Nissan Altima vs. Toyota Camry

Compare repair costs, reliability, and owner reviews

Nissan Altima

$483
Average Annual
Repair Cost

Toyota Camry

$388
Average Annual
Repair Cost

Overall Reliability Rating

4
Above Average
The Nissan Altima Reliability Rating is 4.0 out of 5.0, which ranks it 11th out of 24 for midsize cars. The average annual repair cost is $483 which means it has lower than average ownership costs. The severity of repairs is average and the frequency of those issues is low, so major repairs are uncommon for the Altima.
4
Excellent
The Toyota Camry Reliability Rating is 4.0 out of 5.0, which ranks it 3rd out of 24 for midsize cars. The average annual repair cost is $388 which means it has excellent ownership costs. Repairs are less severe and less frequent than the average car, so the Camry is one of the more reliable vehicles on the road.
Cost
Average annual repairs total
$483
inexpensive
expensive
$388
inexpensive
expensive
Frequency
Average annual repair shop visits
0.27
not often
very often
0.28
not often
very often
Severity
Percentage of annual repairs that are urgent
12%
not urgent
urgent
11%
not urgent
urgent

Overall Car Ratings & Details

5 (11)
4 (65)
3 (23)
2 (10)
1 (2)
The Nissan Altima ranks highest in safety and ranks lowest in fuel economy.
86% of reviewers would recommend this car.
“solid cars exhaust aways a problem on nissan's they tend to rust out brakes wear quick too”
“solid cars exhaust aways a problem on nissan's they tend to rust out brakes wear quick too”
5 (44)
4 (139)
3 (72)
2 (20)
1 (5)
The Toyota Camry ranks highest in value and ranks lowest in fuel economy.
“Car has been well taken care of, but has some major issues at 100k miles. Bad engine knocking, steering problems, and exhaust noise.”
“Car has been well taken care of, but has some major issues at 100k miles. Bad engine knocking,...”

Vehicle Comparison Rundown

The Toyota Camry and the Nissan Altima are two of the perennially best-selling midsize sedans out there. They both have spacious trunks with folding back seats for load-through capability. Both of them get good fuel economy. The Camry is an all-new design for 2018, while the Altima was last refreshed in 2016.

The Altima does everything fairly well. It has extremely comfortable front seats, and comes standard with automatic headlights, as well as an AM/FM/CD audio system with a 5-inch color display that doubles as a rearview camera.

The current Camry has better infotainment technology. Its standard Entune 3.0 system includes a 7-inch touch-screen, AM/FM, MP3/WMA playback, GPS navigation app, USB port with iPod connectivity, hands-free phone, voice recognition and Bluetooth music streaming. The Camry also comes with the top suite of the Toyota Safety Sense system as standard equipment. This includes a precollision system with pedestrian detection, a lane departure alert with steering assist, automatic high beams and dynamic radar cruise control. No-cost maintenance is also standard.

These two sedans are close in most aspects, but the Camry wins on technology, safety and a fresh, new design.