Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-48
Peeling paint.
I am trying to post this on every available message board I can find...
I recently purchased a brand new 1999 Nissan Altima (about four months ago). Two months after I bought the car the paint started peeling on the front bumper when I was washing the car. I brought the vehicle back to the Nissan dealership so they can take a look at it. They told me a "professional paint inspector" needed to take a look at it. I had to miss a lot of work bringing the car back and forth between the dealership and a body shop (I had to get an estimate to re-paint the bumper myself). Two months later, and after NUMEROUS phone calls, the paint inspector finally decided to look at my car. Needless to say, after two months of driving around in the wind and rain, the paint was no longer peeling on the bumper. Nissan is refusing to re-paint my bumper!! The paint inspector told them he felt the peeling was due to "rock chipping" (which is NOT TRUE)- it must have been a REALLY big rock to peel the paint off my front bumper, not to mention a "magic" rock that can peel paint but leave no scratches!! I purchased the car for over $16,000. The cost to re-paint the bumper is only $200. I've called Nissan Consumer Affairs and their "consolation gift" is two free oil changes. After all of the hassle I had to deal with they want to give me $30 worth of oil changes!!
I am sending this out so everyone knows of my experience with Nissan. After I purchased the car I dropped off the face of the earth as far as Nissan was concerned. I received no phone call asking me about my buying experience. They didn't care whether or not I liked my car. They didn't even thank me for buying a car!! And when I needed service I got the run-around for TWO MONTHS! The Nissan service department or Consumer Affairs made no effort to contact me. I HAD TO CALL THEM!
I am asking everyone to read this carefully and decide whether or not it's worth spending that much money on a car and getting HORRIBLE SERVICE afterwards. I WILL NEVER buy another Nissan vehicle - that's how bad the service is!!!!!
I feel your pain! I bought a white 1999 Altima. The door guard moldings on mine have turned a hideous shade of yellow (very attractive).
So far all I got is a total run around with Nissan finally saying tough sh**! They will only cover their moldings for 12 months. This tells me that they are having problems in this area... way to stand behind your product Nissan! Needless to say, this my first and last Nissan product.
Nissan cars blow up. Please research your Altima or Nissan car fires or any minor problems because it might be a major problem, which could leave you car-less or dead. Was an owner of a 97 Nissan Altima that could have burned me alive, thank God my kids were not in it.
I have a 2000 Nissan Altima and I have no problem with the car or with the dealership. I'm very happy with the Altima, after Ford, Pontiac and Chrysler products. All these cars made my life harder. What I'm try to say - there is no perfect car, go and check other reviews, Ford, Peugeot, Citroen, etc. all of them.
All cars have bad reviews. Peoples say they are never gonna buy another Honda or Suzuki or whatever. You are always gonna have a bad experience with your car.
Stick with Japanese cars. The best cars on earth!
Purchased a Nissan Altima new in 1998. Have really enjoyed driving this car. It is the 3rd Altima/Stanza that I have owned in a row.
Car gives good value for its price. However, I must pray you never have to deal with the Nissan customer service division or especially the Finance division.. They have no idea of what customer service is about.
My experience with them was enough to dissuade me from ever buying a Nissan product again despite a good car and reliable dealership.
I leased a 1999 Altima GXE. Within two months of owning the car, the brakes started squealing. They have replaced them three times and said it is "normal" for brakes to squeak. I could go on forever about the lack of customer service with this company. This began almost three years ago and to this day I am trying to get reimbursed for the squeaky brake repairs, because they still squeak!
Nissan is all my family buys. I just recently purchased a 1999 Nissan Altima SE, and I cannot stop bragging about it. It has 70,000 miles on it, and there is nothing that I would want to fix or change bc nothing has gone wrong... at all. That's not just on mine, that is on all of the Altimas, Maximas, and Sentras my family and friends have purchased. I do not know where all of yall live, that say yall have bad experiences with the Nissan Dealerships, but the one down here (Price Leblanc Nissan in Gonzales, LA) has been more than helpful and HAVE called me to check up on my Altima. To those of you who have had problems with the dealers, maybe you should look around at OTHER dealers in your area and see how bad they are. I'm not sure, maybe yall were rude and demanding when yall went to go see them. But I am an avid Nissan Fan, and Customer. I have always driven Nissans, and I intend to for a while... absolutely fabulous cars..IMO, Toyotas and Hondas are good, but they don't compare!
I purchased a new 2000 Altima. The paint is Sand. I have clear coat separation on both of my door mirrors. This is very evident from the discoloration and spots under the clear coat. The clear coat is starting to peel off. I too am curious of those rocks that don't leave a mark. I also read there are many complaints from Sentra and Maxima owners for simular problems. Regards.. Greg.
