2018 Nissan Altima Exterior lighting Problems

The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed at night, the halogen headlights failed to function as intended and were dimmed, which reduced the visibility of the roadway. There was no warning light illuminated.  The vehicle was taken to a collision center, where the headlight assembly and bulbs were replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Upon further investigation, the contact learned that the headlights on Nissan vehicles were experiencing failure due to a delaminating reflector defect. The contact learned that the heat from the halogen beams was causing heat damage to the reflective surface. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ID

11708109

Incident

Dec 30, 2023

The headlights on my 2018 Altima SL are INCREDIBLY dim. I have tried two different LED manufacturer's bulbs with the same result. It is beyond dangerous to drive my car at night. Sadly, my floodlights are FAR brighter than my low beams. There are countless complaints for this issue over the past few years. It sounds like their solution was less than desirable for most customers. This should be an actual recall to ensure that the Hundreds of thousands (probably more) of the 2013- 2018 Altimas on the road are safe for the drivers as well as the cars around them. This issue is ridiculous and MUST be corrected.

NHTSA ID

11685139

Incident

Sep 4, 2025

The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the headlights on the driver's and passenger's side of the vehicle had identical stress fractures. The fractures allowed water to enter the headlight housings. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the headlight assemblies needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and opened a case for the failure. The manufacturer informed the contact that the headlight assembly replacements were not covered under warranty. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ID

11675351

Incident

Jul 22, 2024

The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the headlights were not functioning properly. The contact stated that the headlights were very dim. There was no warning light illuminated. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ID

11596286

Incident

Jun 24, 2024

1- el motor esta partido 2- foco trasero derecho las conexiones están malas y los cables podridos. 3-el carro dejo de acelerar en carretera perdiendo totalmente el control. 4- lo lleve a un mecanico y el diagnostico fue que el motor esta partido porque al carro nunca le hicieron sus mantenciones ni cambios de aceite y esto deterioro el motor. 5- el banco no y el dealer me dice que todo lo que le pase al carro luego de su compra no tiene nada que ver con ellos. 6- el carro lo compre y tenia varias lamparas encendidas pero en el dealer me dijeron que estaban fallando los censores pero que todo estaba bien. Lo que era todo mentira. El dealer cuando compre el carro me dijo que tenia garantia por 6 meses, como no hablo ingles ellos me explicaron las condiciones del contrato y firme un papel sin saber que era que no tenia garantia, y cuando compre el auto venia con fallas pero ellos mismo la revisaron y dijeron que era solo una goma. Luego de esto empieza con mas fallas pero descubro que el dealer lo cerraron y no contestan los llamados para reclamos ni nada.

NHTSA ID

11554402

Incident

Oct 23, 2023

AIR BAGS WARNING LIGHT IS ON DRIVER SIDE AIRBAG MODULE REPLACED AIR BAG COULD HAVE DEPLOYED WHILE DRIVING

NHTSA ID

11526180

Incident

Apr 6, 2023

Brake light switch went out 3 months after getting car. Car would not start then after it started it would not go in gear nor would the brake lights turn on dealership repaired it. The Brake light switch went out again one year later while driving causing my brake lights not to turn on resulting in me getting rear ended after. After I replaced the switch for the second time. It lasted maybe a year and a half or so and went out again leaving me stranded having to get a tow truck to bring car home and had to replace it a third time. I’ve had this car less than 5 years and I really believe it needs further review of the switch due to the safety risk it causes

NHTSA ID

11512915

Incident

Apr 23, 2021

The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and making a left turn on a dark road, the low beam headlights were significantly dim, causing the contact to miss her turn. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring. Additionally, the contact stated that the low beam headlights were being blown very quickly. The driver's side low beam headlight was replaced twice and the passenger's side low beam headlight was replaced once within the past 6-months. The contact received an unknown notice from the manufacturer for the repair of the parts. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the low beam headlights needed to be replaced; however, the parts were not yet available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 86,000.

