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:
8 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
58,329 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 drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2013 Nissan Altima:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2013 Nissan Altima Owner Comments (Page 16 of 25)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #190

Apr 262017

Altima

  • 93,000 miles

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

The car was running fine until 4/26/17. It started to almost stall at red lights while driving to work, then it completely stopped moving in traffic, the engine stayed on but the car would not shift. No light on dash or warning. Luckily I was able to coast to the side of the road. Need a new transmission

- Wilkes Barre, PA, USA

problem #189

Apr 212017

Altima

  • 67,900 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. While at a stop light, the vehicle stalled and shut down. The vehicle was turned off and restarted. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The failure recurred. The dealer diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and promised to confer with the regional manager and call the contact back. The failure was not remedied. The failure mileage was 67,900.

- Riverdale, NJ, USA

problem #188

Apr 152017

Altima

  • 47,000 miles
I was driving on a city street and came to a red light, when the light turned green it was as if my car shut down. I was unable to accelerate, break, turn the car off and place in park. The car coasted as if it was in neutral and I steered it to the curb. I slammed on breaks as hard as I could and the car jerked so hard. I was able to get it in park but the car wouldnt turn off for about 30 seconds. I was finally able to get it turned off and started again and drove it home (less than a mile) and parked it. I am terrified to drive this car

- Baltimore, MD, USA

problem #187

Apr 152017

Altima

  • 62,000 miles

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

Nissan cvt transmissions I always had the shaking and juddering problem after the Nissan cvt software recall the shaking and juddering got worse and know the dealer is telling me the valve in the cvt needs replacing after a month of the recall and after month my powertrain waranty expired the vehicle shakes while reversing or in dfive or in park or just idle

- White Plains, NY, USA

problem #186

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

Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...

problem #185

Mar 082017

Altima

  • 39,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. While driving 5 mph or while in a lower gear, the vehicle shook and failed to accelerate. The contact stated that it felt like the vehicle was about to stall. The vehicle also made a revving noise while driving at low speeds. The failure recurred multiple times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 39,000.

- Manassas, VA, USA

problem #184

Jun 012013

Altima

  • 30 miles

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

Bought this auto new and from beginning had problems with rough or stuttered shifting when climbing hill (worst), descending hill, driving on flat areas, depressing or releasing gas pedal. I let the maintenance dept know when getting car serviced at three months and was told this was normal! sure. I brought this up again two more times and they could find nothing wrong. After the recall came out on the transmission control mod, the fix helped somewhat. Now a few weeks later, it is worse than before, especially in the hills. This fixed didn't help and more investigation needs to take place in order to find the problem and fix it correctly. This had being going on almost 4 years from the date of purchase to yesterday last day driven. Sooner or later the transmission will quit working from this trouble.

- Jonesboro, AR, USA

problem #183

Mar 062017

Altima

  • 84,000 miles
Gear shift will not come out of park. Multiple tries sometimes makes the solenoid release, but dealer says the mechanism needs to be replaced $700. Many complaints on the web, but no recall.

- Johnson City, TN, USA

problem #182

Mar 232017

Altima

  • 15 miles
My Nissan Altima 2013-only has 51,000 miles. I driving towards the gwb and was sitting on heavy traffic heading to the exit when my car started to vibrate and then shut off. All the light on my dashboard came on. I put the steer back to park. And restarted my car, it vibrated a little more when it shut off for the second time. I tried a final time to turn my car back on, which finally did not shut off and was able to drive to work. I was super scared as I was on a major highway, lucky for me it was heavy traffic and the other vehicles were driving slower than usual. This is not safe as I usually drive with my 6 year old with me. I got to work I looked up what had happened to me and there are tons of complains about the same issue with the transmission. I don't know why Nissan has not addressed this issue. I cannot say this car is reliable anymore. I called my dealership and taking the car in tomorrow. I am hoping they can change my transmission as I am still in warranty.

- Harrison, NJ, USA

problem #181

Mar 212017

Altima

  • 64,000 miles
After recent recall work done on cvt (reprogramming) 1 week ago, twice in the last week the car has failed to move from stationary when accelerator pedal was pressed from idle/standing - engine did not rev higher etc, literally nothing happened at all. Had to take all pressure of accelerator pedal, wait a few seconds, then press again to actually move - dangerous stopped in the middle of the city street/traffic.

