Faults:

Failure of the intake manifold gasket caused a rough idle and caused the check engine light to illuminate. The dealer charged $1175 to repair.

General Comments:

The failure of the intake manifold gasket issue is very common in pre-2002 Nissan Altima. But Nissan has refused to admit their design flaw. A class action law suit is pending.

Faults:

Nothing wrong with car. Very reliable.

General Comments:

Car is very reliable. I had 183,000 miles on it and it had nothing wrong with it. The only reason I got rid of it was it was totaled by getting rear ended.

Very comfortable, lots of room. Most cars with 183,000 would have a slipping transmission, not mine though. I do need to mention I did take excellent care of my 01 Altima GXE.

Faults:

My Altima has been very good to me. I had to replace the idler pulley at 120,000 miles.

Then replaced the idler again at 122,000 (under parts warranty. Only paid labor).

Just last month my radiator exploded and caused a minor electrical problem. Which causes the security system to randomly unlock and pop the trunk.

Now the vehicle is at 143,000 miles and still running strong.

General Comments:

Nissan rebuilt the transmission for the 2001 series Altima to improve acceleration. Which could be better, but overall is nice.

My car was wrecked and rebuilt before I bought it. But that does not affect this little car's spirit. However, due to this, Nissan refuses to acknowledge that this car exists. So service is on my own.

All in all I'm satisfied, but looking to sell and go back to Toyota for their much better ride quality.

Faults:

Intake manifold gasket <-- Big surprise, I know.

Timing cover slow oil drip.

Idler pulley fell off when bearing seized.

Water pump leak.

Noisy/creaky suspension.

General Comments:

Chalk up another intake manifold gasket/rough idle/CEL problem.

You've heard it all before, now I think I'm going to have to get it fixed somewhere, as this is beyond my level of skill. As soon as it's back together, we're looking for a new car.

Our Altima is dying a slow and expensive death.

I replaced the water pump a few thousand miles ago, but it still leaks a few drops of oil a week from the timing cover.

If you thought the IM Gasket was an expensive fix, HAH! The timing cover is virtually impossible to remove and service. I was turned away from two different repair shops saying they won't even try it.

Basically, I have to live with it until we ditch this car. It's just not worth it to blow over $1000 to fix an little oil drip.

I also lost a few hundred bucks when the idler pulley for the drive belt started screaming, then one day the bearings seized and it fell off!, leaving my wife stranded at the grocery store.

So I had a shop fix it, as the repair for this includes removing the motor mount, jacking the motor up from underneath, etc. etc. etc... : (

Faults:

Hoses and belts replaced at 120000.

Windshield cracked due to stone from a truck.

Battery at 138000.

Suspension is the major issue.

General Comments:

I bought this car at 5 years old in 2006. It did have high miles on it, but ran (and still does) great.

However, considering I did not put much into the car, and I live in a state where the roads are not well maintained, the suspension is shot. I always thought the car's handling was not good, and the ride was at first acceptable (my Pontiac Grand Am had a terrible ride, so this was a step up), but slowly the suspension got rougher. Now the car is difficult to control on the roads, and and the ride is just terrible.

I am trading in the car in a few days. All things considered, I did get my moneys worth, and as far as general reliability, I can say it was dependable.