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.

8.9

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$3,700
Average Mileage:
85,750 miles
Total Complaints:
49 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. transmission replacement (26 reports)
  2. replaced transmission (17 reports)
  3. not sure (5 reports)
  4. replace transmission (1 reports)
2014 Nissan Sentra transmission problems

transmission problem

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2014 Nissan Sentra Owner Comments (Page 3 of 3)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #9

Jan 252018

Sentra SL 1.8L

  • CVT transmission
  • 122,000 miles

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

After reading the comments from others on this site regarding the 2014 Sentra Transmission problems, it's become evident that this is really a safety issue for Nissan. Regardless if under warranty or not. I was traveling at 65 mph when my transmission let go. Only being an experienced driver who has encountered issues before, did I make the right choice to pull off the road. I had not warning this would happen, and I'm really upset since I bought this car new. It cost $4179, to replace the transmission. I hope others will hear the warning signs from those of us who have to contend with this situation. Right now it is a throw of the dice whether or not this car will last for any extended period of time.

- Terence B., Waynesboro, US

problem #8

Sep 122017

Sentra SL

  • CVT transmission
  • 95,000 miles

The car started shifting hard/shuddering when accelerating from a stop or in between gears on the highway. I had four different mechanics drive it to determine the issue, including one Nissan technician and they all agreed that 1) it was a bad transmission and needed to be replaced, 2) it was pretty early in the car's life for the transmission to be failing (it started around 95,000 miles), and 3) Nissan should issue a recall for this since all four mechanics have seen multiple newer-model Nissans with CVT issues that warrant a replacement. I was very lucky that the transmission never failed while I was driving, and after not having my car for a week and a half, I paid almost $3800 today for a rebuilt transmission to be installed in my car.

I think it's insane that there hasn't been a recall issued for this problem since all the mechanics I spoke to (and many, many message boards regarding Nissans) all seem to be well aware that it's a common problem and should've been fixed a long time ago. Granted, I put a lot of miles on my car in a short amount of time, but because of that (and because I was raised by a mechanic), I made sure to keep up on the maintenance of my car. A transmission beginning to fail before the engine hits 100k miles is ridiculous.

- Sara B., Middletown, CT, US

problem #7

Jan 082018

Sentra SV 1.8L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 36,000 miles

My wife drove my car to her office. While she was driving in the 2nd lane from right her car stopped due to traffic. When she started to move her car she failed and the car shut off. She cannot start the car. That was very dangerous because she trapped in the middle of a busy high way, I-75! She might be killed by other cars! She called 511 to help her move the car to a safe place and ask our insurance to tow it to the dealer. She was told the transmission is broken! We can not believe it. I just bought it less than 3 years and only ran less than 40,000 miles. We regularly have it maintained by the dealer.

- Hongwei S., Fort Lauderdale, FL, US

problem #6

Oct 072017

Sentra SV

  • CVT transmission
  • 70,000 miles

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

This was my daughter's first car purchase. We chose Nissan because it had a good reputation. The car was always maintained at the Nissan dealership. We noticed a slight change in how the car was accelerating, but attributed that to change in gas formula for colder climates and that fact that it was not a brand new car.

Driving down the street to an important function with a family with infant twin daughters and the car starts shuddering. Came to a stop and the car started clunking and then shut off. Turned the car back on and it sounded normal, went to shift into Drive and the car shuddered and cut off again. Did that a couple of times with the same result. Finally, I turned the car on, put the gas pedal and then shifted and was able to complete my trip. Had to have my brother follow us home because by that time I was scared to drive it for fear someone would hit me from behind or I would not have control of the vehicle and hit someone.

Had it towed to the dealership and they told me it was the transmission and that it would need to be replaced. Needless to say, the standard warranty expired and we did not purchase an extended warranty. I filed a claim with Nissan. In the meantime, I also spoke with the dealership and they quoted me $3695 to replace. They eventually called me back and offered to replace the transmission (only a 12,000/1 yr. warranty) if we would pay $1000. We had no choice, my daughter needs transportation for work and she still owes $10K on the vehicle, so she can't just walk away.

I had always heard good things about Nissan, but we are sorely disappointed with our experience and will think twice about ever purchasing a Nissan again. I can say, we most definitely will not by one again.

- diva d, Milwaukee, US

problem #5

Oct 132017

Sentra SR 2.4L

  • CVT transmission
  • 42,000 miles

My continued post, car had transmission replaced in July and now it is October and yet again the car started slipping, jerking, clunking on the way to work. Once I realized that I wasn’t going to make it there I turned around and headed to the dealer. I literally pulled into their parking lot with my foot all the way to the floor going 5mph. I am going back Monday 10/16/2017 to hear a bunch of bullshit. I purchased this car brand new and still owe 10k on it. I live paycheck to paycheck and I am losing time from my job because this is the only car I have. I should not have to worry about a car that has 40k on it. I’m so scared that either I am going to kill or hurt myself or maybe somebody else. I was in rush hour traffic when this BS happened. Nissan knows that their transmissions are faulty so why in the hell would you keep replacing them with the same damn transmissions. If anyone out there reading this is in Va and knows of anything I can do please let me know. I would be forever grateful!!!

