2007 Nissan Altima
This year drew an ordinary 498 complaints for a Nissan Altima — the model's median is 390. What they were about is the unusual part: 28.5% of them mention bar, against 5.7% across the other years of this generation.
First year of a new generation. The Nissan Altima was redesigned for 2007. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 498 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 390 |
| Involving a crash | 30 |
| Involving a fire | 22 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 24 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- bar — 28.5% of this year's complaints, against 5.7% across the other years of this generation (5×). Owners wrote it as: bar, sway, sway bar, rear sway.
- smoke — 7% of this year's complaints, against 2.2% across the other years of this generation (3.1×). Owners wrote it as: smoke, caught, out car, smoke coming.
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.
What owners wrote
I OWN A 2007 NISSAN ALTIMA. I STARTED TO NOTICE THAT THE CAR WAS NOT AS STABLE AS IT USED TO BE. AS IT TURNS OUT, THE REAR SWAY BAR HAD SNAPPED INTO TWO. I MUST MENTION THAT THE CAR IS USED FOR A COMMUTE OVER PAVED ROADS AND HAS NEVER BEEN IN ANY ACCIDENT. APP…
HEARD A LOUD POP WHILE DRIVING FORWARD, PULLED OVER ONLY TO FIND A BROKEN STABILIZER BAR, HANGING ON THE REAR DRIVER SIDE. LOOKED ON THE WEB TO FIND MANY PEOPLE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. PART IS DEFECTIVE, CALLED NISSAN TOLD IT WOULD BE ABOUT $500.00. OWNED MAN…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 07V599000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- 08V521000 AIR BAGS
- 07V267000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
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 2007 Nissan Altima? What happened to yours?
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