CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2012 Altima has a defect trend of CVT transmission failure showing up around the 100,000 mile mark.

It's an expensive repair at nearly $2,000 average repair cost. For more information see Nissan Altima CVT defect info on NissanProblems.com.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
65,503 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.

2012 Nissan Altima engine problems

engine problem

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2012 Nissan Altima Owner Comments (Page 1 of 4)

problem #64

Mar 012023

Altima

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When I BARELY accelerate my car it does a very aggressive bucking motion along with loud noise. I have done put over $3k in vehicle! Nissan fix your sh*t!

- Kemp, TX, USA

problem #63

Jan 112023

Altima

  • miles
What component or system failed or malfunction and is it available for inspection upon request. The CVT failsafe high fluid temperature protection mode enacted while I was driving on the highway at speeds of 65 to 70 mph going with the flow of traffic it is not available for inspection upon request because this issue only occurs while you're driving down the highway. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? My safety and the safety of my passengers and the safety of my fellow commuters was put in jeopardy due to negligence of the manufacturer of the 2012 Nissan Altima when this occurs all acceleration ceases your foot can be all the way to the floor on the gas pedal and your car will not accelerate and in the fast lane on the highway when this happened I became a Sitting Duck in the flow of traffic cars are flying by me and my passengers and I can't get enough speed to change lanes and get out of danger due to a failsafe that Nissan put in these cars on purpose they were fully aware of these issues this is a direct quote from the 2012 Nissan Altima owners manual page 5-17 warning when the high fluid temperature protection mode or fail safe operation occurs vehicle speed may be gradually reduced the reduced speed may be lower than traffic which could increase the chance of a collision be especially careful when driving if necessary pull to the side of the road to a safe place and allow the transmission to return to normal operation or have it reparative necessary. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. Unknown. has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer police Insurance Representatives or others. Unknown. Where there any warning lamps messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure and when did they first appear. Zero warning lamps no messages just all of the sudden no acceleration and I am in a very dangerous situation which could have cost many people their lives

- Vallejo, CA, USA

problem #62

Jan 112023

Altima

  • miles
Hi I-€™m having trouble with my transmission in my car due to a safety feature that Nissan has installed on there cvt transmissions. After driving for 1 1/2 to 2 hour trips my car does not accelerate or will have a slow time gaining speed. Nissan has a high fluid temperature protection mode that basically when the transmission temp gets too high the computer cuts you off completely and intentionally stops you from going any faster. This is a serious issues if your in traffic or driving somewhere on the highway and not able to move to the side of the roadway or to a median. If my car was to completely stop in the middle of the road due to this safety feature, it could cause collisions and life threatening injuries.

- Augusta , GA, USA

problem #61

May 032021

Altima

  • 96,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I only have 96,000 miles on my vehicle and I can't accelerate. I was on the highway when this happened. It picks and chooses when it wants to accelerate and I almost caused an accident on the highway and on the inner roads. This is not safe and Nissan refuses to take responsibility

- Ashland, MO, USA

problem #60

Nov 032020

Altima

  • 76,979 miles
My 2012 Nissan Altima 2.5 sl cut off while I was driving yesterday. I was going about 15 mph and making a right turn when the car cut off in the middle of the turn. There were no warning lights before, during or after the incident. I was able to coast into the parking lot where I restarted the car. There was of a tank of gas in the car and all of the battery cables were secure. I had the battery and alternator checked and both were fine. There are 76,979 miles on the car. This was the first time this has ever happened, however, after doing some research I have learned this is a common problem with this vehicle. I have loved driving this car for the past few years, but now I am afraid this will continue to happen and could cause me to lose my life in a traffic accident. Please advise me of your official recommendation as to how I should proceed.

- Lizella, GA, USA

problem #59

Aug 242020

Altima

  • 127,122 miles
I took the car to a repair shop because the check engine light came on and was told there is a recall for my vehicle and the dealership did not tell me. I was driving on a city street going the speed limit.

