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.

8.4

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$3,120
Average Mileage:
56,250 miles
Total Complaints:
179 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. new transmission (59 reports)
  2. not sure (49 reports)
  3. nothing fixed (24 reports)
  4. replace transmission (22 reports)
  5. cvt transmission failed; need replacement (11 reports)
  6. complete cvt replacement (8 reports)
2013 Nissan Altima transmission problems

transmission problem

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2013 Nissan Altima Owner Comments (Page 2 of 9)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #159

Aug 012019

Altima

  • Automatic transmission
  • 99,001 miles

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

Ever since we purchased this car it had given us problems, first it started with jerking whenever there's is slow traffic, the problem was not consistent at first but with time it became more of a problem to now recently it slows down in traffic and no matter how much you press the gas pedal it refuses to get any speed. The latest incident was when I was driving in a very busy street the car began to make a loud noise and slowed down, I immediately put on my hazard lights and pulled over to the side. I sat there for like 10 minutes in the middle of traffic in rush hour, I turned on the car and drove it for an additional mile thankfully I was close to my destination but had to leave the car parked in my friend's house for a few days. I want Nissan to do a full recall of there failed CVT transmission.

- Millie D., Queens Village, NY, US

problem #158

Jun 042018

Altima 3.5SL 3.5L V6

  • CVT transmission
  • 68,459 miles

I have been going back and forth with the local Nissan Dealership and directly with Nissan about the defective junk Jatco CVT. It Hesitates, Surges, Shakes, Shudders and makes some weird noises sometimes. When accelerating in the vehicle it feels like a manual transmission being driven by someone with really bad Tourettes Syndrome in the leg that is on the clutch. I made a fatal mistake of assuming Nissan had resolved this in 2012 when in reality it sounds like it wasn't fixed until 2015 sometime. If you are going to buy a used Altima make sure the CVT has been replaced in it sometime after 2015 or stay away unless you want to drop 3-4K in repairs.

- Ryan S., Grove City, OH, US

problem #157

May 312019

Altima S 4 Cyclinder

  • CVT transmission
  • 128,000 miles

this vehicle inconvenienced me going to work. i had to miss days of work due to this car and its damn cvt issues. if nissan knew that this car had issues with the cvt on this car why keep selling them? not only that when nissan knows the transmission in the 2013 altima goes why give customers issues of them fixing it. no they want you to spend almost 5,000 for it. this is the price they told me to fix my transmission. so now i still can't drive my car cause i can't afford it. also they have the 100,000 miles warranty and that's stupid as well because they don't inform you that it means for the car if it reaches over 100,000 miles and not what you put on it. now i bought my car with 30,000 miles on it and it was only 95 or 98,000 miles put on it by me so i never put 100,000 miles on my car so they should be able to fix it. and i also have an extended warranty that im paying on and can't use that either. so what the hell am i paying for it for...then i read nissan had another lawsuit where they said they extended it 130,000 miles. i only have 128,000 miles. nissan is a rip off and they need to be stopped. i filed a complaint with nissan to see what they can do and all i was told is they would send the complaint up to their regional office and someone would contact me today. i have a feeling they aren't going to do sh*t and i will have to get a lawyer involved..

- Amirh P., Bridgeport, US

problem #156

May 312019

Altima LS 3.5L

  • CVT transmission
  • 97,000 miles

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

As a disclaimer, I have not had this problem fixed yet but I was truly given an outrageous quote to replace my failed transmission. Today I paid the local Nissan dealer $154 to diagnosis my transmission as "completely shot" and needing "total replacement" (what the tech told me, verbatim), which I already knew based on the symptoms. The quote they provided me with was $5,600 which is exorbitantly high and a disgusting scam against loyal customers.

I had the car towed (to prevent even more damage) to another shop which will rebuild the transmission for less than the $5,600 quote from Nissan. The problem started a few months ago with an occasional shuddering of the car and surging of RPMs. This typically happened when I accelerated over 60 mph, but also happened seemingly randomly when maintaining speed. Over the last 3 weeks since my $500+ control arm replacement, the shuddering became more violent, more frequent, and less related to accelerating, just happening generally when driving 45+ mph.

