Has there been a lot of problems with 2013 Nissan Altima transmission

Asked by jvdirosa May 06, 2015 at 02:02 PM about the 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SV

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

53 Answers

Yep. Some. http://www.carcomplaints.com/Nissan/Altima/2013/transmission/

20 people found this helpful.

http://ask.cars.com/2013/06/how-reliable-is-the-cvt-automatic-in-the-2013-altima.html

5 people found this helpful.
1,410

Yes. I have replaced several. They seem to have worked out the problems on the 2015 models but 2013 was a bad year for transmissions in Nissans. I replaced more that year than the rest of my 16 years at Nissan combined.

26 people found this helpful.
Best Answer Mark helpful
1,020

Mine failed at less than 5 years old but over 60,000 miles so refused coverage under warranty by Nissan. It is a costly repair on such a young vehicle ($4000). My previous Nissan products have gone well over 100,000 miles with no issues, but this has me skeptical of the brand quality and their unwillingness to cover this faulty transmission has resulted in the loss of a loyal customer.

23 people found this helpful.
190

Did you try calling 1-800-nissan1 to see if they would cover it? I know for a fact that Nissan is generous on covering cvt issues up to at least 100,000 miles. My guess is the dealer you brought it to didn't want to cover it. They probably didn't check to see if they could. If a customer comes into our shop with a cvt issue and they service their car with us regularly we call for them. Most of the time Nissan will cover the entire repair. There are some occasions where they will decline but it usually involves someone changing the fluid with automatic transmission fluid.

9 people found this helpful.
1,020

Mpe234, yes, I did call customer care. I had heard that earlier models were covered up to 100,000 miles and 10 years. They considered my case for about a week and came back with a determination that they could not cover it because it was out of warranty. Even the Nissan dealer seemed a little surprised and are being extremely patient as we now have to figure out how to pay for a $4000 repair on a car that is financed and we still owe money on.

10 people found this helpful.
190

The dealer still has options. If they are willing to, they can call their Nissan rep and ask for assistance. I have had some luck going that route and at least getting Nissan to cover the part.

3 people found this helpful.
1,020

Mpe235, my car is only 75,000 miles. The drive train warranty for the 2013 is 5 yrs/60,000 miles. I have been working with both the dealer and corporate customer care. They deliberated for over a week and decided not cover us. Again, this was not what I expected from the Nissan brand. A huge disappointment.

11 people found this helpful.
1,020

I didn't mention that our failure occurred while driving on an interstate highway with no warning and had to coast through traffic to the shoulder of the road, so it is a serious safety issue. I have filed a complaint with NHTSA. There are currently over 200 complaints filed on the 2013 Nissan Altima power train and more on other model years, many nearly identical to my experience. I encourage others to report this to NHTSA due to the safety concerns. They could require Nissan to take ownership of the problem.

27 people found this helpful.
260

This just happened to me; my Altima stopped in traffic, would not go forward in drive or reverse, engine completely shut down. Called Nissan and they will not cover the cost, took my Vin # and said where my Altima was manufactured it had better parts installed. Researching this issue online this has been a ongoing issue with these transmissions; I even read where the warranty has been extended due to this. We have been a Nissan family for years but no longer are, as soon as my Altima returns from the shop I will be selling it. I am spreading the word around about this problem.

26 people found this helpful.
180

2013 got put into the shop a few days ago because i went to start it and while backing up, it just died. And i had to push it back into its parking spot. Well they only found 1 really insignificant thing and sent it back home. Well on the way home from the shop it would die and jerk when i would slow down to a stop light or stop sign, and jerk when first accelerating. I put it back into the shop 2 days ago and they just called me and let me know there’s 3 different things wrong in the transmission and it’s gotta go to a Nissan dealership and etc etc etc. this is my 4th Nissan and third Altima and never again. My next car won’t be a Nissan.

18 people found this helpful.
20

I am having the same problem, has Nissan offered to fix it at no cost? Or how much are you looking at having to pay? Mine just happened this weekend.

2 people found this helpful.
90

Same issue as well. Took my Nissan 2013 Altima in prior to warranty going out. As my car was jerking and shutting off, the came back with a Mass Air Flow Sensor needed to be replaced. About 12,000 miles later, same issue and then Check Engine Light came on. Took to repair shop, they stated CVT is bad, $3900 to replace. Wow!!! Called Consumer Affairs and have an open case with fingers crossed right now. Car is now at nissan dealership with same results, Bad CVT, only Nissan dealership wants $4500. First Nissan and most likely my Last.

