2012 Nissan Sentra: stuck in gear or won't shift

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 Apr 21, 2019 · 101,606 miles · VA

Pulled into gas station and when trying to leave the car wouldn't shift into gear. It was locked into park and had to call a tow truck. Seen on car complaints .com that nissan owners had contacted nissan and they said nissan wasn't going to do anything about it.

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 Oct 11, 2018 · Transmission · 71,000 miles · MD

Car could not change gear while driving had to take foot off the gas, when shifting gears from park it was very loose and slippery, car can no longer be driven it will only go into neutral. When the incident happened I was waiting at the light with my foot on the break and it wouldnt shift back to drive when I stepped on the gas.

Filed May 8, 2018 · Transmission · 103,000 miles · VA

*CVT transmission crap* reported the issue yesterday with the sentra going into limp mode at any time without warning dropping from 70 MPH to 10 MPH. Codes p0744, p1722, p1788 transmission codes. P0744 means you have to buy a whole new torque converter solenoid unit as you cannot just replace the solenoid. Cost of the unit $1,116.00. The p1788 code is the step motor that is inside the transmission. Aamco will not even rebuild the CVT transmission. They told me cheaper to buy another transmission than to fix this one. Time nissan is held accountable for cutting corners on their transmissions in order to make profit. They are held accountable for the 2007 - 2010 cars, time to add 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 - ? Since CVT transmissions are junk. Daughter sentra only has 103,000 miles on it and well taken care of. For a car to go into limp mode with no warning is waiting for a fatal crash. Luckily this did not happen to my daughter. Appears the extended warranty nissan placed on 2007 - 2010 models experiencing the same problems my daughter has with her sentra. She graduated college and now is faced with a 2000+ bill for a repair since she cannot afford a car payment yet. What a way to welcome someone to the real world after graduating from college 3 days ago.

Filed May 7, 2018 · Acceleration, Transmission · 103,000 miles · VA

"CVT transmission issues" 2012 nissan sentra sr 2.0l with 103,000 miles on the vehicle and maintained adequately since getting the vehicle in 2013. For the last six months, I have been experiencing my vehicle loss of acceleration on only being able to go 10 MPH max when my vehicle goes into limp mode. This happens to me on the interstate 64 westbound from richmond, va to harrisburg, va going uphill where I was going 70 - 75 MPH when the vehicle loss acceleration and my speed dropped dramatically almost causing a wreck. This is due to being in the left lane and having nowhere I could pull off the interstate readily available. To me, this is a significant safety concern as this is happening now after being driven for 30 minutes to an hour. Took the vehicle to midas where I had them run a diagnostic test on the car to see if there are any codes on the car since there is "no check engine light on." the technician drove the car for 30 minutes and experienced the same issue I've been experiencing. The vehicle went into limp mode, and he had to wait an hour before the car would accelerate again. The technician came back with the following: 'tech found that the CVT transmission is having internal problems-vehicle us not safe to drive. Tech found code p1722 est vehicle speed signal, p0744 at tr sw function, p1778 step motor. Also, vehicle needs front struts and rear shocks - no control of steering wheel. It appears nissan has had problems with the CVT transmission from their 2007 - 2010 sentra and issued an extended ten year - 120,000 miles warranty. Nissan needs to extend the warranty to every year that nissan has used the CVT transmission as they are unreliable and eventually will cause a fatal accident on the highways with their transmission going into limp mode. Please look into this matter for all nissan sentra 2011, 2012, etc. This is a problem.

Filed May 7, 2018 · Suspension, Transmission · 103,000 miles · VA

"CVT transmission issues" 2012 nissan sentra sr 2.0l with 103,000 miles on the vehicle and maintained adequately since getting the vehicle in 2013. For the last six months, I have been experiencing my vehicle loss of acceleration on only being able to go 10 MPH max when my vehicle goes into limp mode. This happens to me on the interstate 64 westbound from richmond, va to harrisburg, va going uphill where I was going 70 - 75 MPH when the vehicle loss acceleration and my speed dropped dramatically almost causing a wreck. This is due to being in the left lane and having nowhere, I could pull off the interstate readily available. To me, this is a significant safety concern as this is happening now after being driven for 30 minutes to an hour. Took the vehicle to midas where I had them run a diagnostic test on the car to see if there are any codes on the car since there is "no check engine light on." the technician came back with the following: 'tech found that the CVT transmission is having internal problems-vehicle us not safe to drive. Tech found code p1722 est vehicle speed signal, p0744 at tr sw function, p1778 step motor. Also, vehicle needs front struts and rear shocks - no control of steering wheel.' it appears nissan has had problems with the CVT transmission from their 2007 - 2010 sentra and issued an extended ten year - 120,000 miles warranty. Nissan needs to extend the warranty to every year that nissan has used the CVT transmission as they are unreliable and eventually will cause a fatal accident on the highways with their transmission going into limp mode.would like my vehicle added to the CVT extended warranty - 10 years + 120,000 miles since my vehicle is experiencing the same issues as the 2007 - 2010 vehicles. Occurred on interstate, highway, and city.

Filed Aug 8, 2017 · Transmission · 75,000 miles · VA

While parked, vehicle starts but will not shift into drive, neutral or reverse. $798.00 to replace "shifter kit." vehicle is less than 5 years old and with 75,000 miles

Filed Jul 21, 2016 · Transmission · 73,000 miles · TX

The gear on my car would not shift into "park" when I parked in a parking spot after driving around the city for 20 minutes. I shifted the gear into neutral then tried again but it still wouldn't work. After struggling for 7 minutes, I reversed out of the spot then drove the car around the parking lot and attempted to park the car again but the gear still wouldn't shift into park. After struggling and growing concerned and frustrated 5 minutes later, I repeated the process but the car still wouldn't shift into park. Ten minutes later the gear finally shifted into park when I parked the car again. The key cannot be removed from the ignition of a 2012 nissan sentra unless the car is in "park" and turned off.

Filed Feb 11, 2015 · Electrical, Transmission · 35,000 miles · GA

In the first incident, I came out from seeing a movie and I could not get my car out of park. A friend came to try to help and got it into neutral but it would not shift any further. The problem turned out to be the key release cable. I had a problem again in early november at approx 36,500 miles. This time the key would not come out of the ignition. Same key release cable was the problem. Even now the car still makes a clunking noise under the driver's seat and the key seems to scrape as it comes out of the ignition. Sometimes I pull the key out (and there is the scraping noise) and the doors do not unlock.