Excessive premature rust on front passenger floor pan. About 5"X10" in size and consistent with most other Nissan Altima rust complaints for cars of similar age. Since noticing the rust I have looked at dozens of similar Nissan Altima in store parking lots all with the same premature rust pattern. It appears that Nissan designed the floor pans with a drain plug which allows water penetration above the floor pan where it causes rust. The rest of the floor pan on the entire vehicle is in exceptionally pristine shape, but due to the improperly designed/installed floor plugs the rust has caused holes to develop in the floor pan around the front passenger compartment. Upon noticing the rust, I talked with a local mechanic who stated he hasn't seen a Nissan Altima of similar age in his shop that did not have identical rust patterns in the same spot. This is obviously a manufacturers defect and the rust in this one area around the drain plugs is inconsistent with the lack of rust everywhere else. Holes in floorboards of late model cars is a huge safety concern because most consumers would never suspect this would be an issue on late model cars which are otherwise not showing any signs of rust. Holes in the floorboards can allow penetration of deadly exhaust fumes, especially in stop and go type driving as well as personal safety risk as this weakens the overall strength of the unibody design in a crash. Also if undetected long enough it can cause seats to loosen and fall from their mounts. I strongly urge the national highway transportation safety board to issue an immediate recall since it appears the manufacturer is unwilling to acknowledge the risk it is putting on consumers.

- Copiague, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that two of the door handles fractured. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 135,096 and the current mileage was 135,348.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

Rusting to floor boards on both the passenger and drivers side. Approximately 6 inch wide hole in floor board on passenger side. I feel that this is a big safety issue which from other numerous postings on the internet is a problem with Nissan's from 2002 to 2007.

- Massapequa Park, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the floor boards had become corroded. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 95,000.

- Braintree , MA, USA

3 out of 4 door handles on my 2004 Nissan Altima have broken off in the past 2 years. I've seen many other Altima's with a similar situation. Each of my handles snapped right off with the normal force of opening the door. There is something very defective with how the handles are made and/or attached to the cars. I'd understand if only 1 handle broke off and I was the only person it happened to but when 3 out of 4 break and I've seen over 20 other cars in my area with broken handles then there is reason to believe this is a major defect and should warrant a recall by Nissan. I've called Nissan dealerships, Consumer Affairs and the main corporate office but they refuse to help me. The Consumer Affairs person hung up of me while I was still speaking. They are unwilling to assist in any manner or even listen to my complaint.

- Boca Raton, FL, USA

Had oil change. While on the lift, the mechanic showed me that the underbody under the passenger seat was rotted. Went on line and found pages of people reporting the same problem. This is obviously a defect and something should be done about it.

- Dunmore, PA, USA

Driver and passenger floorboards are completely rusted and will need to get repaired. It's very dangerous because someone can easily break thru it and injure themselves. I believe is a manufacture defect and Nissan should do a recall on this car before someone get hurt. I bought this car brand new and it shouldn't get this rusted out in only 9 years.

- Baldwin, NY, USA

The passenger side floor pan has started to rust completely out. The floor pan is starting to fall out and is a safety issue. If a passenger were to put too much weight on the floor, their foot would fall through. Them falling through could result in them contacting the road surface while the car is in motion or receiving cuts to their leg from the rust. This is a common problem on this generation of Altima and no recall has been issued.

- Laurel, MD, USA

While taking my car in for service (@ dealer) due to address a check engine light (catalytic converter), the service advisor took me out to my car to point out 2 large rust areas - 1 each on the driver/passenger floor boards. The entire rest of the car undercarriage has practically zero rust. The car was dealer maintained for the first 5 years and off and on for the last four years, but always with regular maintenance (oil changes, coolant/transmission flushes, etc.) at least once a year, I used the complimentary vehicle inspection - which does not specifically call out rust, but it had to be obvious. Rust like that does not just appear over night. I cannot believe that I was not advised of this sooner - in fact it was not pointed out at a dealer inspection just 3 months earlier. Since I do not perform the car maintenance I would have no other way of noticing, unless I specifically requested some kind of rust inspection -- or asked to go look at my vehicle every time it was in for an oil change or other maintenance. Reading through the complaints on this board and the internet in general, I've come to find out this is a common problem -- seemingly attributed to a faulty design related to a drain plug. When there is practically zero rust elsewhere, you cannot claim this to be the fault of the owner. I was not planning on getting rid of this car for at least another year or two, but now am forced to start looking. The repair cost is not worth the value of the car (based on mileage). While I would have once purchased a new Nissan with no hesitation (based on my Altima's reliability), I now am forced to reconsider.

