2013 Nissan Altima Exterior Lighting
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
THE HEADLIGHTS ON OUR 2013 NISSAN ALTIMA HAVE BECOME PROGRESSIVELY DIM DUE TO AN OBVIOUS MANUFACTURING DEFECT. THE FOLLOWING WAS TOLD TO ME DIRECTLY BY THE SERVICE LEAD AT STONE MOUNTAIN NISSAN IN GEORGIA: OVERTIME THE REFLECTIVE FILM IN THE HEADLIGHT UNIT HAS BURNED/MELTED AWAY. THIS CAUSES THE LIGHTS TO NOT BE REFLECTIVE AND THEREFORE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS BRIGHT. HOWEVER, NISSAN IS NOT WILLING TO COVER ANY REPLACEMENTS AS PART OF THEIR WARRANTY OR AS PART OF MY EXTENDED, COMPREHENSIVE WARRANTY. REPLACEMENT UNITS COST $1,300. THE ABOVE IS CONSISTENT WITH WHAT I LEARNED FROM AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC. THAT MECHANIC TESTED THE HEADLIGHT BULBS AND CONFIRMED THAT THEY WERE ADEQUATELY BRIGHT, HOWEVER THE HEADLIGHT UNIT WAS NOT GENERATING THE PROPER REFLECTION AND BRIGHTNESS. AS STATED ABOVE THIS IS AN OBVIOUS MANUFACTURERS DEFECT TO A CRITICAL SAFETY COMPONENT. THERE IS SEEMINGLY NOTHING THAT ANY HUMAN COULD HAVE DONE TO CAUSE THE ISSUE. A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH YIELDED SEVERAL WEBSITES WHERE CONSUMERS REPORTED THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM (SUCH AS THIS ONE: HTTP://WWW.CARPROBLEMZOO.COM/NISSAN/ALTIMA/2013/HEADLIGHTS-PROBLEMS.PHP), INDICATING THAT THIS IS A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM WITH 5TH GENERATION ALTIMAS IN THE 2013-2015 MODEL YEARS, HOWEVER NISSAN HAS ITS HEAD FIRMLY PLANTED IN THE SAND.
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
MY 2013 NISSAN ALTIMA HEADLIGHTS ARE VERY DIM AND I HAVE TO DRIVE WITH BRIGHTS ON JUST TO SEE AT NIGHT. THIS IS A REAL SAFETY CONCERN. I HAVE REPLACED THE BULBS THREE TIMES WITH LED, HID AND BACK TO HALOGEN AND THEY HAVE NOT FIXED THE PROBLEM. THEY CONTINUE TO GET DIMMER AND DIMMER.
THE HEADLIGHTS ARE VERY DIM EVEN AFTER ORDERING NEW ONES TO REPLACE THE FACTORY HEADLIGHTS. I ACTUALLY STOPPED AND GOT OUT OF THE CAR TO MAKE SURE THE HEADLIGHTS WERE EVEN ON. DEFINITELY NOT A CAR TO BE DRIVEN AFTER DARK!
I HAVE A 2013 NISSAN ALTIMA S AND LOW BEAM LIGHTS ARE REALLY BAD AT NIGHT AND I CAN NOT SEE WITH THEM ON. I HAVE TO DRIVE WITH THE HIGH BEAMS ON WHICH IS A REALLY BAD SAFETY ISSUE FOR MYSELF AND OTHER DRIVERS. I HAVE GOTTEN BLOWN AT AND CURSED AT BECAUSE OF THIS AND EVEN GOTTEN PULLED OVER. NISSAN PLEASE FIX THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE IT IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE LIKE THIS.
I HAVE A 2013 NISSAN ALTIMA S AND LOW BEAM LIGHTS ARE REALLY BAD AT NIGHT AND I CAN NOT SEE WITH THEM ON. I HAVE TO DRIVE WITH THE HIGH BEAMS ON WHICH IS A REALLY BAD SAFETY ISSUE FOR MYSELF AND OTHER DRIVERS. I HAVE GOTTEN BLOWN AT AND CURSED AT BECAUSE OF THIS AND EVEN GOTTEN PULLED OVER. NISSAN PLEASE FIX THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE IT IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE LIKE THIS.
LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN VERY DIM. HARD TO SEE MUCH FARTHER THAN THAN 20 FEET. HAVE TO DRIVE WITH THE HIGH BEAMS FOR SAFETY. VERY DANGEROUS HAVE REPLACED BULBS WITH LED AND HALOGEN AND HAVE HAD THEM ALIGNED. NO HELP. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS.
WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT, THE LOW BEAMS ARE EXTREMELY DIM, CAUSING ME TO DRIVE WITH MY HIGH BEAMS ON CONTINUOUSLY. THE LOW BEAMS ONLY ILLUMINATE APPROXIMATELY 10 FEET IN FRONT OF VEHICLE. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE TO NISSAN AND THEY REFUSE TO FIX THE ISSUE. I ASKED THEM ABOUT THE ISSUE AND WAS QUOTED ALMOST $1300 FOR THE FIX.
THE HEADLUGHTS ON THIS VEHICLE ARE HORRENDOUS! DRIVING AROUND WITH HIGH BEAMS ON IS THE ONLY WAY TO SEE ANYTHING AT NIGHT. EVERY PERSON I HAVE SPOKE WITH THAT OWNS THIS VEHICLE HAVE SAID THE SAME THING. BASICALLY USELESS TURNING THE HEADLIGHTS ON.
THE HEAD LIGHT ON MY NISSAN ALTIMA 2013 SV IS VERY DIM I HAVE TO USE THE HIGH BEAM MOST OF THE TIME AT NIGHT DRIVING WHICH IS VERY DANGEROUS FOR THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC AND MAY CAUSE AN ACCIDENT, I TRY TO AVOID DRIVING AT NIGHT FOR THAT REASON. I EVEN REPLACE THE BULBS WITH THE MOST EXPENSIVE ONES BUT THAT DID NOT HELP AT ALL. I JUST FOUND OUT THAT OTHERS ALSO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE SAME MODEL CAR.
I BOUGHT THE 2013 NISSAN ULTIMA WITH STOCK LIGHTS. WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT WITH MY LOW BEAMS ON I COULD NOT OPERATE THE VEHICLE SAFELY BECAUSE I COULD NOT SEE THE ROAD. I TRIED REPLACING THE LOW BEAMS THREE SEPARATE TIMES WITH HIGH PRICED LED LIGHTBULBS AND I STILL HAVE THE SAME ISSUE. I CAN NOT DRIVE AT NIGHT BECAUSE I CAN NOT SEE THE LINES OR THE ROAD. DRIVING AT NIGHT CAUSES ME TO BECOME A SAFETY HAZARD TO OTHER DRIVERS. I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT COUNTLESS PEOPLE HAVE THIS ISSUE WITH THE SAME MODEL. I CAN GET IT FIXED THROUGH NISSAN BUT IT WILL COST ROUGHLY $1,000 AND I DO NOT HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY TO FIX A PROBLEM THAT IS NOT MY FAULT. I AM ASKING FOR A RECALL OF THIS PARTICULAR PORT OF THE CAR, OTHERWISE, IF I CONTINUE TO DRIVE AT NIGHT IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE I HURT MYSELF OR OTHERS.
DIFFICULT SEEING IN THE NIGHT VERY BAD VISIBILITY LIGHTS ARE NOT BRIGHT ENOUGH , I CHANGED THE LIGHTS BUT THERE WAS NO IMPROVEMENT, I HAVE TO USE MY HIGH BEAM LIGHTS
DIM HEADLIGHTS
HEADLIGHT LOW BEAM IS GETTING DIMMER. REPLACED BULBS AND CHECKED GROUNDING STILL DIM. PROBLEM APPEARS TO BE A DEFECT IN THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY. UNSAFE TO DRIVE AT NIGHT. HIGH BEAMS WORK WELL.
I HAVE A 2013 NISSAN. I START TO NOTICE THE LIGHTS GETTING DIM 2016-2018. MY HEADLIGHTS ARE SO DIM I CAN'T DRIVE MY CAR AT NIGHT. I HAVE PUT MYSELF AND OTHERS IN DANGER BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM. I HAVE CONTACT NISSAN ABOUT THE PROBLEM AND THEY ACT AS IF PUTTING PEOPLE IN DANGER IS NOT A ISSUE TO THEM. I HAVE REPLACED BULBS AND THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE WORSE THAN BEFORE.
MY HEAD LIGHTS ARE VERY DIM. I CANNOT DRIVE AT NIGHT AND I HAVE TO USE THE HIGH BEAMS IF I DO. I HAVE HAD THE BULBS SWITCHED OUT AND I HAVE ALSO HAD HEADLIGHT RESTORATION DONE ON THE HEADLIGHTS. NOTHING HAS FIXED THE ISSUE. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS. NISSAN NEEDS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND ADDRESS THIS ISSUE. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN AND IT NEEDS ATTENTION. NISSAN TOLD ME IT WOULD COST OVER $1600 TO GET NEW HEAD LIGHTS.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 NISSAN ALTIMA. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS WITH THE HEADLIGHTS ACTIVATED, THE HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF WITHOUT WANING. THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT THE BULBS WERE CHANGED TWICE; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO DAVID MCDAVID NISSAN (11911 GULF FWY, HOUSTON, TX 77034) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE LENS IN THE HEADLIGHTS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 115,000.
