CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2006 Nissan Altima has a trend of engine & transmission problems.

Excessive oil consumption is the main problem reported by owners. Nissan did a recall back in 2006 for oil consumption due to bad piston rings, but many owners report to us that the recall didn't fix the problem. The dealer only had to check the oil consumption rate. Typically 1 qt per 1,000 miles is "acceptable" per OEM standards ... that's a lot of oil!

The 2006 Altima also has a defect trend of CVT transmission failure showing up around the 100,000 mile mark.

It's an expensive repair at over $2,000 average repair cost. For more information see Nissan Altima CVT defect info on NissanProblems.com.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
71,221 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2006 Nissan Altima electrical problems

electrical problem

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2006 Nissan Altima Owner Comments (Page 1 of 3)

problem #60

Oct 132022

Altima

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The crankshaft or camshaft sensor has went out which causes it to stall or immediately die, which is a safety hazard yes the check engine light was

- Pocahontas, AR, USA

problem #59

May 012020

Altima

  • miles
The car won't start

- Lewistown , PA, USA

problem #58

Aug 312021

Altima

  • miles
Last year i had the same issues with my 2003 nissan sentra gxe that i am now facing with my 2006 nissan altima. The serpentine belt comes off because of the harmonic balance and this ones ac clutch locked up and is wobbling plus my transmission acts irratic snd the starter csused the cwr to stall and catch fire! Th3 stress and agony of depending all my savings fixing the car to end up stuck anyways and this is ongoing problems that keep reoccuring in all piece of sh** nissans and they want more money id like to file a lawsuit ! #BOYCOTT NISSAN

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #57

Aug 012021

Altima

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

UNKNOWN: While driving the car will stall. After restarting it, the car will then be stuck in fifth (highest) gear. The SES (Service engine soon) light comes on. The first time this happened, after the next trip, the SES light went out. Then the same thing happened. This is a danger because if this happens in heavy traffic, it could lead to a collision.

- Cheney, KS, USA

problem #56

Jan 252021

Altima

  • 116,389 miles
My vehicle's check engine light came on one day so I took it to a mechanic and they said it was the crankshaft sensor so they replaced it. Then right after I left my light came back on and I took it to the mechanic again and he said it was the same code for the crankshaft sensor. After checking it again the mechanic said there is some sort of eletrical problem there because it tells him to"check circuits" but even after messing around with the circuits my light is still on.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #55

Sep 012006

Altima

  • miles
The rear suspension has always been an issue. While driving the wheel will scrape against the wheel well. You can't fit more the two people in the back seat due to this issue. The two front exterior headlights don't provide adequate lighting to even see the car in front of you. Its extremely low/dense lighting even after changing out the bulbs. The electrical ignition switch to start the car has always been a problem. I have to turn the key, wait, turn it again, wait for the dashboard lights to come on, then finally the car will start. The power train gear control is another waiting game. To put the car in drive, I first have to slowly shift though each gear before finally putting into drive. Once I do put it into drive the car will suddenly jolt forward before I'm able to start driving the car. I recently had the transmission replaced cause it just stopped while in motion and struggled to start up again. It finally did, but it couldn't drive over 1st gear. I had to tow the car home. Also, few yrs back I had the head gasket replaced cause the car would shut off while I was driving. It would also not start up again if I had just turned off the engine. It needed time to cool off before restarting for me. And as of this moment, the car is in the shop again. This time it needs a new engine. While it's idling, it's making a very loud clunking sound. It's just never ending with this car. I know there were many recalls on the engine, exterior lighting and rear suspension but I never got the notices.

- Highland, CA, USA

problem #54

Feb 092019

Altima

  • 140,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When I drive the vehicle, the engine light constantly pops on and off the car consumes a large amount of oil each week, I have to check the oil and keep a case of oil with the filter in my truck to constantly fill it up. The car drains gas like crazy, and it's slow and driving and sluggish. The car has cut off on me in the middle of driving where I had to spend over $500 to get it repaired.

- Bayshore, NY, USA

problem #53

Apr 262019

Altima

  • 142,708 miles
Vehicle tries to start but won't. vehicle is stationary while trying to start. Battery is fine, there's enough gas, it tries to start but won't turn over.

