2020 NISSAN ALTIMA Electrical System Problems
38 complaints about Electrical System
High Severity Issue
This component has been associated with crashes, fires, or deaths.
This Problem Across All Years
All Electrical System Complaints (38)
Locks no longer work with key fob or button within car and sometimes even takes multiple attempts to manually unlock. This poses a danger if needed to enter or exit the car in a hurry.
3 out of 4 of my doors have to be locked and unlocked by hand instead of using my Nissan key button to unlock my car. 3 of the motors are bad or it's some kind of electrical issue that goggle says is common in 2019 to 2020 Nissan Altimas. I feel like I shouldn't have to pay out of pocket myself to get this fixed if it's a noted common issue on goggle.
All 4 door lock actuators have failed, no warning lamps indicating this issue, first appeared in 2024. Car has been broken into as a result
My driver door does not lock and unlock automatically. This poses a risk because my door remains unlocked when I think that it is locked. Also, I have to go in through the backseat of the passenger seat in order to get in my car posing risk of someone coming up behind me. I had the back actuators replaced a couple of years ago, I asked about the front since the car was still under warranty and I was told they would not replace them since they were not acting up at the time. I was told at one point it would be around $800 to have the front ones repaired. The lock has been working intermittently probably for the last year and a half, but have now completely quit working.
Windshield Wiper Fluid Reservoir sensor going on even when reservoir is full. Gives drivers a warning light which is very distracting. If you go on line, this appears to be an extremely common problem that Nissan has not addressed. This can lead people to not know if they have fluid in reservoir as they will eventually ignore warning light or disconnect sensor (the two most common solutions in Nissan Altima forum).
My 2020 Nissan Altima Door actuators are all currently broken. The doors will not unlock with the fob and have to be manually unlocked. This can cause a huge safety issue if they are unable to be unlocked.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while using the key fob to unlock the doors, the rear driver’s and rear passenger’s side doors failed to unlock as needed. The contact also stated that over time, the front driver’s, and passenger’s side doors failed to open while using the key fob. In addition, it was difficult to unlock the front driver’s door manually with the key. The local dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided an estimate for the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.
Mileage: 45,000
The forward collision warning sensor,the rear collision sensor and the traction lights turns on and off from time to time . The transmission seems like its been force to accelerate
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH around a curve, the steering wheel locked up. The vehicle shut off and turned back on. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined the key fob battery needed to be replaced. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 66,000.
Mileage: 66,000
My issue began 1 month after buying the vehicle. Regardless if I'm on the highway or back road no transition from one lane to another needs to be initiated , my whole dash will light up red and the car will come to a complete stop , at this time I just hold on and brace myself .Im a RN w/2 kids I went back to the dealer they said they checked it out but on my own I found out the car was in 2 accidents those things were not revealed to me during the buying process. I didn't know how to report this Im pretty ignorant to this type of thing however I did complain to gm by way of phone few times I called early on. No one at the dealership will help. Im literally in fear of me and my children's life. I test my luck because I don't know what else to do and can't afford another vehicle. Please help this complete dead stop sometimes turns the back end of my vehicle if im going over 70 when it stops, for this reason I drive like 40mph. I hope knowing this issue you can help there is no reason I know of for this incident which is now happening approximately once a week. Again this happen almost immediately after buying ,I went to the Mngr no one will help but this is very scary for me and two children will it take a nurse dying in an accident before someone does something , I dont now what else to do Again out of nowhere no matter the speed the dash turns red all lights come on and vehicle comes to ABRUPT STOP.Thank you and its at this point once a week,by the way I only guessed the parts involved d/t effects of incident I do notknow which or what from the car would have these issues from because I absolutely bought it like this
The brake switch keeps coming loose making it difficult to start the car when pressing the brake down. When the switch is not secure, the electrical connection is lost and it is very hard to press the brake down. What if this happens in the middle of traffic? The issue also causes the brake lights to remain on and not turn off. This has to be a faulty part. My car is a 2020 and the it's too soon for wear and tear.
