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:
27 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
33 / 0
Average Mileage:
24,216 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 seat belts / air bags problems

seat belts / air bags problem

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2013 Nissan Altima Owner Comments (Page 9 of 25)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #338

Jun 132016

Altima

  • 13,282 miles

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

Takata recall. I took the vehicle to the local Nissan dealer on 6/13/16, to address applicable recalls. They did the related work on the hood latch, and said there were no other recalls. The Nissan service manager said the airbags are not a problem.

- Chappaqua, NY, USA

problem #337

Nov 142017

Altima

  • miles
Takata recall

- Columbus, MS, USA

problem #336

Jul 142016

Altima

  • miles
Takata recall. I am worried about my safety. Did dealership take care of all of it during 07/2016 recall?

- Saint Louis, MO, USA

problem #335

Aug 012017

Altima

  • miles

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

The air bag light stays on in the dash when driving and when someone sits in the passenger seat the air bag stays off so if I get into an accident none of the air bags will deploy. This happens every time I turn my vehicle on.

- Rochester, NY, USA

problem #334

Oct 092017

Altima

  • miles
Passenger seat air bag warning light stays lit when a adult is sitting in seat. There is a recall for something similar, but we were told our car is not under that recall. My worry is if we have a accident will that front air bag deploy.

- Lincoln, NE, USA

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problem #333

Oct 062017

Altima

  • miles
I took my car to dealership because my passenger air bag light was staying on they did a diagnostic test on it and found out it was the air bag unit that was the problem they said if I had someone sit in the passenger seat in the front the airbag would not deploy if I got into an accident I did some research and found out that there was a recall on this for the Nissan Altima in 2016 for the same problem when I talked to someone they said it was not my VIN number all I know is that something needs to be done about this I cannot afford to get this fix when I know that there was a recall on this issue

- Matteson, IL, USA

problem #332

May 182016

Altima 4-cyl

  • miles

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

2013 Nissan Altima. Consumer writes in regards to passenger airbag warning light illuminates with seated passengers. Dealership unable to reprogram the airbag diagnostic system control unit. The consumer stated after the air bag recall was performed the failure recurred. Updatd 10/05/2017

- Bernville, PA, USA

problem #331

Aug 012016

Altima

  • miles
Takata recall : airbag light turned on dash all of a sudden. Airbag light was noticed when vehicle was turned on and stationary. Vehicle hasn't been in any accident.

- Tampa, FL, USA

problem #330

Apr 122017

Altima 4-cyl

  • 66,584 miles
My airbags in my car are non-functional. The red and yellow airbag lights are on for the duration of any trip in the car. The sensor that is supposed to detect an adult in the passenger seat does not function so the passenger airbag is always off -attachment 1. I went to the deacon jones Nissan dealership in goldsboro nc on 4-12-17 for the recall on this issue. The "reprogramming" that was done was ineffective. This was not reported to me. I returned to the dealership on 7-6-17 to get the issue addressed. I was told that my car had no recalls outstanding and I would need to pay out of pocket to get the airbag control unit replaced. Instead I elected to call Nissan to see if they could offer an explanation or remedy the problem. I called and spoke with [xxx] agentid: [xxx]. he created a case and sent it to their repair specialists. Today, 7-11-17 I spoke with [xxx] the case manager. He informed me that Nissan would not be replacing the defective airbag control unit and that I would need to pay to have it replaced out of pocket. My concerns are: 1. Nissan isn't taking their customers safety seriously. Some people would simply not be able to pay to have this defective unit replaced and could suffer injury as a result. 2. the airbag control unit (if I replaced it out of pocket) would fail again. 3. the airbag unit reprogramming has been ineffective on other cars and doesn't seem to address the issue. Similar to the hood latch issue which required 3 recalls to address. blog.caranddriver.com/Nissan-recalls-Altima-for-third-time-to-fix-hood-latches/ attachment 2 = second trip to dealership attachment 3 = recall sheet attachment 4 = notes of conversations with Nissan attachment 5 = pdf of my VIN number form nthsa website this is the air bag control unit recall information from Nissan. www.coylenissan.com/recall.html information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Clayton, NC, USA

problem #329

Jun 302017

Altima

  • 80,000 miles
We have not received any recalls since purchase of car.on 06/30/17, my daughter called and informed me the car was having problems. What she described sounded as if there was water in the gas.itold her to drive to the dealer in conway ar.it was brought to our attention there was a recall on the cvt.they reprogramed it and test drove the car. They said it was ok, but were a little iffy about whether we might have more problems.in the meantime I found out there were several recalls on the car, including the passenger side air bag and the hood latch.these were serious safety problems, in and we had received no recalls.we would appreciate any assistance you may help with.she said it sounded as if it would blow up, at the time.she brought the car home(3.5 hr. Drive)and after a brief stop, it would not budge.I loaded the car on a trailor and took it to the dealer in jonesboro ar.itold the service man about it and that I had contacted NHTSA and was assigned a case #27278124, but he didn't seem too interested in it. I later found the recall on the passenger side air bag.the conway people said they preformed the hood latch recall.P.S, ialso was told the cvt recall was internal.

