We bought a 2002 Nissan Altima 2.5S (auto transmission) new from the dealer in February 2002 (NY), based on our experience with our 2000 Nissan Maxima SE. WRONG CHOICE!!

While we put many miles on this car, it had always had oil changes every 3k miles and the typical maintenance required on it, not all the BS that they want to sell you, but the basics that all cars need. If we did neglect this car, I would not be on here trying to warn others from the WORSE purchase they could make, and join others that made the same MISTAKE we did.

The beginning of our problems started in July 03 @ 33K miles, when we had the car serviced and later that same day, had to have it towed (at our expense over the holiday weekend). Nissan would not reimburse us for that and we fought like hell with Nissan North America. It turned out that there was a recall for the crank shaft position sensor (why was that not addressed when we had it serviced that very same day?)

42K miles- precatalyst replaced along with fuel pump screen- part of another recall. The car was stalling while driving on the highway!

85K miles- had oil change and a few days later heard noise from engine, checked oil and LOW 3 quarts!! Filled oil back up and started to burn oil at each oil change- but never had it go 3 quarts low again.

92K miles (FEB 2007)- recall crankshaft position sensor and catalytic converter needs to be replaced AT OUR COST! This is the 3rd catalytic converter this car has had- and we had to wait 2 weeks as it was on BACKORDER!! EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION BEGINS and Anti freeze consumption begins. Contacted Nissan North America that dealer said we needed a new engine and another catalytic converter- they told us they couldn't do anything for us!! They know about these problems and I think that is why they had that recall for the precat, its cheaper to replace these precats and have them hold out longer than the originals from the factory, so therefore you put more mileage on the car and then when the BIG problem starts- SORRY your car had too much mileage on it.

115K Another catalytic converter is needed and oil consumption is over a quart a week and even with a replaced radiator coolant is starting to burn as well. 2 cylinders (1 & 3) have low compression- another attempt to contact NISSAN NA, with all the history of this car and FINALLY after 5 weeks of phone tag (we would give them a contact #) and they would call and leave messages at a different number!) We were told that the car needs TOO many repairs to fix, but if we wanted to BUY an NEW CAR they would give us $750. THE BEST was when I asked why does a car need 4 catalytic converters before 100K miles and the Nissan NA Regional rep tells me BECAUSE OF YOUR OIL CONSUMPTION- I asked why was I never alerted to this when I PAID for a catalytic converter- and they refer me back to the dealer??

The car was taken to an indepedant mechanic and was told that the Nissan remanufactured engines $5,500 would end up having the same issue as the original engine. The best way to repair is with a crate engine $6K plus it would still need a catalytic converter!!

I would never bought this car if I thought it would only last until 85K miles! The last 30K miles that we stretched out of this car have been EXTREMELY PAINFUL AND INCONVENIENT- and we were fortunate to have some help in putting band-aids on it- but the coolant and oil have to be checked daily, and it still had intermittent stalling & misfires form the burning oil and coolant.

We are now in the process of looking for an affordable and reliable car. I never thought I would buy an American car, but in light of the economy and lack of service and reliability of this Altima (many other minor issues with the car- too many to list) I am now looking at a FORD FUSION!!

GM may drop Pontiac, Nissan should drop the ALTIMA or give customers their money back and ADMIT the mistake they made with the precats on these cars and offer $10K towards a NEW CAR- that is how your retain customer loyalty.

My 2000 Maxima has been beyond awesome- BUT NEVER AGAIN do I buy from NISSAN.