9 people found this helpful.
460

This is happening to me right now, as we speak, and I can't believe that Nissan is refusing to pay for the fix, regardless of the warranty terms. You would think that a company that sells products within an industry that is so dependent upon reputation and public opinion, wouldn't hesitate to correct such a major blunder affecting one of its most popular lines of cars, but I guess they are just like most corporations. So my situation is that I own a 2013 Altima with this issue, that is just a few months past the 60 month warranty, with less than 50K miles and the dealers are refusing to fix the problem. I have logged a complaint with Nissan corporate and hope to have a positive response next Monday, but seriously doubt they will step up and agree to pay for the repair. To me, this feels like a perfect class action law suit. Anyone else agree?

33 people found this helpful.
120

I'm right there with you 2013 Sentra same issues 77,000 miles. Called Nissan1 and zero help all they know how to do is quote the warranty. It's back at the dealership again and this time they will give me an answer on what they will do. Then it's off to Honda and dump this piece of sh**.

5 people found this helpful.
60

Anyone on this thread had any success with repairs? I am owner of 2013 Nissan Altima. I have 63000 miles on it and am starting to experience similar issue. When I put my car in reverse or drive the car dies...it seems to be working fine...the dealership is asking 149 bucks to inspect it and said it could be electrical or worst case bad transmission. If anyone has had some positive interaction or know any additional information on this widespread issue, any help would be appreciated.

3 people found this helpful.
1,020

If you are a loyal Nissan customer and had all your servicing at a single dealership service department, that dealer may be able to get you compensated. You are so close to the warranty on miles I would really raise a stink if I were you. Call Nissan customer care. I was deemed "not loyal enough" even though we have recently owned 2 Nissan's and one Infiniti.

3 people found this helpful.
460

I just had the repairs completed on my 2013 Altima, after two weeks at the dealership for diagnosis. I had to make a huge stink out of this issue, in order to get Nissan Corporate to take the problem seriously and assume most of the cost of repairs. In the end, the dealership installed a re-manufactured CVT into my car, and they (Nissan) picked up 90% of the cost of the repair, leaving me to pick up the remaining 10%, ($338 dollars). I wasn't happy about having to pay even the 10% because the issue was raised by the first owner of the car when it was still under warranty, but I was sick of fighting with them so I went ahead and had the repairs done. I have had the repaired version of my car now for only a few days but it seems to be running without any re-occurrences of the CVT problems. Still, I feel like I can't trust this car or the repairs done to it, so I am going to trade it in for something else, not made by Nissan. This issue and the way it was handled by Nissan has confirmed for me that I will never buy Nissan again.

9 people found this helpful.
80

all cars have problems but not 4000.00 ones...these transmissions on 2013 Altimas should have a recall or at least an exstened warrenty

8 people found this helpful.
40

I own a 2013 Altima with 52,000 miles. I had to replace the alternator ($550). Then a few weeks later it would not shift out of park and had to replace the gear shift mechanism ($350. Now it is not running correctly. It seems to be the transmission because it runs rough but now my headlights are flickering too. I am so disappointed. I did not have these repairs done at the dealership. Does that make a difference on if Nissan will help with the issues? I can use any and all advice. Thanks!

4 people found this helpful.
100

Well this past weekend went through a bank drive thru and my 2013 Altima shut off on me. Looked and saw the check engine light on. Took it to the dealer and they said it’s the transmission, it’s looking like $5000 but they are gonna call Nissan to see if I can get a goodwill. If I can’t I’m gonna take the damn car and either trade it in or sell it or something. I’m really over this shit. This is a common problem and Nissan should take full responsibility for the problem and fix it.

10 people found this helpful.
40

similar problem with 2013 cvt transmission, odometer is 46000 miles purchased vehicle on jan 8, 2013. nov 28, 2018 driving on highway, engine shutoff, no warning messages, pulled off to road shoulder and restarted, drove home 6 miles same issue engine stopped, was able to make it home safe. took vehicle to dealership of purchase, result original warranty and extended expired dealership will replace transmission new only $350.00 out of pocket cost, got lucky.

