CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2013-2017 Nissan Sentra has an expensive CVT transmission failure defect that shows up plainly in our complaint data.

In late 2019, the CVT defect was subject to a class action settlement. However the settlement only covers transmission repairs up to 7 years after purchase or 84,000 miles (whichever occurs first).

Because many owners commonly drive 20,000 miles/year or more, Sentra owners experiencing CVT transmission problems may find they are not covered by this settlement due to the mileage limitation.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
63,186 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 Sentra drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2013 Nissan Sentra Owner Comments (Page 1 of 15)

problem #298

Apr 202021

Sentra

  • miles

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

Bad transmission

- Federal Way, WA, USA

problem #297

Oct 162023

Sentra

  • miles
Code P0101 came on, service Bulletin from NHTSA.gov was done. Car came back worst. Engine stalled in the middle of the street. It wouldn-??t turn on, we had to push it to get it out of the street. Car will accelerate on its own when turn on. Sometimes car will accelerate when put on Reverse on its own-??.. RPMs will be at 7 and 8 when going 45MPH. I notice this has been an issue for Nissan Sentras 2013-2015 based on research all over the internet. People have replaced Thottle body, air mass flow sensor, break sensors, fuel intake, fuses. Vehicle isn-??t safe to be driving in street, may caused an accident, even mechanic said I shouldn-??t be driving the car because it isn-??t safe. We already made a complaint with NHTSA, DMV for financial Help and nothing. Help is really needed.

- Escondido, CA, USA

problem #296

Apr 012023

Sentra

  • 114,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. On several occasions while driving on the highway, the vehicle failed to exceed 30 MPH. Additionally, while driving up an incline, the RPM revved to high however, the vehicle failed to properly respond. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who determined that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 114,000.

- Saint Louis, MO, USA

problem #295

May 012023

Sentra

  • 120,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated, and the vehicle would not properly accelerate from a stationary position while driving up an incline. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who determined that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The transmission was replaced but the failure persisted. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 120,000.

- Waycross, GA, USA

problem #294

Jan 012022

Sentra

  • miles
The shift started locking, followed by consistent tugging while driving above 20 mph. It stutters and pulls when driving down hill which has caused me to pull over and restart the car in heavy traffic on the freeway. Now the car pulls so much it is not safe to drive above 20 mph. I have taken it to two service centers and both have confirmed the CVT transmission is faulty. No lamps or messages prior to the failure showed up. This started before the car hit 80,000 miles.

- Pasco, WA, USA

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problem #293

Aug 012022

Sentra

  • miles
The vehicle will hesitate and stall when I am pulling out until traffic, causing me to almost get hit if there are any cars coming. When I go over 50mph on an incline, the RPMs will jump way high and the car will lose power in the middle of the highway. I will have to pull over and turn it off for awhile to get it to run again. There are no lights on at this time, but if I have the cruise control going, the Cruise light will flash and cruise will not work. Hitting Accelerate on the steering wheel cruise menu will move the car, but the gas pedal will not, and cruise control will not work.

- Poplar Bluff, MO, USA

problem #292

Jun 112023

Sentra

  • miles

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

The transmission gave issues a few years ago and I got it fixed by Nissan. They confirmed that they put in a new transmission. It-??s been only 20,000 miles and the transmission gave out. The car reverses but will not drive. They quoted me $7000 to fix it again.

