Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (service brakes, ABS, rotors and pads, parking brake).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2008 Nissan Altima owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact's mother owned a 2008 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while her mother was driving 20 MPH, the brakes suddenly stopped responding when the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle crashed into a pole. The brake pedal was depressed, and the parking brake was activated, but the vehicle failed to respond. The driver sustained injuries to the face with cuts and bruises to the stomach, chest, arms, back and neck pain. The vehicle was towed. The vehicle was serviced at a Nissan dealer. The local dealer was notified. The vehicle was totaled. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000
While pulling into a parking spot and coming to a halt, I put the car into park mode. My foot was still on the brake. Instantly the engine went into "overdrive" and lurched forward over a parking curb and through heavy brush and finally came to a stop after hitting a pine tree. The engine was still screaming and the tires still spinning until I hit the off button. I had my foot on the brake the entire time to no avail. The heavy brush slowed the car somewhat. The airbags didn't deploy. I had several witnesses and they all stated they saw my brake lights on. I plowed approx. 50 feet through the brush before hitting the tree. I was the only one involved and was not hurt. This was Thurs. Sept. 28, 2023. It was in a state park and no police report made. Park Ranger took down info.
I have had my cars rear brakes completely replaced once in the last 6 months and completely replaced the front brake system TWICE in 6 months. I've had to pay close to $4000 in repairs on only the cars front end so at this point any part that could be causing the excessive wearing out of my brakes could not possibly be doing so without me knowing about it from many inspections (mainly done by different Les schwab locations and my local Nissan dealership in Salem, OR). For some reason within a month of having the brakes replaced, they have began to squeal worse than ever before, I'm not exaggerating when I say that my 2008 Altima has brakes that are almost twice as loud as any city or school bus brakes that I've ever heard in my life. Something within the brake system is causing all these brand new parts to wear down to metal on metal screeeching
Brake switch or Stop Light Switch goes out which causes brakes to become very stiff and not light up the brakes which causes car's push start to not start car more than 5 times a week. I will always have to stomp the brake petal to activate the brakes to start the car.
While driving on i95 the car shut off and was steered very difficultly to the off ramp and the side of the road. Smoke started to come out of the front of the car and I exited the car and the car proceeded to be engulfed in flames burning the front half of the car to the front seats. Fire rescue arrived to put out the fire.1116
This was a one vehicle crash (total loss) that occurred when the brakes would not work causing our car to strike a brick wall (also emergency brakes did not work). None of the vehicle airbags deployed except for the drivers steering wheel airbag which deployed once the vehicle came to a stop. The accident occurred at approx. 11:45 pm, 22 October 2011. No drugs and or alcohol were involved. The car was recently purchased from a Lexus dealer and the same company owns a Nissan dealership which confirmed that all Nissan recall items were complied with. We have several professional photographs to prove that there is still something going on with the Nissan Altima 2.5 brakes and air bags to allow something like this to happen. I have personally talked with[redacted] about this and left a voice mail with [redacted] at their NHTSA office. …
Purchase car 2010 ABS brake came on all time dealer try to reset ABS light it would turn off for few days and come make on they dont no why it doing it :( its 2015 and light still on. 2014 I was on interstate going 65 MPH then all sudden my Nissan started losing power fast when I pushed on gas was not reading. Had to pull to side of road and we had checked all fluids and looked for any leaks which all was good. I had gotten and my oil changed before my trip. Sat on side interstate for 20 mins try to restart it started OK just had no power like gas was nit flowing right. Waiting another 10 mins trying again. Finally gain power and was able to get to my destination. Had it checked by shop couldn't fine problem. …
My name is fatima owodunni, I am reporting an accident I had with my Nissan Altima 2008 on 7/28/09. It happened in the parking lot of bed bath and beyond @ owings mills md when I tried to park the car. I put the gear in a reverse mode to back up into a space but instead of the car driving backward it went with such an unimaginable speed forward, I slammed on the brake to stop the car instantly but the braked failed. I then crashed into 3 other cars and one person injured due to the crash. I reported this issue to Nissan na but they refused to accept negligence. I told police officer what had happened but didn't believe me and he wrote in his report that maybe I pressed on the gas pedal rather than the brake but I was the only one that knew what had happened. Nissan na rejected my claim saying the investigation didn't reveal that anything was wrong with the car. …
Was driving to work on the highway using cruise control and then I tried to get out of cruise and step on the gas pedal but it got stuck, I realized I wasn't able to get over to the first lane due to traffic, so I tried to slow down to pull over to the median closest to the third lane, however, the brakes stopped working and I wasn't able to stop the vehicle, I even tried to press the button to shut the car off but it wouldn't shut down, there was no smell of smoke or anything and than as the car begin slowing on its own, all of a sudden smoke just poofed up and I grabbed my purse and phone and jumped out of the moving car . Ran away from the car and realize that I had taken my wallet out of my purse previous and I turned to go back but the car was engulfed in flames. I called 911 to get assistance.
Tl* the contact owned a 2008 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the brakes became unresponsive, causing the contact to crash into the rear of another vehicle. The contact sustained injuries to the left hand and the vehicle was towed to a local mechanic. A police report was not filed. Prior to the crash, the contact received notification of a manufacturer's recall however she was unable to have the vehicle serviced because the dealer did not have the necessary parts to complete the recall repair. In addition, the brake lights had illuminated prior to the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was destroyed. The approximate failure mileage was 51,000.
NHTSA investigations
Brake Master Cylinder Internal Leak
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE11-020 to investigate possible brake performance loss due to brake fluid leaking from the master cylinder into the brake booster in the subject vehicles.A total of 237 complaints were identified by ODI and Nissan.The majority of complaints and warranty claims reported that brake malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) illumination as the only symptom of a problem.Only 12…
Brake complaints in other Altima years
Frequently asked questions
How common are brake problems on the 2008 Nissan Altima?
NHTSA has 93 complaints about the brakes of the 2008 Nissan Altima, 9% of the model year's 1,030 complaints. The component named most often is antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2008 Nissan Altima brake problems?
No. NHTSA lists no brakes recall for the 2008 Nissan Altima, though it has 4 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2008 Nissan Altima brake problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 42,000 miles, and 26% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 9 crashes, 2 fires and 4 injuries to brakes problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.