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.

Owners complain about vibration and transmission failure related to the CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission), a whining noise from the power steering pump, and constant windshield problems that appear to be the result of poor design.

Be warned: the 2014 & 2015 Nissan Altima appears to share these same problems.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 5
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
54,669 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.

2013 Nissan Altima engine problems

engine problem

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2013 Nissan Altima Owner Comments (Page 3 of 8)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #113

Feb 032019

Altima

  • miles

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

Shift gear get stuck at parking mode while moving car. This is serious problem at it may occur while moving. We approach Nissan but no help from them. How come Nissan allow to not having recall on this as many owners are feeling this problem. We would appreciate if NHTSA comes in help. We have had this problem going since one month and vehicle is in motion. We are lucky that so far no major incident. I feel that this problem may cause a lot of problem if not fix proper by Nissan. While searching this problem at online, many owners are felling this issue. Also Nissan offering solution to problem at youtube.com. Here is video from Nissan. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=tq4untc8saw surprised that they have not taken any action even knowing this.

- Weston, FL, USA

problem #112

Jan 032019

Altima

  • 60,000 miles
- replaced 3 alternators - less than 60K miles - now the transmission is failed and needing replaced - too many significant quality issues for a new car

- Hiawatha, IA, USA

problem #111

Dec 312018

Altima

  • 60,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. While driving various speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to vaden Nissan of savannah (10421 abercorn St, savannah, ga, (912) 920-5480) where it was diagnosed that the pc valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred three days later. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 60,000. The VIN was unknown.

- Savannah, GA, USA

problem #110

Dec 262018

Altima

  • 55 miles

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

The auto present a failure in transmission in my vehicle that its in a excellent maintenance. A failure at the highway may cause a safety precaution. The Nissan says that its cost is by $5000. I will end my car payment on next June. I saw a lot of persons complaints about the same.

- Caguas, PR, USA

problem #109

Dec 132018

Altima 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 81,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. While driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact had to make several attempts to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was driven to courtesy Nissan of tampa (3800 hillsborough ave, tampa, fl 33614) where it was diagnosed that the transmission failed and needed replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided case number: 33840944. The approximate failure mileage was 81,000. Consumer stated vehicle was repaired.

- Evansville, IN, USA

problem #108

Nov 152018

Altima

  • 99,000 miles
Takata recall..the first incident was the starter...I drive the car and when stop at stop light shut off that's about a year ago...now the head gaskin no indication sayin the car was over heating, I was driving home from working both times...

- Wimauma, FL, USA

problem #107

Nov 152018

Altima

  • 119,000 miles

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

Three major issues has been occuring with my 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 sl 1. brake light comes up randomly while driving at local or highway speed. 2. hood pop up while driving - issue with latch 3. transmission is making grinding noise.

- Edison, NJ, USA

problem #106

Dec 122017

Altima

  • 35,000 miles
The front suspension is very poor. My car fall in a little hole and one of the front wheel was broke, because the suspension was bad job. When I turning star the engine sounds sometimes very rare.

- Mayaguez, PR, USA

problem #105

Nov 052018

Altima

  • 130,000 miles
Engine stalls/hesitates, sometimes car will shut off when pressing brake. Automatic transmission (cvt) has trouble shifting gears- car jerks, doesn't shift smoothly. Cvt recall completed and car ran better for about a year then started having the same problem.

- Nashport, OH, USA

problem #104

Nov 022018

Altima

  • 64,000 miles
My car only has 65000 miles. My car is stalling on me when shifting to reverse or drive. The dealership has run diagnostic and came back with transmission issue.

- Euless, TX, USA

problem #103

Oct 062018

Altima

  • 81,000 miles

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

The transmission was working fine as we were running errands and all of a sudden the car would not go into gear. The car also began to shake and then stall. All this happened in minutes. The car was stuck in the middle of the street creating an unsafe position. We took the car to autozone after it would go into gear again and they pulled a diagnostic code of P0776. The code is transmission related. The car was driven on city streets that night.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #102

Oct 142018

Altima 4-cyl

  • 128,960 miles
The car shut completely down while driving (in motion). There where no indicators lights to warn us of any problems. We started it up again and it died again after a few seconds. We have no idea what causes the car to completely shut down while driving. We were parked and started the car a proceeded to exit the parking lot when it just stopped working. Just completely shut off. Unknown reason for the car shutting down....

