CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2013 Nissan Altima has multiple problem trends including the CVT transmission, and now that this model is out of warranty, it earns our "Avoid Like The Plague" badge.
Be warned: the 2014 & 2015 Nissan Altima appears to share these same problems.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
8 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
8 / 0
Average Mileage:
36,451 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.
Car stalling at idle or stopping. Car starts then cuts out, won't run. Car has been in shop for 3 days now problem is intermittent and can't seem to pin point even with fixd or other devices.
Warning light shows faulty airbag on driver's side, verified by dealer. Passenger side airbag repaired under recall. Driver's side code appeared right after the first repair was made but was advised this is not covered under first recall. This should have been done 2 years ago, and I'm not paying upwards of $5,000 for your electrical failure.
Airbag warning light indicates faulty electronics. Began about 50,000 miles. This is not due to misuse. It's companion to earlier recall for a faulty airbag, which was corrected. Reported to dealer. Cost estimate to repair from $800 to $5,000 depending the level of defect. Owner believes this should be Nissan's responsibility, as it's not due to negligence.
The vehicle gear shift would not move from the park (P) position while depressing the brake pedal. Apparently this is a known shift lock issue based on similar complaints on the NHTSA website as well as Nissan owner testimonies. The fault as it was explained by a Nissan technician was the shifter shorts-out the shift lock solenoid which engages the unlock for the shifter when the brake pedal is depressed. Cost to repair the issue is roughly $800 by replacing the shift handle assembly and this "repair" is due to a failure of a low cost solenoid switch. The consumer should not be accountable of faulty design. According to Nissan, this is not a safety or design issue, but wear and tear of the vehicle. Hopefully NHTSA will review the facts of these common occurrences and determine if it is indeed worthy of recall repair.
Upon starting the car, the gear shifter will not move out of park. The shift lock seems to be stuck. There are thousands of posts online about the same issue with this year and other years of this model and make.
- Gulf Breeze, FL, USA
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Purchased my car in 2014 with 36000 miles. Around 55,000 miles the gear shifter completely went out. Now I'm at 107,000 miles and my car is stalling when stopped. The car is not reading anything on the diagnostic tests at the dealership and no one is able to tell me what is wrong with the car. I live in a high traffic area so this is a very big deal.
I was driving the car and it started stuttering and it cut right off in the middle of driving.I then restarted my car and it did the same thing. The battery light came right on and engine light as well. I parked it as best as I could, and I tried starting it a 3rd time it started and I put it in reverse and it cut right off.
My 2013 Nissan Altima sl VIN: [xxx] is not allowing me to shift when pushing the brake pedal. I have to use a pencil/etc in the shift lock release bypass area everytime. Searching the web and it seems that many cars are hobbled by a thin piece of metal on a cheap $3 micro switch in the shifter. Bending the small metal tab on the micro switch apparently can fix the issue so it makes contact again. Dealers want $700 to replace the entire shifter assembly which is outrageous. Youtube link: Https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=eu7vm2Y-7ly and part fix at 8 minute mark. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Factory lighting is dim, cannot see at night. The projection is not strong enough for nyc night time. I need to use high beams and those arent even that good. It is not the light bulb
Head light low beams are extremely dim. Even, I cannot see 2 meters in front of the car at nights. And this problem is not related with the light bulbs. It is related with the headlight projector housing (confirmed from different auto shops and internet complaints) that is losing its effectiveness by the time. Also, repairing this problem is very costly. Basically, both headlight assemblies have to be changed. We, as Altima owners, are waiting for the recall action specifically for this problem from the Nissan company. Unfortunately, it is very common safety problem among 2013 -2015 Altima.
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.
After a few years of normal operation the low-beam headlights are no longer effective. They are too dim to rely on while driving on dark roads/highways. Must use high-beams for proper visibility. Replacing bulbs does not help.
I was parked for about 5 mins with engine running when I noticed the display with gas/odometer/speed turned off. Tried turning on/off but still won't light up. Checked the headlights and signals and they worked. Just scary that I'm practically driving blind coz I can't see my speed. Also, can't tell how much gas I have left. The car has about 104K miles. It's barely 7 years old and a computer problem seems a bit too early. It was pre-owned so I'm not sure if it had previous problems.
Vehicle stopped at stop light and stalled. Restarted vehicle and put into drive and stalled again. Did this 6 times. Contacted towing service and towed a block away to a service station. They told me that I needed to go to a Nissan dealer, then had vehicle towed to matt castrucci Nissan. Where the vehicle is currently located. The service tech. Stated the transmission needs to be replaced along with the battery. The vehicle has 88,000 miles and have read that Nissan extended warranty to 120,000, but that may vehicle is not included in this. Why not? they stated that the VIN # was not included in the extended warranty. That makes no sense, should include all 2013 Nissan regardless of VIN#. the vehicle is registered under my wife's name. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Driving on an uphill street car would not go and I would have to push hard down on gas I had my son in the back seat I then pulled over to set car at park and turned off let it sit for about five mins turned car back on put it on reverse and it went forward I set it pack to park gear and then back to reverse and it complied not the first time now it's just more common and this time it freaked me out it wasn't a little burp as the other times had car for only about 6 going on 7 months and I restricted L myself from driving my own car that I just purchased to then being told transmission failing and 8 recalls
My lights real dim at night so I replace them with new led lights and they still looks dim I can't see nothing this is real safety issue especially when you got kids
Can not move the gear shift out of park at times, I have to use the gear shift release mechanism. The gear shift will move sometimes but more often than not. My headlights are so dim I can't drive my car at night because of it. I have installed brighter lights and that was waste of money because they still don't shine brighter.
After purchasing this vehicle brand new, first owner in September 2013, 4 months later the left fog light went out did not think anything of it. Two months later the right head light went out. Thought it was weird but did not stress myself about it. A year later the right rear light only works when you tap it. Now I am driving all the lights are out from the car. No brake lights no park lights no lights. Took my vehicle to tire kingdom to change bulbs only to find out the new bulbs are not working either and the vehicle has a N electrical problem. Never did understand why drivers behind me would honk their horns at me or be flashing me with their high beam lights. Nissan needs to fix this issue as well as their air conditioning problem. The vehicle only gets cool when the vehicle is in motion. You cannot have the A/C on when being stationary the A/C only produces heat during that time.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Massapequa Park, NY, USA