- Smyrna, TN, USA

problem #52

Feb 012019

Altima

  • 18,600 miles
I was driving 2 weeks ago N I was donig about 45 or 50 when it just shut off by its self no warning or nothing N its costed me lots of money on top of just replacing almost the whole front suspension I was on a city sreet in motion when it just cut off 6

- Lubbock, TX, USA

problem #51

Aug 032018

Altima

  • 146,820 miles
My dte said 180 miles, with almost a half tank of gas, car stopped on me on freeway, no warning light of low fuel. Car stopped and an accident occurred because of this problem. The dte or gas gauge does not read accurately. Please I need help

- Berkeley, CA, USA

problem #50

Jun 222018

Altima

  • 167,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

After the engine has started it may shut down randomly while driving. If the car is shut down for any reason it will not start back up for several hours. This is exactly the same as a previous recall on the car from NHTSA campaign number: 07V527000. It has shut down twice now while driving at less then 40 miles an hour.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

problem #49

May 112018

Altima

  • 151,000 miles
Vehicle was being drove down major highway when all of the sudden it loses all power, get off highway on edge put it in park, turn key completely off and try to restart car fails to start check engine light comes on and stays. Get code pulled shows crankshaft position sensor a. get the crankshaft position sensor replaced and code cleared. Head home with car, does same exact thing that happened while on the highway in town. Have had everything else looked at and no one knows what to do to fix the problem. Car acts as if it's hard to start ever since this happened. Definitely won't be taking it out of town until something is done. Car will sit and crank and crank then eventually decides to start. Starter isn't issue it was previously replaced not even 2 months ago due to it going out.

- Kingman, KS, USA

problem #48

Mar 282018

Altima

  • 69,000 miles
Car was sputtering at intersections and hard to start. Took to mechanic twice & he could not find anything wrong; said he thought it might be a recall problem; say where there was a problem with the wiring harness on full pump shorting out; part is on national recall; service engine light remained

- Sarasota, FL, USA

problem #47

Mar 012017

Altima

  • 130,000 miles
Check engine light keeps coming on, stating low fuel sensoe out. $1200 worht of work, replaced the fuel pump and sensor. Now they are stating it is the wiring harness on fuel pump shorting out. Part is on national recall.

- Apex, NC, USA

problem #46

May 032017

Altima

  • 160,000 miles
Automatic transmission needs shift lock control units replaced due to faulty shift lock control units being put in by Nissan

- Scottsdale, AZ, USA

problem #45

Mar 142015

Altima

  • 59,200 miles
We would always comment about how people were in a hurry since they always sped past us when we were doing the speed limit according to the speedometer. Unfortunately, we hooked up a gps to the car and it tells us we're going 4 miles slower than what the speedometer says. Honestly, a speedometer should read correctly on a car that was bought brand new and never had anything done to it that would throw off the speedometer reading. (such as different sized tires being put on it)

- Hartsville, SC, USA

problem #44

May 012017

Altima

  • 195,000 miles
My car briefly stalls when I drive highway in everyday. Mechanics said it is crankshaft sensor issue. I changed it with my expense in 2013 but same problem happens again. When I call Nissan, it said my car is not under recall.

- Ellicott City, MD, USA

problem #43

Feb 152017

Altima

  • 85,000 miles
The vehicle threw a code for the camshaft sensor had that replaced then the vehicle threw a code for the crankshaft sensor. Midas replaced two of them still could not clear the code. The vehicle will start in drive but it will sputter while stopped like it is going to stall. When slowing down or coming to a stop the car will shut off and is very difficult to get started again.

- Bartow, FL, USA

problem #42

Jul 132016

Altima

  • miles
"taking recall"I got a 2006 Nissan Altima when I look under the cover I saw the connectors that goes to spark plug melted by over heat (small fire)my engine control module service engine light came on it read sensor one time crankshaft next time up and down stream sensor lot of different readings which is not safe for road which may lead to accident.

- Greenville, NC, USA

problem #41

Jun 152016

Altima

  • 128,000 miles
Nissan Altima 2006 repeatedly fails to start. Once we got it started we would drive a short distance and then it would die out. Very scary as we were on a traffic roadway. We proceeded to a service center to get a new battery and alternator but that only started the vehicle for a few moments then it died out again. Repair technician informed us it was the Nissan computer box indicating it was reading everything "backwards" and thus the car could not determine how to start the car anymore. The service center got in touch with a Nissan dealership and ordered a new computer box. The new computer did not work either! we are stuck with an inoperable vehicle. Help!

- Madison, AL, USA

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