Faults:

Front brakes had to be replaced the 2nd year I owned the car, but it was under warranty, and I never had any other problems with them.

Routine maintenance kept the car trouble free until about Year 10.

Spark plugs replaced after car wouldn't re-start after Year 11.

New alternator and 2 new belts replaced after car wouldn't start Year 12.

General Comments:

As of August 2007, I have had this car for over 12 years, current mileage 130,000. It drives like a dream -- still smooth and very peppy. I was fairly religious about taking it into the dealer for routine maintenance, and getting regular oil changes, but now I only take it in when it has a problem.

Plan to keep it another 2 years at least, as long as they little things that go wrong don't get out of hand.

I would buy another Altima in a second, if I thought I could get the kind of quality and design that I got in the 1995 model in a newer model, but my sister and brother-in-law did NOT get it when they bought one in the later 90's. The engine did not run as smooth, they had more problems, even the door-slam sounded cheap.

The 1995 GXE (5-speed) might have been a fluke, but what a great fluke it was. I see LOT of them on the road. Nissan should figure out what they did right with that car, and just keep copying it.

Faults:

I replaced the starter at around 90,000 when I first purchased the vehicle. I also had to replace the catalytic converter because I ran over a huge block of ice and my muffler rusted out twice.

The exhaust for this year is it's weak link, I believe it was the only year the altima had the O2 sensor plugged directly into the catalytic converter, I think 1995 was the year Nissan switched the Altima to OBDII. After 1995, the O2 sensor was plugged into the resonator pipe immediately after the Cat, which makes for a much more generic off the shelf cat.

General Comments:

The car has been great to me. I've abused it for 70,000 miles and it doesn't let me down. The only problems that I've had with the car, besides the starter were self inflicted.

Far opposite from my previous Mustang which I treated great, but always gave me grief. I treat my Altima like crap and it does not disappoint.

I've replaced the soft springs with Eibach sport springs, not because I'm a street racer or ricer, but just because I wanted better handling and the original Altima suspension was just too soft. I've more than satisfied with the results, as cornering, and more so breaking have been much improved.

The Altima has been a great car to me, has 150,000 miles at the moment and has no signs of quitting. I'm still on my original clutch and engine and I still get 25 mpg city and around 30 mpg highway. I drive 25,000 miles per year now, with the majority of them being highway miles at 80 mph and this car behave wonderfully.

There was a time when I would have liked this car to give up so I could get a new one, now I kinda like the idea of driving it till it dies. I suspect I'll have to take it well over 200,000 before that happens.

All I do is change the oil, I change it ever 10,000 with Amsoil 5w30 full sythetic and Pure One Ultra filters. Sure, the change intervals are long, and the total cost of the oil change (I do it myself) is around $40, but the car has no signs of quitting. I've been doing this for the past 40,000 or so miles and will continue to do this for the life of the car.

The first generation Altima would make a great used car.