2009 Nissan Altima: CVT failure

Filed Feb 23, 2022 · Transmission · 120,000 miles · NY

The contact's sister owns a 2009 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while her sister was driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine revved loudly but the vehicle would not accelerate above 20 MPH. Additionally, the vehicle overheated, causing the antifreeze to leak. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, but the mechanic could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, and the dealer informed the contact's sister that there was a recall for the continuously variable transmission (CVT) that was unrepaired. The dealer referred the contact's sister to West Herr Nissan of Orchard Park (3580 Southwestern Blvd, Orchard Park, NY 14127). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.

Filed Feb 15, 2022 · Transmission · TX

The CVT transmission CONTINUES to "FAIL"; the transmission goes into "fail-safe mode" when the driving long distances. The engine/transmission will decelerate right in the middle of the roadway while traveling at highway speeds. This is dangerous and WILL cost someone their life.

Filed Oct 4, 2020 · Acceleration, Electrical · VA

My CVT transmission belt broke but before this happened my speed sensor was failing and also my step motor I've had this car for 2 years with very little problems also the car is stuck in neutral.

Filed Mar 23, 2020 · Transmission · 185,000 miles · TN

Car is jumping..transmission. The car jumps when driving at no particular time. I was told the CVT was an "experimental" transmission

Filed Nov 2, 2019 · Engine, Fuel system · 89,000 miles · AZ

This vehicle will not operate if it's driven for more than 45 minutes at highway speeds. The power train goes into a neutral mode. It then requires a pull over onto a freeway to allow it to cool down for at least 30 minutes before the vehicle will work. It does not matter what the ambient temperature is outside. When driving at speeds lower than 50 miles per hour it does not have this problem. Per the nissan mechanics this is a known problem with the CVT and the only way to fix it is to completely replace the CVT. We have tried a transmission cooler but that does not work. This is very dangerous as it requires the vehicle to be stopped and turned off for 20 minutes which can be a big safety problem as it would require sitting on the side of the freeway or, if able, sitting in the vehicle in an unsafe neighborhood.

Filed Oct 25, 2019 · Transmission · 60,000 miles · NM

The CVT transmission has given me major problems after driving for 60+ miles. Up until then it does fine just as it has always done around town driving. After about an hour and half of driving the vehicles stops allowing you to go over 40 MPH and I found that this is called 'limp mode' which is to protect the transmission. The problem is that the car is not even getting over heated whatsoever at all. I had the transmission serviced by nissan and thought this would fix the issue but no such luck. When you have a car that you got brand new and have taken care of it and low mileage you should be able to drive somewhere that is more than an hour away. My car is unable to be taken on any road trip whatsoever. I have had myself in some unfortunate situations due to this problem. I had the vehicle serviced and was told it was good to go on a road trip the next day as I had explained the situation to them and was assured that I could safely make the trip. Low and behold sixty miles out of town I could only go 40mph on a highway with a 75 speed limit. Nissan dealership was not anywhere near me. I was 100 miles away from anywhere I could get help which is all nissan told me to do was bring it in to a dealership! I did just that before my trip to fix this issue and it wasn't fixed. What am I to do?

Filed Oct 8, 2019 · Acceleration, Transmission · 140,000 miles · OK

Driving the highway 75 miles hour and have the accelerator not response. Was told CVT transmission overheating going into safe mood causing vehicle to slow and accelerator not responding. Barely pulling off the highway and waiting to have control again. Was told that a radiator for the transmission was needed. Scared to drive.

Filed Sep 3, 2019 · 145,000 miles · IL

Takata recall CVT transmission. Was coming on highway going 55 the speed drop wasn't shifting gears anymore I was down to 10 had to gonon side of road my car starts but will not move no more then 10 speed took to my nissan dealer and they told me it was my CVT transmission that it seems that a lot of those cars go out and when they do it's very costly that we should just buy a new one I had just purchased that vehicle maybe two years before this at happen I left my nissan it's a well family car but it sucks that the CVT transmission can cause it to go down the drain I kept my car and well shape with fluids and always maintenance on it for this to happen I still own the car because of how much I love it I want to get it fix but everywhere I go everyone tells me not to because the cost its going to take to fix it your better off buying a new one .... I just feel why should I have to buy a new car of this one was up and runing good and I didnt everything I coupd to keep up on it for the CVT to go out on me like this ..... The car has a good body no rust not issues at all besides the CVT transmission I had got the car in 2017 and it went out already I paid about 7,500 for it ....