- Decatur, GA, USA

problem #58

Aug 172020

Altima

  • 46,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On 8/17/2020 at 11:30am I was driving at approximately 15 mph when everything in my car, including the engine shut down with no warning. I quickly placed the vehicle in park and after 2 attempts my car restarted with no other problems that day. On 8/18/2020 at approximately 1750hrs after exiting the expressway, again my car shut down while driving 10-15 mph, after 2 attempts my it restarted. The car currently has 46,000 miles, I am the original owner and the car is serviced as scheduled by manufacturer. I currently have an appointment on 8/28/2020 with Nissan of queen for an evaluation of this problem.

- Queens, NY, USA

problem #57

Jul 292019

Altima

  • 130,000 miles
Cvt transmission

- Columbus, GA, USA

problem #56

Jul 302020

Altima

  • 135,000 miles
Car automatically reduces speed from 65 mph to 35 mph while in motion on highway and will not increase speed when driving at an hour or better at 65 mph or greater. When it autodecelerates it makes a whining noise and will not accelerate again until you turn the engine off and allow the car to sit for 30 mins or better.

- Snellville, GA, USA

problem #55

May 062020

Altima 4-cyl

  • miles
The engine has always made excessive noise when accelerating. I have since learned that it has been the transmission and is a common problem with the cvt transmission in Nissan Altima. I feel that given the several thousand dollars it takes to fix that Nissan should either put out a recall or compensate for this as it causes the driver to be stranded one the transmission does eventually fail.

- Ramsey, MN, USA

problem #54

Mar 062020

Altima

  • 184,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While driving for 1/2 hour or more my car loses power this has caused my car to die in the middle of an intersection and almost getting hit. In order to get power back you have to shut the car off and let it sit. We have checked all fluids replaced spark plugs battery alternator filters and it still does this. Upon researching this I have seen other complaining about the same issue with their 2012 Nissan and due to it being a safety harvard should be recalled and fixed.

- Northfield, VT, USA

problem #53

Mar 142019

Altima

  • 1 miles
So I purchased my car in 2014 at tony Nissan waipio and had cna manufactured warranty..which is a good warranty.but I come to realize ever since.my manufactured warranty expired in 2019, and I routinely bring my car in for oil and oil filter maintenance every 3 months, and each time I would bring it in. Mechanics and service advisors seems to find a lot of problems with my car..and ask if I wanted it to be fixed or replaced, majority of the time. I will asked if my aul warranty will cover, for the parts and labors..I would say 80 percent of my warranty covers..some. Dont.but to make my complaint shorter..each time I would bring it in to tony Nissan for a repair..not even 3 months after, another problems.come about..at this time I'm getting very scared and afraid for my safety in driving my car.especially.when I have my 6 year old grandson that I pick up from school..and I'm beginning to not have faith in them and I'm really having trust issues, with either the mechanics or service advisors..at tony Nissan.I can show proofs of documents that I have all my invoices dated from 2014 until now of 2020..of all services and repairs they have claimed they doned on my car..just recently I asked for my old parts back, to see if they got it replaced..throttle body assembly and ignition coil #3..my upcoming repair will be alternator and drive belt..I will be taking my car in either 02/25/2020 or 02/26/2020..in the afternoon.thank you very much, for the help and concerns.please reply back to me if my car was sold to me as a lemon or any recalls..I've be glad to express my concerns to the president of that company..but I always get talked to the other staffs that works for him...

- Waipahu, HI, USA

problem #52

Jan 022019

Altima

  • miles
Losses power when driving when making turns it shakes it over heats

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #51

Aug 092019

Altima

  • 55,000 miles
I bought a certified pre-owned 2012 Nissan Altima 2.5S sedan from university Nissan in universal city, ca. Throughout its life from when I received car at around 45,000 miles, every couple thousand 5K-10K care engine engine could not accelerate quicker car would begin making engine whining noise. It was never disgnosed as a cvt problem when I would take car to Nissan in warranty repair. During dealership repair enounter mass air flow sensor was replaced. "mass air flow sensor" that has been replaced multiples times throughout its life as well. Car now has a cvt problem and struggles during hot weather and worst if people are in car now.

