Nissan Altima

jps4915 · February 2003

I've owned a 2003 2.5S for about three weeks and have not noticed the road and wind noise that you are experiencing. I did have the Ziebart sound deadener (undercoating) applied before vehicle delivery and I think this helps the road noise situation. I'd really recommend this -cost is about $160. Wind noise on my Altima seems fairly low, about on par with my '00 Maxima. You might try to isolate the source of the wind- one window/door or multiple windows, etc and have the dealer check for improper seals.

I've noticed a few intermittent rattles, but other than that, the car seems to be pretty quiet.

dan517 · February 2003

The horsepower with the stick is exhilarating! I can't wait for spring road conditions to really give it, as well as a good road trip to test the comfort over the long haul. I was told stick and 3.5SE is a rare combo, is this true?

stebu · February 2003

Any 4-dr passenger car with a stick is becoming a rare breed indeed. Especially, with the onslaught of manumatics. Don't get me wrong, I love your setup. I guess congested traffic patterns and a general lack of interest (some might say laziness) are taking over even the enthusiast car segment.

vocus · February 2003

I am with you on that one actually. I never learned how to drive a stick, and I don't really miss it. I have a manumatic in my car, and that's enough "fun" for me. I drive in traffic all time time (most of my driving is commuting), so I am glad to have the auto tranny.

Also, when you're trying to ref fights in the back seat between 2 toddlers (they're my best friend's, but they ride in my car alot), as well as change the radio station and occasionally use the cell phone, a manual transmission becomes a real hassle.

afty · February 2003

I'll go the opposite direction and say that one of the major reasons I bought the Altima was because it was available with a stick. I think a stick adds a great deal to the driving experience and makes the car more fun. I would not buy a car without one.

afty · February 2003

You really should learn how to drive a stick. You have no idea what you're missing.

vocus · February 2003

I have tried once to learn to drive stick, on a friend's 1995 Chevy S-10 truck. I stalled 23 times within less than a mile in the city. Not kidding, 23 TIMES. I counted. After that, I kinda lost interest.

I wanna try to learn to drive stick, but I can't get anyone to teach me. I know a friend of mine teases me when I use manumatic because I will sometimes downshift when stopping, and it kinda jerks the car. He's like, "I can smell the clutch burning now!". Smart mouth...

I actually talked a friend into teaching me on his '87 Jetta GT this weekend, so we will see how it works.. :0

ctalerico · February 2003

I went to Sheehy Nissan and I was originally looking for a 3.5. They didn't have anything close to the deal CJS2002 got. Even if they gave me enough for my trade I still would have had to pay 3-4K more than the 2.5. Carmax had more options on the 2.5 than the Altima's at Sheehy Nissan. This was back in August when there were no deals on Altimas. They were trying to talk me into buying a Maxima at Sheehy instead. $23,000 included everything on my Altima. Ok, to be fair I had to add a little to the bottom price to pay off my Alero ($1,000). I had to get rid of my Alero because it was a piece of junk and the longer I waited the worse it would get. I like my car but sometimes after reading these posts I think I payed too much. Next time I will do more homework (even though I thought that I had) before buying. Maybe I can make up for it with my low insurance rates. $960 a year. If you guys pay less than that I will have to go outside and kick the Altima! LOL! Thanks guys!

afty · February 2003

Good luck this weekend! Don't let the stalling discourage you. I stalled quite a bit when I was learning as well. The key for me was realizing that you need to give it some gas before you let out the clutch, and you need to slip the clutch a bit to get it going. Once you get that down, everything else is easy.

Also, try to learn in an empty parking lot or down a side street where you won't have to worry about traffic. It's much easier when you don't have to worry about people beeping at you when you do something wrong.

It's worth the effort to learn, trust me.

vocus · February 2003

$960 a YEAR?!? I hate you!

