2002 Nissan Altima S from North America - Comments

I bought my 2002 Nissan Altima Sedan, new in 2002.

It ran fine up until 2004 when I started having to pour copious amounts of oil into it. My garage floor is oil free, so it doesn't seem to be leaking, rather burning off during driving, although, I've never noticed smoke or any burning indicators. I drive a lot, about 800 miles a week. The problem as gotten steadily worse. This week I had to put 7 quarts in over 3 days. It makes a funny rattling noise when it's low on oil, but NO oil or over heat lights have every come one. I had my oil changed only 3 weeks ago and since then my service engine light has been on. I finally got an appointment at the dealership today.

Generally, I like the car. If I could keep oil in it, I would REALLY like it.

This is a follow up to my original post: Busam Nissan in Cincinnati called... and said my Altima needed a new engine. No real explanation why... just that they ran some tests... and a new one would cost a minimum of

5 thousand dollars. I haven't even paid this car off yet (have 26 hundred to go). This is ridiculous. We are going to try and appeal to Nissan, but with 98,000 miles on it...we're thinking they'll say... sorry Charlie.

Guess we're gonna have to try and trade it in (like anyone will want it)...and buy a new car. Thanks Nissan...you've lost a customer.

If you knew you were putting 25,000 miles a year on your car why didn't you get an extended warranty? Most are for 6 years and 100K miles.

Sounds like you should pay off your car and sell it for scrap.

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.

I did purchase the 100,000 miles extended warranty. The problems was I didn't start to have oil consumption problems to right at that mark. So, now I was just told yesterday that I need to have a new Catalytic Converter and a

re-manufactured engine put in.

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.