- Blytheville, AR, USA

problem #328

Jul 042017

Altima

  • 71,000 miles

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

Passenger seat sensor does not detect passenger most times, meaning the air bag does not activate. Happens more when passenger is seated before the car is started. This happens with any passenger, all different sizes and weights. Dealer has not found any error codes, and sensor has been reset multiple times. All previous recalls to this issue have been implemented, issue still exists.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

problem #327

May 012017

Altima

  • 50,000 miles
Solid red airbag sign is on dashboard. Diagnostic port does not show any code for this problem.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

problem #326

May 192017

Altima

  • miles
We brought the car into the dealership because of the OCS recall and they reprogrammed the system but it didn't seem to fix the issue, within the year we had to replace both OCS sensors and have it reprogrammed again. I do not feel they met the intent of the recall and would love to know if this issue is/was common and what if anything can be done about it.

- Beaumont, TX, USA

problem #325

May 012017

Altima

  • 82,000 miles
Passenger airbag light does not sense passenger sitting in seat to turn air bag on (intermittently) and airbag light is constantly on on the dashboard yet no codes have been shown when mechanic tried to pull codes. Light is on constant when in motion or stationary. Passenger air bag light sometimes senses, other times it does not.

- Yarmouth, ME, USA

problem #324

May 032017

Altima

  • 38,500 miles
This incident occurred 5/3/2017. Driver and (180 lb) adult passenger entered car in front seats, clicked seatbelts, started vehicle and drove approx. 1 mile. Passenger noticed airbag defeat light was on. Driver pulled over; turned car off; restarted car; light went out. The airbag system did not detect an adult passenger upon initial travel, but did after the car was restarted. This vehicle has already had recallntb16-052 applied. On 5/5/2017 dealer could not replicate and has refused service.

- Escondido, CA, USA

problem #323

Sep 162013

Altima

  • 10 miles
Purchased a new 2013 Altima for almost 40,000 and since the beginning the car air bags has worked only if you are sitting on your seat before you start the car. Big safety concern because we noticed once on the freeway when he had to brake hard that the airbags were off, I could have died. Had Nissan enginheer test it and they told me I just need to turn the car off and then on after a new person boards the car, ridiculous. I need help ad nobody will do anything. Do not buy this car save yourself! told them we did not purchase a car with a major safety problem like this and Nissan wont fix this. It has been 4 years now. We have papers that show how many times we have called and brought the car in and nothing. Hiring a lawyer is our next step

- Buckeye, AZ, USA

problem #322

Jan 112016

Altima

  • 18,000 miles
After startup with a passenger in the front seat, the passenger side airbag light stays on intermittantly. We have taken it to the dealership for repair 5 times. 4 times they "reprogrammed the PCM according to the recall" and the last time did nothing. I did call Nissan and they opened a 'case' prior to the last repair attempt (#25798531) and still no attempt at repair was done because they couldn't duplicate the problem (in 30 miles, don't know how many times they actually got out of the passenger seat and restarted the car). This has been happening almost since new; but we thought the light was supposed to be on! I know that this is not an uncommon problem via research on the internet.

- Placerville, CA, USA

problem #321

Apr 062017

Altima

  • 32,000 miles
2013 Nissan Altima 2.5S was serviced on December 19, 2016 at planet Nissan 5850 centennial center blvd. Las vegas, nv 89149 dealer performed R1609 OCS recall & PC490 cvt reprogram recall. During these process some electrical items damage. Now cvt (continues variable transmission) is failing. On April 6, 2017 took vehicle to autonation Nissan las vegas 5800 w. sahara ave the service consultant said cvt is bad and needs to be replace but Nissan do not want to pay. Vehicle drives but when you reach 25-35 miles per hour it jerks, also 65 miles per hour it jerks then it looses power, vehicle comes to a stop and it does not move. This vehicle is not safe to be on the road. Nissan needs to correct this issue before somebody gets injured.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

problem #320

Jan 152013

Altima

  • miles
Passenger airbag indicator light indicates airbag is "inhibited" even though my wife is riding in the passenger seat. She has no protection from the airbag in the event of an accident.

- Chardon, OH, USA

problem #319

Mar 212017

Altima

  • 64,000 miles
Despite multiple recalls and fixes to the passenger airbag (all open recalls completed), there are still times when a normal weight passenger is in the passenger seat and the airbag light indicates that it is off with no passenger present. The dealer has not been able to fix this, despite all the visits/recalls to date. It is not a permanent fault, just an occasional fault - passenger normally around adult/teenagers 200lb

- Marietta, GA, USA

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