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:
2 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 1
Average Mileage:
37,694 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 engine problems

engine problem

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2013 Nissan Sentra Owner Comments (Page 2 of 5)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #65

Feb 112020

Sentra

  • 65,000 miles

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

When driving this car it constantly jerks when coming to a stop. It also jerks when I take my foot off the gas going down a hill. Last week when driving to work I put my foot on the break and the engine revved and the RPM needle flew up and got stuck. This should not be happening in a car that is just barely 7 years old. I am also having acceleration problems so I get to endure the fear of not knowing if the car will go when I hit the gas. I've taken it to a mechanic and was told the transmission in this car is the worst transmission ever made. Wonderful news. So now my choices are to pay thousands of dollars, on top of the already thousands of dollars I am still paying on the car, to get a new transmission or be terrified everytime I get behind the wheel of my car that I won't make it to my destination. You have made a vehicle that is of poor quality and not worth the money you are expecting people to pay. Your car is unsafe for the road. I pray that I am capable enough to be able to handle the clearly inevitable mechanical issues that will undoubtedly happen as I continue to drive this car. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

- Glenside, PA, USA

problem #64

Jan 202020

Sentra

  • 87,511 miles
The car goes into a limp mode. Cannot accelerate past 20mph. Mechanic determined my transmission is bad. Quoted $4,000 to repair. Car has 87, 511 miles. Should not be an issue. I was on the highway and almost got hit by other cars.

- Miami Lakes, FL, USA

problem #63

May 092019

Sentra

  • 67,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that the check engine light illuminated and remained illuminated. The contact also stated that an odor of fuel was sometimes perceived. The vehicle was taken to a Nissan dealer located in college park, Maryland, where two codes popped up: P0456 and P101. The vent control valve seal-O-ring 16618-jf00A were replaced. The failure recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000.

- Washington, DC, USA

problem #62

Jan 092020

Sentra

  • miles

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

I purchased my vehicle from a used dealership. I have a 2013 Nissan Sentra that has the exact same issues as the Nissan vehicles from 2010-2012. My transmission feels as if it is slipping, jerking, shuddering and does not gain acceleration smoothly. If I accelerate at all, my transmission will jerk. If I put my car in reverse, it will stall and feels as if it is not getting any gas and the transmission jerks. If I am on a street that is not busy driving under 40 if my RPM gets over 1, it will jerk and feel as if it is going to shut off. When I am driving on the highway at higher speeds of 40, if the RPM increases at all, my vehicle jerks and feels as if it is not getting enough gas. I took my car to Firestone on 1/10/20 and they determined that it is indeed the cvt transmission. I had 0 codes appear. I have the document from Firestone that reflects that I have no other issues with the vehicle. I was advised by Firestone to take the vehicle to Nissan. I took the vehicle to Nissan 1/10/20 the same day and was told the exact same thing, however the recall does not apply to the year of my vehicle, but I have the exact same issue as the previous year manufactured vehicles. I also have documentation for this as well. They ran a full diagnostic test and found 0 codes. I keep my vehicle in good condition and well kept and service is up to date. This needs to be recalled.

- Charlotte, NC, USA

problem #61

Dec 092019

Sentra

  • 81,000 miles
While driving on the freeway, the car jerks as if struggling to switch gears. Often when I press the gas, the car fails to go faster and it sounds as if I am just trying the engine

- Sanger, CA, USA

problem #60

Nov 012019

Sentra

  • 15 miles
While driving 50 mph, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was merged to the side of the road and failed to accelerate until the economy mode was turned off. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. Car jerks, shakes, vibrates.

- Galveston, TX, USA

problem #59

Oct 112019

Sentra

  • 138,000 miles

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

Car starting jerking and came to almost a complete stop out the blue at 136,000-138,000 somewhere in between don't exactly remember. The first sigh something was wrong with car was the RPM would just go up high out of blue while accelerating which was dangerous ad just comming to a stop out of nowhere. We called around trying to get issue fixed but noone could help cause there was no light on in car to see if anything was wrong. Check engine light just came on as of today 10/11/2019 for first time ever at 141,000 and car stops doesnt pull. Does on highway, interstate and while turning.