4 people found this helpful.
100

So as a result of that Nissan paid some andhad me pay $1600 out of pocket for the new transmission

120

CVT is a known piece of crap in the 2013 Sentra. Nissan is getting overwhelmed with complaints. They act like you are the first customer to have any problem with this car. This shows me that Nissan can not be trusted, they use similiar tatics as insurance companies. Deny everthing, then after persistent complaints by one individual maybe offer a discount to that one person. The next customer that walks in the door start the denial process all over again. Keep records off every conversation and visit you have, record the time, milage and situation when fault occurs. Make the tech hook a laptop directly to your car during test drive. This is the only way fault codes or bad parameters will be displayed. Video gages during over revving of engine. Good luck and don't take no for an answer, and unfortunatly you will have to deal with Nissan if you want any discounts or reimbursement later after they finally recall for CVT issues.

6 people found this helpful.
20

It happen to my 2 weeks ago , my transmission die, My next car won’t be a Nissan. I'm still pay my car NO warranty this is sad to me ....grrrrr

2 people found this helpful.
70

Bought my 2013 Nissan Altima at Ron Marhofer in Akron, Ohio. At 64,000 miles, the transmission issues well-described above occurred. Oddly enough, this all occurs without engine and warning light notifications and I agree this is an extremely dangerous situation as unpredictably the car will stall at stop signs and traffic lights after you've stopped and then try to cross the intersection. I immediately took it in to Marhofer and their chief technician ran some diagnostics on the transmission and the message was "your transmission is going to go out". I asked how do you know that? I called Nissan and while the car was only 4000 miles out of warranty, they wouldn't budge. Based on my readings here, it sounds like the dealer and Nissan can work to resolve or reduce the cost for these well-known transmission issues but they have chosen not to. DO NOT BUY A NISSAN. YOU MAY HAVE HAD DECENT EXPERIENCE IN THE PAST, BUT DON'T PRESS YOUR LUCK! And the Marhofer people, especially the 2 boys running the show must have been hit in the head too many times playing football - totally unhelpful - and I bought the piece of junk directly from Chris Marhofer! Needless to say, I drove it sparingly over the next few years with intermittent spuddering, shuttering and what ever adjectives one would use to describe a faulty transmission. Well, it just went completely out yesterday. DO NOT BUY A NISSAN OR DO BUSINESS WITH THE MARHOFERS! THEY DON'T STAND BY THEIR PRODUCTS OR RESOLVE ISSUES WHEN THEY CAN!

7 people found this helpful.
30

Nissan has to recall these defective Transmissions. Our 2013 Altima had my wife in tears when it quit on her coming home from work. Dangerous to have women driving a 2013 with a factory defective transmission. Ours is broken at the dealer and I do not want another defective one put in. No way should the customers have to pay for factory defective transmissions even if owners changes his own fluids.

3 people found this helpful.
50

They have to recall these things. This is not fair. I have to admit my car did make it to 93k miles but one day I went to shift into gear and the engine just shut off. When the tow guy came, he told me to put it into neutral first, then try drive or reverse and this worked! For a while... til one day it wouldn’t turn on at all. Fortunately I have never been driving on a highway or where someone would have gotten hurt when issues with the transmission started. I took it to one mechanic after it wouldn’t start and he changed out the battery and said that was all. Problem persisted with sputtering and hesitating and gears slipping when trying to go from reverse to drive. Also when driving the rpms will shoot is to 3-4 and then back down when going from gear to gear. Just took it last night to Nissan because I don’t feel safe driving it any longer. They just called and said the transmission has gone and I will need to have it replaced- $3800. No way. Never buying another Nissan. Going to report this to NHTSA and see if a recall can happen here. This was supposed to be my “reliable” car. And I still owe!!!

2 people found this helpful.
130

I currently have my 2013 Altima S at the dealership just under 100000 miles and have the occasional sputter on the highway. I had a wrap around warranty for 100000 miles, but found out it had expired November 2017. This is my family’s Only car and we rely on it heavily. Just like other people on here $3900 for new cvt. I don’t have that kind of money as we barely make ends meet already. I was told Nissan is a great manufacturer, but seriously have my doubts. I am going to try all options to either have this issue resolved at a much lesser amount and 0 out of pocket.

120

Ford just recalled f150 trucks for a similiar but less dangerous transmission issue. Come on NTSB don't let nissan off the hook. Ford issued a safety recall on about 1.5 million vehicles Wednesday. It's recalling select 2011 to 2013 Ford F-150 vehicles with six-speed automatic transmissions. It's also recalling 2017 to 2019 Lincoln Continentals and select 2019 Ford Mustang, Lincoln Nautilus and Lincoln Navigator vehicles

130

I have seen on numerous other sites that b/c of the cvt problems Nissan had extended the warranty to 10 years/120000 miles. Can anyone confirm the this?

