10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 8 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 3 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 57,951 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
Car will not shift our of park to reverse while in stationary mode.
- Ormond Beach, FL, USA
My 2013 Nissan Altima sv model had the cvt replaced at 41,289 miles in 2017. Two years to the date, at 75,000 miles 2019 my cvt transmission is out again. Nissan via verbal told me that the warranty on the replaced cvt is 15,000 or 1year. My Nissan Altima 2013. As I was driving the vehicle it was loosing motion.when driving and accelerating the car it wouldnt go up the the speedometer speed, it seems like it was stalling. When the vehicle was at the stop light or stop sign and I let go of the break, the car wouldnt go into "gear". I had to press on the gas pedal and suddenly the car will move but with an awful "jerk".that problem was constant. When backing up of my drive way the same thing would happen, I will put it in "gear" and the car wouldn't back-up at all, I had to press the gas after 5 seconds and again suddenly will jerk into reverse. The car actually stopped in different occasions in the middle of the street with heavy traffic in a busy intersection. This is a big safety concern for the driver and passengers inside an unsafe vehicle that just "wont move". another concern would be to "public safety" as other drivers will have to maneuver around the 'stalled" vehicle. I did contacted Nissan usa and they issue a case number on my complain. My vehicle is now at the dealership. I did my research and the same issue has been going on with Nissan cvt transmissions, that in 2010** Nissan extended their cvt ( continuously variable transmission) equipped vehicles ( 2003- 2010) with a 10 year / 120,000 miles limited warranty. Im 100% sure that Nissan will make their 2011 - 2013 Altima part of their commitment to their client base, and add their 10 year / 120,000 miles limited warranty extension to these previous models.
- Las Vegas, NV, USA
The car will not shift out of "park" without popping the access cover on console & pushing down on the transmission release button with a long screwdriver. Starting happening at approx 35K miles.
- Cynthiana, KY, USA
Transmission went out at 80679 miles.
- Valencia, CA, USA
At 68830 miles the transmission went out on this car. Terrible.
- Valencia, CA, USA
The shift gear does not move to drive, reverse or anywhere for that matter once its in park. Someone had to show me how to remove the plastic cap on the shift gear lock & stick my key in there to get the shift gear to move. I have to do this every single time the vehicle is set to park & the vehicle is stationary.
- Fontana, CA, USA
The 7 inch central audio-visual and navigation unit periodically changes radio stations, crashes the navigation display, or crashes entirely going blank, and may or may not ask for sd card upon reboot. On one occasion the accelerator also stuck requiring the car to taken to the side of the road and turned off. Cannot be sure if the two events were related but they happened simultaneously. In the last six months the misbehavior of the central display unit has gotten worse and worse. Nissan dealer and national support are unable to find the problem or being willing to fix it. There is no escalation procedure to factory engineering and maintenance support. They will not take the elementary step to reflash the firmware or being willing to change out the unit. Multiple examples of this problem are reported online in Nissan's owner portal for this model year and the next. Despite being originally told that Nissan is trying to track cars with this known problem that Nissan refuses to address and leaving a potential safety problem unresolved.
- Renton, WA, USA
The car would not accelerate from a stop light. It would just do low-RPM revs then eventually crawl then rev super high and accelerate super fast. The transmission would take about 10 seconds to engage at every light and once it did it would lurch forward. Stalled 3 times. 2013 Nissan Altima with exactly 85,500 miles. Called Nissan and they said the know of no recalls or issues with the transmission and it is no longer under warranty but to take it to a Nissan dealer to have it looked at. Check engine light finally came on with code P0776, and pending codes of P 0776 P0965 P2813.
- Valparaiso, IN, USA
We have bad headlights. At night with low beams you cannot safely drive. You are forced to use high beams. Dealer has no solution other than replace for 1000K. On top of that the transmission went out at 70K. Unacceptable. But the lights are a huge safety issue and should be recalled. Nissan claims they are aware but do nothing
- Forest Hill, MD, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the vehicle did not accelerate without warning. The vehicle was taken to torre Nissan (760-777-8999, located at 79125 highway 111, la quinta, ca 92253) where nothing was done. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact inquired about technical service bulletin number: 16-102 and was informed to contact the manufacturer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that there was no recall. The contact was referred to NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 104,000.
- Laquinta, CA, USA
Engine stalls while driving due torque stalling of the engine. Can could cause an accident. This has been a known issue of this make and model cvt. Then engine stalling and shutting down occurs at any speed.
- Tampa, FL, USA
Gear gets stuck too often to move. Cheap parts and is risky like on a parking stop trying to stop and your gear wont budge. My 2013 Altima transmission has always been vibrating too heavily, between 1500-2500 RPM in cold and exteremely hot weather situations, ever since I bought this vehicle (since Feb, 2014). Now the transmission completely failed and they are asking 4K to replace it.
- Tucson, AZ, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. While parking the vehicle, the transmission failed and the contact had to push the vehicle into the parking space. The contact also noticed fluid on the ground. The vehicle was not towed to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was contacted and provided case number: 37097905. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 81,000.
- Timonium, MD, USA
Transmission started slipping, lurching, going in and out of gear for several months and now is almost non drivable. Dealership says it is out of warranty and it will cost $3,500 to fix.
- Coral Gables, FL, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the rpms were going up and down sporadically. While driving 50 mph, the transmission slipped and the vehicle jerked. The vehicle would not shift over into the next gear. The transmission was replaced in September of 2016 as part of an unknown recall repair that was performed under an extended warranty at griffin Nissan (1780 E broad ave, rockingham, nc 28379, (910) 997-5516). The most recent failure occurred around August 12, 2019. The manufacturer stated that they could not assist because the mileage exceeded the warranty limit of 100,000. The manufacturer provided a case number and promised to call the contact back. The failure mileage was 134,000.
- Chesterfield, SC, USA
The headlights on my Altima are really dim.
- Greenwood, SC, USA
My car will not shift out of park- there are hundreds and hundreds of complaints in online forums I have sifted thru with the same exact problem with the same year as mine
- Encinitas, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. While at a stop sign, the vehicle stalled twice and was able to be restarted. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to Nissan of athens (located at 4735 atlanta hwy, bldg. C, athens, ga 30606, (706) 410-1914) where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 112,000.
- Winterville, GA, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. While driving various speeds, the vehicle sputtered and a thud noise was present when the transmission switched gears. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the battery, but the failures continued. The failures eventually worsened and the vehicle randomly sputtered and stalled. On several occasions, the vehicle accelerated on its own. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission was damaged due to a faulty solenoid and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Don williams Nissan (310 western blvd, jacksonville, nc) and the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 84,000.
- Beaufort, NC, USA
- Tucker, GA, USA