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 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
8 / 0
Average Mileage:
37,175 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 electrical problems

electrical problem

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2013 Nissan Altima Owner Comments (Page 2 of 8)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #131

Apr 172020

Altima

  • 111,800 miles

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

The vehicle gear shift would not move from the park (P) position while depressing the brake pedal. Apparently this is a known shift lock issue based on similar complaints on the NHTSA website as well as Nissan owner testimonies. The fault as it was explained by a Nissan technician was the shifter shorts-out the shift lock solenoid which engages the unlock for the shifter when the brake pedal is depressed. Cost to repair the issue is roughly $800 by replacing the shift handle assembly and this "repair" is due to a failure of a low cost solenoid switch. The consumer should not be accountable of faulty design. According to Nissan, this is not a safety or design issue, but wear and tear of the vehicle. Hopefully NHTSA will review the facts of these common occurrences and determine if it is indeed worthy of recall repair.

- Chattanooga, TN, USA

problem #130

Jan 032020

Altima

  • 85,398 miles
Upon starting the car, the gear shifter will not move out of park. The shift lock seems to be stuck. There are thousands of posts online about the same issue with this year and other years of this model and make.

- Gulf Breeze, FL, USA

problem #129

Feb 222020

Altima

  • 107,600 miles
Purchased my car in 2014 with 36000 miles. Around 55,000 miles the gear shifter completely went out. Now I'm at 107,000 miles and my car is stalling when stopped. The car is not reading anything on the diagnostic tests at the dealership and no one is able to tell me what is wrong with the car. I live in a high traffic area so this is a very big deal.

- Lexington, KY, USA

problem #128

Jan 062020

Altima

  • 117,000 miles

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

I was driving the car and it started stuttering and it cut right off in the middle of driving.I then restarted my car and it did the same thing. The battery light came right on and engine light as well. I parked it as best as I could, and I tried starting it a 3rd time it started and I put it in reverse and it cut right off.

- Henderson, KY, USA

problem #127

Dec 012019

Altima 4-cyl

  • 95,000 miles
My 2013 Nissan Altima sl VIN: [xxx] is not allowing me to shift when pushing the brake pedal. I have to use a pencil/etc in the shift lock release bypass area everytime. Searching the web and it seems that many cars are hobbled by a thin piece of metal on a cheap $3 micro switch in the shifter. Bending the small metal tab on the micro switch apparently can fix the issue so it makes contact again. Dealers want $700 to replace the entire shifter assembly which is outrageous. Youtube link: Https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=eu7vm2Y-7ly and part fix at 8 minute mark. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Downers Grove, IL, USA

problem #126

Nov 012019

Altima

  • 93,500 miles
Factory lighting is dim, cannot see at night. The projection is not strong enough for nyc night time. I need to use high beams and those arent even that good. It is not the light bulb

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #125

Nov 102019

Altima

  • 41,756 miles

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

Head light low beams are extremely dim. Even, I cannot see 2 meters in front of the car at nights. And this problem is not related with the light bulbs. It is related with the headlight projector housing (confirmed from different auto shops and internet complaints) that is losing its effectiveness by the time. Also, repairing this problem is very costly. Basically, both headlight assemblies have to be changed. We, as Altima owners, are waiting for the recall action specifically for this problem from the Nissan company. Unfortunately, it is very common safety problem among 2013 -2015 Altima.

- Rego Park, NY, USA

problem #124

Feb 152019

Altima

  • 88,500 miles
Unable to release vehicle from P position by pressing the brake. The bypass button has to be pressed in order to release.

- Winter Park, FL, USA

problem #123

Jul 012019

Altima

  • 33,000 miles
The 7 inch central audio-visual and navigation unit periodically changes radio stations, crashes the navigation display, or crashes entirely going blank, and may or may not ask for sd card upon reboot. On one occasion the accelerator also stuck requiring the car to taken to the side of the road and turned off. Cannot be sure if the two events were related but they happened simultaneously. In the last six months the misbehavior of the central display unit has gotten worse and worse. Nissan dealer and national support are unable to find the problem or being willing to fix it. There is no escalation procedure to factory engineering and maintenance support. They will not take the elementary step to reflash the firmware or being willing to change out the unit. Multiple examples of this problem are reported online in Nissan's owner portal for this model year and the next. Despite being originally told that Nissan is trying to track cars with this known problem that Nissan refuses to address and leaving a potential safety problem unresolved.

- Renton, WA, USA

problem #122

Aug 012019

Altima

  • miles
My front drivers side door handle failed at 71 000 along with my automatic brake lock on the gear shifter.

- Grand Prairie, TX, USA

problem #121

Jun 012017

Altima

  • 100,000 miles

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

After a few years of normal operation the low-beam headlights are no longer effective. They are too dim to rely on while driving on dark roads/highways. Must use high-beams for proper visibility. Replacing bulbs does not help.

