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:
7 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 1
Average Mileage:
52,021 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.
First issue: Went to open inside driver door and heard something snap. Now the door handle just flops back and forth without opening the door. Second issue: I put my foot on the break and tried to move the gear shifter from park to reverse. The button that you would press to shift wouldn't move. Now my car is stuck in park. Both of these issues happened with the car stopped. My only issues is someone with the same car and same year has had both issues happen the them as well. The only difference between our car is mine has 78,000 miles and hers has 56000 miles.
In 2015 the A/C compressor when out and was covered under warranty, then 21/2 years later the compressor went out again and Nissan refused to repair. Two compressors in 5 years and they didn't think this was a issue. I end up paying 1200 dollars to replace after 2/12 years.
The battery seems to drain quickly for no reason even I had a new battery installed.I had to jump start my car very often.this has been happening for the past 4 years.I have owned this car for 6 years now.
"takata recall" my gear shifter remains in a stuck position. The car was stationary on a city street. I was unable to shift from park to another gear. This is a major safety issue as I have gotten stuck with my toddler in the car and was unable to move to a safer location. It took me at least 15 minutes to get the car to shift from park into gear. I was terrified! I had to leave the car in its location and take a lyft home with my daughter. The next day my local mechanic came to check the car. He said that this is a common issue for 2013 Nissan Altima. He said he would have to take the car to his shop to investigate what might be causing this failure or I should call up Nissan because they should be aware of this safety issue.
Both my driver interior door handle and passenger interior door handle within weeks of each other fail to open doors. After looking online this is a common problem with the Altima and due to a cheap plastic part that breaks which holds steel wire to engage handle mechanism. This is a danger and can cause life threatening problems because the only way to get out is to crawl to back doors or use power windows to lower windows and reach arm outside window and open via ecterior handle. If there was a fire or crash or end up in water there would be little chance to excape if power went out of injury. This should be a recall, I was quoted $185 dollars per door handle for a the fault of Nissan quality parts.
- Romeoville, IL, USA
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Around 7 months ago my car was jerking and stops in the middle of a highway, it was tow to the dealer and they just "reset the car". today happened again, the car start but stops when changing the gear to drive or reverse mode same situation as the last time.
My car has 53,000 miles on it and being a single mom of 3 I can't afford to put new transmission in it. I still have payments on the car. Does this car have a cvt warranty?
Consistent with NHTSA item #10119276, the magnet clutch to the air conditioner compressor does not engage causing the air conditioner to blow hot air. Under certain conditions, this could potentially overexpose tthe operator to dangerous levels of heat which could adversely affect the operator's ability to safely control of the vehicle and therefore lead to crashes as well as injury to the operator such as heat exhaustion or heat stroke. When the vehicle is moving, the risk of the operator's overexposure to the heat can be reduced by rolling down the windows. However during rainfall, at slow speeds or while at a standstill, that option is not available. As an example, while I was driving on the interstate, I reached a section that was shut down. The traffic was backed up and I was trapped on the interstate forcing me to operate my vehicle at a standstill for an extended period of time. When my overexposure to the heat caused me to become faint and disoriented, I abandoned my vehicle on the interstate and made my way to the shoulder of the interstate. A doctor caughtup in the traffic backup saw me and while attending me stated that I was suffering from heat exhaustion. Other motorists assisted him and were able to find someone with a cooler of ice and so the doctor was able to treat me by icing me down. The doctor told me that I was on the verge of heat stroke which was an emergency situation. This incidence made me realize that a defective air conditioner is not simply uncomfortable and an inconvenience but because under certain conditions it can adversely affect the operator's ability to safely control the vehicle, it can lead to unsafe driving conditions. I now believe that any problem that has the potential to adversely affect the operator's ability to safely control the vehicle should be considered a safety issue.
The gear shift would not go into gear after it is parked or when you try to put in reverse. The gear shift would get stuck. This would happen when the car is in park.