I pay $233 a month. Feel better now?

vocus · February 2003

I know now what I was doing wrong before. The person who was teaching me told me to let the clutch out quickly, not slowly. His dumb fault. :0

ultima · February 2003

I'm only paying $600 per YEAR with WAWANESA (1-800-640-2920) -- with a $500 deductible -- for BOTH my Altima and my 87 Nissan Truck.

I have the Truck listed as my "primary" and the Altima as my "secondary".

I also have a perfect driving record and am in my 30's.

Ya'll should at least call them and get a quote -- can't hurt??!

(:-D

regfootball · February 2003

learning how to drive a stick is kinda like 'learning a new partner' ('ahem'). First couple times you're kinda feeling your way, a couple of 'missed shifts' and then pretty soon it clicks and everything is nice and smooth, no missed shifts. Gotta stick with it and over time you can sense things like the movement of the parts inside the tranny through the shifter....feel everything glide into place.

Then, over time, if you do it often, it just keeps getting sweeter.

micheal stipe-'OH NO I SAID TOO MUCH'.

vocus · February 2003

My driving record has 2 speeding tickets on it (3 pts.), I am 24, a single male, live in the city, and have a Jetta turbo. My ins. company is loving me right now...

I turn 25 in June, and my premium will be cut in HALF! (I already asked my agent about that)

vocus · February 2003

My friend/co-worker said he would be willing to try to teach me this weekend, but we now have about 10 inches of new snow in the MD area. A sign, maybe??

Also, I went to the carshow tonight and saw the most beautiful blue Altima! I can't remember the color right off, but it was a 3.5SE. I can email a pic to anyone who emails me (see profile).

dan517 · February 2003

What do you guys put in your 3.5? I was told high grade, is this true??

ultima · February 2003

Depending on Gas Prices, I use either 91 octane or 89 Octane... I believe the manual states you should use 91, but I've not had a problem running 89.

I wouldn't suggest 87 for the 3.5 -- 87 octane, however, is what's recommended for the Altima 2.5 four-cyl.

aldan93 · February 2003

94000 miles, runs great like new, replaced OXYGEN Sensor at 93500 miles, other than that routine maint.! My 3rd Nissan! 1st one 85 sentra 168,000 towed to the junk yard, rot, never had a problem!, 1989 Nissan 127,000 miles sold for 1100, Never had a problem with these cars death and taxes reliable! Just thought I should share!

pda97 · February 2003

I, too, have a 97 Altima. Just curious, why did you have to replace the O2 sensor ? What did the car do ? Also, did you replace the fuel filter ? If so, when ? Thanx.

vocus · February 2003

I was bored on Saturday, so I went to check on the traction control availability on the Altima 2.5 models. Well, they had a 2003 Crystal Blue 3.5SE with every option, and I just had to test drive it (never drove an 02+ Altima before). It was a very nice car, and the interior didn't look as cheap for 03 as the 02s did when they first came out. A little evaulation:

Power: Wonderful! Step on the gas, and there's a constant rush of power that will quickly carry you to extra-legal speeds. Handling was good too. Hardly any body lean, and the car didn't feel as "big" as it looked to me. One thing I noticed, though, was that you can feel the engine idling when standing still. A little more pronounced than I am used to, but boy does that 3.5 have a sweet sound when accelerating hard.

Interior: As I said, the interior was trimmed better than the 02 models, so Nissan must have done something about this. The one I drove had Charcoal interior, and even the wood inlays were pretty tactful. When adjusting the power seat to accommodate my 6'3 inch frame, I noticed my head was kinda close to the roof, and thought it would feel claustrophobic. It didn't on my 10-mile test drive, and I had plenty of room to "move around" in the driver's seat. I sat in the back seat of the car, and my head touched the roof though (with sunroof, of course). It had nice legroom though.

Styling: The car's syling appealed to me, especially in the Crystal Blue color. Very nice. It accentuated the Altima's curves very well.

This car was a demo with almost 5000 miles on it, and the sticker was ~$29K (it had the Premium Leather Pkg., ABS/traction control/side airbags, and auto). It was marked down to $26.5K, but I know some haggling would lower that too.