One week ago, I was driving home from a work trip and the check engine light came on, the car became extremely loud when driving, and I was having trouble accelerating. The code was P0841, transmission fluid pressure sensor/switch. After reading about the code online, I was hopeful that the repair would be minimal, maybe just draining and refilling tranny fluid or replacing the sensor/switch on the transmission. However, within 2 days I realized the car was undrivable and immediately took it to the transmission shop. The owner looked up Altima recalls and lawsuits, thought my car was covered by the extended warranty (unfortunately, my newer 2013 model was not), and did not touch it.

On my drive to the Nissan dealer, I could barely accelerate, could not keep speed, the entire car was shaking violently, and the noise was extremely loud. I brought it to the dealer for an official diagnosis, in order to have it in Nissan's system as backup for a formal complaint/class action lawsuit. The car is 6 years old, had a single previous owner, has lived in a garage, and has been well maintained. The fact that the transmission needs to be completely replaced is utter GARBAGE.

The quote provided to me by Nissan is more than half the value of the car. And I am, according to Nissan, supposed to pay $5,600 to replace it with another GARBAGE CVT TRANSMISSION that is sure to be destroyed in another 6 years. Nissan is unethical and dishonest. Due to a class action lawsuit, they had to extend the powertrain warranty in 2010. THEY CONTINUE TO KNOWINGLY MANUFACTURE CARS WITH THE SAME FAULTY TRANSMISSION and claim it is great.

They have dismissed claims against them for newer models not covered by the lawsuit as "unmerited" and baseless - thankfully, the courts aren't as stupid as Nissan would hope and have allowed the class action suit to continue. I can only pray that this suit results in another extended warranty, this time one that covers my year and model. I will never EVER trust Nissan or the CVT transmission.

- Elizabeth D., Cleveland, OH, US

problem #155

Mar 212019

Altima SL 2.5L

  • CVT transmission
  • 44,890 miles

Bought my 2013 Altima this past December and had 41k miles. Three months and 4000 miles later it started stalling and hesitating. Stopped at an auto parts store thinking maybe it was a fuel issue, however the guy working there who also owns an Altima said it seemed like a transmission problem which Nissan Altimas are known to have an issue with.

Took it to the dealership where I had bought it from. First they said when plugged into the computer the battery was too low to run diagnostics I needed to be replaced. It was determined to be the transmission. The dealer did get Nissan to cover 80% of repair so it cost me $665 which I wasn’t thrilled with but seems a whole lot better than most peoples experience as written about here. The dealership is performance Nissan in Butler New Jersey. They also agreed to do free oil changes for the life of the vehicle.

- Marc F., Bloomingdale, US

problem #154

Mar 152019

Altima LS 2.5L 4 cyl

  • CVT transmission
  • 84,020 miles

Nissan knows there is a big problem with the CVT transmissions. They under lawsuits as we speak. All they need to do is fix our cars so we can GET TO WORK! They extended the warranties of earlier models but they refuse to on the newer models. I think the problem is much bigger than is being reported. I'm trying to work with my dealer on a solution. But I am prepared to walk in front of the dealership with a protest sign if there is not a fair outcome. I filed complaint with the NHTSA as the transmission failing while in heavy traffic is a big safety issue.

- Robert W., Hattiesburg, US

problem #153

May 072018

Altima LS 3.2L V6

  • CVT transmission
  • 72,300 miles

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

I have had this CVT stutter since 2018. It is progressively getting worse. I took it to the Dealer twice. Both times a diagnostic was run and nothing found. Dealer even said they drove and nothing was noticed. I sure did on the way home from the dealer. On the second diagnostic, the dealer said I needed a software update. Nothing changed. I called the dealership back and was told the the computer had to adapt to my driving. BULL SH#T! Do I have to wait until I have an accident and total the car. I think my next car will be a Chevy.

- Jesse M., San Antonio, TX, US

problem #152

Feb 142019

Altima 2.5s

  • CVT transmission
  • 96,040 miles

Not happy with a one owner on my 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5s. 96,040 miles. Still paying it and cvy transmission needs to be replaced. What is wrong with Nissan? A lot of recalls. Their cars don't last. Something has to be done, there a problem with this company.

