2011 Nissan Altima: sudden loss of power

Filed Nov 11, 2019 · Transmission · 95,000 miles · CA

I purchased this car just five years ago from a nissan dealership in ca. I don't drive it much because I use a work vehicle during the week. Over the last year, I've had problems with rattling, transmission delays and sudden surges in power. A few weeks ago, the car lost its ability to accelerate while heading over the grapevine to socal. The car suddenly slowed to 35 MPH on the highway! I had to quickly switch lanes in order to avoid a collision. Once in the slow lane, the car held up traffic and numerous angry drivers sped around me. This is a huge safety issue!!! The car only has 96,000 miles on it. This shouldn't happen! Today, I took the car to my local nissan dealership for a 90k service. An advisor called me several hours later to inform me I need to replace the transmission at the cost of more than $3,700. He also said the car has several hose leaks, etc. These are suspiciously similar problems other drivers reported having with their 2013-2016 altimas as well as 2006-2010 altimas. Why was the 2011 left out of the warranty extension and class action lawsuit? I could have been struck by another car when my altima suddenly lost power on the highway! It could have impacted the lives of other drivers around me! Nissan needs to fix its transmission issues. It's becoming a safety issue! The company also needs to take care of it's customers - if it doesn't want to lose them forever! I can not believe my car needs a new transmission when it has under 96,000 miles! I had a toyota camry last til 365,000 miles! I would definitely not recommend buying a nissan!!! You just may put lives at risk!

Filed Sep 12, 2019 · Transmission · 80,000 miles · GA

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 nissan altima. While driving 60 MPH, the vehicle jerked, lunged, and lost power without warning. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the failure recurred multiple times. Carriage nissan (2400 browns bridge rd, gainesville, ga 30504, (678) 944-8663) was contacted and stated that the VIN was not included in a recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and did not assist. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

Filed Sep 7, 2019 · Transmission · 122,530 miles · CA

Sudden loss of power after driving an hour and a half. Transmission goes in to fail/safe mode and leaves me on the side of the road. Dealer sold it to me with this safety issue.

Filed Jul 15, 2018 · Acceleration, Engine · 147,000 miles · NC

The vehicle began making a whining noise during acceleration and then loss power on the interstate and would not go over 40mph even with the gas pedal depressed all the way making a very unsafe situation for my family. I've done research and found several other owners complaining of the same issue and receiving no assistance from nissan on this obvious safety issue.

Filed Jul 3, 2018 · Transmission · 100,858 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 nissan altima. While accelerating from a stop, the vehicle hesitated and vibrated moderately without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (crossroads nissan wake forest, 1120 capital blvd, wake forest, nc), but the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was taken from the dealer and the failure recurred. The contact stated that the failure occurred approximately three other times. After one of the failures, the vehicle was taken to the same dealer where they recommended a transmission flush. The vehicle was repaired, but then it experienced a complete loss of power. The manufacturer was notified and did not assist since the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 100,858.

Filed Jun 13, 2018 · Transmission · 60,000 miles · GA

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 nissan altima. While driving approximately 65 MPH, the engine lost power and the vehicle stalled. The failure occurred without warning. Mcdonough nissan (1775 avalon pkwy, mcdonough, ga) diagnosed that the continuously variable transmission was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and did not assist. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000. The VIN was not provided.

Filed Jun 8, 2018 · Transmission · 102,000 miles · UT

Car began to make a whirring sound and lost power on freeway only allowing my children and I to only go 20 MPH while cars were merging on in a high traffic area. The car did this a few times during longer trips (45 miles or more) on the side of a regular road. After a couple mechanics the nissan dealership found the problem happens when the car overheats because the cooling system stopped working. We had to put a new cooler in it.

Filed Feb 23, 2018 · Transmission · 123,000 miles · GA

My nissan altima 2.5 s, at 123,000 miles, began losing power while I was driving in busy traffic. My car eventually stopped. I had my car hauled to my home, by a tow truck. The nissan dealership was notified and given the VIN #. This particular year (2011), was not on the recall list , but previous years had been added to the list, for the same problem (CVT transmission). I read multiple complaints online regarding nissans trouble with the CVT transmission in all nissan cars for all years. The dealership admitted there were problems and complaints about the CVT transmissions, but they couldn't do anything about it since my car's year (2011) wasn't on the list. I have taken great care of my car, keeping up with the preventive maintenance, since I purchased it brand new. Any car losing power in busy traffic is a safety issue. This issue should have a class action law suit brought against nissan. It is frequently talked about online. A tremendous amount of nissan customers are complaining about the same issue (CVT transmission) in all of their cars, no matter how many miles the cars have been driven. Please have nissan take responsibility for this faulty CVT transmission that they chose to install in all of their cars, which was a big mistake and a danger to the nissan drivers and the public. Cvt transmissions, which are equivalent to a pulley /chain system, do not belong in cars. A more durable/appropriate transmission is needed in their cars to keep the nissan drivers and the public safe from harm or death. This issue is a disaster waiting to happen. My car is currently with a mechanic, attempting to be repaired with a used CVT transmission, which is all I could afford at this time. I feel it doesn't matter whether it's used or new, it's still a CVT transmission that will eventually fail. Renting a car now. I will upload the repair bill when the repair is completed.

Filed Oct 21, 2016 · Transmission · 104,000 miles · AL

At 45mph my vehicle lost power and when gas was pressed it did not respond. I continued to travel home. Everytime I stopped at stop sign or slow speed and try to accelerate the car would shake violently (all captured on video) and would not accelerate. This was very scary. No service light ever came on!!!! I continue the approximately 3-4 mile drive home and it would do the same every time I slowed or stopped. I had to drive up a very steep hill and I did not think my car was going to make it. The research I have done and the information shared to me by several mechanics state that the 2007-2010 altimas warranty for the CVT were extended from 60,000 to 120,000. This should have included the 2011 also, because the CVT problems continue. My car has only 104,000 miles on it and should not need a 4,000 transmission. I have owned a maxima and sentra in past and they were really great cars. All of the research that I have done reveals to me that jatco which nissan has 75% ownership of should be responsible and liable for these issues. The government should protect the public from this monopoly and help the little guy. It does not take much research to know that there is a major issue. The class action suit that individuals had to file due to the CVT in pathfinders being junk shows the government did not protect them. I will never own another nissan! Do the right thing nissan and extend the warranty to all vehicles that are obviously having CVT problems due to poor product performance and if nissan will not the government has enough evidence to make them do what they should have done on the own. Even the ceo of nissan has had an article written about them holding jatco accountable for their inept product.

Filed Jun 4, 2013 · Engine · 26,000 miles · KY · fire

I was driving 65 MPH on the interstate when the car began to lose power. All warning lights came on, the steering became disabled and the car coasted to a stop. White smoke came out from under the hood, it immediately turned black and 60 seconds after the car lost power it was engulfed in flames.

Filed Feb 25, 2013 · Driver assistance · 29,000 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 nissan altima the contact stated that while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle lost power. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection who stated that the independent power drive module needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 29,000. The VIN was unavailable.