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 1 of 3)

problem #49

May 232018

Sentra SV 1.8L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 97,422 miles

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

On May 23, 2018, my 2014 Nissan Sentra Transmission went out. I had to pay $3,810.03 out of pocket to repair this issue. It was a big issue and I wanted to know if there was ever a recall issued.

- Lupe N., Adelanto, CA, US

problem #48

Sep 182019

Sentra SR

  • CVT transmission
  • 101,000 miles

At only 101 K miles, the transmission stopped working - it was slowly making a shrieking terrible sound and slowing down continuously. I barely made it home and due to the fact I couldn’t accelerate, someone almost hit me from behind and then on the side. I made it to a friends home and had to have it towed home. Nissan refuses to put another transmission in it and I still owe 2500.00 on the car and have no $$ to get it fixed. NO ONE SHOULD BUY A NISSAN PERIOD. I work full time a student full time but not enough $ to put a transmission in it and do not understand why they will not fix, as there are to many with same problem???? Please contact me if you find similar issue as we need to file a lawsuit.

- Justine J., Custer Pls, US

problem #47

Nov 042019

Sentra SR

  • CVT transmission
  • 60,362 miles

My Sentra just barely hit 60,000 and the transmission failed. I was able to get Nissan to cover 90% of repairs, but I was upset that I had to pay 10%. After they replaced the transmission, around 9000 miles later the transmission started to fail again. I really don't have that many miles on my car, and I'm on my second transmission - hopefully Nissan makes this right.

- djgarygillespie, Arlington, US

problem #46

Jan 272020

Sentra LS

  • CVT transmission
  • 123,000 miles

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

If Nissan knew that the CVT Transmission wasn't going to last past 100,000 miles, why didn't they tell the consumers? There are so many problems with this transmissions so why didn't they do a recall? I'm a single parent of 2 and still owe 6,000 on my car. How am I supposed to come up with another 5,000 to fix the transmission? I really just want to cry. I just don't know what to do at this point. My car is sitting at a dealership right now and I'm going to have to pay to tow it home because I can't afford to get this fixed. This is not fair!

- Rhonda R., Nashville, TN, US

problem #45

Jul 092021

Sentra S

  • CVT transmission
  • 123,000 miles

Struggling college student trying to get by. Bought this 2014 Nissan Sentra CVT about 6 months ago and have not had any issues, until one day I'm sitting in the drive thru and it just dies. Put into gear and the car just stalls. Pushed it out of drive thru and had it towed to local shop. They couldn't find a problem and the car was running ok then. So I paid $60 for that.

Then less than a week later, SAME drive thru and it happened again. SOOOO embarrassing. pushed out of line and towed again. This time I had it taken to the Nissan dealership. They called and said it needed a new transmission at a cost of almost $3800. SIGH! I'm just trying to get by and work as a waitress and go to college full time to to be a teacher.

It's ridiculous that Nissan is not doing something about this problem that they are obviously aware of.

I will never buy another Nissan or recommend to anyone.

- Heather W., Charleston, US

problem #44

Sep 232021

Sentra SL

  • Automatic transmission
  • 85,000 miles

Bought a used 2014 Nissan Sentra SL from dealership. After one week I felt a strange acceleration issue. When I accelerated, felt like car would hesitate, but finally go. Would also hesitate at every take off. This went on for a month. Then it seemed fine. Had no issue again. Now less than a year from purchase, I left work going home and within 1 minute it started jerking like being pulled forward then jerked back. RPM's were jumping from 1 to 5 consistently. The jerking continued all the way home.

While driving on my long driveway to house, it felt and sounded like a sledge hammer hit from underneath the car. I didn't think it was going to make it up the driveway. Now its parked and I am afraid to even drive it to take it to a shop. I can't afford another car and this one has turned out to be a POS. After researching internet, this seems to be a trend with this car. I am stuck with no way to work, no way to get it to a garage and broke!!! I will never buy a NISSAN again!!!

