CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2005 Nissan Altima has two fairly significant problems with the floor pan rusting through & motor mounts breaking.
Altima owners report that up to a basketball-size hole develops under the floor mats where the floor pan metal rusts through. Average repair cost is over $1,000.
The broken motor mounts are less of a problem - they break at ~75,000 miles average & it's $400 to fix. Still, motor mounts should not break!
Front passenger side exterior door handle broke off when my son in law was getting into the car. It had been replaced once already for a sum of $155. I wasn’t about to pay another $155 to replace it a 2nd time, so you have to get the tips of your fingers under the stub to open it. Nissan should issue a recall!!
I had gone to the grocery store and the driver’s exterior door handle was fine when got in the car to go home. I parked the car in the garage and the next morning when I went to get into the car I noticed the handle was missing. I looked around on the garage floor and under my car but never found it. It was broken off and somehow just fell off the car on my 1 mile drive home from the store?? Weird!!
This was the 3rd door handle to break off my car. The passenger side front exterior handle broke off 4-5 years ago and I paid $155 to get a new one put on. The replacement handle broke off this past winter, now the driver side is broken. I can’t believe Nissan hasn’t recalled it!! It is truly a total pain in the ass to get the car doors open now. Don’t think I will go for another Nissan.
The front passenger exterior door handle just broke off when my friend was getting into the car. I was very surprised to find out how expensive that crappy little piece of plastic was to fix. It made me even more upset to find out so many other people also had the same problem. Why wasn’t Nissan recalling this problem?
This is the fourth handle that has broken off on my Nissan in the last two years, but three of the four broke in the last six months. I am so annoyed and angry at my car. I can wedge my fingers underneath the stub of handle left, but this is absolutely ridiculous and I don't have $800 to fix handles. I love my Nissan but this is making me insane. I'm glad to see that it's not just me having this issue, but it sure is annoying.
This is my wife's car & I ended up fixing it myself. Another door handle broke last week & 2 broke last year. this one is the RR passenger side & others were the DS & FP. There are great videos on You Tube that will walk you through the process of installation if you have a bit of mechanical ability. After market handles can be bought probably averaging $20.00 online. Caution, the DS handle is a real pain with the little rods & tight working conditions. All the replacements are black & if you want to avoid all the crap about matching paint colors buy the chrome covers that are available for around $25 $30 for all of the doors. Easy to apply, they stick on & cover all the door handle, dresses up the car a bit with the chrome accent. All the parts can be found on, you guessed it, Amazon when you run a search
Enough Bitchin', now some great advice, BUY A TOYOTA if you want a class company. they replaced the entire dash cover on a recall in 2013, yep, just sent the notice to take my 8 YO vehicle to a dealer to have it replaced at NO COST, dealer service man told me it cost around $1600 per vehicle. Toyota also did this on 3 other issues calling them warranty enhancements, the last one was this year on the same but now 12 YO TOYOTA vehicle. I'll rant more about the crappy Nissan AC systems failing on the 2005 Nissan car plus my daughter's 2008 Altima on another complaint.
- Larry K.,
Brandon, US
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I'm really unhappy about all those door handles popping off the 2005 Nissan. How do you get in the car. Open the door on one side and climb over the seat. I'm to old for this ???? The recall needs to be sent out. The handles started falling off 3 years ago. Last one fell off last month 1/ 2017.
All my door handles broke. Can you believe all of them broken. Had to order in from the dealer and have them put on. I also notice my friend that has the same car has two broken. I just shook my head and told my self it a defect.
I have been a Nissan owner since high school. This is the only make car that I have ever driven but that is about to change due to a recent issue with the driver’s door handle on my 2005 Altima. I was in the garage and opening the door when the handle broke in half. Shortly after that I noticed that there were other similar model cars in town with the same problem. I also researched on the internet and find that this problem is becoming more frequent with these cars.
I also found that there have been some customers that have had their handles replaced for free. I feel that what is done for one should be done for another. Customer service did not come to the same conclusion. I feel that I have been treated unfairly and asked for another consideration to fix this handle. Customer service said that the handle is under warranty for only three years. Well, I find that interesting as these handles generally don’t break until five years. There are plenty of different model and make cars older than mine in the parking lots and in the junk yard with working handles. I cannot believe they won’t stand behind such a glaring design defect in their vehicles. It is highly inconvenient and not safe to not be able to enter your car quickly.
Third time I've had a door handle snap off in the cold. Has happened in each of the last 3 winters. Rear passenger 2 years ago, front passenger last year, front driver this year. No significant effort being exerted on the handles. It just happens to be cold (around 20 degrees or below). Handles snap almost the same way each time. I can still use a finger to lift one edge of the handle, but paying $200-300 to replace handles is NOT cool.
Things went from bad to terrible, this is the 2nd handle that got broke while opening the door. Can't believe Nissan sold such low quality cheap handles. I mean 50 year old cars still have their handles.
This is the second door handle that has broken off of my car. The first one was a couple of years ago, same thing happened. It snapped off when attempting to open the door while it was locked, NO EXCESSIVE force was used.
2 Down and 2 left to snap off, awesome. It wouldn't be so bad if you could buy the door handle already painted for the same price they are unpainted. PLASTIC door handles, REALLY???
I have had 3 doors handles all break within 2 months. At first I thought someone is messing with my car. Then I go to a body shop and they tell me that this is a common thing to happen on the Nissan's. If this is the case they definitely need to do a recall on these plastic cheap door handles. It's going to cost around $300 bucks to repair. I feel Nissan should be sending me a check to get this fixed. Even though I have one door handle left on the passenger side, I feel that I may go ahead and have that fixed as well cause I know it's coming. SMH...
Again another door handle broke off while trying to open a locked door. Not much pressure was exerted on the handle. My best guess is the handle is made of cheap plastic.
Within 1 week both front door handles just snapped off in my hand. I wasn't using a great amount of force, just opening like normal. I have since seen over a dozen Altima's with the same problem. This has to be some sort of defect. It sucks trying to get the doors open without breaking a nail, not to mention a little embarrassing at times.
I am down 3 door handles just napping off- it is a 2005 Nissan and I was told by the service department that the handles are plastic and after 5 years they get brittle and snap off- not a defect and i would cost me $200 door to repair. I am able to slip my finger under the latch to open the door and will have to deal with it as I cannot afford to fix it. I will never buy another Nissan as they do not own up to their defects in manufacturing the car.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Front passenger side exterior door handle broke off when my son in law was getting into the car. It had been replaced once already for a sum of $155. I wasn’t about to pay another $155 to replace it a 2nd time, so you have to get the tips of your fingers under the stub to open it. Nissan should issue a recall!!
- Suellen J., Aurora, US