NHTSA ID

11484127

Incident

Jan 12, 2022

Mileage

86,000 mi

the lighting isn’t good on the car! if I don’t have them on bright I cannot see

NHTSA ID

11455465

Incident

Mar 7, 2022

LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE IN SEEING AT NIGHT. KNOWN ISSUES IN NISSAN ALTIMA MODELS WHERE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY REFLECTIVE PARTS BECOMES FOGGY AND DISTORTED/MELTS DUE BUILD UP OF HEAT FROM HALOGEN LIGHT BULBS LOCATED IN THE ASSEMBLY. CREATES DANGEROUS ROAD CONDITIONS NOT ONLY FOR THE DRIVER BUT FOR OTHERS AS WELL. NISSAN CONTINUES TO IGNORE THE ONGOING ISSUES AND HAS YET TO ISSUE AN ALTERNATIVE TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM.

NHTSA ID

11407825

Incident

Apr 10, 2021

Mileage

44,000 mi

THE VEHICLE IS FREQUENTLY NOT RECOGNIZING THAT THE BRAKE IS DEPRESSED. THE BRAKES WORK FINE BUT WITH THE CAR NOT RECOGNIZING THE BRAKE IS DEPRESSED, IT WILL NOT START (AS IT IS A PUSH BUTTON START AND THE BRAKE NEEDS TO BE DEPRESSED FOR THE CAR TO START). ALSO BECAUSE OF IT NOT RECOGNIZING THAT THE BRAKE IS DEPRESSED, IT OCCASIONALLY WILL NOT SHIFT OUT OF PARK. ADDITIONALLY BECAUSE THE VEHICLE DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THAT THE BRAKE IS DEPRESSED, THE BRAKE LIGHTS DO NOT WORK WHICH IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE AS OTHER VEHICLES DO NOT KNOW THAT THE CAR IS BRAKING. IT HAPPENS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS STATIONARY AS WELL AS WHEN IT IS BEING DRIVEN BOTH AT LOW SPEEDS AND HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THE BRAKE LIGHT SENSOR I BELIEVE IS TO BLAME FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE ISSUES. APPARENTLY IT IS FAIRLY COMMON WITH NISSAN ALTIMAS AND OTHER NISSAN VEHICLES AS WELL. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL ON THAT PART AS IT CREATES UNSAFE CONDITIONS. THE CAR IS LESS THAN 2 YEARS OLD AND HAS 34,000 MILES ON IT. I TRIED TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH MY DEALERSHIP WHERE THE CAR WAS PURCHASED NEW BUT THEIR FIRST AVAILABLE APPOINTMENT IS 6-8 WEEKS AWAY. I AM BRINGING IT INTO ANOTHER REPAIR FACILITY TOMORROW AS IT NEEDS TO BE FIXED URGENTLY AND CANNOT WAIT MONTHS.

NHTSA ID

11299156

Incident

Jan 12, 2020

Mileage

34,455 mi

MY HEADLIGHTS ARE AWFUL I CAN'T SEE AT NIGHT BECAUSE THE LIGHTS PROJECT ON THE GROUND AND I HAVE TO HAVE THE LIGHTS ON BRIGHT JUST TO SEE THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL ON THIS ISSUE.

NHTSA ID

11289123

Incident

Dec 1, 2019

Mileage

48,000 mi

LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS ARE DANGEROUSLY AND INADEQUATELY LOW, NOT ALLOWING DRIVER TO SEE ROADWAY AT NIGHT WHILE DRIVING. LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS PROJECT ONLY APPROXIMATELY 50 FEET; THEREFORE, FOR ANY SPEED OVER 45 MILES PER HOUR IT IS I'M POSSIBLE TO SEE FAR ENOUGH IN FRONT OF VEHICLE.

NHTSA ID

11230538

Incident

Sep 1, 2017