30th Dec 2004, 14:42

I own a 98 altima. I love the car and have had very few issues. The only thing that has occurred is the idler pulley. That has been replaced twice now in the last 2 years. My car is in the shop again for the same issue. Once again, I have heard the famous "we can't get the problem to duplicate" line. That is my only gripe with Nissan... their service department!!!

6th Feb 2005, 03:05

My friend's got a '99 Altima w/4cyl and he puts it through hell. It's actually owned by his grandpa, but its "his" to drive. He doesn't have to pay for repairs and drives it accordingly. It has over 150,000 miles on it now and runs perfect.. I've driven it myself and it feels super-solid. Been in it on highway sometimes at speeds above 80mph and no vibration or shaking. Very impressed with how its holding up despite his abuse, and would buy one myself if I had the money.

4th Feb 2006, 20:38

I have the same problem with my 1999 nissan altima. It has an intake manifold leak requiring me to replace the gasket. according to the mechanic it is a four and a half hour job at 80 dollars and hour which computes to over 400 dollars. I have 94000 miles on the car and this is the only problem I have ever had so fix it I will.

20th Feb 2006, 01:05

I have a 99 Nissan Altima. It was my third Nissan and the first one that had less than 200,000 on it when I got it. (Other two were inherited from parents).

It had 40,000 miles when I bought it 3 years ago and now has almost 100,000 miles. I am happy with it so far. There are many small things that irritate me (wind noise, vibration, etc) but mechanically, it has been a really solid car, which is the most important thing.

There is always wind noise in the car, which irritates me, and it's starting to get that strange vibration other people have mentioned, so I think it's time to get the bearings replaced. Today, the windshield wiper motor gave out on me and left me stranded in an ice storm, but these are the only repairs I've had to do in the last 3 1/2 years.

Mileage seems to be pretty good without air conditioning, but the a/c sucks the life out of this car, especially as my car gets older.

Still, it's a solid car and I never have to worry about it. I expect to be driving it for at least 100,000 more miles.

(My 87 Maxima had 225,000 and my 92 Stanza had 250,000 when I got rid of them -- original motors. The stanza still had lots of life in it too. The Maxima, not so much.)

3rd Mar 2006, 09:28

Just a note to everyone - It is common for the intake manifold gasket to fail on these cars.

27th Jul 2006, 18:35

I own a 97 Nissan Altima GXE, and this is by far the most reliable car I've ever owned.

I bought it in 2002 with 85,000 miles on it for $5300 dollars, and got every penny out of it.

I average about 20k a year in mileage, and right now it has 165,000 miles on it, and it's still running strong.

I have only ever had to replace normal stuff - tires, brakes, starter, battery, alternator, muffler, and that's about it.

Once my windshield wiper broke, but I figured out what it was. The control arm under the hood had a broken bearing, so I just bought the arm for $20 bucks from the dealership and had a friend replace it for me, it took all of 5 minutes, so if you have this problem, don't go to the dealership, because they will charge you like 100 bucks for it (true story I checked first:) ).

I also cannot unlock my passenger side door with my key, but I think that's just cause my key is wearing out!

I drive this car all over the place, every single day, and run it into the ground, and it just keeps going like a champ. I can even afford a new car, but don't want to part with my Altima!

Everything still works on it, all the power windows, locks, a/c is ice cold, cruise control, etc all work great.

Gas mileage is great too. I've gotten up to 36 miles/gallon a highway trip one, no lie!

My car does have squeaky brakes, and has had them the whole time I've owned the car. All it is, is brake dust. I even had a friend take the tires off and spray the rotors with an air compressor and the sound went away, but within a few days it was back again. No big deal considering this car is super reliable.

It does shake in the front end, but didn't really start doing it until the last year or so. I was told it's bent rims also, and with 165k on it, I know the front end is just slowly succumbing to rust, and just wear and tear, no biggie considering it still has great pick up (I have the 5 speed) and is really fun to drive.

My original speakers just started to crack, but that's no biggie.

There really is no downside to this car! I also owned an 87 Stanza before this, and when I got rid of it, it had 190k on it, was all rusted out, but no matter what, it started every day without a problem.

These cars will run forever if you take care of them! I get regularly scheduled oil changes, and change the air filter, fuel filter and spark plugs like every year or two, since it's got a lot of miles on it (even though it's never driven like it needed these changed).

I still get compliments on my Altima, people think it's a better car than some of my friends that have newer Corollas or Sentras.

Sorry for those with problems, I've found that the newer models after 97 seem to have the most problems. I will definitely buy another Nissan in the future, but this time hopefully it will be the Maxima.

Any questions email me at christinadocs@yahoo.com

1st Aug 2006, 11:50

I have a 99 Altima, it has a rubbing sound from the right/front tire. Took it to a service center to get it checked, I was told it was the suspension, all it needed was to be greased and it wasn't a problem. Is there a problem with 99 Altima's front suspension, that would make it a defect, which Nissan has to repair at no cost? Other than this noise, car runs great, gas mileage is okay considering I'm on the road a lot.

24th Sep 2006, 15:05

I bought a nissan altima (1998) - used in 2001. Up until now it's been good to me. I have had to do regular things such as change brakes, oil, tires, and batteries. Now my "service engine soon" light has come on. Mechanic checked and said it needs knock sensors. After 2 days lights come on again. States hes got to put it on some machine and let it run. Got the car back. Light comes on again. He had an electrician looked at it. Sensors were loose. Fixed it. Now 2 days later same problem. What do I do at this point. Take it back to same mechanic or switch? Or take it to nissan dealer? Help!