- Mount Pleasant, SC, USA

problem #120

Jun 232019

Altima

  • 103,740 miles
I was parked for about 5 mins with engine running when I noticed the display with gas/odometer/speed turned off. Tried turning on/off but still won't light up. Checked the headlights and signals and they worked. Just scary that I'm practically driving blind coz I can't see my speed. Also, can't tell how much gas I have left. The car has about 104K miles. It's barely 7 years old and a computer problem seems a bit too early. It was pre-owned so I'm not sure if it had previous problems.

- Everett, WA, USA

problem #119

Jun 142019

Altima

  • 88,000 miles
Vehicle stopped at stop light and stalled. Restarted vehicle and put into drive and stalled again. Did this 6 times. Contacted towing service and towed a block away to a service station. They told me that I needed to go to a Nissan dealer, then had vehicle towed to matt castrucci Nissan. Where the vehicle is currently located. The service tech. Stated the transmission needs to be replaced along with the battery. The vehicle has 88,000 miles and have read that Nissan extended warranty to 120,000, but that may vehicle is not included in this. Why not? they stated that the VIN # was not included in the extended warranty. That makes no sense, should include all 2013 Nissan regardless of VIN#. the vehicle is registered under my wife's name. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Miamisburg, OH, USA

problem #118

May 282019

Altima

  • 88,000 miles
Driving on an uphill street car would not go and I would have to push hard down on gas I had my son in the back seat I then pulled over to set car at park and turned off let it sit for about five mins turned car back on put it on reverse and it went forward I set it pack to park gear and then back to reverse and it complied not the first time now it's just more common and this time it freaked me out it wasn't a little burp as the other times had car for only about 6 going on 7 months and I restricted L myself from driving my own car that I just purchased to then being told transmission failing and 8 recalls

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #117

Apr 012019

Altima

  • 0 miles
My lights real dim at night so I replace them with new led lights and they still looks dim I can't see nothing this is real safety issue especially when you got kids

- Camden, NJ, USA

problem #116

Mar 012019

Altima

  • miles
Can not move the gear shift out of park at times, I have to use the gear shift release mechanism. The gear shift will move sometimes but more often than not. My headlights are so dim I can't drive my car at night because of it. I have installed brighter lights and that was waste of money because they still don't shine brighter.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #115

Dec 052018

Altima

  • miles
After purchasing this vehicle brand new, first owner in September 2013, 4 months later the left fog light went out did not think anything of it. Two months later the right head light went out. Thought it was weird but did not stress myself about it. A year later the right rear light only works when you tap it. Now I am driving all the lights are out from the car. No brake lights no park lights no lights. Took my vehicle to tire kingdom to change bulbs only to find out the new bulbs are not working either and the vehicle has a N electrical problem. Never did understand why drivers behind me would honk their horns at me or be flashing me with their high beam lights. Nissan needs to fix this issue as well as their air conditioning problem. The vehicle only gets cool when the vehicle is in motion. You cannot have the A/C on when being stationary the A/C only produces heat during that time.

- Pompano Beach, FL, USA

problem #114

Nov 302018

Altima

  • 52,000 miles
Takata recall. One recall performed, second airbag light shows on dash soon after first airbag replaced. Diagnostics on November 30 shows all electronics problems with driver side airbag. Cost estimated minimum from $651+ tax to $3427.92+ tax. This failure is not due to misuse. It is a recall problem. See attached diagnostics and repair estimate attached. Request this be replaced under recall.

- Ft Walton Bch, FL, USA

problem #113

Oct 012018

Altima

  • 43,000 miles
I was turning right to park my 2013 Nissan Altima and I pushed on the brake to slow down the car to stop and the car suddenly accelerated and jumped over the concrete curb stop. It continued to run upslope to the bushes and over three big rocks while I was trying to avoid hitting the fence in the front and braking it. I continued to press on the brake and the car continued to drive forward and I kept turning the wheel to the right to avoid a fence. The car ran over the curb stop of another parking space about five spaces on the right. The bolt in the concrete stop punctured my oil pan and the rocks ribbed off the plastic shields underneath. I was finally able to stop the car by pumping the brake and wind up in the opposite direction. I checked my foot was still on the brake. My car had approximately 43000 miles on the odometer. This happened at the parking lot of bertelson memorial park in el dorado hills in California. We believed that there was a computer failure that caused the acceleration of the car while I was turning right and braking and tried to park. According to one of the expert, an electrical engineer who has studied sudden acceleration in cars for over 20 years, stated that "if you're turning into a parking space, you have a lot of stress on the front drive system, since everything is based on running through the computer, including sensors on your drive systems, any one of those could carry onto the system, carry on to the on-board computer and attack it." We felt very unfair to pay for the repairs for the defective product.

- El Dorado Hills, CA, USA

problem #112

Jan 052016

Altima

  • 33,000 miles
A/C has not worked properly till it just stoped. The ac blows air intermittent cold and hot. Compressor not working properly. Filled with freon but will not consistently blow cold. Headlights very dim. The lenses are clear

- West Palm Beach, FL, USA

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