CarComplaints.com Notes: You don't want to get 2009 and 2010 Altima owners started about their cars. That is, unless, you know how to start their cars.
These vehicles can suddenly become impossible to start thanks to a faulty electronic steering column lock (ESCL). Nissan dealers will gladly replace it, but that will run you $1000.
More info & videos about the Nissan ESCL defect are available over at NissanProblems.com.
It's one of the many reasons this car was named CarTalk's Turd of the Week and given our Beware of this Clunker badge. Two dubious honors.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
75,674 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
At some point on the highway the car throttles down to less than 60 mph. Mashing the gas pedal to the floor results in nothing happening. This causes a dangerous road situation with the slower speed, but the worst part is when it suddenly begins to accelerate again, potentially hitting the car in front of you unexpectedly. No mechanic can reproduce the effect as it only takes place after driving on the highway for an hour or so.
Ever since i got the car in May of 2022 I have had problems with my transmission, engine and problems with excessive oil leaking. I-??ve tried to get it fixed. None of the repairs have fixed my car even with my warranty and I-??m still having problems with it. I have also needed to get a valve cover replacement and many repairs to my engine. My dashboard also has difficulties working and turning on. Sometimes my brakes are faulty and require changes frequently. I also have no seatbelts in my backseat
The contact owns a 2010 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle independently decelerated without warning. The contact pulled over and had the vehicle towed to a local mechanic. The vehicle was then towed to a different local mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing the transmission to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000.
The contact owns a 2010 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving 70 mph, the transmission failed to operate as designed and the vehicle failed to accelerate properly. There was no warning light illuminated the contact was unable to move the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. A dealer was not contacted. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 106,324.
I drove my car the day before it was fine. I came out to my car a 2010 Altima 3.5 sr I had a check engine light. I precisely preceded to drive my car because I had to go to work. My car would not move over 20 mph. Car intermediately started overheated and died. I had to have it towed to a local infiniti dealer because the car was inoperable, the problem was found that Nissan had a recall on the car but the 1st owner never fixed it. The problem was a step motor, the car had no power, now after paying 3K for a new radiator the check engine light dates back to a recall years back Nissan had. This is unsafe. I could've lost my life. I still have a lean on my vehicle it has worn control arms, and cvt issues galore if this is not fixed someone will be killed I promise you. Totaled over 8K in repairs shame on Nissan and common fuccin safety bro !!!!!! total junk and unsafe and is inoperable and still isn't paid off whooo hooo just kill us all Nissan !!!!
- Aurora, CO, USA
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Error codes through sensor warnings, I replace one sensor now another sensor error. I'm about $1000 in replacing electricial issues and mechanic says the car is having electrical issues and he can't figure it out. Car won't run longer than 30 mins. Replaced crank shaft sensor and app sensor.
My car loses power on the freeway and it is extremely dangerous. I typically drive on North dallas tollway in dfw area and the other day I had to exit because all of a sudden the car lost power after driving on freeway for 60 miles. This has been an ongoing intermittent issue since day one. I found online that Nissan is aware of the issue but refused to repair.
After buying the car in late 2019, it came to my attention that the cvt transmission was faulty. I later found that the year, model, and make of my vehicle was included in a recall of the cvt transmissions, among other saftey issues. After having the vehicle inspected by three different shops, the conclusion was made that it was indeed the cvt transmission and stepper motor causing the problems. Upon further examination, it was found that my vehicle has not had a recall replacement of the faulty parts as of yet. The car has only 96K miles on it. When the issue arises, the transmission goes into a "safe" mode. This mode creates a throttle problem as the vehicle cannot travel faster than 40 mph without a high pitch wind up sound and a cut in power of almost 50%.
The contact owns a 2010 Nissan Altima. While driving 35 mph, the vehicle started to jerk and lost power without warning. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the oil consumption fractured and was leaking into the engine. Also, the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and dealer were not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 127,000.
My struts beginning to sound horrible. I was traveling and as I would speed up the rpms would go higher making a whistling noise. Service engine light came on. I went had it put on a computer and it's said transmission and torque converter clutch solenoid.
The very first issue was vehicle shut down on its own while in airport traffic. It restarted right away but cuts off immediately you put it in drive or reverse. After several attempts, the vehicle started and drove fine for a few days and the issue started again. When I took it to get checked out the problem refused to replicate. The current issue now is that the RPM jumps up and down while driving causing the engine to rev up while vehicle de-accelerates on its own. Vehicle sometimes runs like the emergency brake is engaged. When you put it in drive or reverse it takes a few seconds to engage the gear.
Vehicle will not go past 60 mph, then within 24 hours would not go past 40 mph, within 24 more hours, vehicle will not accelerate over 20 mph and has extreme power loss. Was evaluated by transmission shop who confirmed the transmission is failing.
When accelerating from 20mph to 40mph the rpms increase to 3rpm and the transmission hesitates to change the gear. It seems to be an issue with the tcm (transmission control module). I bought my car brand new in 2010. It has 220,000 miles on it. I did some research online and saw this us a known issue with the car. Nissan also sent out a bulletin ntb10-121B. They should recall these cars and fix the issue at their cost. Attached is the pdf of the bulletin.
Driving on I95 from gatlinburg my car started make a horrible whining noisie, shuck it's has done before just not this bad, it has before but I didn't think much of it and just stopped and let it sit and it stopped. Now it happens everyttime I get in the car. Or that I have to beg it go when it's in gear, when I pull out I'd doesn't go. I've notice if I slam it from to park forcefully to drive it seems to work fine until the whining and jerking start. I know this is a tranny issue and I I know it's warranty rorb10 yrs or 120000 miles I'm at 102! and I can't drive this car please help!!!
Takata recall while driving on the highway in traffic the vehicle started to shutter and with no where safe to pull over continued down the road. The vehicle took so long to get up to speed I thought something terrible was going to happened. When I got to a safe place I pulled over. I turned the car off and waited. I restarted the car and decided to try again and immediately it started shuttering and no power I instantly pulled over call my husband and then called a towing service. I've read since this happened its more common and dangerous than I ever imagined..
Problem: Accelerating on highway and car would not switch into higher gear preventing car from going more than 20 mph on a 75 mph highway. Nissan technician diagnosed that the problem was the cvt transmission and the repairs would have been covered 100% under the warrantee extension if the car had been within the 120,000 limit. Our car was just 8% over that limit but Nissan's Consumer Affairs department would not help in any way. The representative said Nissan acknowledged the problem with the transmissions and doubled the warrantee but that was all they were going to do. The same problems that are causing these cvt transmissions to fail at 120,000 miles are causing them to fail at 131,000 miles in my case. Nissan should be held accountable for repairing the defective transmissions. I am not certain why a recall has not been mandated. This is a documented and acknowledged problem and it is a safety concern to lose power while driving.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Louisville, KY, USA