I work in the department that paints the bumpers. The bumpers are painted separately from the car body because it is a different painting process for plastic VS steel. If you bought the car brand new and the paint is peeling off the bumper, most likely there is no primer under the topcoat. The primer paint is called Adhesion Promoter and is absolutely necessary for the top coat to stick to the bumper. If you can peel the paint from the bumper and the back of the paint chip is the same color as the front then this bumper has no primer or the spot that is peeling was missed by the robotic paint application equipment (very rare). This particular defect is not specific only to Nissan. Almost all auto makers use the same process for painting plastic bumper fascias. As for side moldings, and mirrors they are painted by suppliers to Nissan although Nissan is still responsible for quality of those parts under the warranty. Although I am not a representative of the company and can't help you personally, I apologize for the trouble you had. I can tell you we have painted millions of bumper fascias at the Smyrna, TN factory and no one would intentionally let one get painted without the primer coat. Automation does break down on occasion, and unfortunately your vehicle was one of the rare exceptions to the millions that we have made that made it to a customer with a defect. I recommend you take your claim all the way up the Nissan customer service chain, especially with your new found information. To anyone who ever wrecks their car, make sure your body shop painter uses an adhesion promoter primer coat on the replacement plastic bumper fascias. Without it, your paint will peel off the first time you hit it with a pressure washer at the car wash.
I just bought a 2002 Nissan Altima. The car looks great
and handles well. However, my wife and I just took it for
a short trip, parked it, and went into a restaurant for
lunch. Returning to the car which was parked in a broiling sun, we got in the car with images of air conditioned breezes blowing through our hair (for me, what little is left of it) turned on the ignition and NOTHING HAPPENED! Eventually, after some fiddling and depressing thoughts, I got the car running. You can imagine my feelings, having a new car and not being able to start it. Later, on the net, I learned it was the ignition immobilizer anti-theft system, which was keeping me from driving my own car. I want to ask all of you old enough to remember the days when you got into a car, turned on the ignition, put it in gear, and drove away. Now we have remote controls for locking, unlocking the doors, and the trunk, valet keys to prevent theft, lights and horns that signal the car is open, closed, or open and closed at the same time, compasses to
know which direction you're going (I usually don't care
very much), volume controls for the radio or CD player
on the steering wheel, so you don't have to reach out one
half centimeter and turn the volume control knob on the
dashboard, and lots of other toys that are of questionable
value. My view is to let the thieves have the car if they
can't live without it. What good is it to me if I can't
drive it? Just give me an old-fashioned car that runs reliably and is economical. Is that too much to
ask?
I purchased a 1999 Altima SE, fresh off a 3-year lease, in June 2002 for $11,500 (don't think that's too bad for Kansas). The car has the overdrive automatic, 36,400 miles, is clean and looks great.
The only fault I have found so far is that the brakes squeal a little at times. Other than that, the car runs very well, rides great and is getting 24 mpg city. It's a little roomier than the '93 Subaru Legacy that I drove for 110,000 trouble-free miles. (By the way, my Subaru was a GREAT car and I wholeheartedly recommend Subaru to those of you who can afford them or can find a used one. I gave mine to my daughter to keep it in the family, and I think that's a common practice).
The paint on my Altima is remarkably shinny -- maybe it was a garage car -- and as much as I'd like to give it its first wax job, it has yet to need it. The bumper paint is fine, too -- although it is nicked in quite a few place there is no evidence of peeling.
I've put 1,500 miles on it so far and it seems like a great car.
I own a 1999 Altima GXE that has had its third set of front brake pads. For some reason they keep cracking even after having the rotor replaced when the car was a year old. I should have known to trade the car for another when I discovered the dash board had blemished in it after arriving home from the dealership. In other words, I have had nothing but bad luck with this car and would not recommend anyone to purchase one. After my extended warranty is over, I plan on buying replacing it with an Accord.
I have a 1999 Nissan Altima GXE with 52,000 miles on it. It has yet to cause me any problems! I did have to get the solenoid sensor replaced, but it was under warranty at 50,000 miles -and thank goodness - it was a $700.00 job with labor and parts. I have to get new brake pads now, but I expected that after driving 52,000 miles. If you are light on your brakes and learn how to use them conservatively, you can save yourself from getting new brake pads all the time. There is no reason ANY car should need new brake pads before 45,000 - 50,000 miles unless you abuse them. I take quite a bit of care of my car, washing it waxing it, getting the oil changed every 3,000 miles. If you treat your Nissan well, it will treat you well.
I recently purchased a 2001 Altima SE used with 16,900 miles on it. The car gets horrible gas mileage. I have averaged 21 to 22 mpg on the highway with the absolute best of 24 going downhill with my foot off the gas. This car has a 4 cylinder engine that gets mpg of most V8's. I do not recommend purchasing this car if you are interested in fuel economy.
In addition, the cup holders are horrible and they've done a much better job with the 2002 redesign.
RS
Carlsbad, CA.
I purchased a used 1999 Altima GXE back in September 2002. It had 67,000 miles on it and I bought it from a Nissan dealership. I can honestly say the only thing wrong with the car was the radio. The LED display kept fading in and out and the volume control was not working correctly. Big deal! I coughed up $250.00 and replaced it.
The gas mileage is awesome! From Manassas Virginia to Kings Park NY (325 miles total) we made it on 3/4 of a tank of gas.
For a 4 cylinder engine, the '99 Altima GXE is one powerful automobile. Smooth handling and low noise are super bonuses this car has to offer.
I have since put 8,000 miles on the car and have not experienced problem one in any aspect with the car.
Other than routine maintenance this is the most trouble free car I have owned in years.
My 1999 Altima GXE had an engine failure at 80,000 miles. They say this is rare. The car was a repo. My wife drove it for 20,000 miles and always had it maintained. I am rebuilding the engine for her.