2009 Nissan Altima
Complaints about this year name lock far more often than the other years of this generation — 53% of them, about 19× the usual rate of 2.8%.
Generation 1 of the Nissan Altima, which began in 2007 and ran to 2012. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 1,547 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 390 |
| Involving a crash | 36 |
| Involving a fire | 8 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 24 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- lock — 52.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the other years of this generation (18.7×).
- steering — 59.6% of this year's complaints, against 5% across the other years of this generation (12×).
- start — 55.9% of this year's complaints, against 7.3% across the other years of this generation (7.7×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- steering — 60% of complaints, 12× usual
- steering lock — 31% of complaints, 76× usual
- start — 56% of complaints, 8× usual
What owners wrote
STEERING LOCK FAIL. [VIN] DEFECTIVE PART. CAR WON'T START AND NISSA WON'T PAY FOR IT.
ELECTRIC STEERING LOCK (ESCL) FAILURE: CAR WILL NOT START DUE TO THIS FAILURE. VEHICLE WAS PARKED.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 08V464000 WHEELS
- 09V006000 STRUCTURE
- 10V401000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 09V358000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Nissan Altima was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2009 Nissan Altima? What happened to yours?
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