- Paterson, NJ, USA

problem #291

Jun 072023

Sentra

  • miles
I own a 2013 Nissan Sentra SR with only 69,000 miles. The vehicle has been meticulously maintained with all recommended services being performed. The vehicle has had the factory/dealer recommended CVT reprogramming as well as CVT fluid exchange and coolant flush services. On May 25, 2023, my daughter was driving home from work when without warning the vehicle went into limp mode on the freeway causing it to decelerate rapidly, swerve and almost cause an accident. The vehicle would not accelerate over 40 mph and was taken to the dealership. There were no warning lights on the dash and no performance issues prior to the incident. The dealer ran diagnostics & code P17FO came up for a faulty CVT Transmission. The transmission was replaced at a cost of $6186. This is a Nissan CVT that has been dealer serviced following all preventive maintenance recommended by Nissan and the Dealership. Two days after the new CVT was installed, the exact same thing occurred, with the car again going into limp mode on a hill of a two-lane road with heavy traffic. The car this time was almost rear ended and would not accelerate above 15 mph. The vehicle is now at the dealership awaiting "transmission number three." Nissan Corporate was notified, and a case number was issued, 48966982. The arbitrator essentially washed their hands of the CVT issue and advised they would not take any action other than acknowledging the very long CVT failure history and that the issue was mine to resolve through my dealer. I filed a previous NHTSA complaint documenting the initial CVT failure, 11524137. The CVT failures is an issue Nissan has known about for twenty years, been sued for, yet continues to refuse to accept any responsibility for a flawed component known for failures, thus screwing countless Nissan consumers out of thousands in out of pocket expenses. Nissan should accept responsibility and recall all of these transmissions or be forced to reimburse consumers who have had to replace one.

- Gainesville, VA, USA

problem #290

May 252023

Sentra

  • miles
I own a 2013 Nissan Sentra SR with only 69,000 miles. The vehicle has been meticulously maintained it's entire life with all recommended services being performed and then some. The vehicle has had the factory/dealer recommended CVT reprogramming as well as CVT fluid exchange services. The vehicle was purchased for my daughter who drives carefully, ensures the car is clean and well maintained. We have a stack of dealer service records showing an impeccable service history. On May 25, 2023, my daughter was driving home from work that evening when without warning the vehicle went into limp mode on the freeway causing it to decelerate rapidly, swerve and almost cause an accident. The vehicle would not accelerate over 40 mph and was immediately taken to the dealership. There were no warning lights on the dash and no performance issues prior to the incident. The dealer ran diagnostics and code P17FO came up for a faulty CVT Transmission. The transmission now has to be replaced due to failure. This is a Nissan CVT that has been dealer serviced following all preventive maintenance recommended by Nissan and the Dealership (Priority Nissan of Chantilly, Chantilly, VA). The vehicle ran perfectly prior to the failure and there were absolutely no warning signs of a transmission issue before the incident. As part of the preventive maintenance recommended for the vehicle we did the anti/freeze coolant flush at 51K, the CVT reprogramming and transmission flush at 52K, to ensure continued reliability. Despite the car being well maintained and having very low mileage for the model year, the CVT failed with an out of pocket repair of $5,900. The CVT failures is an issue Nissan has known about for twenty years, been sued for, yet continues to deny the problems or accept responsibility for thus screwing thousands of consumers. Nissan should accept responsibility and recall these transmissions or be forced to reimburse consumers. Repair invoice is pending. Car remains in shop.

- Gainesville, VA, USA

problem #289

May 032023

Sentra

  • 97,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the vehicle was jerking abnormally. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the roadway. The contact then drove to the nearest gas station at 10 MPH and parked the vehicle. An independent mechanic diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000.

- Methuen, MA, USA

problem #288

Feb 012023

Sentra

  • miles

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

Check engine light is on catalytic converter, air bag light is on, slow to accelerate cvt is acting

- Ridgely, TN, USA

problem #287

Dec 312022

Sentra

  • miles
While driving down the road in my 2013 Nissan Sentra on December 31,2022 my cars engine light came on and went from a solid amber color to flashing and then my car lost power and I had to coast down the road to a near by house where I had to have my vehicle towed to my house and it is still sitting at the bottom of my driveway to this day I believe that my vehicle should be showing a recall on the cvt transmission but it don-€™t which isn-€™t right. I just need my car fixed and back to running

- Rutherfordton , NC, USA

problem #286

Jan 012023

Sentra

  • 61,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle suddenly lost motive power and stalled. During the failure, the check engine and air bags warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 61,000.