3 OF 4 VEHICLE DOOR LOCKS FAILED SIMULTANEOUSLY CAUSED DIFFICULTY TRYING TO SECURE THE VEHICLE. APPEARS TO BE A SAFETY VIOLATION IF VEHICLE CAN'T BE SECURED PROPERLY BY THE DRIVER. APPEARS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE NISSAN VEHICLES
I was driving on the Freeway and without warning my car reduced speed. Then there was a warning bell that showed engine malfunction power reduced. Then the check engine light came and my rear and front warning indicator came on
I can be driving and all of a sudden the collision symbol starts flashing,it has done it at least ten times
Front crash warning malfunction on my dash
The contact owned a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that her husband had driven the vehicle and had parked the vehicle in the driveway. The contact stated that 25 minutes later, the vehicle alarm sounded persistently. The contact stated that the husband opened the front door and saw that the driver's side of the cabin was in flames. The contact's husband used a water hose to extinguish the fire. The fire department also assisted the contact's husband in extinguishing the fire. A fire department report that indicated that the fire had started in the dashboard due to electrical shortage, was filed. There was no police report filed. There was no injury sustained. The vehicle remained at the contact's residence, awaiting to be totaled. The dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the failure was a thermal event; however, the vehicle was not inspected. No assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 132,000.
Mileage: 132,000
The information system head unit crashes (reboots) on demand when a MS Teams call is answered or initiated via CarPlay. Crashing of the head unit is 1) very distracting to the driver 2) avoiding it requires attention and ability to first determine incoming call is from MS Teams and then reaching down and unplugging the phone prior to answering it, causing a loss of Navigation and yet more attention loss 3) This loss of attention can cause lane deviation, lack of following traffic signals and other incidents. Problem is universal in Nissan head units in this series, google Nissan Head Unit Teams for tens of thousands of hits. Dealer and Nissan corp notified and ignore the problem. Nissan's partner in infotainment, Renault had the same exact issue and corrected it with an over the air update so it is easily fixed. Dealer inspected, MS and Apple as well, both say head unit firmware is at fault. Failure has occurred from day one, car is defective because of this significant cause of distraction. Please get this fixed before people die (if they have not already)
Vehicle caught on fire while inside home @ 4:00am cst. Fire department and police department were at the scene as well. Fire department was forced to pry open the trunk to stop fire from spreading. Police gave police report at the scene due to the incident. State Farm is involved as well as the investigation team currently. State Farm insurance informed me to provide this information.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power with the key fob not available message displayed. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stopped at a service center. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and drove the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle was diagnosed and stated that the battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 21,171. The VIN was not available.
Mileage: 21,171
Transmissions seem to jerk a lot when slowing down and picking up speed again, also all 4 door locks have gave out being unable to lock or unlock the doors using the bottom or key, this is a hazard especially if you have children sitting in the back seats
Key system error Started a few months ago. It happens at random and when it does the car won't start. It on occasion will come on while driving which I read can cause loss of control and not being able to turn the vehicle off.
What component or system failed or malfunctioned and is available for inspection upon request? On June 6th, the vehicle started losing power when accelerating, happened at night when driving back home, and scared me because there were no lights indicating any issues. The following day, less than a mile from the dealership, all the dashboard lights turned on, the vehicle lost complete power, and then i turned vehicle off and try to turn it back on but it didn't started. I called a tow truck and left it at the dealer. They informed me that they would provide me with the reason for the failure by the end of the afternoon. I was later informed by the dealership that there was an electrical problem with the transmission system. The system failure was related to a power train not getting communication due to a broken/damage wire harness that was close to the left side powertrain/engine mount. The harness was damaged because of the engine mount bolts broke and metal part of the mount cut part of the harness, creating an electrical short to the powertrain system as seen in the attached photos. This kind of short can definitely create heat into the harness that could have gotten my car to catch fire. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes, the same dealer informed me about the damage, and they themselves were puzzled because they couldn't find an explanation for how this could happen, but they did not take any ownership by the fact that that defective engine mount could have had me into a major accident if I was driving in the highway. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others? All the work was carried out at the dealership itself. And I don't think that the dealership send any notification to the manufacturer about the early failure of such an important component but going through different mechanics shops they all share the same opinion that the......
