These help you judge whether this one is worth its price.
Costly problem zones ahead at your miles come with a Car Hunt Pass or Pro. See plans
Loading the EPA's yearly fuel cost
What about the price? Check the asking price on two listing sites. Buying from a dealer? Run its offer through the offer X ray.
Education, not financial or mechanical advice. Have any used car checked by a mechanic you trust before you buy.
The full record
Tap to open
What owners complain about
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Seller kit
Questions for the seller, test drive checks and price points
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Walk up to the seller ready
Questions to ask the seller of a 2012 Nissan Altima, built from this year's owner complaints and recalls. What to feel, hear and look at on the test drive, with boxes to tick at the car. Honest points to raise on price, from the records and never from guesses. Copy the questions to your phone in one tap.
Car Hunt Pass: $15 once for 30 days, a launch price. It never renews. Full refund if you ask within 7 days.
Write your offer
A ready to send offer for the seller, by text or email
Car Hunt Pass or Pro
Send the seller a fair offer
Type the asking price and your own offer for the 2012 Nissan Altima, tick what you found, and get a polite message ready to text or email. Its reasons come from this year's owner complaints, recalls and crash ratings, and never from made up repair prices.
Car Hunt Pass: $15 once for 30 days, a launch price. It never renews. Full refund if you ask within 7 days.
When problems show up
Loading mileage at failure
Will it outlast the loan?
The month of your loan each problem zone lands in
Loading the problem zones
Recalls
4 recalls on file
Loading recalls
Crash ratings
NHTSA's stars out of five, for each version it tested. Front crash stars only compare cars of about the same size and weight.
Loading crash ratings
Fuel economy
The EPA's estimates for each engine and transmission, and its own yearly fuel cost. Yours depends on how you drive and the shape the car is in.
Loading fuel economy
True cost to own
The loan, fuel, insurance and upkeep, a month and over 5 years
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What it really costs to own
What the 2012 Nissan Altima costs a month and over 5 years: the loan and its interest, fuel worked out from the EPA's figures for the version you pick, and your own insurance, registration and upkeep. A cost a mile, a link that reopens your numbers, and the breakdown copied to your phone in one tap.
Car Hunt Pass: $15 once for 30 days, a launch price. It never renews. Full refund if you ask within 7 days.
Every year of the Altima
Owner complaints for each model year, this one outlined. Tap a year to open it. The newest 2 are not judged yet. Bars are totals, so older years stand taller; the verdict compares every year at the same age.
Loading every year of this model
Before you buy this one
Built from this year's numbers. Whatever the data says, the car in front of you is the one that counts.
A history report such as Carfax or AutoCheck pulls in more of the car’s past than these checks can:
Crashes and damage reported by police, insurers or shops, even when it was fixed.
Service visits that shops reported, with the miles each time.
How many owners, for how long, and the states it was registered in.
Whether it was a rental, fleet or lease car, when that was reported.
It only knows what was reported to it. A clean report is not proof of a clean car. Ask the seller first: many dealers hand one over for free.
Red flags in a history
Salvage title
Usually an insurer called it a total loss. In most states it cannot be driven on the road until it is rebuilt and inspected.
Rebuilt title
A salvage car that was fixed and passed a state check. It can be fine, but it is worth less, can be harder to insure, and needs a careful inspection.
Flood damage
Water can ruin wiring and sensors months later. Be wary of a flood brand that vanished after a move to another state.
Lemon or maker buyback
The maker bought it back over a defect it could not fix. Ask what the defect was and how it was fixed.
Odometer rollback
A mileage reading lower than an earlier one, or a title marked not actual miles.
Many owners, fast
Three owners in two years can mean a problem each one passed along.
Gaps in the records
Years with no service or registration. Ask why: it may have sat, been off the road, or been rebuilt.
Title words and rules differ by state. Not legal advice.
Before you pay
Pre purchase inspection
Have a mechanic you choose, not the seller, put it on a lift and look it over before you pay.
Insurance quote
Get a quote on this exact car before you sign. Ask your own insurer and one or two others.
Not every car needs every fix. Run the VIN at NHTSA to see which are still open. Repairs are usually free at a dealer for the brand; ask before any work.
Steering
Oct 10, 2012 · Recall 12V494000
Nissan is recalling certain model year 2012-2013 Altima vehicles manufactured from May 10, 2012, through July 26, 2012. These vehicles may have been equipped with transverse link bolts and power steering rack bolts that were not torqued to proper specification.