I wanted to say everyone who is having these common motor problems with the 2.5s, I am an owner who had the motor replaced at 84,500 miles, the mileage on the car now has 121,000 miles and counting, I have installed an aftermarket header on the motor, got rid of that defective Nissan pre cat, which is famous for going bad around the 80k mark, around 100, 100 miles just over the 100,000 mile warranty Nissan actually 'Hummels Nissan' here in DSM said I needed a new motor at the current mileage, the original motor lasted till 84,500 miles, at 100,100 the replacement motor was junk also, till now i watch the oil very closely has not seem to have the common problems like everyone is having in fact

i know it cost more $ but the oil is changed at 2,000 miles, oil is checked once a week, i only put 40 miles a week on my car. I would suggest looking into options to having a different aftermarket header installed, and get rid of that precat thats on the manifold, in the long run this motor will last longer, I will also say at the 100,100 mile mark, the power vale screws on the butterfly plates did come lose one screw went into cycl 1, the dealership tore the motor down found the screw head in the manifold, it did damage to cycle 1 but not enough to cause a major problem, did score the cylinder wall, just told them to fix it, they replaced all the screws on the butterfly flaps and replaced the manifold gaskets, now I haven't had anymore problems to this day.

just a matter of having to baby this car. I think what the issue most are having their rough on their cars and they do not last. Its been over two years since ive had to do anything major with any repairs to the motor in the car, I havnt had to add any oil etc. The car is going to last me sometime, but anyone wanting more information email me at jdm50325@gmail.com, if you notice in the rust section, the one with the pictures of a nissan with floor rust thats this ride also, but those problems have been repaired, a good friend of mine fixed my floors for under $100 he loves this car.

I bought my 2002 altima 3.5SE V6 from a private owner. I drove for about a month and I started to hear a weird noise from the engine. I checked my engine oil and it was empty. I refilled 4 qt. of oil to it. The noise disappeared. I took it to the Nissan dealer to have the oil change done and have them thoroughly inspected the car to see if any leaks. No leaks was found. Nissan dealer did an oil change on 4/8/2009 when my car was at 108345 and now 5/14/2009 the mileage is 109660. The engine light came on, I check the engine oil and it was nothing on the dipstick. I refilled with 4 qt. of engine oil and the check engine light turn off. I really concerned about this problem. I don't know if it just my Altima only or many of you have the same problem too.

my Nissan is using excessive oil, and I'm extremely upset. i took excellent care of my car having oil changed every 3,000 miles and and maintenance upkeep to have this happen. with no solution from Nissan

Update from May 17, 2009: In addition to excessive oil consumption my check engine soon light keeps comming on, which Nissan says is my catalytic ic

ic converter. When I told them they had just replaced it they said i have two and now the second one is gone, you would have thought they both would need replacing at the same time.

My 2002 Altima needs a new engine due to excessive oil consumption. I CANNOT afford a new engine, so I am screwed. I owe about $4,000 on the car at this point!!! It also had issues with the coolant, where I had to refill it every 5 minutes. I also heard weird bubbling noises under the dashboard. The last couple of months have been a nightmare.

Now I'm stuck without a car . Oh and the idiot mechanic thought it was a valve so the day before the engine gave out, I spent $235 on a "quick fix" that didn't work. Never again will I buy a Nissan .... EVER!

My check engine light had been on for at least 6 months and I don't know why. I started hearing rumbling noises until finally the oil light went on. So I checked the oil and the dip stick was dry. I added oil to the car and noticed a few weeks later that I needed oil again. This was unusual since I don't drive the car that much. As time went on, I was losing oil quicker. I would drive just 20 minutes and would lose 3 quarts of oil. I told my friend about it and he said it sounds like you need a new engine and it's not worth keeping or fixing the car especially since we went onto this website and saw all the same problems. I bought the car brand new and I had the car for only 6 1/2 years with 85,000 miles.

I have been having a problem with the consumption of oil in my 02' Altima. From looking at others' problems, this seems to be a common. I am going through anywhere from 10 to 20 quarts of oil a month. There are no oil spots in my driveway, nor where I park my car at work. I have heard that it might be getting into the radiator? or that I need a catalytic converter ... not sure what I need, I just know that I need my car to run the right way. Since having this oil problem, I often have to crank it 7 or 8 times to get it running. Help!