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

problem #101

Oct 012018

Altima

  • 43,000 miles
I was turning right to park my 2013 Nissan Altima and I pushed on the brake to slow down the car to stop and the car suddenly accelerated and jumped over the concrete curb stop. It continued to run upslope to the bushes and over three big rocks while I was trying to avoid hitting the fence in the front and braking it. I continued to press on the brake and the car continued to drive forward and I kept turning the wheel to the right to avoid a fence. The car ran over the curb stop of another parking space about five spaces on the right. The bolt in the concrete stop punctured my oil pan and the rocks ribbed off the plastic shields underneath. I was finally able to stop the car by pumping the brake and wind up in the opposite direction. I checked my foot was still on the brake. My car had approximately 43000 miles on the odometer. This happened at the parking lot of bertelson memorial park in el dorado hills in California. We believed that there was a computer failure that caused the acceleration of the car while I was turning right and braking and tried to park. According to one of the expert, an electrical engineer who has studied sudden acceleration in cars for over 20 years, stated that "if you're turning into a parking space, you have a lot of stress on the front drive system, since everything is based on running through the computer, including sensors on your drive systems, any one of those could carry onto the system, carry on to the on-board computer and attack it." We felt very unfair to pay for the repairs for the defective product.

- El Dorado Hills, CA, USA

problem #100

Oct 012018

Altima

  • 63,000 miles
2 weeks back I was driving and suddenly car slowed down. The RPM was very high but the speed was around 20mph. Looked like transmission stuck at lower gear. Last week I was driving about 100ft of uphill and it could not tow. Only one person and lost power in gas. No matter how much I pressed the gas, the RPM was low and could not pull car uphill. Yesterday my check engine light came on and today my dealer says there is problem with transmission. Something inside the transmission needs to be replaced. Recently less than year ago, they replaced few things which was under power train warranty. Now I have 63K and out of warranty. The total cost is about $1300. How can such a reputed brand car have so many transmission problems within a year? this is my first and last Nissan.

- King Of Prussia, PA, USA

problem #99

Sep 222018

Altima

  • 48,000 miles
In 2017 Nissan has me come in for a cvt transmission upgrade. After the work was done at the Nissan of cool springs and I left the dealership I noticed that the car was running rough, shaking, and jolting when I accelerated. I immediately called dealership and asked to have a tech drive the car to explain the problem. The tech got in, rode off, came back and said it was all running fine. I accepted that and assumed it was only a momentary problem. I got back in my car and it was still doing it. I came back and asked the tech to ride with me. It did it with him in the car and he told me that the car had to "adapt to my driving style." 2018, at 48,000 miles the car started to stall on me when it was idle. It would start right back up, but turn off when I put it back in drive. Took it back to the Nissan of cool springs dealership but they did not find any error code and told me everything is working fine and charged me around $160. I also told them this has happened with in the past 2-3 time. But at that time I was not aware of the cvt issues. Recently it happened when I stopped for refuelling my car. I was fortunate enough that it did not happen on the highways.

- Nashville, TN, USA

problem #98

Apr 252018

Altima

  • 45,000 miles
I am experiencing intermittent cvt failures at mileage: 45000. Once I was stationary and in the other instance I was on the city street, when I experienced sudden power loss, all warning light came on. Whenever I started my car and put it in reverse or drive it just turned off. After 4 to 5 tries car started. I looked up online and it had symptoms similar to the cvt failure. I went to Nissan service centre twice for the same issue but they did not find anything and said everything is in perfect condition.