- Carrie F., Ringgold, GA, US

problem #43

Oct 012018

Sentra SV

  • CVT transmission
  • 67,000 miles

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

Took over 40 days for this to be repaired (waiting for warranty claim to process).

There is no dipstick to check the transmission fluid as it is marketed as a "serviceless" transmission.

- Philip S., wyoming, US

problem #42

Sep 142020

Sentra SL

  • CVT transmission
  • 130,000 miles

Tons and tons of complaints on this transmission, but no one will work on it - so you just have to trash the car... Just bought this car and now it's trash - I will tell everyone I know don't buy a Nissan...

Just keep selling to peeps who get ripped off.

- Sindy M., Fort Wayne, IN, US

problem #41

Aug 072020

Sentra SR

  • CVT transmission
  • 129,000 miles

That piece of crap class action settlement is a joke. The warranty only went out to $120K miles - which is fine for a retired grandmother or someone who lives in a small town. However, a sprawling metro area eats up mileage.

We wanted to have the transmission replaced at the Dealership. However, they could not schedule the service for several weeks. (WTH???) So we chose a local mechanic on our AAA approved list. They replaced the transmission. We paid to have it towed to the dealership to have the computer programmed.

Less than a week later, the car was experiencing the same symptoms as prior to the replacement. Had it towed to the mechanic. They had it towed to the dealership. When I spoke with the dealership, they told me they would replace the transmission if the transmission itself was damaged. However if the mechanic installed it incorrectly, the mechanic would have to replace it. The dealership assumed the mechanic installed the transmission incorrectly - before the car even arrived. (again - WTH???) However, once they checked the car, they realized the BRAND NEW transmission was a piece of crap.

Once they realized Nissan supplied a piece of crap transmission, the dealership back peddled. They will not install a new transmission. They will only supply a replacement transmission and the original mechanic has to install.

So, now the car has to be towed back to the mechanic and their shop has to eat the labor costs. WTH??

I will take any advice to get a better remedy. At the least, they should supply a rental and replace the transmission. It is now September 21st and we still do not have a working car.

- Nichole O., Fairburn, GA, US

problem #40

Aug 012020

Sentra SV 1.8L

  • CVT transmission
  • 140,000 miles

Purchased this car in 2014, it was a demo with less than 1000 miles for a great price. No issues what so ever car was running fine. At about 139k miles it started having a few minor issues, standard things like the mass air flow sensor. Suddenly the car lost power and acceleration. Engine light stayed on and showed it was the CVT. I had a local mechanic look at it and did research online.

Apparently this CVT transmission that Nissan puts in the Sentra and Versa is a piece of crap. The fluid pump cooler isn't big enough to cool the CVT fluid properly and, get this, Nissan recommends replacing it with a bigger pump. There is a class action lawsuit filed against them in 2012 I believe about this but nothing has come of it yet. Basically Nissan knows about the problem and continues top put these transmissions in their cars. Nothing else is wrong this car but the transmission, mine anyway. The local mechanic I use told me that he has had several Nissans in his shop, all with the same problem.

- rayjay11271, Camden, US

problem #39

Nov 052020

Sentra SV

  • CVT transmission
  • 140,000 miles

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

Nissan looks fancy but the transmission problem happened twice

- Ronke A., Lawrenceville, US

problem #38

Apr 252018

Sentra SV 1.8L 4 cyl

  • CVT transmission
  • 37,534 miles

Taking the car on a road trip and only after 3 hours of driving to fill the car up, the car would die after trying to accelerate. The car would rev up real high when going past 45mph and then the whole transmission would completely die off. This was very dangerous as I was trying to get on the highway. Luckily there was no other cars around and I managed to get off the road.

