Front brakes had to be replaced the 2nd year I owned the car, but it was under warranty, and I never had any other problems with them.
Routine maintenance kept the car trouble free until about Year 10.
Spark plugs replaced after car wouldn't re-start after Year 11.
New alternator and 2 new belts replaced after car wouldn't start Year 12.
As of August 2007, I have had this car for over 12 years, current mileage 130,000. It drives like a dream -- still smooth and very peppy. I was fairly religious about taking it into the dealer for routine maintenance, and getting regular oil changes, but now I only take it in when it has a problem.
Plan to keep it another 2 years at least, as long as they little things that go wrong don't get out of hand.
I would buy another Altima in a second, if I thought I could get the kind of quality and design that I got in the 1995 model in a newer model, but my sister and brother-in-law did NOT get it when they bought one in the later 90's. The engine did not run as smooth, they had more problems, even the door-slam sounded cheap.
The 1995 GXE (5-speed) might have been a fluke, but what a great fluke it was. I see LOT of them on the road. Nissan should figure out what they did right with that car, and just keep copying it.
First of all the late 90's Altima is the EXACT mechanical copy of the first generation, besides some moving around of parts and the change in sheet metal.
The engine will run just as smooth for every model from 1993 to 2001, because it did not undergo any changes. There was no drop in quality over the years unless you want to argue that the 2002 and newer cars were more of a lemon than the previous gens (in which case you might be right).
Just enjoy your Altima and remember that it is no fluke that imports are superior to any of the american crap iron.
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