Misfire or rough idle on the 2001 Nissan Altima
When misfire or rough idle gets reported
Owners of the 2001 Nissan Altima report misfire or rough idle at a median of 70,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles, from 11 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 55,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 105,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 50,235 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57,240 miles | 57,620 miles | 70,500 miles | 95,000 miles | 107,475 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,600 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 11 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2012, at a median of 1 miles, and latest on the 2017 at 125,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 24; the 2001 has 12. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I have two persistent problems with my 2001 altima. Issue #1: the car randomly stalls at low speeds (0-10mph) with no check engine light. This problem began in october 2006. This problem results in a loss of power steering and power brakes which has caused many near accidents. There is no pattern or symptom to forecast when stalling will occur. The car has been in the shop (dealership and others) numerous times with mechanics never able to "duplicate" the problem. After spending hundreds of dollars on a new battery, lead wires, new spark plugs and spark plug wires, my nissan mechanic said that he didn't know what else to do except "throw parts at it until something sticks." issue #2: the car idles roughly and shakes unless in neutral. The shop said the problem is the intake manifold gasket which is a $600 repair. A search on the internet provides an abundance of complaints about this problem. This should be a recall issue. *tr
I have two persistent problems with my 2001 altima. Issue #1: the car randomly stalls at low speeds (0-10mph) with no check engine light. This problem began in october 2006. This problem results in a loss of power steering and power brakes which has caused many near accidents. There is no pattern or symptom to forecast when stalling will occur. The car has been in the shop (dealership and others) numerous times with mechanics never able to "duplicate" the problem. After spending hundreds of dollars on a new battery, lead wires, new spark plugs and spark plug wires, my nissan mechanic said that he didn't know what else to do except "throw parts at it until something sticks." issue #2: the car idles roughly and shakes unless in neutral. The shop said the problem is the intake manifold gasket which is a $600 repair. A search on the internet provides an abundance of complaints about this problem. This should be a recall issue. *tr
Engine vibrates a lot during traffic light stops. Found from a mechanic that it is a cylinder 4 misfire caused due to gasket leak. Will cost more than $600 to get it fixed. After doing some research found that this is a manufacturing defect that is affecting many nissan vehicles and could prove fatal if the vehicle stops on a highway. I believe nissan has to take responsibility and recall these. *tr
Also reported on the 2001 Nissan Altima
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Other body or interior problem
Airbag failed to deploy in a crash
Other speed control problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 12 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does misfire or rough idle happen on the 2001 Nissan Altima?
Across 11 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 70,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is misfire or rough idle on the 2001 Nissan Altima?
12 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed