Nissan Altima vs Toyota Camry: MPG, Fuel Cost, Recalls and Safety

On EPA ratings the 2025 Toyota Camry's best version gets 51 mpg combined against 31 mpg for the Nissan Altima.

Nissan Altima

31mpg

Best 2025 version: 2.5L 4-cyl · FWD · CVT

Toyota Camry

51mpg

Best 2025 version: 2.5L 4-cyl hybrid · FWD · CVT · LE

Data: US EPA and NHTSA2025 model yearUpdated Nov 11, 2026

The cheapest Toyota Camry to fuel costs $1,200 a year at EPA's prices, $800 less than the cheapest Altima. NHTSA lists 2 recalls for the 2025 Altima and 6 recalls for the Camry.

Side by side

2025 model year	Altima	Camry
Fuel economy (EPA)
Best combined rating	31 mpg 2.5L 4-cyl · FWD · CVT	51 mpg (clearly better) 2.5L 4-cyl hybrid · FWD · CVT · LE
Hybrid or plug-in available	No	Hybrid 51 mpg
AWD or 4WD available	Yes	Yes
Lowest annual fuel cost 15,000 miles at EPA fuel prices	$2,000	$1,200 (clearly better)
5-year fuel cost vs average new vehicle Cheapest-to-fuel version (EPA)	Saves $1,000	Saves $5,000 (clearly better)
Safety (NHTSA)
Safety recalls, 2025 model year Counts depend on sales and time on sale	2	6
Owner complaints, 2025 model year Filed with NHTSA so far	7	179
NHTSA overall crash rating Range across tested versions	5 stars	5 stars
Rollover risk Range across tested versions; lower is better	9.2% (clearly better)	9.7%

Marks the clearly better figure. Small gaps (under 2 mpg or 5%, $100 a year in fuel) and overlapping crash-test ranges are not marked, and recall and complaint counts are not scored because they depend on how many were sold.

Best combined rating by model year

The best-rated version of each, every model year since 2010. The Camry rated higher in 15 of the 17 years both were sold, and they tied in the other 2.

Nissan Altima
Toyota Camry

2025: Nissan Altima 31 mpg · Toyota Camry 51 mpg

Show as a table

Best combined rating by model year, Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry
Model year	Nissan Altima	Toyota Camry
2010	34	34
2011	33	33
2012	26	40
2013	31	40
2014	31	40
2015	31	40
2016	31	40
2017	31	40
2018	31	52
2019	32	52
2020	32	52
2021	32	52
2022	32	52
2023	31	52
2024	31	52
2025	31	51
2026	30	51

Recalls by model year

Safety recalls NHTSA lists for each model year. Counts depend on how many were sold and how long each model year has been on the road.

Nissan Altima (left bar)
Toyota Camry (right bar)

2026: Nissan Altima 0 recalls · Toyota Camry 3 recalls

Show as a table

Safety recalls by model year, Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry
Model year	Nissan Altima	Toyota Camry
2010	3	9
2011	1	5
2012	4	2
2013	12	2
2014	8	3
2015	10	1
2016	4	3
2017	3	3
2018	2	8
2019	7	7
2020	6	3
2021	2	1
2022	0	1
2023	0	2
2024	1	1
2025	2	6
2026	0	3

Questions

Which gets better gas mileage, the Altima or the Camry?

For 2025, the Camry. Its best version is rated 51 mpg combined; the Altima's best is 31 mpg.

Which is cheaper to fuel, the Altima or the Camry?

For 2025, the Camry. At 15,000 miles a year and EPA's fuel prices, its cheapest version to fuel costs $1,200 a year and the Altima's costs $2,000, a difference of about $4,000 over five years.

How do the Altima and the Camry compare in NHTSA crash tests?

The 2025 Altima is rated 5 stars overall and the Camry is rated 5 stars overall. Rollover risk is 9.2% for the Altima and 9.7% for the Camry.

Sources and method

US EPA fuel economy data (fueleconomy.gov), file dated Nov 4, 2026, and EPA fuel prices.
NHTSA recall file dated Nov 12, 2026 and owner complaint file dated Nov 11, 2026; NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings.

We compare the best-rated version of each model unless a row says otherwise. How we build these pages. Spotted an error? Tell us.