- Elizabeth O., Somerspoint, US

problem #151

Oct 242018

Altima S 4

  • CVT transmission
  • 119,102 miles

CVT fails on these models and is not repairable. Rumor has it if you change some of the transmission fluid every 30k miles with $200 Nissan fluid using a special heated pump only dealers have you can make it last a little longer.

Nissan only warranties the new cvts for 12k miles.

If you notice a stutter sell it immediately. My car stalled multiple times while driving, I spent the next 50 miles taking it to multiple mechanics to figure out what was wrong and they said it was perfect and had nothing wrong. I drove to work one day, turned it off and that was the last time it drove 0-10mph without stalling the engine. We had to push start it to 10mph, drop it into drive and run every red light home.

- Mike K., Omaha, US

problem #150

May 012018

Altima

  • Automatic transmission
  • 126,000 miles

Had a new transmission installed that I paid for out of my pocket, after being told that Nissan was not able to pay for this vehicle, even though I was told that I had extended warranty and seems to have the same beginning symptoms of failure as the original one. Just waiting for it to fail as well. The gear shift would constantly get stuck in park also. I was also stranded at a gas station because my car would not start.... while being pregnant. The car is a major hazard. I wouldn't recommend this car to my worst enemy.

- Sabrina A., Lewisville, US

problem #149

Oct 212017

Altima SL 3.5L

  • CVT transmission
  • 80,000 miles

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

My car stalls a lot and sputters. It's very embarrassing. It makes no sense that 3 months after purchasing this car the transmission starts going bad. It only had 80,000 miles. Nissan is known for making great vehicles that are still running great with high miles. The last Nissan my husband had was totaled with over 200,000 miles and was still running fine. Nissan should fix this problem that so many vehicles are affected by.

- Tameka W., Willacoochee, GA, US

problem #148

Dec 202016

Altima SV

  • Manual transmission
  • 81,000 miles

When I purchased my 2013 Nissan Altima, I was pregnant needing a new car for the new baby. In a 3wks time, I started having problems with my car. It started off by my slip light coming on and while I was driving in traffic my car slowed down. I could floor the gas pedal and I would not go anywhere. Mind you I was pregnant, so had to get my car back to the shop where they said they check everything and it was fixed. Well it happen again a couple days after they told me there was a recall on the transmission, so I sent it in to be fix.

To make a long story short, after warranty was up I still continued to have problems. I had to start paying out of pocket for fixing done to my car related to transmission, but it had only gotten worse to where the car started jerking, and wanting to go. Just a big headache, something really need to be done about this. Being a single mom, this is not fair. I only had my car for 3 years and as we speak now my car is at a shop sitting because I need a new transmission that I can not afford.

This company should be ashamed to put customer through this. I will never and either of my family will buy a Nissan vehicle. At this point I don't know what to do, I am still making car notes to a car that I can not even drive and I can not afford a transmission for $3800

- OLIVIA J., Hattiesburg, US

problem #147

Feb 012018

Altima S 3.5L

  • CVT transmission
  • 105,000 miles

Car needs to have transmission checked. The shuddering is annoying in stop and go traffic.

- Patrick E., Boynton Beach, FL, US

problem #146

Aug 062018

Altima SL

  • CVT transmission
  • 84,000 miles

I bought my 2013 Nissan Altima used from Lexus in 2015 with only 32000 miles. The car ran great at first and got great gas mileage compared to the 2001 Altima that I had. Early in 2018 the car started to run a little rough and I immediately thought it was the transmission. I had it checked and was told there was nothing wrong, that I "probably wasn't used to the difference from a regular to a cvt transmission." To be safe I called Nissan to check on my warranty to see what they could do BEFORE it went out. They told me to get a diagnostic.

I called the dealer who told me they couldn't really do a diagnostic on a transmission, that it would have to be taken apart to be checked if I thought something was wrong. Of course this would be out of my own pocket. I was told the car was fine. So I continued driving despite the gut feeling I had.

