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.
Windshield cracked with no prior apparent reason. The dealership told me I must have had a rock chip that caused it. I don't believe that I did. A crack appeared overnight while my car was safely parked. It had no prior events that would have caused this. Never had this happen with any previous car.
Went in to fast food joint, took food to go, came out and windshield was cracked. In the middle of the afternoon, no other cars in the lot, no other customers around. not parked under anything. no chip - just a 2' crack across the middle of the windshield from the passengers edge. BS
My windshield cracked sitting in my driveway. The car was not on or running, nobody was in the car. I was standing at my mail box talking to a neighbor, when we were done speaking, I opened the door to get in and the windshield cracked from the drivers side, underneath the trim, above the inspection sticker. The initial crack was about 5-6 inches in length. Then continued to grow as I drive the car to work. It seems to have stop about half way across the windshield.
2 windshield replacements in 2 years! A bug hits it and it cracks. I have never had this problem in any other cars that I have owned. I am very glad that Florida requires insurance companies to replace one windshield per year per vehicle.
- jimrfl,
Riverview, FL, US
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I went to get in my car on Wednesday morning to go grocery shopping and there was a crack in my windshield. My car sat in my parking lot all day on Tuesday. The crack started in the corner down by the inspection stickers and went on a curve up towards the middle of the windshield for about 18 inches. I brought my car into the Nissan dealership and they wouldn't fix it because they did the pen test and said that the pen got caught up in the crack. I proceed to tell the service manager about this website that had a ton of complaints about the windshield as did my finance the day before when he called, but he was only concerned with what was in the Nissan data base. Of course there is not going to be anything in the Nissan database when they don't record anything when people take their Altima's in because they claim it was a rock.
SO here I am finding out AFTER purchasing a used 2013 Nissan Altima just over a month ago that there are 49 listed complaints about the windshield cracking for NO REASON!!! ALTIMA----TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for this!!! RIDICULOUS. Why is this happening?! Sitting in the driveway, just like so many other reports... NOTHING caused the crack that is now in my line of vision on the drivers side and growing.. Im sick to my stomach to read all the other reports on this. NISSAN has disappointed big time with the 2013. ALSO, the backlighting on the display goes in and out on this model too. UGH.
I have had two windshield replacements in a year due to cracking
I hardly drive freeway and clearly the windshield Nissan uses is not up to modern automobile standards. I've never replaced a windshield in ANY of my previous cars.
My wife's 2013 Nissan Altima was sitting in our driveway and the windshield suddenly fractured. We were right there! The car was not moving but it was in the low 90s so it was hot out. My question is, is this covered by the manufacturer’s warranty? The car has less than 14,000 miles.
I was driving down the freeway today in my wife's 2013 Nissan Altima. I heard a loud popping noise, but did not see anything. I looked in the direction from which it came and noticed a huge crack in the windshield, from the top of the windshield (behind the rear-view mirror) about 8 inches down to the center of the windshield. I did not expect to find so many similar complaints about this issue online, but I gather from everyone's similar experience here that something is, indeed, "wrong," with the 2013 Nissan Altima windshield construction. Definitely annoying. And right after our warranty expired. (But it sounds like this is not covered, anyway, from what others are saying.) Nice job, Nissan!
Update from Aug 21, 2015: We got a new window. Everything is fine now. But I do think there is something off with the Nissan Altima windows. No reason for it to crack when it did. Car is less than two years old.
Today I parked my car and went in to get a coffee, when I came back out there was a huge crack across the top and through the middle of the windshield on the passenger side. No shatter marks, just cracked. About 12 to 15 inches, and about 3 inches of it is really deep. I have read several peoples comments saying that after they have replaced their windshield it has happened again. Does it seem to happen regardless of whether it is an aftermarket or a Nissan windshield?
A small pebble hit it and within 10 minutes 2/3 of windshields cracked it was about 6 inches from bottom from beginning of windshield to partly in passenger side
I had owned my 2013 Nissan Altima 3.5 SL auto for 6 months and the crack appeared for no apparent reason on the windshield. The crack started in the middle, from the bottom of the rubber molding and spreads 12 to 18 inches in length up and across windshield. No rock hit the glass. Nissan will not cover bill under warranty and takes no blame for this obvious defect in windshield glass. Nissan should be sued with a class action lawsuit. They should guarantee their inferior products.
I own a 2013 Nissan Altima. During the summer of 2014 I noticed a crack developing in the windshield. It started in the center of the windshield where the windshield meets the dashboard. It quickly spread upward through the entire windshield. No evidence at all of a stone chip. I took it to the dealership explaining that it must be a defect in the glass or the design of the vehicle. I was given the runaround. I had to replace the windshield at my own expense. I used a body shop to replace the windshield as it would have cost 3 times as much going through the dealership.
Two days ago (March 2015) I noticed a 2 inch crack that started at the base of the windshield on the passenger side. I thoroughly checked the windshield and couldn't find a stone chip. By the end of the day the crack extended approximately two feet across to the driver's side of the vehicle. I thought "What the hell!" and went to the internet to check the costs on replacing the windshield. That's when I stumbled across several other 2013 Altima owners that had the same problem. I work in a field in which we estimate less than 2% of the people take the effort to report a problem. If I have to replace another windshield, the next year I will be selling this car and purchasing anything but a Nissan.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Windshield cracked from right to left while driving on smooth pavement on suburban street.
No apparent cause other than likely a strain. The crack rapidly expanded, right across the windshield.
- Ralph R., Moncton, NB, Canada