5.6

fairly significant
Typical Repair Cost:
$350
Average Mileage:
4,500 miles
Total Complaints:
9 complaints

Most common solutions:

  1. new windshield (7 reports)
  2. not sure (1 reports)
  3. replace windshield (1 reports)
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problem #9

Apr 012019

Altima SR

  • Automatic transmission
  • 1,000 miles

After driving vehicle for a few weeks, a small rock hit the windshield. The crack spread so fast. I have spoken to the dealership with no avail. I've also noticed the windshield wasn't installed properly. There are parts of the padding that supports the windshield sticking out. I think that's what caused to crack.

- James W., Florissant, MO, US

problem #8

Dec 062019

Altima SR 4

  • Automatic transmission
  • 2,500 miles

With only 2500 miles on my 2019 Altima, I have already had to replace the windshield twice within a two month period. Driving down the highway with nothing in front of me, I hear a pop sound and it’s the windshield. I had it replaced, and lo and behold, two months later it happens again. These windshields are very delicate. I have been driving for quite some time now and have not had this happen. I'm not a very happy customer. If I remember correctly, when we bought the car, we had to get the dealership to fix the windshield because the mounding was not properly installed. So, this is probably the third windshield installed.

- Thumbyslollipop .., Chester, VA, US

problem #7

Mar 192020

Altima LX 4 cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 5,468 miles

Enterprise black 2019 car rental that I used for two weeks while my car was being repaired. I put on a little over 300 miles on vehicle and the day before I was to turn in while the car was parked, I noticed a crack starting from mid windshield bottom at about a 45 degree right angle. The following day the crack progressed to mid windshield and splayed as if was hit by a rock.

I return the car to repair shop upon pickup of my car and called the on site Enterprise representative to explain the circumstances. I said that a) there was no misuse of vehicle nor was there a rock strike, and b) vehicle is black in color with black interior - this is mid Florida (Orlando) and temperatures to 90 degrees raising inside vehicle temperatures close to two hundred degrees at these temperatures class being a brittle material will be severely stressed and will crack. Enterprise should not all black vehicles with black interiors in a hostile Florida climate.

- Americo V., Edgewater, FL, US

problem #6

Aug 102020

Altima SV 2.5L

  • CVT transmission
  • 10,000 miles

Windshield cracked from nowhere while driving while driving in the highway. I expect this to be due to a poor quality of glass.

- Ahmed A., Herndon, VA, US

problem #5

Oct 222020

Altima S 2.5L

  • CVT transmission
  • 5,400 miles

click to see larger images

cracked windshield cracked windshield

2019 Altima S Model AWD. I can guarantee you that this cracked windshield which is almost in a perfect line is a Nissan problem as I simply searched for 2019 Altima windshield cracked and to no surprise, I see that everyone is having the same issue as me. I only have 5400 miles and have had the vehicle for almost a year which the dealership quoted me $600 to replace and I told them, they have to be out of their minds if they want me to pay for a clear problem that I am not the only one having.

- Janusz K., Burbank, IL, US

problem #4

May 302020

Altima SV 2.5L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 4,800 miles

I've never had a windshield crack and I had just purchased this car about 45 minutes before the mishap. I was driving on the highway and heard a 'tap' on the windshield. Cars were passing me, but it was on I-10 in an area where no construction was going on. I looked and a small 3 inch crack began to expand. By the time I got home, the crack was nearly 14 inches long and sinuous. By the next day, it was nearly 2 feet long. My insurance said they would cover it and it is now repaired. Just very strange since similar reports are out there of Nissan windshields breaking.

- Joe M., Gainesville, FL, US

problem #3

Jan 242020

Altima S 2.5L I4

  • CVT transmission
  • 5,000 miles

click to see larger images

cracked windshield

This experience happened at just under 4 months of ownership and 5,000 miles on my brand new 2019 Nissan Altima S, which I purchased October 2019 from Bill Robertson Nissan in Pasco, WA.

Around the new year I noticed a very small crack creeping up from the bottom on the right side of my windshield. It seemed to start on the very bottom of the black section of the windshield, below the wiper blades. A small aside: I have no way of knowing whether or not my car came with this small crack in its windshield that neither I nor my dealership noticed. I digress...

It gets into single digits in the winter where I live, so naturally I keep the heater on for my morning commute. Over the course of a couple weeks, the crack grew longer, split into two, and continued to the left and right along the bottom of my windshield.

When I had time, I took it into my dealership. My local Nissan dealership service department, which I've generally had great experiences with in the past, was initially receptive to my warranty glass claim. One employee, after initial inspection, started the claim process on his computer. Then, when who I believe is the lead auto service technician asked the employee what he was doing, and found that he was starting a glass claim, he asked to take a look at the crack for himself.