All 4 door actuators have gone out. I cannot lock or unlock my car with the key fob or manually with the key from the outside. The driver side door is unable to be manually locked/unlocked causing me to get locked in and out of my car randomly. Within the last month, it has gotten more frequent with the driver said. The rear doors went bad months ago. The passenger door started approximately 2 months ago and the driver door within the last month. This was confirmed by Modern Nissan in Winston Salem, NC on 06/10/2023 and I got a second opinion on 06/16/2023 who also confirmed all 4 door actuators needed to be replaced. There were no warning lights or messages.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while the vehicle was at a standstill in a parking lot and using the seat heater for approximately 30 minutes, the front driverside seat heater caught fire. The contact extinguished the fire with bottles of water he had available. The contact sustained superficial burns on his lower back and continues to have trouble breathing but hasn't sought medical attention. The contact drove to the nearest fire department but was under construction and was unable to file any fire report. The contact also stated later on that day he drove to a police department and filed a police report. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000. The VIN was not available.
Mileage: 55,000
I was driving the car at about 70 mph on the expressway and it just randomly de-accelerated dripping from 70-34 mph and would not allow me to accelerate and then proceeded to shut down stating engine stall I almost got hit from the back when the car de-accelerated and couldn’t do anything about it after about 10-15 seconds I pressed the gas again and it took off abruptly. I’m scared to drive my car anywhere that I’ll get hit if my car de-accelerates again. Nissan can’t replicate the issue to come up with a conclusion.
I have been noticing electrical issues with the vehicle that have been going unresolved. This is the third time I'm taking it to a dealership. On 15 Nov 2022 the vehicle gave a frontal collision warning with no other vehicles around it felt like the emergency braking system engaged because the brakes became solid as a rock. I had to put the car into park and restart the vehicle to begin driving again. Then on 16 Nov 2022 the car battery was dead around 4:48 pm and I had to get the taco shop's help, they gave me jumper cables and my wife's co-worker got the car started. Now, 18 Nov 2022 the vehicle is in another dealership waiting to see what they say and the car is staying the weekend to be evaluated.
MY BATTERY COUGHT FIRE AS I WAS DRIVING ALL OF A SUDDEN
Crash Malfunction is randomly coming on while driving. It comes on even when there is NO vehicle in front of you. It comes on at random speeds from 2 to 40 MPH. I feel that if there was a warning, it may not come on. Problem has been going Vehicle is being inspected by Nissan today however the technician cannot duplicate the issue since it is random. It has come on 12 times in the past 15 days.
1. The volume knob for the radio is VERY touchy. Turns all the way up when trying to turn it down. 2. When I have cruise control on and am trying to avoid getting hit by a car that has gone too far out of their lane, the lane keeping assistant will fight me for control. 3. If labe assistance is fighting me for control then that means it's not detecting that a car is too close to me. 4. Back up camera image became garbled like it was getting bad TV reception. 5. Car hesitates at times or gets a sudden burst of speed. I am in the beginning stages of making this list to take to the dealership; so they have not checked the car yet.
Driving on the freeway car started losing power, pulled over and then caught fire in matter of minutes the whole car was engulfed in flames. Fire department said it was an electrical fire near the battery and the fire wall on the driver side.
Driving car on the freeway and car lost power. Turned the car off and checked all the fluids to make sure they were at proper levels and found no issue. Started car back up and then started smoking, open the hood and an electric fire had started, tried putting out with a fire extinguisher and it did nothing 2 min later the whole car was in flames.
First, the chip has started to malfunction around 13k miles. Secondly, there is a lurch when the car first starts and an aggressive RPM jump and then drop, it begins to run fine upon warming up alittle. Now, at 20k miles the car is having issues with the wipers not spraying the windows well and the rear passenger door has to be locked manually from the interior.
