AutoUtility currently tracks 552 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2016 Nissan Altima. Powertrain & Transmission issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 235 complaints (42.6% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 28 filings cite a crash, 3 cite a fire, 17 report one or more injuries, 1 reports one or more fatalities.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 552 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Powertrain & Transmission (235 reports • 42.6% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Air Bags & Restraints (74), Engine & Cooling (73)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 28 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 17 injury filings • 1 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
552
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
28
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
3
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
17
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
1
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2016 Nissan Altima

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 42.6% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

235 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 3 crash reports 🩹 1 injury report entry
#2 Problem Area 13.4% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

74 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 13 crash reports 🔥 1 fire report 🩹 18 injury report entries
#3 Problem Area 13.2% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

73 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 3 crash reports 🩹 4 injury report entries
#4 Problem Area 12.9% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

71 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 4 crash reports 🩹 5 injury report entries
#5 Problem Area 8.5% of complaints

Body & Structure

47 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 3 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 4 crash reports 🩹 5 injury report entries
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Nissan Altima

Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis

AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.

Powertrain & Transmission 2.7% of complaints

Loss of Motive Power While Driving

15 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Nissan Altima

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11757234
Filed: 08/16/2026

"To recap: •Nissan manufactured defective transmissions. •Nissan granted me a warranty extension with a fleeting expiration date (2023) to shift the cost away from them. •In 2020, Nissan performed work on my car. The work they performed masked the problem, didn’t fix it. And it deferred the problem,..."

Incident Date: 07/25/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
Exterior Lighting NHTSA ODI ID: #11755925
Filed: 08/10/2026

"The contact owns a 2016 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the driver's side headlight had become inoperable. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed with an internal headlight failure, and it was determined that the headlight assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was..."

Incident Date: 06/10/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11754572
Filed: 08/03/2026

"My 2016 Nissan Altima has approximately 68,900 miles. When I am stopped and press the gas pedal, the vehicle sometimes hesitates before it begins moving. It does not accelerate normally, which is dangerous when I am pulling into traffic, crossing an intersection, or making a turn. At other times..."

Incident Date: 01/03/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Air Bags & Restraints NHTSA ODI ID: #11753769
Filed: 07/30/2026

"There is an active recall for the generic 2016 Nissan Altima OCS sensor, but it does not apply to my specific VIN apparently. This sensor is a problem with other vehicles of the same year, make, and model, but I am apparently on the hook for almost $1000 repair cost because the recall did not..."

Incident Date: 07/30/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: AIR BAGS
Body & Structure NHTSA ODI ID: #11752504
Filed: 07/23/2026

"Hood popped up while driving and smashed windshield and did additional body damage. Secondary hood latch safety mechanism was non operable according to mechanic who looked at it after incident. Hood latch was replaced as part of recall in 2022. Spoke to Nissan but they are dismissing because there..."

Incident Date: 07/19/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: STRUCTURE
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Nissan Altima

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Nissan Altima 947 45 10 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Nissan Altima Current Page 552 28 4 Current
2017 Nissan Altima 390 24 3 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Nissan Altima 225 11 2 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Nissan Altima 229 22 7 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Nissan Altima 178 16 6 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Nissan Altima 69 6 2 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Nissan Altima 20 4 0 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Nissan Altima 29 5 0 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Nissan Altima 41 7 1 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Nissan Altima 6 1 2 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Nissan Altima 0 0 0 View 2026 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2016 Nissan Altima

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 107 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 153 1 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 51 8 1 7 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 42 2 0 7 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 34 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 19 0 0 0 0
Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 16 1 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 15 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 14 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 12 0 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 1 0 0 1
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 11 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 9 2 0 1 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 7 1 0 3 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 6 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 6 0 0 0 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 6 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5 1 1 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 5 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SEATS 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 4 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 4 0 0 1 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 2 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 0 1 0 0
POWER TRAIN,AIR BAGS 3 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 3 1 0 3 0
Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS 3 0 0 2 0
STRUCTURE,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 3 0 0 0 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 3 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES 2 1 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,STRUCTURE,SERVICE BRAKES 2 1 0 5 0
Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 0 0 0 0
Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 2 1 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 2 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 2 0
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,ENGINE 1 1 0 1 0
AIR BAGS,STRUCTURE,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEAT BELTS,SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
EQUIPMENT,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,AIR BAGS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,TIRES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,STRUCTURE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VISIBILITY 1 0 0 0 0
SEATS,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION 1 1 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 1 0 0 0 0
VISIBILITY,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
VISIBILITY,STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
WHEELS,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
WHEELS,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 1 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (552). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (3)

1 OPEN 2 CLOSED

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
OPEN Engineering Analysis (EA) ODI Action #EA21002
Opened: 2021-09-17 • Currently Active

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

Affected Component: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious...

Active federal investigation. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Engineering Analysis (EA) ODI Action #EA19002
Opened: 2019-07-29 • Closed: 2025-06-16

Rear Suspension Control Arm Failure

Affected Component: SUSPENSION:REAR

On July 29, 2019, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened EA19002 to investigate instances of alleged rear lower control arm failures in 2013-2018 Nissan Altima and 2016-2018 Nissan Maxima vehicles. At the time the investigation was opened ODI had 91 consumer complaints alleging rear lower control arm failures in the subject vehicles.ODI was concerned about these complaints because many of them alleged an increased steering effort or los...

Closed without associated recall campaign. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Preliminary Evaluation (PE) ODI Action #PE18013
Opened: 2018-12-01 • Closed: 2019-08-21

Rear Suspension Control Arm Failure

Affected Component: SUSPENSION:REAR

PE18-013 was opened on December 1, 2018, with 4 complaints to ODI alleging incidents of the lower control arm fracturing at a connection point to the vehicle chassis due to corrosion. ODI has received an additional 87 complaints since the PE was opened. During PE18-013, Nissan indicated model years 2013-2018 shared a common rear lower control arm design. Nissan provided complaint and warranty data regarding 48 incidents of the subject failure. Th...

Closed without associated recall campaign. Official NHTSA File →
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.