I also test drove an 03 Accord EX V6 about an hour before that, and the Altima felt alot sportier than the Accord did. The Accord was very refined, but it felt a little boring to me (although more athletic than the previous generation does). I was also close to the roof in the Accord, and I found the Altima more comfortable for me overall.

Compared to the Mazda6, the Altima has a noticeably bigger interior, and the cockpit doesn't feel as "personal". The handling is not as good as the '6, but still very respectable. Of course, there was no comparison in the power department. The Altima won that, hands down.

Overall, I would say the Altima deserves a close look in the hotly contested family sedan arena.

aldan93 · February 2003

The check engine light came on for the o2 sensor, the car still ran fine, I could have gone to autozone and fixed it myself, but it was snowing, and -15 windchill!, Replaced fuel filter at 50K, I 'll be due this spring for tune up!!

squirreljam · February 2003

Hi all:
Anyone out there have any experience with St Louis Nissan dealers? Want to buy this week and don't want to go in blind.

Thanks,
Squirrel

aldan93 · February 2003

No experience, just ask them straight out for their best price! Trading in anything? If you think its high go to the next place with offer in hand and ask them to beat it!

schweikb · February 2003

Did you get a definitive answer on the availability of traction control on 4 cylinder automatic tranny '03 models?

vocus · February 2003

It's only available on the 3.5SE automatic, according to Nissan's 03 Altima brochure.

aero_smith · February 2003

Hello,
I recently put in a new wiring harness in my 00 altima. The body shop that put it in did a half baked job by handing me the car with some electronic components not working the way they should. eg. sunroof, glove compartment light etc.
I am also trying to check the security system. How do I make sure the car's security system is fucntioning correctly?
My friends honda gives off an alarm when you use the keys to open the door. I tried with the altima but the security system did not kick in.
Any pointers will be highly appreciated.

THanks,

Kirstie_H · February 2003

Don't forget trivia night on Wednesday, February 19, 9-10pm ET/6-7pm PT. Join other members for some trivia and member-to-member chat!

http://www.edmunds.com/townhall/chat/townhallchat.html

ctalerico · February 2003

I asked my dealer the same question about the security system and was told that it is not a car alarm. You won't hear any noise until the car is actually broken into.

pewter1 · February 2003

I purchased a new 03 Altima in Nov. 2003 and have been very satisfied with the vehicle. I must say that I have not experienced any of the problems you read on this discussion board. I have 4,500 trouble free miles on the car. No rattles or squeaks. I have had one oil change at 3,500 miles and there had been no oil usage with the oil level the same as when it was new. I was concerned about this after reading some posts about oil usage. 1,000 mile into the second oil change and, again, the oil level has not changed at all.

I do not have any problems with the 03 interior. I have polished pewter with the frost cloth interior and the interior does not feel cheap to me. Maybe that's because I purchased my Altima for around $19.K and feel it is perfectly fine for this price car. The cloth on the doors look nice and helps to dress up the interior along with the titanium accents on the radio and dash. The seats are very comfortable and there is ample room. The only change I would recommend is a redesign of the door panel so your elbow doesn't rest in the depression in the door for opening the door.

The 4 cyl. is very peppy and has run perfect thus far. Mixed driving mileage in the dead of winter (with the temperatures from 0 to 20 above and some well below zero nights) has been 25-27 mpg. I have also had not problems driving on slippery and snow covered roads as long as you treat the accelerator pedal with respect!

Many times I see negative comments on this forum and I felt it was necessary to hear from satisfied owners as well. Overall, I am very pleased with this car and would be glad to recommend it to a friend.

maxamillion1 · February 2003

Well, I was in Charlotte N.C. last night, and I stopped by Superior Nissan and Independence Nissan. It was almost 1 AM when I stopped (I went out for the evening) At Superior Nissan, I saw a Sonoma Sunset Altima 2.5S. It had black aftermarket leather, and it looked a 1000x better than the factory stuff. It's a shame how much better it really looked.

