CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2012 Altima has a defect trend of CVT transmission failure showing up around the 100,000 mile mark.
It's an expensive repair at nearly $2,000 average repair cost. For more information see Nissan Altima CVT defect info on NissanProblems.com.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
39,166 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.
When I BARELY accelerate my car it does a very aggressive bucking motion along with loud noise. I have done put over $3k in vehicle! Nissan fix your sh*t!
Have a '12 SR coupe. Car keeps turning over for 5-10 seconds before starting. The alternator checked fine, but the battery voltage was a little low. I bought a brand new battery and that seemed to fix the problem....... for an hour. New battery is at the correct voltage, and alternator came back fine again. Even Nissan themselves have bo idea what's wrong. I've never seen this complaint anywhere, but I assume not that many people own the coupes. I even had an 09 SE coupe that never did this.
The contact owns a 2012 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the traction control warning light would intermittently illuminate. As a result, the vehicle would hesitate upon depression of the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that he would turn off the vehicle for approximately 20 seconds before restarting the vehicle to resume normal driving. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic where minor repairs were performed; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and offered no assistance. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.
Our vehicle has been in no collisions or anything and has been well taken care of. Out of nowhere about 3 years our airbag light came on indicating that it will not deploy. We tried to get Nissan to fix it due to hearing of recalls in the past but they said our vehicle was not included. They then said they had to try one thing at a time and the first thing was replacing the seat for $1400 and if that didn't work they will continue down a list of 10 possible things. So basically the vehicle is a deathtrap and we are not sure how it even became that. Seems like it has to be an electrical issue or the issue mentioned in the recall.
I just found out that there were 4 safety recalls (performed 0)on our car according to kbb and for our safety purposed, it needs to be repaired and we just bought this in used car company last 09/09/2019.and please let us know if the car manufacturer will be responsible for the recall or we (owner).thank you in advanced
- San Diego, CA, USA
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Something happened to the mass airflow sensor where it limits the RPM and slows the car down a lot almost made a accident happen I took it to my mechanic he told me it was normal and I would have to take it to Nissan to get it fixed but that he sees that a lot
My 2012 Nissan Altima 2.5 sl cut off while I was driving yesterday. I was going about 15 mph and making a right turn when the car cut off in the middle of the turn. There were no warning lights before, during or after the incident. I was able to coast into the parking lot where I restarted the car. There was of a tank of gas in the car and all of the battery cables were secure. I had the battery and alternator checked and both were fine. There are 76,979 miles on the car. This was the first time this has ever happened, however, after doing some research I have learned this is a common problem with this vehicle. I have loved driving this car for the past few years, but now I am afraid this will continue to happen and could cause me to lose my life in a traffic accident. Please advise me of your official recommendation as to how I should proceed.
The power outlet in the center console had gone bad so my husband changed the fuse and as soon as I started to drive, my car started jumping and would not go over 15mph. The traction control light and check engine light had both come on. I turned the car off for about 30 seconds then cranked it again, the traction control light was off and the car drove fine. Now at random times, usually if the car is left idling, the traction control light will come back on and the same thing happens but if I turn the car off for about 30 seconds then crank it again, the light is off and the car runs fine again. The mass air flow sensor was replaced in 2017 but that is the code we keep getting when it is hooked to a computer. The transmission was also replaced in 2017, no issues with it so far... no one seems to know what is going on with my car but it's pretty scary when I'm driving with my 3 kids and the car decides to lose power, jump all over the road and only drive 15mph. This happens at least 3 times a day and since this is my primary way of transportation, I would really like to know what is causing this issue so it can be fixed and I can safely Transport my children again.
This was a used pre-certified car, purchased from the dealer in which did not have any issues until its warranty was practically no longer valid. The cars electrical system started to have issues. The issues with the electrical system started with the usb port connection to a cellular device. Sometimes the car will recognize the phone, other times I have to disconnect the usb to phone connection, turn the usb cord around and reconnect a few times for the radio to recognize the phone. After this issues, one speaker went out. Later on, a second speaker went out. I replaced both speakers to find out that it is possible the in-car amplifier blew. After this, the radio unit would at times go completely black, causing me to have to turn the car off and back on. After this, the driver side door no longer locks electronically, I have to lock and unlock driver side door manually but the passenger side does indeed work. After these issues, I noticed the check engine light had come on for a mass air flow sensor. I cleaned the sensor, and the engine light went away. About 300 miles later, it came back on and the car hesitates/bucks consistently with a loss of power once the speed hits about 60 mph. I-75 hills, I can no longer accelerate to maintain speeds. I replaced the maf sensor, check engine light is still on. I had it cleared from O'reilly's since the same code was appearing on the car. After 10 miles sitting in idle, the traction control sensor appeared. 10 miles afterwards this on I-75, the car will not climb hills, drops power, bucks and jerks the car forward and back. I stopped at a part store, turn the car off and back on. Traction control sensor goes away, engine light comes back on with same code reading. I cleaned the throttle body, check engine light is still on. I've read a lot of articles about this, no one has figured out how to fix this.