This is in regards to the cvt transmission. In February 2018, while my car was in idle mode, my car shuddered and stalled. When I put it in park, shut the car off, and restarted it, the car turned back on. However, when I shifted back in "drive" the car would shudder and stall. After many attempts, the car finally worked. Later that day, while at a stop sign the car shuddered and stalled. I had to get it towed to the Nissan dealership. They did a diagnostic. Nothing showed up. My local mechanics replaced a sensor because they thought that could have been the problem. Fast forward to August 2018. My car while driving slow began to shudder and then stall out. I brought it to Nissan. This time the diagnostic test said I need a valve body replacement. That costed me $1100. 2 weeks later. I was driving and when I started to slow down my car shuddered then stalled. I restarted it fortunately and brought it back to Nissan. They did another diagnostic. This time they said the cvt transmission needs to be replaced. I have done much research on this. Many people had this problem. My car is a 2013 Nissan Altima with 65K miles on it. There is no reason why this should be happening. Nissan knows this is a problem, yet they do nothing about it.
3 door latches broke on my 2013 Nissan Altima, within 3 weeks of each other. I took my car to Nissan for repairs thinking it would be covered under a warranty or recall as so many other owners had the same problem. The dealer informed me that there was a defective plastic part in the latch that breaks on that model vehicle; this particular dealership had fixed 30 or so within the past year. It cost me about $500 to have it fixed. I had been rolling the driver-side window down to get out but had to have the back doors repaired because I have small children and if there had been an accident the children would be trapped in the backseat. I called customer care to complain. 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 indicated that since so many of these vehicles had the same problem a recall should be given. I am disappointed at the lack of action provided by Nissan! god-forbid if someone gets hurt because they can't get out in the event of an accident! I have attached 9 pages of complaints from other 2013 Altima owners who have the same problem. Nissan should immediately issue a recall and reimburse those that have already had the problem fixed.
My car recently today stated to lock the dear shift when I park it started this morning and has continued every time I turn off my car. Previous issue I took it in to Nissan tynans on havana in Aurora co (never go there) because it is sputtering any time I accelerate at any speed on any road right before it would what you call back in the day shift into another gear. Tynans first said it was a battery cable and when it wasnt fixed they are say there isnt anything wrong with the car. I believe the cvt is causing it to sputter I told tynans I thought it was a transmission issue to begin with. Needless to say my car is not fixed and is still sputtering and just bought it owe about $14000 still!
The Nissan Altima 2013, driver side door handle breaks, trapping individual in car causing a safety issue in any urgent or emergency situation. Car was stationary when complaint happened. Frequent occurrence with thousands or models 2011-2015 as indicated by consumer reports. Consideration for recall.
I have had three doors that are not working properly and it seems it can become a safety issue if involved in crash because doors will not open from inside. It appears to be a manufacturing issue due to numerous complaints online surrounding exact same issue please help what food is it to get it fix only to have it happene again because of parts used by manufacturers.
Air conditioning compressor blows hot air. Machanic stated that the a.C compressor has internal mechanical failure causing high suction side pressure. Also, it is under 100,000 miles and shouldn't be having this problem.
Takata recall after returning from a road trip I noticed my car shaking and when changing gears the car pauses before accelerating. I have an extended warranty but it only covers the engine. Was told that Nissan recently extended their warranty to 100K miles where they would be able to fix the repairs and give me a rental while it's in the shop. Nissan is not going to fix the repairs but this is an ongoing problem with this model.
The car shift lock button locks the car in gear, the car is unable to be shifted from a park position to drive, reverse or any other gear while in park or any other gear. This is very dangerous and frightful if you have an emergency and the car cannot be put into gear! I fear for my safety because when I was parallel parking on a street passing cars had to wait and came dangerously close to hitting my car.
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
Interior door handle(s) break because only plastic is used to secure a metal ball attached to the cable to open the door. At around 40 to 60,000 miles the interior handle breaks, almost consistently based on online research. This known problem should be repaired by making the area where the cable attaches more sturdy, or use a more sturdy material such as metal. If this handle were to break while trying to exit the vehicle due to an emergency, the results could be catastrophic.
Drivers side door handle. Something inside broke and the handle swings freely. It will not open the door. We have to roll down the window to get out of the car. I have been researching online and apparently this is an ongoing issue for Nissan Altima 2013-2015. I do not understand why there has not been a recall about this issue. We arrived home and I tried to get out of the car something inside the door snapped, and I'm no longer able to open the door from inside the car. If the car were to catch on fire and the electric window does't open I would be trapped.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Miamisburg, OH, USA