At Independence Nissan, there was an Altima 2.5S with gray leather, something not even offered on the current Altima. It looked VERY good on the frost interior.

Now, I am think Altima 2.5S with Premium Pkg., ABS and aftermarket frost leather.

vocus · February 2003

So you went to the future to get this Altima, eh? You said November 2003...

Don't get upset, I was just teasing ya. We all make mistakes.

bigbluff · February 2003

I have a 2002 3.5SE, my dealer recommended me to an after-market source for Wood Grain on-lay interior accents. What a difference! Much much better than the Factory installed. Of course there is still a bit to be desired, but now I can live with it.

payson · February 2003

I am posting this for my sister who has a 95 Altima with about 100K miles on it.Recently it has been making an unusual noise in the engine.When she took it to Firestone, they told her the timing chain needed to be replaced at a cost of $1500. She doesn't have the manual to the car. Can anyone advise does Nissan recommend changing this at a specific time or mileage, and if so, what is a reasonable price. Thanks

jps4915 · February 2003

Maxmillion1,

We leased two Altima 2.5S' in the past month (Polished Pewter and Silver) and put aftermarket leather in both. Both have the frost interior. The company that does the aftermarket leather for Nissan in the Midwest is Classic Soft Trim. They recommended a color called opal, which would create something close to a two-tone look (like in the Maxima), but I felt the two colors were too close in appearance to give a good two-tone look. So we matched the medium gray in the interior (the color of the plastic, not the cloth) and the appropriate color from CST was nickel. We ordered perforated leather for the seating areas and the leather looks very sharp. The perforated leather creates some visual texture variety and hopefully it will breathe a little better in the summer. Been so cold here though that summer seems a long way away.

Good luck with your acquisition.

afty · February 2003

Timing chains are typically designed to last the life of the car, so there is no recommended maintenance interval on them. That said, the timing chain can fail and you may need to replace it, just like any other part.

As for the price, I don't know whether that is reasonable, but I would suggest calling other dealers and asking how much they would charge to do the replacement. That should give you an idea of the typical cost for such a repair.

maxamillion1 · February 2003

If I have aftermarket leather added, is it possible for the company to install heated seats as well? I have always wondered about that.

vocus · February 2003

From reading about peoples' experiences with VWs and trying to add heated seats, it's a very tedious and expensive job. Requires alot of wiring and stuff.

I saw 2 Altimas at the dealership with aftermarket leather when I was there about 2 weeks ago, and wouldn't choose either one because I refuse to have leather without seat heat.

talon95 · February 2003

Don't know about the Altima, but a friend recently had leather and heaters installed in her then-new 2002 Accord EX. Didn't seem like the heaters were any problem at all. If they can install them easily on an Accord, I see no reason why the same wouldn't be true for an Altima.

jps4915 · February 2003

Like Vocus, I was concerned about leather seats without heat. I owned two Maxima GLE's prior to the Altima and the leather seats were very cold in the winter (and hot in the summer). My second Max had heated seats and I used this feature extensively. The aftermarket leather installed in my Altima, however, has not been cold and we've experienced one of the coldest winters in recent history. The leather is more supple than the Nissan leather and it feels like it adapts to your body temperature. I have been quite comfortable without heated seats. We have two Altimas with the same leather and they both feel the same. I'm not sure if all afternarket leather vendors use the same leather kits, so leather installed in different parts of the country may act differently. Just something to consider before you commit to heated seats....

vocus · February 2003

Heated seats also help on long drives, preventing fatigue. I have back problems, and always fire up my heated seat (yes, even in summer) if I am on a long drive. Cuts the stiffness by a wide margin.