Filed Jul 9, 2019 · Transmission · 257,000 miles · CT

My altima has 257k miles. I was driving home from a friend's house and the car just died on my street. The engine made a whining sound and would not go over 5 MPH. Luckily I was able to coast the car down the hill to my house. The car has been well maintained and I am replacing the CVT transmission for the second time. The last time I replaced it was 3 years ago in 2016. Most of my mileage is hwy miles. I have read numerous complaints online regarding the crappy CVT transmission in the altima. The dealer is putting in my 3rd transmission today and only guaranteeing a 1 year / 12000 mile warranty. This does not sound like they are backing their product. From all that I have read and experienced, the car is a total safety issue losing speed in warm weather on long trips that could result in serious accidents. Could there be a recall coming?

Filed Jun 7, 2018 · Transmission · 158,000 miles · AL

I purchased my car in 2012 shortly after purchasing the car I noticed something didn't feel quite right I called the nissan service dept and explained the issue they assured me everything was okay but then in 2016 I complained to nissan about the whining noise again and when traveling on the interstate how my car would just slow down with no warning causing the tractor trailer traveling behind me to think quickly and jump into another lane or else I probably would not be alive to be writing you. The next incident was after I exited off of the interstate and stopped at the stop sign once I begin to accelerate my car stalled in the middle of the street causing a car coming around the curve to quickly exit onto the interstate to keep from hitting me. When I explained all of this to nissan they already knew about this issue and I said why wasn't this something you send out to consumers because if you already know then this isn't the first incident. At the time I reported this I had 119,876 miles on my car the rep proceeded to tell me I was past the extended warranty I said what extended warranty I knew nothing about this and never received anything in reference to this. Needless to say nissan never followed back up with me and I reached out to them again recently about this same issue and told them nobody ever followed up and I was almost hit once again due to losing power in the middle of the interstate. Took the car in to a nissan service depart explained the issue once again they said oh there is a service bulletin on the engine but this had nothing to do with the transmission but assured me this was the issue needless to say two days later and $390 later the problem still isn't fixed. This is a safety hazard and one day may cause fatalities. This should be a recall for those vehicles under the warranty. They have lawsuits. Http://www.nissanproblems.com/trends/CVT/

Filed Nov 29, 2017 · Transmission · 140,000 miles · GA

Cvt transmission failure, manufacturer extended warranty to 10 years, 120k miles because they used a bad product. My vehicle has 140,000 miles so nissan declined to cover repair cost. My vehicle showed no sign of issues until it suddenly wouldn't engage at a stop light on a busy highway. It is frustrating that a manufacture this size pushes a known issue under the rug instead of recalling the defective vehicles.

Filed Nov 7, 2017 · Transmission · 124,000 miles · MN

Driving home from work late at night, just got off the freeway and the car made a loud sound and then stopped moving. The check engine light then came on. The engine continued to run but the car would not move. There were no warning signs prior to this event that there was a problem. Fortunately, this incident did not occur 5 minutes earlier while I was still on the freeway. The car had been into the dealer for new brakes and change in transmission fluid 3 weeks prior to this event. After the event the dealer allegedly found metal belt pieces in the CVT oil pan. The cost of the repair would be $4600, in excess of the blue book value of the car. The car had been serviced at nissan dealers since the time it was purchased. It was purchased with the expectation from the sales staff that the car would go at least 200,000 miles. Car had approximately 124000 miles. Nissan agreed to pay 50% of the cost of the new transmission. However, I chose not to repair the car as the remaining amount is cost prohibitive and I have little confidence in nissan products and their service. It appears transmission problems are common in the altima and nissan does not stand behind their product or try to correct the issues. The dealers are not capable of diagnosing the problem without an additional diagnosis charge of $135.