3 months later sure as hell my transmission went out while I was driving my daughter to school at 630 in the morning. I fought with Nissan consider affairs for over a week to try and get this covered under and extended warranty that apparently was only approved for up to 2012 vehicles. Due to "lack of loyalty" they would not help with any of the cost. They did a full diagnostic and inspection and found NO CONSUMER NEGLECT.

So this was only due to a sh*tty flawed design that I was now fully financially responsible for. After I had the transmission replaced the throttle body went out and they wanted another $1500 for that. Needless to say I traded in the car.

- Paige R., Petaluma, CA, US

problem #145

Oct 312018

Altima S 2.5L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 81,487 miles

Nissan has always been a trusted name in the automotive industry, but now all my friends and myself regret buying the Altima. As soon as I can, getting something else.

- Paul W. P., Georgetown, TX, US

problem #144

Feb 062018

Altima ES V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 50,000 miles

The car wouldn't accelerate at times like when on an on ramp going onto the highway (very dangerous!) and after stopping at a light. This was intermittent at first so I wasn't sure what the problem was. Mechanics couldn't replicate the problem until October 1, 2018. Of course now I'm at 64,000 miles. I tried to have Nissan help with financial assistance but they wouldn't because it was past the 50000 warranty. I've found so much documentation on the 2013 Altima transmission problem. Nissan should EXTEND THE WARRANTY OR HAVE A RECALL. This is ridiculous that all the people with the same car are having the same problem and Nissan won't acknowledge it.

- Sheila W., Weymouth, US

problem #143

Oct 022018

Altima VS 2.5L

  • CVT transmission
  • 116,000 miles

TRANSMISSION MAKES A WHINING NOISE ON INCLINE. SOMETIMES SLIGHT JERKING WHILE DRIVING.

- lrcraft25, Jonesboro, US

problem #142

Sep 122018

Altima 2.4

  • CVT transmission
  • 82,332 miles

This car is a piece of trash. I seen complaints only after buying it and I been stressed ever since I bought it. It happened to me. The transmission is no good. I bought the car used only 125000 km on it. Now I understand that 12 000 on this sh*t car is like 250000 on a 2006 Honda Accord.

I always found the transmission weird because it is my first cvt. Just recently it started choking at stop lights. I had the mechanic clean a valve and do a relearn on the transmission. 2 weeks later, started having delay to engage in drive of about 3 seconds. It's over. I need a new transmission. It's the worst buy I ever made in my life.

I just talked to a Nissan customer service agent. She listened to me and said I filed your comments I'm sorry you're not under warranty and she kept repeating the same thing.

F*CK NISSAN! DON'T DO LIKE ME, DO NOT IGNORE THE COMPLAINTS. DON'T BUY THAT PIECE OF SH*T. THEY EXTENDED THE WARRANTY ON OLDER MODELS BUT NOT ON THIS PIECE OF TRASH. $4500 OUT OF MY POCKETS. THEY DO NOT WANT TO HELP ME.

- Francis R., Montréal, QC, Canada

problem #141

Jul 012018

Altima S 2.4L

  • CVT transmission
  • 91,650 miles

I bought my 2013 Nissan Altima 2 yrs ago. I did all the recalls and services needed but Nissan just bypasses the cvt tranny issues every time I brought them up. They said that's just how these transmission run, and would not fix the problem. I had an extended warranty and when I brought it in on the 3rd time then Nissan decided I needed my tranny replaced but then tells me my warranty is now expired by 1500 miles. And they wanted $3200 for a new tranny. I am making $360 payments a month on a car that I can't drive anymore. I don't have extra money just sitting aside to fix a problem that NISSAN knows is garbage.. they need to issue a recall and make this right for all customers that purchased these vehicles..

- Kristie H., Palm Bay, US

problem #140

Jan 012018

Altima SV 3.5L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 60,000 miles

THE CAR HAS BEEN STUDDERING WHEN GIVING IT GAS. I THOUGHT IT WAS THE TYPE OF FUEL. SO I STARTED USING MID GRADE FUEL. THE PROBLEM IS AWFUL. TAKING IT TO THE SHOP.

- Lucy Y., Eufaula, US

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