Don't be fooled: the 3.5L V6 has the same oil consumption problem as the 4 cylinders! I too heard the engine clatter around 60,000 miles and took it to the dealership. They said it was low on oil but thankfully I did not incur any damage to the engine yet. Although I faithfully have the oil changed within Nissan's mileage recommendations, I figured maybe the mileage number was written down wrong or something on my reminder sticker and I might have gone longer than I should have. Anyway, well before my next oil change was due, there it was again -- the engine clatter. I checked the oil level and it wasn't even registering on the dipstick! I had to add 3 quarts of oil to get it back to full which meant I had less than 2 quarts of oil in the car. And I was only about 2500 miles past my last oil change. So, every 1000 miles or so, I got in the habit of adding another quart of oil. I guess that's still cheaper than having the engine replaced. I'm just waiting for the right opportunity to unload this piece of $#!T and get a new car! Which, of course, WON'T be a NISSAN.

First problems with car - not able to start it. Strange bubbling noise under the dash. These problems were associated, but not recognized until we paid $2500 for engine "repair". Then they found out that coolant was being routed into the fuel injector. That problem was finally repaired after many hundreds of dollars.

Then the check engine light came on and stayed on - catalytic converter. Couldn't afford to replace it, so we just lived with it.

Then the lovely oil drinking problem began. I put paper under my car every night to check for leaks. Religiously had my oil changed every 3,000 miles - always low. Then I started hearing rumbling, crackling noises. Didn't know that there was NO OIL in the car. Refilled every single week and the oil just disappeared. I carry a case of oil now all the time.

I was finally told by a Nissan service rep that the oil is burning because the catalytic converter is broken into pieces in the oil pan. I don't know anything about engines, but that doesn't sound good.

The only good thing about all of this is - get ready - if we put in the oil, the car runs great. So, at over 200,000 miles now, we just add more oil (so much for keeping the planet clean!)

I bought a used 2002 nissan altima from a dealership with 68000 miles. The engine light came on shortly thereafter. The thing that irks me the most is that they knew exactly what was going on with this car, yet they acted stupid for months. Finally after many visits to the service department, I was told it was the catalytic converter, and after several days I called to ask why this is taking so long and I am transferred to the parts department. I am told they are replacing the engine. I asked if anyone was going to call and tell me this? He said this is a good thing and I am like, yeah real good, I have been tortured for months with all this crap about driving the car for 800 to 1000 miles and then bringing it back over and over again. My personal favorite was that it was the gas cap not being screwed in properly, this is what is causing my engine light to be on for 6 months. There were many other things wrong including a major water leak.

Anyway the new engine only lasted 25000 miles and now I am losing oil again. They told me not to ever come back to the service department again. This is how they treat customers when they screw up. The customer gets blamed. I will be happy to be part of a class action suit. I just do not have time to initiate one myself right now. I called corporate and was told that they did me a good faith gesture by putting in a new engine and the new engine which is also bad is only under warranty for 12000 miles. I said are you kidding me? You can say this to me with a straight face. Since when is a car engine only suppose to last 12000 miles? This whole ordeal has been a nightmare. I called the finance company and they basically told me to bring the car back and take it as a voluntary repossession. I don't think I have a choice, I am so tired of fighting these people. The service department is clearly trained with these stupid responses because most of what was said to the others on here and on other sites was also said to me. My father was a mechanic and I knew from the get go they were screwing with me and I fought them tooth and nail to get them to fix my car. Had I not, I would never have gotten the first engine. I told them from day one that the engine was bad even though they kept denying this. I am so tired of this car, my beautiful car which I loved so much now makes me sick because I still owe money on it and it is a heap of junk. The car does not do well in a bad winter either. This past winter kicked the ----out of this car. Several parts fell off the under carriage this season and the car sounds like crap when you are driving. The Bose wouldn't work when it got cold outside. I call it a wuss car. A sissy car for warm climates. Not a good New England car. This car needs to be babied in order to keep it alive. Probably needs special oil to keep it's delicate sensitive engine from seizing every 60000 miles or so. This car looks pretty, yet it is high maintenance and I will never buy another nissan again because the customer service sucks unless you are trading in the car regularly. The first thing they asked me was if I wanted to upgrade. I said "upgrade to what? This is the deluxe version, top of the line." Stay away from nissan, corporate could care less if you have a problem.