- Marietta, GA, USA

problem #180

Mar 152017

Altima

  • 80 miles

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

MY STORY EXACTLY LIKE ALL THE REST. FROM THE DAY I PICKED UP THE VEHICLE THE VEHICLE SOMETIME ACTED STRANGE. THEN OF COURSE SITTING AT STOP LIGHT AFTER 80K MILES...CAR GOES INTO DRIVE BUT THEN DIES. TOW THE VEHICLE IN MYSELF TO SHOP WHO DIAGNOSED AS "NEED NEW TRANSMISSION". 5 THOUSAND DOLLARS... WHAT A PIECE OF CRAP! [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Tomball, TX, USA

problem #179

Mar 072017

Altima

  • 64,100 miles
Car stalled in traffic, at lights, hesitates and shudders. Safety issue is the stalling in traffic. Symptoms began approximately two (2) weeks ago, have kept log of dates, symptoms, time, and traffic conditions.,

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #178

Mar 062017

Altima

  • 17,500 miles
My gear shift is stuck in park

- Apex, NC, USA

problem #177

Mar 022017

Altima

  • 69,000 miles
First, my car would hesitate to change gears when started. While at a complete stop my car started with a jerk and the RPM needle would flutter. Next, I would attempt to accelerate from a complete stop and the car would hesitate to move. I'd press the gas and go nowhere with the RPM needle at its max then suddenly take off until one day I started the car and it would not move. I had the car towed to my local Nissan dealership and was advised it was valve and cvt related. Long story short, I repaired what they said I needed to repair, $1400 and 2 days after I picked the car up, the same issue occurred, jerking at complete stops and the engine light came on 4 days later. Nissan Consumer Affairs would not help me even though they've honored certain VIN numbers for the same problem. So my car is currently in the shop, again, 5 days after I paid $1400 for a 4 year old car that had been diagnosed me sent home with a clean bill of health.

- Bloomfield, CT, USA

problem #176

Feb 022017

Altima

  • 86,000 miles
My transmission jut started acting up. I check for recall and there is a service campaign call. Took my car to the dealership on for them to tell me that I needed a new transmission my car on has 86,000 miles and I haven't had any trouble before. I see that there are many people complaining about this transmission problem and I think Nissan should cover to replace mine.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #175

Jan 232017

Altima

  • 40,000 miles
Since owning the Altima. The transmission "shutters and vibrates the car from a stopped position. If the car is parked and you start it put it in reverse or drive it will shake violently and shut off. It will not cause the check engine light to come on. The dealership has hooked it up to computer to fix and replaced a valve twice. Nissan refuses to replace transmission because no fault code is showing when taken to service department. Taken to dealership more than 6 times for this since owning it. It has shut off on them but Nissan still refuses to replace transmission.

- Hahira, GA, USA

problem #174

Jan 152017

Altima

  • 27,000 miles
Car intermittantly stalls after stopping at stop sign or traffic light.

- Columbus, NJ, USA

problem #173

Dec 052016

Altima

  • 100,233 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Altima. When the accelerator pedal was applied, the vehicle was slow to pick up speed and the gears were slow to change over. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing and repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,233.

- Stockton, CA, USA

problem #172

Jan 152017

Altima

  • 38,000 miles
When I get into my car it starts but it will not come out of park. Initially I had to turn my car off turn it back on three or four times and sometimes it still won't work. This is unsafe as you can be stranded in cold or unsafe medical conditions. Dealer instructed if gear locks up in park and will not move you press the shift over ride with a key. This is not obvious and the only car I have had this issue. Now this happens 100% of the time. Only 38000 miles on the car. Vehicle is stationary when this happens.

- Greenville, SC, USA

problem #171

Jan 042017

Altima

  • 66,000 miles
I have a Nissan Altima S 2013 and I financed it zero meter in Sept 2013. Yesternight my car died/shutdown while trying to accelerate, after stopping at the stop light. I had no clue what happened at my car. I was in full stop at the moment and was trying to make a left turn. There was no warning and I just had a cold car all of a sudden. I could not move my car, the car shuts all electrical power. I tried to restart my car, and it did, but when put it in drive and tried to accelerate the car would power down again. I turned my hazard lights on and call the tow company as I was not far from my home. Unfortunately my car has 66K miles while its only 3yrs and 5 months old. My warranty expired after driving my car for more than 60K (only 6K miles over). I suppose the main issue is that, there is no warning sign. This could have happened and put me in danger and other drivers around me. I lost my confidence on my car because the electrical system powered off and it can stopped anywhere. This is a ongoing problem with Nissan cvt transmission. They must need to recall all the Nissan Altima which have cvt transmission and correct the problem, and for me I need a reliable car not this piece of junk, (american car runs more efficiently than Nissan, a Japanese piece of junk) "no more Nissan for me". I took my car to the crest Nissan frisco, tx. Lets see what they say"?"

- Plano, TX, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »

Not what you are looking for?