Faults:

Fuel line leak.

General Comments:

I like my Altima.

The only problem I have had so far is a leak in my fuel return hose which can be replaced for $50 and a few hours of your time. the car was not taken car of when I bought it so I'm not going to say don't buy one.

Faults:

I was sucked in to buying this car for much more than it was worth. I was (or am) young and stupid and excited to have a new car. The car's interior is in terrible condition. The front driver's seat back has broken on the left side. I could probably rip the back right off the seat with my own girlie arms. This means I can't drive the car long distances without needing a chiropractor afterwords. The seat back is only attached on the right and therefore slants quite noticeable to the left.

I can't open the trunk without using the lever inside the car for some reason. And I have to lift that lever twice to get it to pop.

The paint is very bad. Its coming off on both sides of the hood, even though I take pretty good care of the car.

Sun roof is broken, Oxygen sensor, no big deal.

General Comments:

This car seems to be very well made structurally and the engine and mechanics have given me no problems whatsoever, something I am very thankful for. But the interior is terrible!! I don't know what the previous owners could have possibly done to it. No one breaks their seat on purpose. I suspect some shoddy shortcuts inside with excellent engineering focused where it really matters.

Faults:

Last year, at about 113,000 miles, the engine started stalling, and the distributor had to be replaced to solve the problem. That cost $600.

At about 80,000 miles part of the brake system had to be replaced for I believe at between $1,000 and $2,000 (I don't know exactly the price because my father owned it then and paid for repairs).

Check engine light has come on numerous times, but no serious problems.

The oil light came on once, but the sensor was just bad - no problems.

The check engine light is currently on, but the problem is in the exhaust system and isn't worthwhile to fix - not important to the car.

The vent system now only works on the highest setting (which is 4), so you either have to have no air circulation in the car or have the air conditioner or heat blowing on you at full force. I do need to get that fixed, but it is a minor problem I don't feel like spending several hundred to fix it right now.

The battery died once, and left my mother stranded.

Starting the car is a bit awkward for some reason. Sometimes starting up sounds great, sometimes it sounds muffled, and you have to give it a little gas. I have gotten the starter replaced a couple times, but it still happens, but it still starts up every time.

The radio antenna does not go down anymore. It just stays up all the time, and the antenna motor runs for like 30 seconds when you turn the radio on, and 30 seconds when you turn it off. I feel lucky that it got stuck in the up position rather than the down position.

Also, the wheel bearings in my front, right tire were ground down, almost to the point where the wheel could have flown off. This was expensive to fix.

The sealant around the trunk to keep water out disintegrated twice, and the carpet in the trunk got wet and smelled like mildew. There was a puddle of water underneath the carpet where the spare tire is kept, but fortunately there is a small plug there, and all I had to do was remove it and drain the area.

General Comments:

This car, despite the above problems, has been excellent. It has 119,600 miles on it right now, the clutch has never been replaced, it has never left me stranded anywhere, never broke down on me personally, has great pickup, and good speed for a sedan (150 hp). It runs great, is extremely comfortable to sit in, has a decent stereo, air conditioning and heat still work, and has a really large trunk.

The gas mileage is also fantastic, and is usually between 25-35 miles per gallon. No oil leaks or burning. Overall a great car, and I expect it to run good to at least 200,000 miles.