The four-cylinder behind the Altima, Sentra and Rogue across more than a decade — early production years carried a documented head gasket concern, and oil consumption has been a recurring complaint across the engine's life.
Early production years of this engine (roughly 2002–2006) had a documented head gasket failure pattern that Nissan addressed through running design changes. Across the engine's long production life, oil consumption has remained a more persistent, recurring complaint — not severe enough to constitute a chronic design failure, but common enough that checking oil level and consumption history matters on any example regardless of production year.
Not a guarantee, but a pattern seen consistently across owner forums and independent-garage reporting.
Early production head gasket issues, where applicable, most commonly surfaced within this range.
Oil consumption symptoms, where present, typically become noticeable within this range.
Later production examples with documented maintenance commonly continue without major further work.
Check the exact production year before evaluating a car, since the early head gasket concern is specific to roughly 2002–2006 production.
Check oil level and condition yourself if possible, given how persistent the consumption complaint has been across this engine's life.
If the car has a CVT, consult the dedicated CVT page for that transmission's own, separate considerations.
Model-specific pages, with notes on how it behaves in that particular car.