Buyer Research

2023 Nissan Altima — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $19,000–$24,000. There is 1 high-severity known issue you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 15 Nissan Altima years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

Twenty-nine complaints and no recalls on the record for the 2023 Altima. That is a thin file, and a thin file is not a reliability rating — most of these cars are still inside Nissan's 36,000-mile warranty, and the complaints are still arriving (19 of the 29 were filed in 2025 and 2026). What is there rhymes with the 2020–2022 cars: a car that will not start or dies mid-drive traced to the battery, alternator or body control module; an engine cluster that includes one fire on the highway and a high-pressure fuel pump that came loose from its mount; and the automatic emergency braking either stopping the car for nothing or, in one crash report, not stopping it at all. The CVT that defined older Altimas has one complaint here so far. We would buy a 2023 at the right price after a charging-system test, a clean dash at start-up and a highway drive under overpasses with no phantom stop — while saying plainly that most of what we know about this year is borrowed from the years around it, not read from its own record.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 29 owner complaints for the 2023 Nissan Altima, and no recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. 34% of them are about one thing — electrics and electronics. That much concentration is a genuine pattern rather than background noise, and it is the first thing to check on any example you look at.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2023 Nissan Altima

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

Battery, alternator and body control module failures — car will not start or shuts downMedium

The largest cluster, a third of the record, is electrical: a new battery followed two months later by a new alternator on a car under three years old, a car that shows dashboard lights then goes dead and needs a body control module and reprogrammed key fobs after two weeks at the dealer, and a car that shuts off and has to be jump-started despite being run daily. A few reports in this cluster are actually the rear camera showing a grey or white screen with the guide lines still drawn, which the dealer could not reproduce. Have the charging system load-tested at the car — a healthy alternator holds 13.8–14.4 volts at idle — and check the camera in reverse before you drive off.

Repair cost (estimate): $300–$1,500

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (10).

Engine dies while driving with no warning; one highway fire; a fuel pump that lifted off its mountMedium

Six engine complaints, and three of them are a car that simply shuts off in traffic — at stop lights, in the middle of intersections — with no warning light, and a dealer that finds nothing. One owner at 70 mph got an 'engine malfunction, power reduced' message, then smoke and a small fire under the hood. Another reports the high-pressure fuel pump's mounting threads in the cylinder head failed, letting the pump lift off and oil escape around the top of the engine. A leaking oil pressure switch rounds it out — a cheap part a mechanic called a known problem. We have kept this at medium because six reports is not a pattern yet, but a stall in traffic is not a small thing: on the test drive, sit at idle with the air conditioning on for a few minutes and listen for a stumble, and look for fresh oil around the top of the engine.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$400 for an oil pressure switch; $600–$1,200 for a high-pressure fuel pump

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (6).

Automatic emergency braking stops the car for nothing — and once did not stop it at allHigh — wallet impact

Four complaints under forward collision avoidance and four under brakes, with three crashes in each — most likely the same incidents filed under both labels. One owner says the AEB had braked on its own before, then did not brake when the car ahead slammed to a stop and they rear-ended it. Another describes the ABS light coming on at 10 mph on a snowy hill, the ABS taking over on its own, and the car veering off the road into a barrier. A third has a spongy pedal and gouged rotors at 26,000 miles with dark fluid. There is no recall for any of this on the 2023. Drive it on a highway with overpasses and parked trucks on the shoulder, and note whether the AEB warning light appears on the dash at start-up — that light is its own complaint on this year and the dealer told the owner nothing could be done.

Repair cost (estimate): $200–$600 for a radar recalibration; $900–$1,800 for a radar unit

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the driver-assist and automatic braking systems (4), the brakes (4).

Windshield cracked with no impact, and the CVT has one complaint — keep the fluid fresh regardlessLow

Two visibility complaints, one of them a windshield that cracked with no external cause and was replaced under warranty; check the glass edge to edge in daylight because a replacement outside warranty is a few hundred dollars and a camera recalibration on top. The CVT that dominated the 2012–2017 Altimas has exactly one complaint on the 2023 so far. That is not proof it is fixed; it is a young record. A CVT fluid change every 30,000 miles is still the cheapest insurance on this car, and a hot 20-minute drive with no shudder or flare is the test.

Repair cost (estimate): $300–$700 for a windshield; $200–$300 for a CVT fluid service

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under glass, wipers and mirrors (2), the transmission and drivetrain (1).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗AEB warning light on the dash at start-up
✗Alternator reading under 13.5 volts at idle, or a battery that was replaced in the first two years
✗Rear camera showing grey or white with the guide lines still drawn
✗Any stumble or stall at idle with the air conditioning on
✗Fresh oil around the top of the engine near the fuel pump

Good Signs

✓Charging system tested at 13.8–14.4 volts at idle, with the printout
✓Rear camera bright and clear in reverse, in shade and in sun
✓Highway drive under overpasses and past parked trucks with no phantom brake
✓CVT fluid changed with a receipt, and a hot drive with no shudder
✓Remaining factory powertrain warranty confirmed on the VIN with a Nissan dealer