Hoping for some feedback if anyone's had this issue (or has any ideas!).
I recently bought a 2010 Nissan Altima Hybrid that I love, but it also drives me nuts with vibration at highway speeds. I noticed it shortly after taking delivery three weeks ago, and took it back to the dealership to get the tires balanced. The mechanic drove the car, and agreed that there's a consistent vibration (which seems to come from the rear and resonate through the cabin). He road force balanced the tires, told me to try it and bring it back if I wasn't happy. The vibration remained (between 60-80mph), so I went back to the dealer. They told me later that they swapped tires and wheels from another Altima, drove my car, and still felt the vibration (indicating it's not tires); they then spoke with the Nissan Tech Center, and were told about other sporadic reports similar to mine. Even so, they told me they determined the car is within spec and the vibration is "normal." The dealership said they also took out another customer's NAH (with owners' permission) and felt the same vibration. (My car rides very smoothly below speeds of about 50-55 mph.)
I've owned a number of cars over 30 years, from luxury to basic transportation, and I've never had a car do this. Even the loaner '09 Altima they gave me was smoother. I've filed a complaint with the Nissan Customer Service people since the dealership says they've done what they can do.
Any thoughts on what, if anything, else I should do? Could this be something in the drivetrain or suspension? Should I demand a new set of tires/wheels? (The tires are Contis -- bleh.) If they really did swap wheels and tires and felt the same vibration, that would argue for something else as the cause. Any other Altima owners who've felt this "normal" vibration?

 

I think I've read from someone that they changed the tire brand and it helped. Not sure if your dealer will do that for you. Goodluck though

 

Agreed. This feels much more like a tire issue than a drivetrain/suspension issue. If/when I get a resolution, I'll update in case anyone else has the same issue.

 

I read on a different forum where a couple of owners had a broken rear sway bar, which is something you can check for yourself. Good luck and let us know what it turns out to be.

 

Interesting about the sway bar. I'll have to check that. Though I'd think that would cause problems regardless of speed. I put in a call to Nissan Customer Service, who was supposed to get back to me today. Funny, they didn't.

 

To follow up on my own post, the Nissan Customer Service person finally called to tell me that the vibration i'm feeling is "normal" for the car. Actually, it's not normal for ANY car. So I'm moving on to exploring other options. So for anyone considering the NAH, mark sure you do a thorough test drive on the highway before buying. (And interestingly enough, my salesman called me out of the blue this week to ask whether my problem had been corrected -- another new Altima buyer had reported a similar vibration to him.)

 

I think it's time to contact Nissan Corporate (or regional manager) and try to get it escalated

 

Actually, that's what I did: Contact Nissan's corporate Customer Service folks. Same result: Car is performing normally and there's nothing they're prepared to do. I asked them to send me a letter in writing that covers their "findings," but they refused. All they'll do is send me a letter that the vehicle is "safe."
I like the car -- the mileage is averaging 36 MPG with mostly highway driving, which I think is great. Bummer that the company doesn't do more to keep customers happy, though. It makes it tough to recommend Nissan to anyone else.