He then took a cursory look at it, and immediately noticed a "rock chip" along the crack, a couple inches above where I thought it had started (A photo is attached. It does not look like a rock chip to me; chips I have seen have a clear indent on the exterior of the glass and are circular in nature, whereas this "chip" was smooth to the touch on the exterior and seemed to have some sort of indent on the interior of the glass, but to his credit I am not an expert). He then tells me that they cannot start a glass claim, as the warranty does not cover incidental rock chips. Discouraged, I tell him that I wasn't aware of any rock chip incident and that I would like a second opinion, as it looked to me like more of a factory windshield defect.

The lead technician told me to take it to a recommended nearby local windshield repair shop, and that if they said that it looked like a factory defect, he would consider starting a warranty claim. I took it to their shop, where an employee claimed with hesitance, "Sure looks like a rock chip to me..." (Embarrassingly, it was only after the fact that I realized they probably just wanted to make the sale).

Frustrated with Nissan, and the ultimatum that the lead technician of their service department gave me, I decided to get my windshield replaced through my comprehensive insurance with the same recommended local windshield repair company (Which, to this day, has been great!).

However, before the repair was scheduled, and after seeing two very similar stories to my own on this website, I decided to make one last attempt to get Nissan to cover what I was increasingly confident was a factory defect in their windshield (On a brand new ~$24,000 sedan). I took my car to my local dealership and requested to speak to a dealership manager. When he called me into his office, their lead service dept. technician was also present. The manager essentially got "both sides of the story", and ultimately agreed to pay my out-of-pocket deductible for the insurance glass claim and top off my car's gas tank free of charge.

The bottom line, which took some insistence to find out, was that Corporate Nissan physically inspects any warranty claims themselves. If they disagree with a technician's determination that a defect/issue is covered by the vehicle's warranty, they will refuse to honor it themselves, and require the dealership/its service dept. to pay for the replacement out-of-pocket. My dealership was unwilling to take that chance based on the (insane) cost of a first-party Nissan windshield compared to an aftermarket windshield and their lead tech's determination, BUT, as a sign of good faith, were willing to cover my out-of-pocket costs after insurance for the repair.

In the end, I am left feeling like Nissan half-helped me. Comprehensive insurance glass claims don't significantly raise rates. I would say that I am far more frustrated with Nissan Corporate's stingy warranty policy than I am with my local dealership, who clearly demonstrated that they valued me as a customer and showed professionalism throughout. My feedback for Nissan is to show more faith in their dealerships' respective service departments, as it seems to create a company culture of technicians who are afraid to approve warranty claims for fear of losing their dealership money. I may hesitate before buying another new Nissan vehicle in the future.

- Christian L., Richland, WA, US

problem #2

Aug 052019

Altima

  • Automatic transmission
  • 5,000 miles

Our leased car has been used for about 5 months, and with about 5,000 miles has worked neatly. However today after work and entering the parking lot I noticed a huge crack on the windshield coming from the middle right all the way to the center of the windshield. There aren't any trees near the parking spot and is away from public transit.

Worth to mention the crack wasn't there this Monday morning; and we had our first service done the Saturday before with no problems reported.

There was nothing in the area that looked like a rock or something that could have hit the glass and the crack comes from the inside frame on the right. It occurred today in the afternoon and the service office is already closed, will take it tomorrow to see if the warranty can cover it.

- Lynda S., Kalamazoo, MI, US

problem #1

Mar 132019

Altima Platinum

  • Automatic transmission
  • 1,000 miles

800 miles on my brand new Altima. The first time I got on the highway driving about 50 mph when I heard a very faint tap on my windshield. I thought nothing of it because there were no cars in front or beside me. I get home & park, I see an 18inch crack from the right side near the roof to the center of the windshield.

I went to Nissan they weren't aware of this ever being an issue. They looked at it and said there was a small chip where a rock hit it, so it was just " bad luck", that it cracked and that it was not covered under warranty. I've been driving for over 30 years and I have never had a windshield crack. I've driven on the same road for the last 7 years with my Acura had a few little chips and dings on the glass, but never a cracked windshield. I asked them if this was a Barbie car that was not meant for the freeway?

2 Weeks later Nissan dealership replaces my entire car as there were manufacturer defects beyond repair, so car #2, I'm driving, brand new 2019 Altima again on the freeway approximately a 1000 miles on the car, I hear nothing, apparently a small pebble hit the window AGAIN per the dealership, the crack started near the top center, near the rear view mirror. It has grown vertically and then toward the driver's side of the windshield at least 10 inches, then grew to 20 inches, absolutely no chance of getting it repaired . Obviously there is a problem, with their windshields, it's not a coincidence that I had both cars the exact same thing in almost the exact same spot the first time I take it on the freeway, and anything touches the windshield of course there are small rocks on the freeway we're not talking behind a Mack truck going 80 miles an hour, I was going 50 mph, with no vehicles in front, or beside me.

This is the first Nissan I've owned, the issues with these windshields, I hope its recalled and they make it right.

- Suzanne M., Roseville, US