3 people found this helpful.
10

Another loyal Nissan owner getting the shaft by this faulty transmission. Same deal that my warranty expired in December and the transmission just quit on me at 85,000kms. I agree with a previous post that all cars have a certain level of maintenance and upkeep but this is a $6500 fix for a car that is 6 years old. I am currently fighting with the dealership on this and will take it to the corporate level next.

1 people found this helpful.
130

My car still at the dealership. From what I was told the manager is getting calls from Nissan every other day about this issue. Sounds like to me either a secret recall is going to happen or the feds will make them make it public. The Altima is Nissan's best selling model they don't want to lose that name. That will hurt sales big time!

1 people found this helpful.
60

I think everyone here should file a complaint with NHTSA. On carcompliants.com there are 700+ issues reported for 2013 Altima, but only 1 NHTSA complaint. Regards,

3 people found this helpful.
1,020

There is much more than one complaint on NHTSA , numerous ones regarding the transmission (power/drivetrain).

1 people found this helpful.
130

Heard back from the dealership earlier today. They are knocking the price of the new transmission down to $3300 and then splitting that cost with me. Basically I would be responsible for $1650. I feel Nissan should pay for it all since there are so many cases with the same problem.

3 people found this helpful.
40

My 2013 Nissan with 77,000 miles needs a new transmission. Dealership quoted me at $3000 to fix. Called Nissan and they are going to pay for 80% of the cost. Defeinitely call if you are having these issues. Can’t hurt

4 people found this helpful.
20

I just purchased my 2013 Nissan Altima about a month ago and had no idea that my cvt transimission would go out. It only has 53,000 miles and the third party warranty I purchased will only cover $2400. I have to pay $1100 out of pocket, and it's financed with higher insurance. I should of researched the brand name better and would have not purchased a Nissan. Never Again.

2 people found this helpful.

I ended up with same problem with my 2013 Altima, Check engine light was on with fluctuating RPM, the Nissan service center here told me to replace the transmission and gave the cost as $4590. I am heartbroken, had lot of trust on them. Called the consumer service and they opened my case, saying some regional manager will call me tomorrow. Mileage is 99400 and not sure what he is going to say.

I bought 2013 altima last month June'19 with 95k km from toyota dealership. Faced the same issue within two while driving on highway. Took it to dealer and they took it to nissan. Nissan had replaced the transmission with a remanufactured one and also they have replaced one solenoid. I was fortunate that half of the cost have been taken care by the lubrico warranty and rest the toyota dealer paid as goodwill. The car is running smooth since then, but I am little worried about the reliability of the remanufactured cvt. Can some one can share their experience with replaced cvt?

40

I feel like we should all find a way to coordinate a class action against nissan for this problem. I was also denied any coverage or compensation at 69k mile transmission failure.

4 people found this helpful.
50

Hi all. There has been a class action. They want to extend the warranty but only to 84,000 miles. We must all OBJECT to this. The other CVT issues for 2003 - 2010 extended the warranty to 120,000 miles. This means that a lot of people who are still paying off Nissans will be stuck buying new transmissions because they fail after 84,000. Here is the website: http://www.altimacvtsettlement.com/

5 people found this helpful.
110

I have a 2016 Altima and the CVT transmission failed at 98,000 miles. I'm passed the 84,000 class action limit (which is ridiculously low) and contacted Nissan about a Goodwill repair. Nissan told me to go sign up for the lawsuit. Literally, that's what the rep told me. I'm not covered under that and looks like I'll eat a $4,200 repair. I've bought Nissans for 20 years, and own 3 right now. Including a 1999 Frontier with 250K miles on it, and a 2017 Altima. My last Altima (2005 Model) gave me 336K miles with no problem. CVT transmissions just don't hold up, and Nissan has to know that. And as Szday M suggests a LOT of Altima owners are going to get burned from premature failures of their CVTs that are outside the 84K limit. Barring some belated assistance from Nissan, I'll never buy one of their products again.

