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 1 of 5)

problem #85

Feb 282024

Sentra

  • miles

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

Feb 26th, 2024 i drove my car for the first time since having surgery on Jan. 11, 2024. I was going about 35 mph when extremely fast the car radio turned off it felt as if the engine was also turned off but within a blink of your eye the car was turned back on, all by itself, a tiny jerk, nothing major. I instantly looked at the temp gauge, made sure the key was in ignition correctly. There was nothing to signal a problem. The next day i didnt leave my home. On Feb. 28, 2024 i drove the car about 7 miles and it did this same glitch twice.Again all gauges read normal, i got out of the car this time popped the hood. No smoke, no burning smell or any smell at all. I checked the fluids, the belt, the battery connections everything was fine. Later that night a family member had someone try breaking into their home. Very upset i decided to leave my home and drive over to be if some comfort. I drove a total of 21 miles, as i was turning into the driveway the car fid it again however this time i had to get it in park and restart my car. Again no over heating no smoke no burning or fuel smells. I parked the car went inside. About 7 minutes later, definitely no more than 10 minutes, i heared a loud bang. I look outside and my entire motor was on fire and the tire had already blown!! In under ten minutes!! I tried putting the fire out with the water hose but 911 dispatch heard the second tire blow and repeatedly asked me to stop and go inside the home that fire fighters were on their way. I had let my insurance go since i had emergency surgery and was unable to drive or work and pay for it. I bought this car in aug. 2020 and had to replace the cvt transmission nov. 2022. And now no car. This could have been a tragedy if anyone had small children and had ran back inside because they forgot a coat or a book bag, please look into this for other customers safety. Firefighters said it was so burnt they couldn't begin to tell how or where the fire started.

- Trezevant, TN, USA

problem #84

Dec 112023

Sentra

  • miles
I was driving down the road and all of a sudden the car started to sputter and I couldn't accelerate. Whenever I came to a stop it jerked after a minute of the RPM just revving, it finally shifted and lunged forward. I think the transmission went bad. Made it home parked it and I've been too concerned to drive it since.

- Mt Pleasant, NC, USA

problem #83

Oct 162023

Sentra

  • miles
Code P0101 came on, service Bulletin from NHTSA.gov was done. Car came back worst. Engine stalled in the middle of the street. It wouldn-??t turn on, we had to push it to get it out of the street. Car will accelerate on its own when turn on. Sometimes car will accelerate when put on Reverse on its own-??.. RPMs will be at 7 and 8 when going 45MPH. I notice this has been an issue for Nissan Sentras 2013-2015 based on research all over the internet. People have replaced Thottle body, air mass flow sensor, break sensors, fuel intake, fuses. Vehicle isn-??t safe to be driving in street, may caused an accident, even mechanic said I shouldn-??t be driving the car because it isn-??t safe. We already made a complaint with NHTSA, DMV for financial Help and nothing. Help is really needed.

- Escondido, CA, USA

problem #82

Feb 012023

Sentra

  • miles

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

Check engine light is on catalytic converter, air bag light is on, slow to accelerate cvt is acting

- Ridgely, TN, USA

problem #81

Feb 072023

Sentra

  • miles
I called my home Nissan yesterday to get the information about my recalls on my car that I was not aware of after the State Troopers helped me get my cat to a safe location. I was told that there are recalls on the car (and was never notified) I called where it was originally bought from a Nissan Dealership and they gave me several recall codes as I was stranded in the freezing cold with my babies in the car. There are several recalls on my car (P1-1, P1-2, and P1-5,2, P1-8.) The car went from 1RPM and shot up to 8, and down to 0 and the car would not drive after that unless it was less than 15MPH. Anything over 15-20 the car would go from 1RPM back to 8, and shoot down to 0 and jerk the car forward and backwards. I was told it was only an 02 reprogramming recall from the location it was towed to, to a different Nissan dealership. However, I was given several codes of recall from the Nissan Dealership that I purchased it from.

- Salisbury , MD, USA

problem #80

Oct 122022

Sentra

  • miles
transmission problems that don't show up on diagnostic.. it shows up as air sensor problem. That could cost a lot of money if you listen to it...by keep trying to fix the air sensor that has no problem so you will go to auto machines and dealership and they don't know why and keep tell you to fix this or that. The real problem is the transmission. the system fails by not tell you the real problem and have a malfunctioned transmission with the the wiring inside.

- Terrell , TX, USA

problem #79

Oct 262022

Sentra

  • miles

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

I'm driving on Freeway an aproximate speed of 60' 65mph when my car begins to shake and losses power I hit the Gas and doesn't respond I have cars all over me at higher speeds I'm trying to merge to slow lane but my car doesn't do anything I put on my emergency lights turn off my car reignite it turns on but it feels like it skips speeds shaky and I take it home at a speed of 20/ 40" I'm not able to take it higher the motor sounds forced.

- Guaynabo, PR, USA

problem #78

Jul 162021

Sentra

  • miles
Ever since I first purchased the car it wants to die and it seems like it doesn't want to go when I press the gas. It does this when I stop or when I press the gas.

- Garland, TX, USA

problem #77

Sep 012022

Sentra

  • miles
Transmission

- Las Vegas , NV, USA

problem #76

Feb 102021

Sentra

  • miles
Was driving to work busy road car basically shut down to limp mode could not accelerate very close call two cars nearly side swiped me had to creep at 2mph to curb. Called tow truck took vehicle home where it sat proceeded to try and fix car overtime. Has never been the same since.