When the car was towed to the dealership, the service advisor said that they wanted to completely replace the transmission because they had spare ones, but after calling Nissan headquarters they didn't have approval to put in a new transmission but instead were told to replace the parts, which they didn't have. Because of this, I had to stay overnight and wait till the transmission parts arrived.

I've heard that this is a common problem with Nissan's JATCO transmissions and that Nissan dealerships would actually have spare transmissions in the parts department because of these failures. It was cheap of Nissan headquarters to make the dealership get new parts and make me wait an extra day even when the dealership had a spare ready for me and could've gotten me out on the same day.

- krono3457, Phoenix, AZ, US

problem #37

Mar 242016

Sentra SR

  • Automatic transmission
  • 28,000 miles

I live in San Antonio and took a trip to Dallas, Texas which is about 300 miles. We had a short visit and on the return home the vehicle seemed to be losing power. The more I gave it gas the more it seemed to just rev until I had the gas pedal all the way to the floor and it wouldn't accelerate anymore. We ended up getting stranded in Waco which is about 90 miles south of Dallas in the evening while trying to find a tow truck and a way to get back home. It took about a week turn around time because I had to leave the vehicle in Waco and then find a ride back when the job was done. Ended up paying out of pocket for the towing.

- ultragd3, San Antonio, US

problem #36

Apr 122019

Sentra SV

  • CVT transmission
  • 106,000 miles

Very frustrating that the transmission has gone out on this car at 106K and to find out that Nissan's cvt transmissions are notorious for failing and that they refuse to take any responsibility to even replace or discount a replacement for their shoddy product. I called Nissan and they refused to take any responsibility.

- Michele C., Frisco, US

problem #35

Jul 122019

Sentra SR 1.6L

  • CVT transmission
  • 111,733 miles

Had a 2007 Sentra that the transmission went on at 129,000. That year had an extended warranty to 120K so nothing was covered. Bought this 2014 and was told the next generation CVT's were fine. Luckily I bought a 3rd party warranty when my 60K coverage was up and my mechanical breakdown coverage ended at 100K. Took 2 weeks to get approved but finally got a "renewed" transmission installed. Absolutely rediculous that Nissan will not recognize that the CVT's are garbage and repair them for everyone. Warranty covered the transmission but still out of pocket for over $1K for deductible and rental expense. my dealership service department is excellent but I still will never buy another Nissan. This is my 3rd and last Sentra. Also should mention that family has had almost a dozen different Nissans over the years. No more for me though.

- Patrick R., Stamford, CT, US

problem #34

Aug 022019

Sentra SR 1.8L

  • CVT transmission
  • 90,000 miles

The car broke down at a major intersection. It was awful.

- William H., York, US

problem #33

Jan 232018

Sentra SV

  • CVT transmission
  • 159,000 miles

Transmission failure #3 of 5 for this car. This transmission was installed from another Nissan Sentra and had only 500 miles on it at the time of install. Like the original transmission on this vehicle it only made it about 12-14k miles before it to died. This was replaced by the shop that installed it under the parts warranty.

- Tyler A., Bloomington, IL, US

problem #32

Nov 202017

Sentra SV

  • CVT transmission
  • 148,000 miles

Transmission failure #2 of 5 for this car. This transmission was the 2nd one to fail this particular transmission was installed by Nissan after the first one failed around 13-14k miles. I could not afford the to have Nissan replace my transmission at $5000.

- Tyler A., Bloomington, IL, US

problem #31

Feb 132018

Sentra SV

  • CVT transmission
  • 160,500 miles

Transmission failure #4 of 5 for this car. This transmission was the 4th one to fail. This one replaced by the shop that had installed #3 under the part warranty. This transmission had 30k miles on it when installed and only made 1-2k more in my car

- Tyler A., Bloomington, IL, US

problem #30

Oct 162014

Sentra SV

  • CVT transmission
  • 13,800 miles

I might have the date and milage not exact but this was the 1st transmission of 5 I had fail on this vehicale

- Tyler A., Bloomington, IL, US

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