2020 Nissan ALTIMA - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2020 Nissan Altima is an exceptionally safe vehicle, with an overall safety rating of 5 out of 5. It excels in various crash tests, including front and side crashes, as well as rollover protection. This model comes equipped with standard electronic stability control and forward collision warning systems, enhancing its safety features. Additionally, the Altima offers an optional lane departure warning system for added driver assistance.

Despite its high safety ratings, it is important to note that there have been 90 complaints and 5 recalls reported for the Nissan Altima. While these numbers may raise some concerns, it is crucial to address any reported issues promptly to ensure the continued safety and satisfaction of the vehicle's owners.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

90

Recall Count

5

Investigation Count

2

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2020 Nissan Altima 4 DR FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2020 Nissan Altima 4 DR FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

Standard
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

Optional

2020 Nissan Altima 4 DR FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2020 Nissan Altima 4 DR FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2020 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 4 4
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 4 4

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2020 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 3 4 4
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 3 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 4 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2020 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 5 5
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2020 Nissan ALTIMA

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"caught on fire, burst into flames within minutes of seeing smoke. my son barely got out before it blew up. his dog in the backseat unfortunately didn’t make it out. would like investigation on what could have caused this. before someone else loses theryre life"
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2023-05-02
Complaint:
"all of a sudden, heard a very loud bang and the back window shattered and was pushed outward. we were driving slow and in an open space; nothing hit the window. it did not have any prior cracks or chips in it. this issue has been reported with other nissan altimas, however my specific vin did not fall under this recall."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2022-12-09
Complaint:
"i leased a 2020 nissan altima sl in january. 2020. i've been in isolation for 13 months because of a high risk of contracting covid19. i turned on my car periodically and saw an alert on the dashboard.i called the manager of continental nissan where i leased the car. he told me it had to do with the rear sensors and advised me to wipe them, which i did. however, when i backed up my car today the rear sensors did not go off when i got very close to my neighbor's garage door. i have a case #43362334. the nissan representative told me that i would be responsible for any repairs to the rear sensors, which is preposterous. i did not drive the vehicle for over a year.moreover, there are recalls on 2020/2021 altimas. nissan is putting me at danger of a rear end collision/damage."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2022-08-03
Complaint:
"just purchased my car 2 months ago, and i'm starting to see chips/crack on the top of the winshield. i didn't hit anything or any debri. i beleive this is a defect. i am going to see the dealership, and see what they tell me."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2022-05-08
Complaint:
"i know this is a well known issue specially for android phone users. i am having a problem with the headunit when playing a sound through android auto. i have been researching for solutions but nothing for the altima. software update to 0910 fixed the nissan sentra music stuttering issue but nissan haven't done it to the altimas. i have been going back and forth to my dealership and they always say the engineering department are looking onto it. my car is a 2020 altima and this has been going on ever since (2019) this newer model (l34) had came out and still no fix. and the dealership barely knew this issue.. maybe because there is more apple users than android users. who knows."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2021-02-07
Complaint:
"car rattles when goin over pot holes could be a recall from a 2013 nissan cause that car rattled"
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2021-06-08
Complaint:
"first my windshield shattered from a small pebble, no biggie, well today my sunroof blew and huge whole and flew off"
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2020-08-08
Complaint:
"my father is currently driving one from enterprise we don't know if the glass had a hairline crack previously existing or if the car window got vandalized but the whole window is gone and the alarm system didn't even go off ether. i think the heat hit it and made the window explode glass from the window went everywhere the car only had 27,866 whenever we got it from the rental car place monday i feel like nissan needs to conduct an investigation into this incident myself and my father both told enterprise on blackstock rd we felt like the car had a defect."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2022-02-06
Complaint:
"i took possession of my car on 1/21/2020. the first time i used the navigation, on 2/3/2020 i missed a dentist's appointment i was going to for the first time.i entered the town then the building number and street name. the directions sent me in a completely opposite directions. on 2/25/2020 i was driving on the highway when an alert appeared on the board. it did not clarify the problem, it advised to refer to the manual. i took the car to the closest nissan dealership, martin nissan. the service manager, guy de leo, entered his own address, choosing the town first, and he got wrong directions as well. i contacted nissan, and the matter was passed to the escalation department. a man by the name of james, direct telephone number 615-725-7737, called me. i explained the two problems. he stated that he would review the matter and that nissan might replace the 2020 altima 2.5 sl. he called me today, 2/28/2020 and told me that he spoke to guy de leo at martin nissan, who told him that the navigation had not malfunctioned, although he saw it do so himself. as for the alert that appeared on the dashboard, he told james that he had scanned a page of the manual referring to the alert. james, just a nissan representative, decided that since no repairs were needed the car would not be replaced. i have no other car, and i am very fearful while driving, not knowing what else will malfunction. *ln consumer stated driving home on march 5th, 2020 2 more incidents happened. navigation hasn't been used for a week, would come on by itself while driving and gave directions. also, issues with ventilation where it would change on its own. manufacture wrote back stating car would not be replaced and car as malfunctioning and not safe.*jb"
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2022-01-02

Recalls for the 2020 Nissan ALTIMA

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"nissan north america, inc. (nissan) is recalling certain 2019-2020 altima and 2018-2021 titan vehicles equipped with continental tires. on the affected vehicles, it is possible that one or more tires were cured for too long during tire production."
Consequence:
Over cured tires may develop a break in the sidewall, resulting in sudden air loss or belt edge separation which could lead to tread/belt loss. Either condition can cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the tires, and replace them as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 11, 2021. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is PC798.

Component(s) Involved: TIRES
Date of incident: 2021-03-11
Recall:
"nissan north america, inc. (nissan) is recalling certain 2020 altima s grade vehicles equipped with continental procontact tx tires, size 215/60 r16 h, with tin date code 3320 and mold id s-419149. the tires may have been over cured."
Consequence:
Over cured tires can result in a sidewall break causing a sudden loss of air or the tread separating from the tire. Both conditions increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicle's tires to see if they are affected, replacing them as necessary, free of charge. The recall began December 10, 2020. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-8677669. Nissan's number for this recall is PC765.

Component(s) Involved: TIRES
Date of incident: 2020-11-05

NISSAN Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

NISSAN ranks 5 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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