cjs2002 · February 2003

I thought I'd share my experience so far with the altima I got. I must say I love nearly everything about the car, and as for the inside, well you get used to it and to me it looks just as good as the insides of an accord. Anyways I got the 3.5SE with leather and heated seats. I must admit ya'll were right about the after market leather looking better. Last week I decided to let my friend who's father owns an after market shop install aftermarket leater... yes I know what your thinking why would I've gotten nissans leather in the first place, well they gave me a hell of a deal on the car like I previously stated, and I didn't want to wait for the same car with out the leather to come in so they nocked the numbers around a bit... well anyways it wasn't untill after they'd torn out nissans leather and put in the after market that I realized I should've thought about my heated seats... well when I got in I decided to try them to see if they still worked right.. and to my surprise they did.. so maybe that will help in the posts above. just be forewarned that I did this after I baught the car and had to go back and arguee with the dealership so that I wouldn't have anything dumb happen like void my warrenty, which after an hour of my father negotiating they said that it wouldn't affect my warrenty. I just recently took a trip to pick up my friend in PA, I loved everything in the car the whole way down. especially the power... yet the gas milage is something that is still slowly improving... I got 32 high way I think on my way down and back...I wanted to thank everyone hear for there help in answering my questions as well as providing there own experiences for me to learn from... thanks and I'll drop back in when I get back from my next adventure to Nebraska.... Se YA

cjs2002 · March 2003

well I've had the altima for a couple weeks now and still love everything about it... yet I've been faced with a delema... my loves my car.. so much in fact that shes asked if we can trade cars and I myself get a another new car...(I asked her why no just go buy one like mine... but her reply was that she HATES sales people at the car dealerships) well any ways I agreed and I'm off to look for another new car... yet while I was lookin at another altima it accurd to me that I really don't need a 4 door sedan.. and the thought of getting a sportyer car slipped into my mind... any suggestions... I've looked at a few and discovered already I don't like BMWs any other sporty cars worth takin a look at...thanx

lmp180psu · March 2003

how about an Infiniti G35 coupe, or for less an Accord coupe EX V6. I probably wouldn't look at the Accord sedan, but the coupe is styled very nicely IMO. Too bad there isn't a coupe version of the max or altima (the g35 is close enough though).

cjs2002 · March 2003

I know how you feel... I think a coupe version of the atltima would really blow away some die hard accord buyers... who in my opinion by the accord be cause they can get it as a coupe... I think it would be good... my thing about the G35 is that I'm affraid of its RWD capabilities... because I live in ohio... and we do see a bit of snow... I just don't know that much about if it would be different driving verses a front wheel drive car... thanx though

ultima · March 2003

I'd suggest looking at (in no particular order):

- Nissan 350Z
- Infiniti G35 Coupe
- Honda Accord Coupe
- Acura TSX (When it comes out)
- Mazda 6
- Mazda RX-8 (When it comes out)

pmaric · March 2003

Is '04 Altima going to get Stability Control?

vocus · March 2003

I don't know, but nothing in the class right now but the Camry and Passat have it. You would think they would have added it to the Altima, since it was redesigned for 02. Nissan might add it for 04 as an option, but I am sure it would require you to purchase the 3.5SE autoamtic with ABS, leather, sunroof, HID lights, and spoiler to get it...

syku · March 2003

I own a 97 Altima GXE with 72000 miles. Recently the engine light came on. Took it to a local mechanic and he told me that two of the Oxygen sensors need to be replaced. I called a local dealer also. They said, the prices are different for each senscor (there are 3 of them) averaging about 260 per sesnsor. What is a reasonable price to fix this? Incidentally, the engine light had come on a few months ago also and one of my friends told me then that if the cap of the gasoline tank was not tight, it could cause the light to come on. Sure enough, it was not tight and I filled the tank full and tghtly closed the cap and the light went away after driving for a few miles. This time also, the light came on after I filled the tank. But the cap seemed to be closed tight. I closed the cap tight again but the light still remains. Help..

vocus · March 2003

The only way to truly find out the problem with the car is to take it in and let them hook up the diagnostic machine to it.

I have seen several posts on here about O2 sensors going in Altimas and other Nissans though...

afty · March 2003

My parents had the O2 sensor fail in their '95 Maxima. Could be a common point of failure for older Nissans.

Nissan Altima

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