- Stony Brook, NY, USA

problem #285

Dec 232022

Sentra

  • miles
While driving down the road power to the accelerator was lost thus making it so I had to roll down the road the the closes driveway and pull over and when I tried to get my vehicle in reverse my vehicle wouldn-€™t move after it was placed in reverse the engine would rev up but my vehicle wouldn-€™t move at all

- Rutherfordton , NC, USA

problem #284

Jan 142023

Sentra

  • miles
The transmission just went out while I was driving. I tried accelerating and my car was not accelerating and now it is not going into gear

- Rutherfordton, NC, USA

problem #283

Oct 012022

Sentra

  • 113,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving at various speeds the transmission inadvertently shifted from drive(D) to neutral(N), causing the vehicle to decelerate. The contact stated that occasionally the transmission randomly shifted from drive(D) to reverse(R) causing the vehicle to change direction. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 113,000.

- Brockton, MA, USA

problem #282

Dec 092022

Sentra 4-cyl

  • miles
I purchased my vehicle in July of 2017 from Ron Craft Chevrolet; the transmission became inoperable and failed in Nov2019; I had my vehicle shake and immediately the power stop on the highway, almost causing an accident. Due to pandemic; OEM parts were on hold due to processing. In September of 2021 and after a thorough review of the vehicle the purchased of the OEM directly from Nissan was validated and installed by an authorized Nissan dealer. Now been only 13months the OEM Transmission installation. There was once again a transmission failure on the highway going 60; with my children and partner. the vehicle shake and the vehicle immediately pulled back causing a powerful pull and immediately lost power and control over the steering; Almost Causing an accident on the Houston toll highway.

- Dayton, TX, USA

problem #281

Dec 092022

Sentra

  • miles
My car had warning light code p285a clutch pressure control selonoid valve b service bulletin stated that Nissan reprogram recall would fix this issue with car computer and cvt computer. But instead software causes major communication with car computer and 2013 cvt. It pull different code p17bo with cvt shrudder stating hard shifting dealer solution after paying $182 is new cvt that understand new programming was update $4300 on various internet owners forums same senario is played this could lead to accident since computer of and cvt cannot communicate correctly in shifting making money for Nissan at expenses of owners cause by recall remedy Nissan must put correct update for 2013 transmission and if they cannot do that they must replace all cvt damage by recall by placing wrong gm software

- Fleming Island, FL, USA

problem #280

Dec 012022

Sentra

  • miles
Nissan extended cvt warranty on 2003 to 2010 from 5 yrs or 36k to 10 yrs to 150k but in the cvt from 2010 to 2017 they did not match same Extention only gave 7 yrs or 84k not an equal remedy to the defective cvt the major year 2013 has worst cvt problems which has led to lawsuits but Nissan did not admit to wrong doing instead settle out court and gave unequal remedy to owners of all 2013 Nissan fleet a recall of all 2013 cvt must be done regardless of time or mileage

- Fleming Island, FL, USA

problem #279

Dec 072022

Sentra

  • miles
2003-2010 WARRANTY EXTENSIONS When Nissan realized there were problems that affected a small percentage of owners, they immediately took steps to relieve the financial burden of repairing the affected continuously variable transmissions. One big piece of their plan involved extending the warranty free of charge. The extension applied to all Nissan vehicles manufactured between 2003 and 2010 equipped with a continuously variable transmission. This extension doubled the original powertrain warranty from five years or 60,000 miles up to 10 years or 120,000 miles. This extension is fully transferrable to new owners should the original owner sell the vehicle. Owners are not required to do anything. Should a problem with your continuously variable transmission arise simply bring your vehicle to a Nissan repair facility and they will handle everything. Another step Nissan took was to reimburse owners who had already paid for any continuously variable transmission repairs that would be covered by this new warranty, even if they had sold their Nissan. Owners just need to download the reimbursement form and follow the instructions. Additionally, Nissan reduced the manufacturer-€™s suggested retail price of a new continuously variable transmission and any affected parts to further help those who might need repairs after this extended warranty period expires. 2012-2017 WARRANTY EXTENSIONS Again, Nissan-€™s response was swift and decisive as they looked to relieve the burden of repairing these continuously variable transmissions. They extended the original manufacturer-€™s warranty from five years or 60,000 miles up to seven years or 84,000 miles. This Nissan continuously variable transmission warranty extension covers a variety of items. Torque converters, Transmission Control Module reprogramming, seals, gaskets, and more are all covered under this extension. Rental vehicles or loaner vehicles are also covered while your vehicle undergoes these covered repairs.

- Fleming Island, FL, USA

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