- Greenwood, SC, USA

problem #58

Sep 202019

Sentra

  • 73,000 miles
My 2013 Nissan Sentra had no known problems, and I had no icons on my dashboard that something needed attention... no check engine light, no check transmission light..none. And when I had taken my car to get an oil change, my car had no serious issues. And just recently as I had my foot on the break because I was parking my car's engine turned off, , but the radio was still on. I attempted several times to turn on until it did, but as soon as I shifted to reverse or drive, the engine would just turn off. And now my car turns on but makes a weird noise like something is dragging, but engine remains on, and every time I shift to drive or reverse my car turns off. Iv'E purchased my car new back in 2013, and it only has 73,000 miles. I don't drive long distances too often or get on the highway too much. I work about 20 minutes away from work with traffic. I have done my oil change at my Nissan dealership and nothing ever came up on their multi inspection. I just don't know what is wrong with my car.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #57

Sep 172019

Sentra

  • 40,870 miles
While driving my 2013 Nissan Sentra fe + S on hwy and even inner city streets it seems to stall and loses power I need to know exactly what to do to make it safe to drive my vehicle if there is a way to take it back to a Nissan dealership to have it checked

- Lincoln, NE, USA

problem #56

Jul 062019

Sentra

  • miles
Transmission shifting on its own. Accelerate and decelerate on its own. Gear not fully grabbing.

- Rowlett, TX, USA

problem #55

Jun 012019

Sentra

  • 30 miles

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

The RPM in my Nissan Sentra 2013 started to fluctuate while driving it wasn't doing it too much at first but now it does it continuously and it's so annoying when I'm driving I took it to my nearest Nissan location and they said it was the transmission and that I have to get it replaced which sucks because it' just reached 100K miles I have always had great maintenance with it I don't want to pay almost 5K for a new transmission when the mileage isn't even super high, I did my research and apparently there's a lot of other people that have the same problem with the exact model and make and with newer Nissan too with lower mileage so it's just not fair I love my Nissan Sentra but this is just not fair I really believe there needs to be a recall for these cars with horrible transmission defects. Please please Nissan look into this

- Weatherford, TX, USA

problem #54

Jan 152019

Sentra

  • 62,700 miles
"mass air flow sensor recall" and components there of or intake fuel/performance reductors...check engine code P0101. While running the vehicle looses power and struggles to go faster entering freeways or up hills also have to use more gas lately. Check engine light lit up...replaced the part to no avail...light is off a day or two then returns... which means issue is not fixed.

- Escondido, CA, USA

problem #53

Feb 232019

Sentra

  • 106,000 miles
Takata recall when I first step in the car to take a test drove, it seem like it was ok. It didn't have any problem but when I drove it home, on the highway, the car started to shake and it took about 60 second for the gear to switch. The car seen as thought it was overheating when I haven't even drove it long. I took it back to the dealer and he said “ I was covered with warranty “ and that “I wouldn't have to worry about paying anything.” he gave me a loan car and have been extended it for the last two months because my car still haven't been fix yet. I also found that my car was not covered under warranty by the warrant business because they said the car wasn't in good condition when I brought it. They denied the request of fixing the transmission. The dealer refuses to give me another temp tag and told me to leave him premises. I have been paying on a car that I have not had for two months and I believe that this is an unjust situation. I hope that the other customers aren’T getting treated like myself.

- Hillside, NJ, USA

problem #52

Apr 162019

Sentra

  • 5 miles
Ive been having issues with my 2013 Sentra sr sputtering randomly and out of nowhere shakes and completly shuts off no matter the speed im doing. Which has me concerned as this is becoming a big safety issue now thru out the years its gotten proggresivly worse without any dealership being able to fix this issue cause the car shows no warning lights or a check engine light. This happens when I'm stopped and moving happens randomly and sometimes the car wont accelerate past 3 RPM's.

- Maspeth, NY, USA

problem #51

Mar 202018

Sentra

  • miles
When I press the pedal gas the car doesnt work well.I cant drive higher than 40 miles because the transmition doesnt running well and sometime I have to pull over the car cause it doesnt even run 20 mile.eache stops signal I do is even worst.all this notes are in the city streets I cant drive on a highway because it doesnt run over 40 miles

- Calexico, CA, USA

problem #50

Mar 092019

Sentra

  • 96,000 miles
The car began to violently shake, was unable to accelerate while on the highway. Car rpms increased the car did not move. Traffic rapidly approaching behind me.dealership has informed me of transmission issue needs to be replaced. No warning sign, no check engine light forced to pull over at night on the side of the road.