When it rains it leaks water in the vehicle near the sunroof in the headliner on both passenger and driver side of vehicle. It will leak (drip) while parked and while in drive
18hoz-1diag C check & diagnos (tech 561) complaint: Service engine soon light is on also C/S they were driving on freeway in traffic while rpms were around low 1, ooo vehicle would buck from slow speeds trying to accelerate also when vehicle was on a hill at a stop vehicle would not accelerate and started rolling backwards once vehicle gained momentum vehicle started moving please check and advise. Cause: Verified customers concern. "service engine soon" light is illuminated. Checked for dtcs and found multiple dtcs (dtc written on ro). Cleared dtcs and none returned after test drive. Vehicle did feel a bit sluggish on first test drive. Checked fluid levels and found oil level a bit low. Also noticed drives floor mat tucked under gas pedal. Removed floor mat and test drove again. Vehicles acceleration feels normal. Went to steep hill to duplicate customers concern. Could not verify customers concern. Again, correction: Replaced both cam position sensors as well as the crank position sensor. Cleared all dtcs and test drove vehicle no dtcs returned. Vehicle drives fine with no issues.
Security prompt to" press brake to start" in vechicle information display failed causing confusion on proper starting procedure for the vechicle. Information to start vechicle is blank in the screen, this problem started with early 2007 models and has showed up in my 2012 Altima. This vechicle is store normally has 32K miles on it as of 10/9/2018 and shouldnt have had this kind of failure. What else is going to fail in this instrument cluster while driving, it safety issue. This display went out when stopped and turned off. This failure caused loss of warning information about the vechicle operation.see photos of normal operation supplied by this display.
The contact owns a 2012 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the vehicle would not recognize the fob key even after the fob key battery was changed. The vehicle had to be manually operated. The dealer and the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.
The vehicle's doors stopped locking and unlocking properly. It has been found that all 4 door locks have the same issue, where they lock sometimes and at other times, they don't. the alarm system is doing strange things, also. By that, I mean there will be times when I press the door button and hear the double-beep, instead of the single-beep that would unlock the button. As I open the door, I expect the alarm to go off, as I assume the alarm system believes the door is now locked. However, the door will open, the alarm won't go off, then the warning beeps will sound as the door is closed, making the beeping warning sound associated with attempting to lock the vehicle with your keys still inside. This is clearly a factory issue for Nissan, but it is a safety concern, as the lock is an added measure of security for kids and safety within a vehicle. If my wife would ever feel the need to hit the locks, for whatever reason she encounters, we can't know for sure they will operate properly.
The problem I'm having is that all 3 passenger door locks stopped working (no auto lock, no power lock, no fob lock) at the same time. My work involves driving children and Nissan's failure to address this issue is about to cost me a job and it endangers any children who are able to open the door due to this malfunction. On Nissan forums and other websites, a plethora of complaints about this have taken place for over a decade.
The contact owned a 2012 Nissan Altima. While the vehicle was parked at home with the engine turned off, it caught on fire. The contact noticed the flames coming from the front of the vehicle between the hood and windshield. Prior to the fire, there were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact extinguished the fire with a water hose. The fire department and police were not notified. The auto insurance company inspected the vehicle and deemed it a total loss. The contact stated that the insurance inspector was unable to determine the cause of the fire as the wires behind the engine block were melted. The vehicle was not inspected by an independent mechanic or dealer to determine the cause of the fire. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 46,000.
When traveling on freeway at 70-100 mph car will loose acceleration and slowly slow down to 40 mph no matter how far the gas pedal is depressed. Will not regain power until the car is pulled over shut off and within 5-10 minutes restarted and will repeat again within 15 -20 minutes of reaching 70 mph.
Just purchased this vehicle used and noticed on the test drive the passenger seat airbag light was lit up indicating it was off, even though someone was in the seat. Brought it to their attention, 5 minutes later they brought it back claiming it needed reset due to a sensor having something to do with a carseat. The light wasn't on with a passenger so I assumed it was fine. Now the light briefly illuminates at start up, but stays off regardless of whether or not someone is in the seat. I have seen about 20 other complaints on this issue and it is very unsafe, I now have zero faith that the airbag will even deploy. Needs to be recalled!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Kemp, TX, USA