2013 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE LIGHTS ARE SO DIM IT IS DANGEROUS. NISSAN SAYS IT IS THEIR PART BUT THEY DO NOT WANT TO DO A RECALL BUT WANT CUSTOMERS TO PAY 1000 TO FIX SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAVE THIS ISSUE WITH SO MANY CARS. A SIMPLE GOOGLE SEARCH WILL SHOW HOW MANY PEOPLE MENTION THIS BEING A BIG DANGEROUS ISSUE. I HAVE REPORTED THIS FOR OVER TWO YEARS AND REFUSE TO PAY TO FIX THE DANGER THEY ARE CAUSING BY NOT HAVING THE RECALL. THIS IS CAUSING DRIVERS TO USE THEIR HIGH BEAMS BUT THOSE ARE DIM TOO DUE TO THE FAULTY COVERS NISSAN HAS ON THE HEADLIGHTS. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS TO DRIVE AT AFTER THE SUN GOES DOWN, IN THE RAIN, OR IN THE SNOW. CONSUMER SAFETY IS NOT CARED ABOUT.
I WANT TO START A RECALL FOR THE 2013-2014 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE LIGHTS ARE NOT BRIGHT ENOUGH NO MATTER HOW BRIGHT THE BULB. IT IS CERTAINLY A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE ONE HAS TO DRIVE USING HIGH BEAMS AT NIGHT IN ORDER TO DRIVE SAFELY. I AM TOLD NISSAN IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. I AM ALSO TOLD THAT NISSAN SAYS THE ENTIRE HOUSINGS HAS TO BE REPLACED.AT A PRICE TO CONSUMERS OF $1,000 THIS IS SO UNFAIR. CONSUMERS.WHO BROUGHT NISSAN ALTIMA SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHED FOR.TRUSTING THIS COMPANY THIS IS UNFAIR. NISSAN NEEDS TO TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR PRODUCT AND FOOT THE BILL. SEVERAL TIMES I ALMOST HIT SOMEONE BECAUSE I DIDNT SEE THE PERSON HOW CAN I START A RECALL?
HEADLIGHTS TOO DIM TO SEE WHEN OPERATING VEHICLE; TOOK TO DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD I MUST REPLACE THE WHOLE PROJECTOR SYSTEM AT A COST OF $1600.00. FOR HEADLIGHTS!
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS FAILED TO ILLUMINATE PROPERLY, WHICH RESULTED IN EXTREMELY LOW VISIBILITY. THE CONTACT REPLACED THE BULBS MORE THAN ONCE; HOWEVER, THE LIGHTING WAS SO DIM THAT THE FOG LIGHTS AND HIGH BEAM HEADLIGHTS HAD TO BE USED AS AN ALTERNATE OPTION. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED. THE DEALER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS NOT AVAILABLE. *BF THE CONSUMER STATED THE HEADLIGHTS FAILED 2 OTHER TIMES. *TR
WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT IT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO SEE AS THE HEADLIGHTS ARE VERY DIM. I FEEL UNSAFE AND HAVE TO DRIVE WITH MY HIGH BEAMS ON. I LIVE IN A RURAL AREA WHERE THERE ARE NOT A LOT OF STREETS LIGHTS AND I AM VERY AFRAID TO DRIVE WITHOUT MY HIGH BEAMS ON. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS PEOPLE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO DIE BEFORE A RECALL HAPPENS ON THIS VEHICLE?!
PLEASE LOOK INTO THE ISSUE OF 2013 ALTIMAS AND DIM HEADLIGHTS. NUMEROUS REPORTS ON THE INTERNET WITH PROOF OF THE ISSUE WHICH IS THE HOUSING REFLECTOR MATERIAL IS DEGRADING OVER A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, RESULTING IN EXTREMELY DIM HEADLIGHTS TO THE POINT THAT THEY ARE UNSAFE.
LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS ON BOTH DRIVER AND PASSENGER SIDES ARE VERY DIM. DIFFICULT TO SEE AT NIGHT, ESPECIALLY IN RAIN, FOG, ETC. REPLACED THE LIGHT BULBS BUT MADE NO DIFFERENCE. PROBLEM PRESENT WHEN EITHER STATIONARY OR MOVING.
LOW BEAMS HEADLIGHTS ARE EXTREMELY DIM. YOU CAN'T SEE AT NIGHT AND DURING THE RAIN IT'S EVEN WORSE. HAVE TO DRIVE WITH HIGH BEAMS. THIS IS A SAFETY MEETING ISSUE AND NISSAN NEEDS TO FIX IT.
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2013 Nissan Altima has 386 Exterior Lighting complaints on file. 7 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.