- Ipswich, MA, USA

problem #49

Jan 172019

Sentra

  • 1,116 miles
'tamara recall' I was driving when all of the sudden my car started jerking and the speedometer was racing up and down, I went to pull out on the highway and was nearly hit by a semi truck because the car had lost power and wouldn't go over 5 mph. The truck had to swerve to keep from hitting me. This car has a faulty cvt transmission problem is very dangerous and needs to be off the road. It happens with no warning. I called the dealership and they said it would cost $5000 to fix that I don't have. And I still owe $10,000 on the car.

- Elizabethtown, KY, USA

problem #48

Nov 012018

Sentra

  • 60 miles
The transmission failed at 60,962 the car started started shaking, jerking and loosing speed and then it cutting off at the stop light. The car cut off on me getting off the highway I was at a light & then I was unable to proceed with traffic. I turned on the hazard lights & turned the heat off waited for the car to maybe cool off I really didn't know what was wrong & then I was able to restart the car & drive home I took the car to the Nissan dealer ship twice & they told me it was the airflow filter after they claimed it was fixed it happened again I contacted Nissan again and they finally admitted that this car has a bad transmission. There is no way a car under 100K miles should have problems with the transmission I bought this car @ 26K in 2016. Now is costing me over $3,000 to fix my car. Nissan is well aware of the transmission issue on these cars and instead of recalling them they continue to allow these cars to be sold over & over again again. I want a complete investigation into the on going problems with the 2013 Nissan Sentra's. I have lost power on the highway as well as main roads stopped at lights holding up traffic in dangerous situations I had this car towed in total of 5 times in less than 6 months.

- Stamford, CT, USA

problem #47

Jan 172019

Sentra

  • 119,000 miles
On January 17, 2019, our 2013 Nissan Sentra died in the middle of rush hour traffic and put my husband at risk for being hit. My husband was on baseline road in phoenix, close to I-10 freeway. Car died near driveway entrance by restaurant. Tow truck driver said it's cvt transmission. So did our repair person, interstate auto. The code at Nissan also said it's a faulty cvt transmission, which they know about. There is extended warranty to 120,000 for some vehicles, but they conveniently said our VIN is not covered. We are at 119,000, so that's convenient for Nissan. We then were referred to Nissan Consumer Affairs and they said there's nothing they can do. They also said they had no idea we were the owners of the vehicle. We bought it from tempe auto nation in may of 2014, but it's a 2013 preowned certified. They told us the warranty was increased to 100,000 because of that, but they never let us know. They also said there is a recall from 2016, but we never got anything. Again, Nissan said they did not know we were the owners until 1/21/19. That's a lie! we've had the car serviced. It was bought from tempe auto nation with 4400 miles on it. They have our info in computer system, but now can claim they did not know. We were the only ones that brought it in, no one else. So now the car is not drivable because of faulty cvt transmission that put my husband and I at safety risk every time he/we drove it. Especially not notifying us about passenger recall since 2016. Please let me know who we need to talk to next. Worst customer service ever! caught in several lies! I'm attaching document that they claim they've never heard of or seen before - claim they don't know anything about faulty cvt transmissions. Asked where I got my info & I showed them. Also, you may google it - all over the place.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #46

Oct 082018

Sentra

  • 85,000 miles
Transmission failed at 85,000. I started having problems gaining speed; then the car would start shaking, jerking and pausing. I was driving on highway 152 on my way to san jose, ca when my car started losing speed and shaking. I thought I was going to get stuck in the middle of the road. It was terrifying. I made it to work and started doing research about what my car was doing and find out it was the transmission. I took it to the dealer and they confirmed it was the transmission. Nissan tech. Told me to call Nissan usa, so I did. They gave a case number and they communicated with the dealer to confirm the transmission had failed. Nissan agreed to pay part of the cost to repair transmission even though I told them that it was too soon for the transmission to fail. Nissan is charging me 2000 to fix it. I honestly think Nissan should start repairing all transmissions without a cost for customers. They know their transmissions have defects. I will try to sell my car as soon as possible as they are only going to give me one year warranty.

- Los Banos, CA, USA

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