A direct rival for the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, the Nissan Altima has been hit with yet another recall. This campaign is the first for the 2024 model year, with Nissan recalling five units in total.
Suspect vehicles were manufactured at the Canton assembly plant in Mississippi between September 26, 2023 and September 28, 2023. Canton is also the stomping ground of the Frontier and Titan pickup trucks, although the Titan will be discontinued after model year 2024 due to abysmally poor sales. Think 15,407 examples in the first three quarters of 2023 as opposed to 573,370 examples of the Ford F-Series.
JTEKT Automotive, namely the supplier of the steering gear assembly, notified Nissan North America on November 8, 2023, about an incident involving a vehicle equipped with the same steering gear assembly as the Nissan Altima. According to documents published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the supplier manufactured 1,213 assemblies with a suspect tool.
Said tool was used to fasten the bolts connecting the electronic power steering unit to the steering rack. Repeated vibrations may cause the bolts to loosen, therefore loosening the connection. In this event, the steering gear could lock up, increasing the risk of a crash due to the loss of steering control. Of the 1,213 assemblies produced using the suspect tool, six serial numbers were matched with vehicle identification numbers. One of those vehicles – which is meant for the Dubai market – has been remedied as part of a port modification activity by Nissan Middle East.
The remaining five were delivered to US dealers and customers. Nissan North America isn't aware of any field reports or warranty claims related to the loose bolts. Rather than retightening the loose bolts to the correct specification, the Japanese automaker's US division has instructed retailers to replace the suspect steering gear assemblies from JTEKT Automotive.
Photo: Nissan
The repair should take no more than three hours, and owners will be informed of the supplier's blunder no later than February 9 by first-class mail. Vehicles equipped with Pro-PILOT Assist will also require steering torque calibration, and – obviously enough – all five recalled vehicles require a wheel alignment.
Originally a compact, the Altima became a mid-size sedan in 1997 for the 1998 model year. The current generation rolled out at the 2017 North American International Auto Show as a 2019 model. Refreshed in 2022 for the 2023 model year, the sixth-gen Altima is also manufactured in China by Dongfeng Nissan.
Based on the somewhat dated Renault-Nissan D platform introduced by the third-gen Renault Laguna in 2007, the Altima could be discontinued after the 2025 model year. An electric sedan is expected to replace it, which sounds plausible given that Nissan has already confirmed two EVs for Canton in 2025.
Both were previewed in February 2022 with sedan-like rooflines, with the other zero-emission sedan sporting the Infiniti logo. In the meantime, the combustion-engined Altima is under investigation due to VC-Turbo engine failures that also affect the 1.5-liter three-cylinder in the Rogue. If the NHTSA's investigation ends up in a recall, then Nissan will be required to recall the QX50 and QX55 as well. Both Infinitis use the 2.0-liter version of the VC-Turbo.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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