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle and turning off the engine white smoke was suddenly present inside the cabin of the vehicle. After exiting the vehicle flames and smoke could be seen coming from under the steering wheel. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. A fire report was taken at the scene. The failure mileage was 17,930.
Mileage: 17,930
The back up camera froze and it kept glitching. This has been happening since May. Everything else seems to be fine while it’s happening but now it’s stuck like that when I try to back up. This is extremely dangerous as cars are now made with backup cameras as a safety feature. If that feature is broken it’s going to be very bad. Most drivers now a day most every driver relies on this feature. This has happened 5 times now, but this time it seems permanent.
PARKED THE CAR FOR ROUGHLY 10 MINUTES. CAME BACK AND STARTED CAR WITH ALL LIGHTS ON DASH ILLUMINATED. HARD TO DRIVE, HARD TO STEER AND COULD NOT TELL HOW FAST VEHICLE WAS MOVING AS SPEEDOMETER DIDN'T WORK. THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE, HAD IT TAKEN TO NISSAN DEALER. ADVISED THAT THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE LIGHTS ISSUES AFTER IT SAT FOR 3 DAYS BEFORE "RESETTING" ITSELF.
Mileage: 14,500
CAR SLAMMING ON BRAKES WHEN NO OTHER VEHICLE IS AROUND GAS GUAGE START TO READ WRONG
Mileage: 18,125
BLIND SIDE WARNING NOT WORKING - RADAR NOT AVAILABLE DUE TO SIDE OBSTRUCTION. SEVERAL TIMES THE INSTRUMENT PANEL HAS MALFUNCTION - NISSAN CLAIMS CAR MUST BE SPOTLESS OR IT WON'T FUNCTION PROPERLY. I HAVE NEVER HAD SUCH ISSUES WITH OTHER MAKES. THE EBS WARNING LIGHTS COME ON MOST OF THE TIME WHEN TEMPERATURE DROPS BELOW FREEZING. I THOUGHT THIS CAR PROVIDED SAFETY, INSTEAD IT DOES THE OPPOSITE. NISSAN CLAIMS WHEN THERE'S SNOW ON THE GROUND SAFETY FEATURES WON'T WORK. WHY HAVE THEM THEN? MAKE A POINT OF THIS BEFORE I PURCHASE. I WASHED THE CAR AND IT BLIND SIDE DETECTOR STILL WON'T WORK. IT WOULD BE SAFER TO PRODUCE A CAR WITHOUT SUCH FEATURES SO I DON'T GET DISTRACTED BY FLASHES ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. SOMETIMES THE EBS WARNING GOES OFF WHEN STOPPED SOMETIMES WHEN DRIVING. ALL OF THIS STARTED OCCURRING IN LATE NOVEMBER 2019 WITH ONLY 500 MILES ON THE CAR. IF THE TEMPERATURE IS ABOVE FREEZING THE EBS WARNING STAYS OFF BUT THE BLIND SPOT WARNING HAS NOT WORKED IN 4 MONTHS. I WAS AT THE DEALER TODAY (3/26/2020) AND HAVE TO RETURN TOMORROW.
Mileage: 500
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2020 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING IN REVERSE THE AUTOMATIC ELECTRONIC BRAKING ACTIVATED ALTHOUGH NO OBJECTS WERE PRESENT BEHIND THE VEHICLE. ADDITIONALLY, WHILE SWITCHING TO THE REVERSE THE MESSAGE INDICATING AN OBJECT WAS BEHIND THE VEHICLE WAS DISPLAYED. WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE HESITATED AND VIBRATED WHILE THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED. THE BLIND SPOT MONITORING SYSTEM ALSO EXPERIENCED INTERMITTENT FAILURES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL DEALER (METRO NISSAN OF MONTCLAIR (9440 AOTPEX ST. MONTCLAIR, CA) WHO INDICATED THE CRASH AVOIDANCE SYSTEM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURES. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 3,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
Mileage: 3,000