2012 Nissan Altima Engine Problems
- 52
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
Among these 52 stored complaint records:
- 2 indicate a crash
- 0 indicate injury
- 2 indicate fire
What owners report
- failure mileage · 9 records
- repaired notified · 4 records
- repaired failure · 4 records
- same thing · 4 records
- failure failure · 4 records
- approximate failure · 4 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 60–100k mi | 18 |
| 30–60k mi | 9 |
| 100–150k mi | 8 |
| 1–30k mi | 7 |
| 150–400k mi | 3 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Engine
I bought a certified pre-owned 2012 nissan altima 2.5s sedan from university nissan in universal city, ca. Throughout its life from when i received car at around 45,000 miles, every couple thousand 5k-10k care engine engine could not accelerate quicker car would begin making engine whining noise. It was never disgnosed as a cvt problem when i would take car to nissan in warranty repair . During dealership repair…
ODI 11243433
Engine · Steering
Takata recall, i have a 2012 nissan altima and i purchased from a dealer in jan 2015. I believe this car must be a defective product. It's a pre-owned car. Just after driving it for 1.5yrs, i have been driving the car the transmission broken. The speed drops to 30miles/hr from 65miles/hr while i was driving on the freeway. There were cars behind me. It's so dangerous. I was lucky that the driver behind me reacted…
ODI 11229885
Engine · Service Brakes · Vehicle Speed Control
As i was starting to slow down in preparation of taking a turn off the frontage road my car completely shut off, my brakes and steering locked and luckily i was able to complete my turn into a gas station where i immediately put it in park and restarted via push start., 2 days later this occurred again on a fairly busy street where i repeated the steps to start it again. I am extremely scared to have this happen…
ODI 11228596
Engine · Fuel/Propulsion System · Power Train
After a few hours of driving, the vehicle lost power and went into "limp mode" on an 8 lane highway. After research, nissans have a known problem with the transmission that has yet to he addressed
ODI 11206962
Engine
Oil cooler leak was detected during routine oil change. Research showed this model & year has a recall already issued but there are no campaigns for this specific vin not sure if this is something you deal with or if it's a mfg issue. Not sure what steps are to report to mfg if this is a known issue.
ODI 11193608
Engine
I bought my car only a few months ago and recently taking it to the bench at their service, the technicians notified me that i had a leak and the gascket engine oil cooler need to be replaced after that i've been searching the internet about the problem and i found it s a very common fault in this model, many owners report this problem and everyone wonders why there is no recall yet
ODI 11195234
Engine · Vehicle Speed Control
My vehicle when driving will not throttle correctly so i have to pull over on the road and turn the car off and than turn it back on. After turning the car back on i would rub the engine to make sure it would throttle pass 3. Lately though my car has been turning off while driving which is a big safety for my self and other drivers. Because i have to turn the car of and on quickly especially if im on the freeway.
ODI 11186730
Engine · Unknown Or Other
The vehicles engine is burning oil very rapidly and when i spoke with several mechanics to get a other opinions, and i was told it is a common problem with this vehicle. The dashboard is also very sticky and is melting was told that that happens to the vehicles as well.
ODI 11186290
Electrical System · Engine · Power Train
18hoz-1diag c check & diagnos (tech 561) complaint: service engine soon light is on also c/s they were driving on freeway in traffic while rpms were around low 1,ooo vehicle would buck from slow speeds trying to accelerate also when vehicle was on a hill at a stop vehicle would not accelerate and started rolling backwards once vehicle gained momentum vehicle started moving please check and advise. Cause: verified…
ODI 11192671
Engine · Steering · Unknown Or Other
Losses power when driving when making turns it shakes it over heats
ODI 11244568
Engine · Power Train · Vehicle Speed Control
When driving the car for a long distance (30 miles) there is a whining sound that starts and the car will not accelerate. If the car is allowed to sit and cool down the whining will stop but start back as the engine/transmission heats up. During this period the car will loose power and not exceed 40 miles per hour. This happens when driving throughout the city and on the highway
ODI 11138806
Engine
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 nissan altima. While driving approximately 70 mph, the vehicle went into safe mode and lost power. There was no warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the vehicle lacked the fan to cool the transmission, causing the transmission to overheat. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The failure was not repaired. The…
ODI 11176522
Engine · Power Train · Suspension
Cvt, the car jerks, shudders, stalls while driving. This is very dangerous! Engine revs on its own, read about the horrible nissan cvt will never purchase a nissan nor recommend to anyone! Turning is a nightmare, driving on the highway is quite scary. Called customer service nissan does not care! Class action suit should be filed asap this is people lives you're talking about !
