000 |
| 2015 Altima | 544 | 57,000 |
| 2016 Altima | 295 | 58,000 |
| 2017 Altima | 167 | 55,000 |
| 2018 Altima | 110 | 36,000 |
| 2019 Altima | 76 | 16,147 |
| 2020 Altima | 47 | 34,000 |
| 2021 Altima | 13 | 44,011 |
Nissan Altima problems by component, with typical mileage
The five NHTSA component categories named most often in the 1993–2024 Altima complaints that list a mileage, with the median mileage of each. A complaint can name more than one component. Owners named the powertrain most often: 1,601 complaints, half of them after 70,000 miles.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|
| Power Train | 1,601 | 71,000 |
| Engine And Engine Cooling | 1,531 | 78,000 |
| Structure | 1,280 | 85,000 |
| Electrical System | 1,227 | 65,000 |
| Air Bags | 1,156 | 38,500 |
What these mileages can and cannot tell you
- They are self-reported. The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only cars whose owners reported a problem; a Altima that ran without one never appears in it, so these figures do not say how long a typical Altima lasts.
- Young model years pull the figures down: a car a few years old cannot have reached high mileage when its owner complained.
- A complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding, and the count rises with how many cars were sold.
- 5,202 of the Nissan Altima complaints in these model years give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every figure.
- NHTSA also holds 8 complaints for 2025 and 2026, fewer than 10 a year under a name whose typical year draws 40 or more; those stray filings are left out.
- NHTSA names counted: ALTIMA and ALTIMA HYBRID.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the mileage on its first row; a page is published only when its model holds 100 or more complaints that list a mileage. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-mileage.mjs.
Nissan Altima mileage questions
How many miles will a Nissan Altima last?
Half of the 10,423 NHTSA owner complaints on the Nissan Altima that list mileage came after 71,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 134,000 miles. Of the 10,423 complaints on the Nissan Altima that list mileage, the middle half came between 40,000 and 102,000 miles; 26% came after 100,000 miles, 6% after 150,000 and 1% after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no Altima that never had one.
How many miles is too much for a used Altima?
There is no hard cutoff. NHTSA's file records when owners reported problems, not when an Altima wears out, and how a car was maintained matters more than any one odometer figure. Where the complaints cluster: the middle half came between 40,000 and 102,000 miles, and 6% came after 150,000 miles (593 of 10,423). Complaint mileage rises with a model year's age: older Altima years were reported at higher odometer readings because they had more time to cover miles. The table below shows when owners of each year reported problems; it does not rank the years.
How do I check the mileage of a used Altima?
Compare the odometer with the readings on file for its VIN: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. A reading lower than an earlier one, or a long gap, is worth asking about. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a high-mileage Altima.