I would love to have more information on the 2002 Nissan Altima. It seems a lot less popular than most cars of its age. Would love owners and other experts to educate us on it.

Please, nairalanders, I need people's opinion on this. I may be making a wrong choice without your guidance

hi,
i have used a nissan altima 2002,
it is a very strong car, very fuel efficient and cheap to maintain
the only issue about the car is electrical faults nothing major
maybe breaklights once ina while.

i enjoyed it when i had it...and i sold it for very good price.
a friend we got it together 2009 still enjoys hers till date. good car..very durable

Thanks vinmol for your post. Seems encouraging. Let's share more experiences. Most people always complain of the eletrical issues. Please feel free to share your opinions. I need to sample quite a number.

Still waiting for more response

Still waiting for more response. Will love to know about the flip side of the vehicle; stuffs like fuel consumption, availability of parts, cost of maintenance etc

The model has several service bulletins requiring it to be taken in for repairs mainly sensor related and easy to fix if the technician knows what he's doing. If he doesnt, the car can be a nightmare.

Nissparts, thanks a lot. But how do you determine what is actually wrong? Can the owner do diagnositics at home on his own? Saw some stuff on a software for diagnostics but am not sure which car brands its meant for

U guys should talk about your experiences before I make a buy. Help me make up my mind

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Nissan/Altima/

be wise......

I personally like this car, but i have never owned it. But i've driven d V6 3.5 SE for some minutes tho, & the owner (a friend) hasnt had any serious problems with it, & he's been using it for about a year now. His only major complaint is fuel consumption.
If u eventually decide to buy one, & u r after good fuel economy, then make sure u buy the 4 cylinder 2.5 litre engined version ( a 2.5 logo is on the back & it has its exhaust pipe *usually 2 or maybe 1* at only 1 end). But if u r after engine power & u r willing to sacrifice that for fuel economy, then u can go for the V6 3.5 litre engined version ( 3.5 logo at d back, exhaust pipes at BOTH ends, side skirts). The V6 3.5 SE is a sport car i tell you. It is FAST.
i'll be following this thread still coz i'm hoping to still own the 2.5SL (''full options'' but 4 cylinders) version in future

Find Out!:
I personally like this car, but i have never owned it. But i've driven d V6 3.5 SE for some minutes tho, & the owner (a friend) hasnt had any serious problems with it, & he's been using it for about a year now. His only major complaint is fuel consumption.
If u eventually decide to buy one, & u r after good fuel economy, then make sure u buy the 4 cylinder 2.5 litre engined version ( a 2.5 logo is on the back & it has its exhaust pipe *usually 2 or maybe 1* at only 1 end). But if u r after engine power & u r willing to sacrifice that for fuel economy, then u can go for the V6 3.5 litre engined version ( 3.5 logo at d back, exhaust pipes at BOTH ends, side skirts). The V6 3.5 SE is a sport car i tell you. It is FAST.
i'll be following this thread still coz i'm hoping to still own the 2.5SL (''full options'' but 4 cylinders) version in future

[color=#006600][/color]thanks a lot. I think most people complain about fuel consumption of V6 engines, but most cars come now in it as a standard. Apart from that, it seems d complaint of sensors seem to be d major thing.

cjpanta: [color=#006600][/color]thanks a lot. I think most people complain about fuel consumption of V6 engines, but most cars come now in it as a standard. Apart from that, it seems d complaint of sensors seem to be d major thing.

True. They do consume fuel (except when driven on long distance journeys on free roads). Then, from the car complaints link posted earlier, it appears a lot of consumers had issues wt d 2002 altima. If u finally decide on purchasing, i advise u go for one manufactured in 2003, coz i xpect some errors in 2002 models (first year of that generation) will have been corrected in the ones produced in later years. However, if u decide to go further to 2005, 2006, be very careful with ur transmission, coz i think they come wt the CVT transmission (similiar to the ones found in the Nissan Murano & Maxima of the same years). And the CVT transmission requires a special kind of fluid ( CVT transmission fluid) & not the regular ATFs. Its available in Nigeria, tho its much more expensive than the usual ATFs. And if you dont take care of ur CVT gear........ Last i heard, a Nissan Murano gearbox costs about 800k!

So, i think u should keep ur eyes out for the 2003, 2004. Let the 2002 be ur last option. Price difference between them shouldnt be much. But like Nissparts said, take ur car to competent mechanics for maintenance & repairs.

. BUmp

I'm about to make a purchase of the V6 3.5L SE model. I wanna ask if the Mileage is OK? By that i mean can anyone estimate how far 500naira fuel can take him in the car? like iyana ipaja to V.I (assuming no traffic) and back. waiting

mikkyphp: I'm about to make a purchase of the V6 3.5L SE model. I wanna ask if the Mileage is OK? By that i mean can anyone estimate how far 500naira fuel can take him in the car? like iyana ipaja to V.I (assuming no traffic) and back. waiting

based on a friend's experience, 3.5L V6 Altima CONSUMES fuel. 500 naira is approx 5 litres. I seriously doubt u can do Iyana-ipaja - VI with that. Even with the regular 2.5L I4, i still doubt. i may be wrong tho.

^you are not wrong