- Eastlake, OH, USA

First of all I noticed on 06/07/11 that my 2004 Nissan altima3.5 SE passenger floor board has a big rust spot which is about 11 inches by 7 inches, but the rest of the floor board is in pristine condition. Huh. Also the timing tension chain tensioner went bad on 05/01/12, with 86000 miles and had to be repaired which was a very expensive to repair, and saw that this is a common problem on the Altima 3.5 L engine. Hmmmm. And then, the car kept on stalling out going down the road, was told it was the cam shaft sensors, and had to have them replaced, now my service engine light will not go off, but engine is running good now. I bought a new 2012 Altima 3.5 sl back in December 2011, kept the 04 Altima, most of these problems happened five months after buying the 2012 don't think.

- Lovespark, IL, USA

The drives side and passenger side front floor is rotted. There is no floor left in car. This car was garaged sense new. Nissan know about this problem, but has not done anything to fix this problem. When the car was new they replace sub-frame because of rot.

- Johnston, RI, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for routine maintenance when the dealer advised that there was a hole in the passenger side floor board and corrosion on the driver side floor boards. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 115,615 and the current mileage was 115,815.

- Lawrence, MA, USA

I am the sole owner of a 2004 Nissan Altima. I have only serviced this car at the Nissan dealership. Upon a routine oil change it was discovered that the passenger floorboard had a 12" X 24" area that was rusted through. The rest of the under carriage was in perfect shape (for now). I thought this rather odd. This car only has 68,305 miles on it. It is cared for with deluxe washing. It is kept in a garage. This should not have happened. I called my dealership. I was told this is not under warranty and that they have seen this before. They had Nissan reps in to check out other cars in the recent past. Notes were made. No action. I reported my situation to the Nissan Consumer Affairs. My case was kicked up to a second rep. He will be contacting my dealership to see what can be "worked out". I asked if they had other complaints like this, yes they had. He said if more people file complaints there could be a recall. File your complaint! spread the word!

- Grand Rapids, MI, USA

Excessive premature rust on driver and front passenger floor pan. Both are about 5"X10" in size and consistent with most other Nissan Altima rust complaints for cars of similar age. Since noticing the rust I have looked at dozens of similar Nissan Altima in store parking lots all with the same premature rust pattern. It appears that Nissan designed the floor pans with a drain plug which allows water penetration above the floor pan where it causes rust. The rest of the floor pan on the entire vehicle is in exceptionally pristine shape, but due to the improperly designed/installed floor plugs the rust has caused holes to develop in the floor pan around the front passenger compartment. Upon noticing the rust, I talked with a local mechanic who stated he hasn't seen a Nissan Altima of similar age in his shop that did not have identical rust patterns in the same spot. This is obviously a manufacturers defect and the rust in this one area around the drain plugs is inconsistent with the lack of rust everywhere else. Holes in floorboards of late model cars is a huge safety concern because most consumers would never suspect this would be an issue on late model cars which are otherwise not showing any signs of rust. Holes in the floorboards can allow penetration of deadly exhaust fumes, especially in stop and go type driving as well as personal safety risk as this weakens the overall strength of the unibody design in a crash. Also if undetected long enough it can cause seats to loosen and fall from their mounts. I strongly urge the national highway transportation safety board to issue an immediate recall since it appears the manufacturer is unwilling to acknowledge the risk it is putting on consumers.

- Baldwinsville, NY, USA

I have a 2004 Nissan Altima that I take good care of. I don't drive it in the winter so it doesn't see much salt.I recently noticed rust holes in both my drivers side and passengers side floorboards which is ridiculous and unacceptable considering the car is barely seven years old and so well taken care of.my opinion is that the metal used is far too thin and that it is a flawed design.Nissan should recall all of these Altima with this problem and make it right.I will never buy another Nissan again...

- Lakewood, OH, USA