3 people found this helpful.
10

one good answer for a japaneese made piece of shit...FUCK NISSAN..PERIOD

1 people found this helpful.
10

Benton Nissan replaced remanfactured transmissions in my 2013 in 2018 and now my transmission has failed. The transmission has 46000 miles on it!!!! I filed a claim with Nissan but they only offered employee discount. My car is paid for i do not want another car note. Should seek legal???? Took my car May 7 2020 for tune up... Rep called and recommended so important repairs which included drive belt.. Other recommendatios were , right axile repair, transmission cleaning/service, brake fluid. Paid for the immediate repairs and tuneup. Drive the car the next day, its hesitant, won't drive forward. Took it back and they say transmissions failing... Im like how when you all just replaced it in 2018. They informed me the warranty was up on that one... Filed a claim with Nissan and I'm offered a discount on a new car

1 people found this helpful.
60

i must be super unlucky to be in this situation. My car has 57K miles and the transmission crapped out. When I checked the warranty status with Nissan, it expired 45 days ago. I asked for good will assistance and they say I'm not eligible for the assistance as I have not serviced my car in Nissan Dealership in the last 2 years. I couldn't do the service as I was in suburbs and there was no nissan nearby. Despite these reasons, they denied my request. Can anyone tell me what options do i have now?

2 people found this helpful.
60

This is the update to my post that I wrote 3 days ago. Nissan Consumer Affairs called again and they declined coverage, even though the vehicle has only 57K miles and the warranty expired only 45 days ago. The justification provided is, I have not serviced my vehicle in Nissan Dealership in the last 2 years. Despite my pleas and denoting that I didn't do the service in Dealership because there was no closest service location nearby my place, they were set on the decision. Actually they were pretty rude too. So don't expect a humane conversation with consumer affairs dept. I was planning to buy another Nissan for my family. Despite this debacle, I thought I'd give a chance and asked for any assistance towards buying new vehicle. Nope. They are okay to lose a customer and that's what she said. Anyway I'm planning to sell the vehicle little while after changing the transmission. Bye Bye Nissan. TL:DR Fuck Nissan USA

1 people found this helpful.
460

Guru3MZ3V, don't give up on this. I basically got the same response from Nissan until I persisted and threatened legal and consumer action (which I did anyway). File a complaint with the NTSB and the BBB and with your state's AG. Search the internet for info regarding the class action lawsuit against Nissan for this issue and contact that law firm. Don't take no for an answer. They will eventually cave and pay to replace the CVT (or in my case, they paid for 90% of the replacement cost). You will have to be a huge PIA to get them to budge. Do it, and enjoy the prospect of using the internet against them.

2 people found this helpful.
60

@Vologras - Appreciate you taking time to post this. I will file the compliant with NTSB and BBB tonight. I will also call the lawfirm and see my luck. I've never filed a lawsuit and not sure if it is going to be expensive. At the end of the day, I don't want to spend $2000 on lawsuit and if it doesnt turn in my favour and I end up losing it. Any advises on that?

3 people found this helpful.
460

I wasn't suggesting that you engage the law firm so you can file an individual lawsuit against Nissan. I was merely suggesting that you contact the law firm that is representing the group of us in the class action lawsuit. You should be able to get qualified by answering some questions, and then you will be added to the growing list of plaintiffs. No cost involved. Keep the pressure on them until they give in.

2 people found this helpful.
50

It’s true- my trans went on my 2013 Nissan 1.5 years ago. It was crazy. It had 90k on it tho - highway miles. When I took it to the dealership it was like a duh. I walked in, they looked at my car, said- you having trans problems? Immediately I was on alert. They then got me a top of the line vehicle to replace mine for the time being until they called and said yup, $4000 repair. I’m like nope- called corporate yelling and screaming. They opened a claim. They had my car at that dealership for 4-5 weeks, I honestly lost track. They wanted proof- then when the Nissan tech was like yes I confirmed the problem, they didn’t believe them and wanted VIDEO proof. I’m like huh??? Long and short- they paid 70%. I get a card in the mail back in December 2019, that there is a class action lawsuit against them and that they are going to cover these models for ... 80k? Don’t quote me but it wasn’t up to 100k. I submitted my info to the law firm anyway per their forms. (No cost to me). Despite COVID- maybe there would have been conclusions on the lawsuit by now. But yeah- no more nissans for me. Never again.

3 people found this helpful.
120

Well after 10 months waiting on the class action lawsuit by Patricia Weckwerth it finally paid off. Thank you Patricia. I was very persistent at the dealership and had the transmission more than likely replaced with a rebuilt one. Kept all my records and was fully reimbursed for all the cost. $771.11. Check your mail boxes if you joined this lawsuit.

1 people found this helpful.

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