- Panorama City, CA, USA

problem #50

Oct 082017

Altima

  • 100,500 miles
While in motion, the vehicle begins to drasticly slow down from speeds of 60 to 70 mph down to 20 to 30 mph. This usually happens during the day after driving for an hour + and in any kind of incline road. At hard inclines I can bearly drive upward even hhaving to come to a complete stop. The RPM gage begins to jump rapidly to 5 and 6 RPM when even slightly pressing the gas peddle, and once it adjust, the vehicle will not go more that 3 RPM while still at a mph slower than 30. This will stay for the remainder of the drive until I have stopped and turned my vehicle off for a significant amount of time. Tbis began happening at 100,000 miles and now at 150,000 miles it happens very frequently. I feel this is unacceptable, and clearly very unsafe for driving long distances on large highways, when my vehicle should work as it should.

- Lakeside, CA, USA

problem #49

Jun 302019

Altima

  • 106,000 miles
Takata recall, I have a 2012 Nissan Altima and I purchased from a dealer in Jan 2015. I believe this car must be a defective product. It's a pre-owned car. Just after driving it for 1.5yrs, I have been driving the car the transmission broken. The speed drops to 30miles/hr from 65miles/hr while I was driving on the freeway. There were cars behind me. It's so dangerous. I was lucky that the driver behind me reacted very quickly and didn't hit me. It was under the warranty so they replaced the torque converter of the transmission. However, just this past weekend I was driving uphill on a mountain road and a similar problem happened again. My car can't shift correctly and the speed drops to 25 miles/hr from 40miels/hr. Both the first time and the second time when this happens there is no signal lights on my dashboard. I went to the dealer but they said I'm out of the warranty and they may not cover the repair. I failed a claim to Nissan customer service and still waiting for the response to solve this issue. They said there are no recalls of my car but I have found a lot of reports online about their transmission issues and people had experienced similar to me. Also, the steering wheel didn't work for a few times. Nissan said they care about customers' safety but I don't think they really do what they said. If they really care about our safety they should take more actions on this issue and recall the defective cars. It's very dangerous for everyone on the roads.

- Palo Alto, CA, USA

problem #48

Jun 262019

Altima

  • 161,000 miles
As I was starting to slow down in preparation of taking a turn off the frontage road my car completely shut off, my brakes and steering locked and luckily I was able to complete my turn into a gas station where I immediately put it in park and restarted via push start., 2 days later this occurred again on a fairly busy street where I repeated the steps to start it again. I am extremely scared to have this happen again on a heavily traveled street causing me to be involved in a collision, I have researched online and see other reports/complaints of the same issue I described yet do not see any recall issued regrading this extremely dangerous defect.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #47

May 112019

Altima

  • 126,000 miles
After a few hours of driving, the vehicle lost power and went into "limp mode" on an 8 lane highway. After research, Nissan have a known problem with the transmission that has yet to he addressed

- Brunswick, GA, USA

problem #46

Apr 232017

Altima

  • 100,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Nissan Altima. While driving 45 mph, the vehicle decelerated. The contact pulled the vehicle over and waited until the engine cooled off. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact usually had to wait a while to restart the engine. The vehicle was taken to mossey poway Nissan (14100 poway rd, poway, ca 92064, (858) 668-3600) where it was diagnosed that a cooling system needed to be installed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and did not assist. The failure mileage was 100,000.

- Poway, CA, USA

problem #45

Apr 012019

Altima

  • 76,000 miles
I bought my car only a few months ago and recently taking it to the bench at their service, the technicians notified me that I had a leak and the gascket engine oil cooler need to be replaced after that I've been searching the internet about the problem and I found it S a very common fault in this model, many owners report this problem and everyone wonders why there is no recall yet

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

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