ODI 11127950
Engine · Power Train · Vehicle Speed Control
Complete loss of power climbing a steep grade uphill, almost caused accident sandwiched between two 18 wheelers also going uphill one of which had to swerve sharply to avoid hitting us. Cvt transmission likely went into fail-safe mode, same thing repeated multiple times on steep winding climbs on mountain highways. Very dangerous situation with engine cutting out and loss of power. Nissan has issued cvt recalls and…
ODI 11119357
Engine · Unknown Or Other
Cvt transmission has went out. I was diving on the highway and all of a sudden my car slowed down and wouldn't go past 20 mph. Nissan stated that transmission is gone and a new one is needed. $4000. Same thing happened to my previous car. 2010 nissan altima
ODI 11110853
Engine · Power Train · Vehicle Speed Control
My car started making a whining noise while driving it. Going up the hill my car on a highway in the desert when the speed declined it's from 70mph to 45mph, which i tried to accelerate and it was stuck on 45mph, and almost caused the car behind me to crash into me with my three young children in the back seat. A lot of complaints have been made and nothing's has been done. What does it take a life to be taken in…
ODI 11100637
Engine · Power Train
I own a 2012 nissan altima and the car was running good untill 70000. After 70k mile its started making too much noise and at 80k miles its losing power even if i run the gas pedal all the way.the rpm will staty at 2500 at this point.when i researched found out that the cvt transmissions has design falw and most of the cvt transmission has the same issue. I took it to the nissan dealer and they said i have to…
ODI 11101900
Engine
There is a cvt and cvt coolant issue in this make model and year and there was a recall for this vehicle of prior years with the same issue and nissan will not replace it. It makes the car sluggish and go very slow uphill. It is not a defective cvt but the cvt in the original model. We bought this car used so we may have gone to try to get the recall for this vehicle earlier but nissan is saying they won't honor the…
ODI 11152203
Electrical System · Engine
Tl* the contact owned a 2012 nissan altima. While the vehicle was parked at home with the engine turned off, it caught on fire. The contact noticed the flames coming from the front of the vehicle between the hood and windshield. Prior to the fire, there were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact extinguished the fire with a water hose. The fire department and police were not notified. The auto insurance…
Fire reported
ODI 11048556
Engine · Power Train · Vehicle Speed Control
While in motion, the vehicle begins to drasticly slow down from speeds of 60 to 70 mph down to 20 to 30 mph. This usually happens during the day after driving for an hour + and in any kind of incline road. At hard inclines i can bearly drive upward even hhaving to come to a complete stop. The rpm gage begins to jump rapidly to 5 and 6 rpm when even slightly pressing the gas peddle, and once it adjust , the vehicle…
ODI 11240506
Engine · Vehicle Speed Control
While pulling into a parking place at a restaurant all of a sudden my wife heard a loud noise and surge from the engine propelling the car forward and over an embankment fortunately for a few trees and god's help my wife is thankfully still alive the embankment had approximately 100' drop this has never happened before the sound coming from the engine she still hears, not sure once the car is fixed if we buy another…
Crash reported
ODI 11021810
Engine · Power Train
After driving vehicle for 1 hour or more, vehicle goes into fail-safe mode, meaning the rpms will not go over 2500. So, if one is on the highway going 70 mph, then arrives at a hill, then the vehicle speed could decrease to 40 mph. According to mechanic, this is a known issue and nissan has a service kit for this exact issue. I am not sure why it is not a recall...
ODI 11004169
Engine
Enigine/transmission issues on our way out of town, not 45 minutes into our trip and without warning the car goes from 65 miles to less. The car will not accelerate. With a two lane highway and trucks behind us. I am very concerned of getting stranded in the desert, killed or severely injured. This is not the first time. It's occurred numerous times. Our dealer peoria nissan in az said, they could not find anything…
ODI 11002655
Engine · Power Train
My vehicle is 5 years old and i have had to replace the radiator and now the transmission. There are over 700 complaints of this same issue with the nhtsa and consumer affairs. I have taken my vehicle into the dealer twice for this issue and this ongoing issue is going to hurt or even kill someone. Nissan is fully aware of the cvt issues and this needs to be resolved. This recently happened this past weekend (2nd…
ODI 10995383
Engine
Car stopped accelerating, found out the tranny was bad. Nissan wont replace or compensate. Nissan dealer expects me to pay 4000 out of pocket for a brand new transmission. Car is only 6 years old. Havent even paid the car off yet and transmission is already going bad. Avoid nissan altimas at all costs
ODI 11073592