- Mary J., Highland Springs, US

problem #4

Jul 022017

Sentra

  • CVT transmission
  • 47,400 miles

Bought this car used, only one previous owner, the end of April 2017, with a little over 43,000 miles on it. Loved it when I took it for a test drive, had good pickup, acceleration seemed great. Loved the extras that I didn't have on my trade in vehicle, such as navigation, back up camera, touch start, etc. Should have done my research on the CVTs, unfortunately. I live in Western NC, with a lot of mountain driving. Within a couple of weeks after buying, I started noticing some little quirky things while driving, such as stuttering, hesitating when going uphill, RPMs going way up even when not accelerating. I convinced myself that I just wasn't used to the CVT and maybe the way they respond is just a little different, because most of the time it drove great, just every once in awhile it would feel like something was going on out of the ordinary and then it would quickly adjust and would seem fine again. Most of the driving I did for the first couple of months was just back and forth to work, about a 30-45 minute drive there and the same back. On 7/2/17, took it out of town on a short trip of less than 150 miles to visit some family. Noticed more than the usual hesitating, stuttering when stopping and starting after driving for the first couple of hours. I knew something was definitely, seriously wrong. Got to my destination and then when returning home the next day, I started having trouble almost immediately. I thought that every time I came to a stop, it wasn't going to start again, and the further I went the more it stopped responding. I was travelling on I-26, up Saluda mountain, and the car just got slower and slower, until finally it was only going about 30 mph, if that. I pulled over to the side of the interstate, thankfully it was early morning and not a lot of traffic. There were absolutely no warning lights on the dash of any kind. I was trying my best to get back home, thought if I could just get up that mountain, it would straighten out and I would be able to make it. When I did make it up the mountain, part of the time, driving in the emergency lane, since I was unable to go more than 30 mph, when I was able to get off an exit, the car completely came to a stop, the engine died, I finally had a malfunction indicator light come on. I was able to get it restarted and pulled into a gas station, so I wasn't stuck on the side of the road, and called for road side assistance and got the car towed. I wound up having it towed to a Nissan dealership, where so far the transmission has been replaced. After it was replace, I was told it was still "throwing some codes", and they figured out it needed to also have the transmission computer module replaced. It is still being worked on at this point. I'm being told this will all be covered under the Nissan power train warranty, but not sure how it will all end since it is still being worked on. The Nissan dealership has loaned me a car, so at least I have something to drive in the meantime.

- donnaw_bcdw, Bryso, US

problem #3

Jul 122017

Sentra

  • CVT transmission
  • 41,000 miles

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

Car began jerking and losing power, rpm's were accelerating, car was whirring, then power was gone while I was traveling 65 mph on highway. Fortunately, I was able to cut across two lanes and land on the shoulder. Had to be towed to dealer who told me yesterday that it may be until July 25th before they can get to it!!!!!!!

Now I am learning what a crummy car it is.

- Leslie S., Yellow Springs, US

problem #2

May 272016

Sentra

  • CVT transmission
  • 28,000 miles

My brand New car which only had 28000 miles on it. I drive my car for work everyday driving on average 300 +miles a day. It started to rev up and RPMs went sky high on the meter when I was driving normal. Even while on Cruise Control. Finually while driving up a steep mountain it would not go over 40 miles per hour and became a safety issue due to traffic having to avoid me being slow . I pulled over the side of the road and turned it off. Let it rest for a while and started up and it would not go in gear at all. Called dealer who sent a tow truck to get me to local dealership. 2 days later was told it needed a new Transmission. They had given me a loaner car to drive and 10 days later the called said it was ready to pick up. They said it now has a new 2016 transmission in there . The 2014 ones have issues where the gears are grinding up with metal pieces in the transmission fluid pans . They said they are having a lot of issues with them and have had to replace a lot of them. I asked why they are not being recalled? They said " We are only fixing them if they have issues," So if your car warrenty is going to expire you will be out of luck? YES! I have driven Nissians for years never had any issues until this car. So now I am worried what else might be wrong once I am at 36k miles and they say....Sorry we cannot fix it....Its your problem now......Keeping my fingers crossed its fixed for good.

- trhea, Sevierville, TN, US

problem #1

May 082017

Sentra SR 1.8L, 4 cyl

  • CVT transmission
  • 52,000 miles

Transmission went into fail safe mode on the interstate without warning. CVT or check engine light did not come on, but transmission was in fail safe. I took the car to the dealership the next day and they said it probably needed a transmission, but Nissan would not replace it without computer data and since the check engine light did not come on there was no computer data. They wanted me to keep driving it until it acted up again. I told them no that I did not want to get stranded. They said they would test drive it the next day, but there was probably nothing they could do. While they were test driving it the transmission failed and had to be towed back to the dealership. They replaced the transmission with a rebuild. It only has a 12000 mile warranty. I have read that this is a common occurrence for Nissan Sentras, but it usually happens after the warranty has expired. I was lucky my car was still under warranty. I will be getting rid of this car ASAP.

- Stuart S., Elkin, NC, US

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