- Nashville, TN, USA

problem #97

Jul 302018

Altima

  • 77,000 miles
My vehicle stalled as I was going through an intersection. Would not start and I coasted to the side and had to get a tow. Check engine lite was on. No codes found. Car sat for a week and then started right up and drove fine. Check engine light turned off. Car started stalling again only when I put it into drive or reverse, and as long as I put it into neutral and gave it gas, then threw it into drive I would be able to drive it. Still no light on. Car drove semi good for a week or so, seemed to run a little rough but didn't stall out. A few days ago it started to not take gas and rev up on its own. I would start to go and the car would accelerate by itself. When I was on highway, or regular roads. Usually under 50 miles an hour. Tachometer would rev even though car didn't seem to go any faster. Then it just stopped taking gas all together. Now today it just stopped going. I would give it gas and it wouldn't go anywhere. I shut off and turned on and it would go for a little and then stop. Now check engine lite came on and the first code P0776 is for a bulletin that went out and the the other code is for P0965. Pictures are attached. I have been afraid to drive the car, worried that I will get into a crash. I googled the problem and saw that a lot of other people are having the similar problems. The mileage is at 77,000. The majority of the other people I read had around the same mileage. Is this a problem that Nissan should be taking care of?

- Marlborough, CT, USA

problem #96

Jul 122018

Altima

  • 100,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to accelerate over 60 mph. The contact also stated that the engine failed to start properly. The contact stated that the engine stalled and the battery had to be jumpstarted. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact called benton Nissan of hoover at (205) 938-6103 (located at 1640 montgomery hwy, hoover, al 35216) and was informed that the failure was due to a faulty key fob. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 100,000.

- Burmingham, AL, USA

problem #95

Jun 052018

Altima

  • 75,447 miles
While driving home from work the car shuttered and cut off after having stopped for a light. This happened when I press the exhilarator to continue on. I put the car in park applied my foot to the break and restarted the car. Every time I would drive to put the car in gear it would cut off. It kept doing this over and over. Local police came and with the help of a good samaritan pushed my car off the road to a safe place. I had to have my car towed to the dealer where they were unable to duplicate the problem and said that the diagnostic computer test did not show any codes for the problem. They ended up updating the transmission module and said they hoped this would fix the problem. The problem continues to occur and I have had to avoid stopping at lights due to the car wanting to cut off. This seems to be a problem that other Nissan car owners are also facing. This is a very dangerous situation to be in due to the fact that you never know when you will be stranded in the middle of a street whether it be interstate stop and go traffic or normal city street traffic. Once the car stalls it's no way to start it and put it in gear to drive without it stalling again and again. Nissan owners need a recall

- Columbiana, AL, USA

problem #94

Jun 042018

Altima

  • 160,000 miles
I bought my car brand new with only 113 miles on it. I have sense put 160K highway miles on it but have had no issues until now because I get it serviced regularly. I was driving to work last week and at 30-45 mph the rpms started jumping between 1K and 2K. Once I got past 60 mph this stopped but eventually my car would stutter and stall at traffic lights making it dangerous if turning in front of traffic or coming through intersections. I took it in immediately for diagnostics and was told I needed a new transmission and since my warranty was out I would need to pay $4500 out of pocket. I got a second opinion and I was told by the dealership I service it at that it was my fault because I didn't have the transmission flushed when they told me to, yet there is nothing in the owners manual stating this is a requirement, only a recommendation by the dealer. As shady as dealerships are these days of course I didn't have it done because I assumed they were charging me for something unnecessarily. I spoke with a mechanic friend of mine and he said the transmission flush would have done nothing to prevent my transmission fail. What is even worse is that no warning lights came on and my dash looked the same as it always does, the only lights that came on were my battery and brake lights when my car shut off at a traffic light, but it started right back up after that. I have asked for assistance from Nissan and have been denied even though I have serviced my car with the dealer even after my warranty expired. There are 4 other people in my family that own Nissan but apparently that means nothing to this company. Needless to say if I can get this thing traded in on a Honda I will never purchase a Nissan again! also, just do a google search of problems with Nissan Altima. The results are staggering.

- Bladenboro, NC, USA

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