2012 Nissan Sentra: CVT failure

Filed Nov 7, 2022 · Acceleration, Engine · SC

While traveling down the interstate doing the normal speed limit, I was forced to pull over to the emergency lane so cars can pass me. My car lost power to the engine without notice. No check system engine lights were not activated during this time. Car and Trucks were having to swerve over in other lanes to keep from rear ending me and causing a major wreck. This happen several weeks ago again with no lights lighting up on dash. I was able to pull over for a few minutes and restart the car and it was back to normal. I looked things up online and took my car into a repair shop to let me know the problem, They stated that they have seen this issue with Nissan vehicles. It is the CVT transmission issue. The loss of power comes from the CVT fluid getting too hot and reduces power to save the CVT transmission, I have a 2012 Nissan Sentra that was Manufactured 6/2012.

Filed Jul 26, 2022 · TX

Transmission died. For a few weeks, the transmission will randomly have a high whine at about 55mph, sometimes hard shifting or high revving when I feel it should have shifted. A mechanic told me the CVT transmission wasn't good and would eventually need replacement. As I made a left turn, the car started jerking and lunging. The vehicle behind had to stop fast to avoid hitting me. I was almost stranded in the intersection, but was able to limp the car out of traffic. No warning lights. I had the car towed home. I am trying to sell it as is.

Filed Sep 10, 2021 · Transmission · UT

I was stopped at an intersection. When the light turned green, I pressed the gas pedal, and the car started forward, but it would lunge forward and stop repeatedly, all the way through the intersection until I pulled over and turned the car off. The "slip indicator" light was on when this was happening. The light was not on previously and did not come back on when I restarted the car. I believe the jerking motion was due to the CVT transmission or the Vehicle Dynamic Control system not operating properly,. This was dangerous because I didn't have control of how the car was accelerating. If this had occurred at a faster speed, someone could have easily crashed into me. The problem has only happened once, and has not been inspected by anyone other than me.

Filed Jul 27, 2021 · Transmission · GA

Continuously Variable transmission (CVT) failure. Specifically the torque converter and valve body. While operating the vehicle, without warning, it goes into safe mode, effectively losing all power. When in the mode, power to the engine stops and power steer and brakes are disabled. The risk of an accident, when this occurs, is extremely high and very dangerous. Especially with a newer driver (17 years old). No warning lights or chimes come on indicating a problem. The vehicle was taken to the Nissan dealership where it was confirmed that it needed a new transmission (99988). Nissan has extended the warranty for the CVT for model years 2003-2010 and for 2013 and later but not 2012 (or 2011). As there were no changes in the transmission for those two years, they are aware of the high risk of failure but appear not to be concerned with the increased risk of injury or death from an accident caused by the transmission going into safe mode.

Filed Jul 19, 2021 · Transmission · KS

CVT Transmission Failure: My son was driving on an Interstate at 75 miles per hour when suddenly the 2012 Nissan Sentra he was driving, suddenly powered down and he was not able to go over 40 miles per hour. No warning lights came on and the only indicator was the vehicle making a knocking sound and jerking around on the highway. This created a very dangerous situation with other traffic going 75 MPH or faster. He pulled onto the shoulder to avoid a wreck and being rear-ended. He called a tow company to take him and the vehicle to the nearest town and to a non-Nissan dealership which was the only option. They did a diagnostic and stated that they thought it was the CVT transmission but recommended we tow to a Nissan dealership. We then had to tow the vehicle over 100 miles back to our hometown and to a Nissan dealership. They ran diagnostics and found that the CVT transmission went out and would need to be replaced. Counting a 100 mile tow, this CVT transmission problem is going to cost my family around $5,000 for repairs. I can't believe that the 2012 Nissan Sentra is not included in the Nissan Extended Warranty for the CVT transmission as it is basically the exact same transmission of the other years that were having the same problem. In researching this problem, I found that hundreds if not thousands of 2012 Nissan Sentra owners were having the same problem. Imagine going 75 MPH on an interstate and suddenly your vehicle drops down to 40 MPH in traffic with traffic behind you. That is a very serious safety risk and I am thankful that my son was able to pull over before getting in an accident.

Filed Mar 1, 2021 · Transmission · 100,220 miles · AR

Was driving on snow when the check engine light illuminated, upon running a code scan it showed TCM lost communication. When dealer checked they said they detected a shutter in the CVT.

Filed Jan 14, 2020 · Transmission · 118,000 miles · GA

Right after purchasing our nissan sentra, my daughter went on a road trip to south carolina and the car lost power and started stuttering. As it turns out the CVT transmission went out. We had to purchase a used transmission to get the car running. The car only had 118,000 miles when this occurred which is riduclous.

Filed Dec 29, 2019 · Engine, Transmission · FL · crash · 3 injuries

2012 nissan sentra was bought 3 weeks prior with no problems. While traveling 60 - 70 MPH on a highway the car suddenly stop running and the power steering went out and the vehicle was unable to steer out of the troubled area on the highway. The vehicle broke down in the middle of a highway. After research it seem to be the same actions that has happened to thousands of other nissan sentras. The defected CVT transmission causes this to happen. Luckily my son was not killed during a accident that was caused after he was rear ended and the vehicle was totaled.

Filed Jul 29, 2019 · Acceleration · 55 miles · AZ

On my way home visiting my son, I was on the freeway driving 75 MPH, when I began to experience acceleration loss in my 2012 nissan sentra sl. My CVT transmission was overworking and you can clearly hear the transmission trying to change gears, my car dropped from 75 MPH to under 50 MPH on a busy freeway, the RPM's were running high while the car had zero power, my foot was completely pressed down to assist the car to accelerate and it would not. I managed to move my car over to the far right lane to try and recover my vehicles speed. This is an absolute hazard to those experiencing this same problem, it's a safety hazard for anyone traveling long distances, on a busy highway during, with children in your vehicle when your car drops to limp mode out of nowhere. My brother in law who just retired from the marine corp after 20 years of service took the vehicle to be serviced due to the recall on this model for the transmission failure just a year ago and is still showing signs of the same CVT transmission failure even after it was taken to nissan for repairs.

Filed Jun 24, 2019 · Transmission · 85,000 miles · IN

2012 nissan sentra lost power at highway speeds with family in car. No response from gas pedal. Coasted to a stop on side of highway and had to wait approximately 30 minutes until car was responding to gas pedal. Not safe for anyone to be driving this car. Many complaints about nissan's CVT transmission without a solution from nissan. Car had approximately 85,000 miles on it at the time. Same thing occurred around 102,000 miles. My car is regularly serviced and cared for. It is parked in a closed garage every night.

Filed Apr 2, 2019 · Engine · KS

I have a 2012 sentra that I bought in 2014. I started to experience random loss of power on highway, and RPM would up at random times, like it was stuck in gear. Last yr I discovered that my CVT transmission was going bad and already had to replace the transmission (bought used). Less than a yeat later, im starting to experience the same problem. Nissan needs to extend the warranty thru the 2012 mdels, on any CVT transmission to 10 yrs. Very aggrivating considering I'm still making payments! I would never recommend this vehicle to anyone.

Filed Dec 19, 2018 · Airbags · CA

I bought this car with 56,000 now it has 96,000, it has CVT transmission, the step motor is no longer useful; after having run only 40,000 miles is not fair !!!! I know many people who have had the same problem with this type of car, the factory should fix it at no cost to the consumer, I still owe the bank .. $ 7,000 and the repair costs me $ 4,000. You think it's fair to pay so much money, when I'm sure this is a factory defect ????