25th Jun 2006, 09:17

I had the same problem right after I purchased my 2002 Altima (used). I drive about 1000 miles a week, and I kept hearing a ticking noise when I started it.

Came to find out it was the head gasket. Nissan thought they fixed it by just replacing the gasket (began to burn almost 2 quarts a day), but it needed a new engine. Nissan finally put a new engine it in, while all the time, I had a rental car provided by Nissan.

I had 68k miles on it when this happened, but I had purchased the 100k mile warranty for $1000 when I bought the car. I would recommend if you purchase any brand car that you do this.

If I am not driving, I am not making money, so to know that Nissan will provide me with a car while mine is in the shop provides a great sense of relief.

27th May 2007, 07:10

Thank goodness that I've run across these posts: I use my Altima for driving back and forth to work and for running errands. The car now has just over 77,000 miles on it. I have kept-up its maintenance schedule, and I report any difficulties with the car immediately so that they can be fixed. Yet, I have been having trouble with my Altima's oil consumption for well over one year. The dealership did an oil consumption test before the car went off warranty. The car tested OK--according to the dealership. A few months later, the car was back in the shop and seems to have to go back in every other couple months for the same problem, which always involves a loss of oil and the corresponding problems--all of which the dealership has managed to blame on me. (Over the past few days, the "service engine soon" lamp came back on. My heart sank.) The problem is getting expensive--so expensive that I am considering a trade-in for another (non-Nissan) car. Too bad--I love the looks of the Altima and many other things about it, and I've been a Nissan/Datsun owner since the 1970s. I never thought I'd be quitting Nissan, but I now consider Nissans a bit shaky.