- Ashville, OH, USA

problem #75

May 242022

Sentra

  • miles

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

I purchased this car in 2018 with 30k miles. In 2020 I had to replace the transmission. Now 2022 and I have to replace the transmission again. The car is decelerating and sputtering at times. But it-??s not covered" How does a car have three transmissions within such a short time under 120k miles"

- Huntersville , NC, USA

problem #74

Nov 232021

Sentra

  • miles
Problem with transmission slipping

- Denison, TX, USA

problem #73

Aug 102020

Sentra

  • miles
Perdi mi trabajo porque el carro se descompuso

- Alvin , TX, USA

problem #72

Jul 092021

Sentra

  • miles
It was 108 degree outside at 4:30 pm in the zip code of 89052. At a sloped intersection on a major street I stopped for the light. When the light turned green I tried to accelerate the car, it failed to accelerate, the break did not function, and the steering was difficult. The car stalled. The car started rolling downhill. I was able to turn the car to the next street ~20 yards down the intersection. The street had no slope and no other cars at the time. The car eventually stopped. But that was a dangerous incident and it could be much worse.

- Henderson, NV, USA

problem #71

Mar 312021

Sentra

  • 210,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving at 45 mph when the air bag warning light illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to a local dealer who inspected the vehicle and found no issue and could turn off the warning light, however, after a few days, the warning light illuminated again. While driving at undisclosed speed, the contact was hit head-on by another vehicle causing damage to the front driver side of the vehicle. The air bag did not deploy. There was medical treatment at the scene. There was no one injured, however, the contact was unconscious for a minute and had some pain in their back but did not go to the hospital. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent body shop who did some repairs to the front driver side of the vehicle, and also inspected the vehicle and found issues with air bags and oil leakage to the engine but was not able to repair those issues. The vehicle was not fully repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage approximate was 210,000.

- Monument, CO, USA

problem #70

Jan 282021

Sentra

  • 80,000 miles
The vehicle hesitates significantly when acccelerating... axts like it doesn't shift out right.... and bogs down when accelerating at normal speeds.

- Leesville, LA, USA

problem #69

Oct 022020

Sentra

  • 13,200 miles
My car started jerking and all sudden when driving on the freeway it was like loosing its power and then it made a loud jerk also no warnings light came on and the car dealer put a new transmission in about 4 years ago

- Wharton, TX, USA

problem #68

Aug 012016

Sentra

  • miles
Purchased our 2013 Nissan Sentra sv in may, 2016. It came with a 7 year cpo, expiration May 30, 2020. Within 3 months of purchase I had what I thought was a shifting/transmission related issue. When going from 1st to 2nd gear the car tachometer would rev to 4500 RPM but nut go any faster, then shake/thunk, and go into 2nd gear. From that time until April, 2020, I went in to 4 separate Nissan dealerships in 2 states with this problem. Each one said they would not look at the vehicle because Nissan said they would not fix the problem until the transmission stops working. In April, 2020, my last visit, I explained a new problem occurred. The car could not maintain 65 miles per hour without going into overdrive or a higher gear, and was shifting multiple times into multiple gears. But still nothing would be done by Nissan as the transmission did not fail. Then, on July 22, 2020, the transmission stuck in 2nd twice. I contacted Nissan Consumer Affairs and explained my situation. A case sheet was developed and I sent in information to them. 8 days later they called me back and said my cpo warranty ended end of may, 2020, so there was nothing they would do. By the way, my case sheet number was 40830236. Transmission was replaced this week costing us over $4000. Very, very frustrated. I know our cpo ended end of may, 2020. But Nissan refused to look at transmission until total failure. I am sending you copies of our transmission replacement bill, a copy from Nissan noting transmission needing replacement, and our cpo warranty. Thanks for any help you can give us.

- Gainesville, FL, USA

problem #67

Apr 102013

Sentra

  • 90,370 miles
I bought my 2013 Nissan Sentra sr from towne auto brokers 03/2013 I test drove it and it had no shifting problems at that time. 2 weeks later while I'm driving it the Sentra started jerking and idling erratically, the RPM tachometer red lined 3 times without the gas pedal being depressed!! while redlining the Sentra's transmission shudder with the erratic jerking all the while decelerating before catching 3rd gear at 4,000 RPM. I was in rush hour traffic 3 miles from home so I decided to try and making it home. While stopped at the stop light the Sentra idled normal, then at the green light when I depressed the gas pedal nothing happened( no power at all and the RPM didn't rise) I was literally stuck in the middle of an intersection not able to move my Nissan Sentra under its own power!!! I'm afraid that this is a transmission issue that the manufacturer was well aware of before installation in Nissan Sentra and all other models with this cvt transmission. I believe the Nissan corporation should recall all cvt transmission due to mechanical failure resulting in lack of power.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

problem #66

Jan 092020

Sentra

  • 138,000 miles
I bought this car at 120,000 miles and have driven it to 139,000. I started noticing my transmission stalling and I revived a letter in the mail a couple times regarding my transmission being recalled. I unfortunately don't have the letter anymore regarding the transmission.

- York, NE, USA

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