What can happen
The affected bolts could become loose and fall out which may lead to a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
The fix
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will tighten the bolts to the proper torque specifications. The safety recall is expected to begin during November 2012. Owners may contact Nissan Customer Service at 1-800-647-7261.
Air bags
Feb 14, 2012 · Recall 12V055000
Nissan is recalling certain model year 2012 altima and versa vehicles. These vehicles may be equipped with side curtain air bags that contain an incorrect propellant mixture for the initiator component used, resulting in insufficient output of compressed gas.
What can happen
The side curtain air bags may not deploy, increasing the risk of injury.
The fix
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace one or both side curtain air bag modules, as necessary, free of charge. The safety recall began on march 12, 2012. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 615-725-1000.
Air bags
Aug 9, 2011 · Recall 11V408000
Nissan is recalling certain model year 2012 Nissan altima vehicles manufactured from june 15, 2011, through june 21, 2011 and model year 2012 Nissan nv vehicles manufactured from june 23, 2011, through june 28, 2011 because the air bag control unit (acu) was assembled incorrectly.
What can happen
The affected acu will not operate as designed and this issue may cause the air bags not to inflate in a crash when they are designed to inflate. This could increase the risk of injury.
The fix
Nissan will replace the air bag control unit free of charge. The safety recall began on august 22, 2011. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.
Suspension
Jul 19, 2011 · Recall 11V371000
Nissan is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 Nissan altima sedan vehicles manufactured from april 25, 2011, through june 10, 2011 at the canton, mississippi plant. The transverse link bolt may not have been torqued to the proper specification. This condition could cause the bolt to become loose while the vehicle is being driven, creating a rattling noise and vibration.
What can happen
If the bolt comes out completely, the driver may experience difficulty controlling the direction of the vehicle which could result in a crash.
The fix
Nissan will replace the transverse link bolts and nuts and tighten them to the proper torque specification free of charge. The safety recall began on august 8, 2011. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.
426 complaints; the part named most is the transmission and drivetrain
Unverified reports, not adjusted for sales. One complaint can name several parts, so shares add up past 100%. Filed Sep 6, 2011 to Sep 22, 2026. 55% name a part that is usually costly to fix.
Owners reported 24 crashes, 2 fires and 26 injuries in these complaints.
Transmission and drivetrain149 · 35%Usually costly to fix
Engine72 · 17%Usually costly to fix
Air bags57 · 13%
What one owner wrote about the transmission and drivetrain
I drove out of town about 40 miles and everything was fine, next day went to leave to come home and immediately noticed high RPMs going about 20MPH. I pulled over, turned the car off and turned it back on, started driving and same thing. I had no choice but to drive it on the interstate. I could get up to 60 very carefully but I was still sitting around…
Filed Jul 22, 2025NHTSA complaint 116754211 of 18 owner quotes
Car Hunt Pass or Pro
15 more parts, and 18 owner quotes
Every part owners name for the 2012 Nissan Altima, with their own words about what went wrong. Usually costly to fix among them: Body and frame.
Car Hunt Pass: $15 once for 30 days, a launch price. It never renews. Full refund if you ask within 7 days.
5 checks, with a close look at the transmission and drivetrain
The bar holds the middle half of the complaints that gave a mileage; the dark mark is the middle one. 120 complaints of 426 gave one. Owners file when something fails, so this shows when problems were reported, not how long the cars last.
Transmission and drivetrainCostly65,000 to 115,000 mi
Half of these 45 complaints came between about 65,000 and 115,000 miles, the middle one around 95,000.
050K100K150K200K250K
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Mileage for 2 more parts, 1 usually costly
The mileage band for every part owners name, and your car's miles laid across them.
Run the VIN at NHTSA to confirm every recall was fixed.
This year has 4 recalls on file. Recall repairs are usually free at a dealer for the brand. Ask the dealer to confirm before any work is done. Look up a VIN at NHTSA.
Ask the seller for the service records.
Look closely for any work on the transmission and drivetrain. It is the part owners complain about most for this year.
Have a mechanic you trust inspect it before you pay.
Ask them to look hard at the transmission and drivetrain. It is usually costly to fix.
Look at a vehicle history report.
It can show reported crashes, flood or salvage titles, and mileage that does not add up.
On the test drive, pay attention to the transmission and drivetrain.
Feel for slipping, hesitation, harsh or late shifts, and shudder at low speed.
