2013 Nissan Sentra: jerking or lurching

Filed Jun 25, 2025 · Transmission · AR

The CVT transmission has a serious problem it does this jerking movement and could lead to an accident or serious bodily injury to occupants in the vehicle I am filing a complaint regarding the CVT transmission failure in my 2013 Nissan Sentra (VIN: [XXX] ). The vehicle began showing symptoms such as jerking, hesitation, and loss of power while driving. These are serious safety concerns, especially when merging or accelerating. After researching the issue, I discovered this is a well-documented and widespread defect in Nissan CVT-equipped vehicles from this generation. Many other owners have experienced premature transmission failure, and Nissan has issued extended warranties in the past on certain models. However, despite clear signs of defective transmission design, my vehicle has not been covered under any warranty or recall. I believe this defect poses a serious safety hazard and should be addressed by Nissan through a recall or formal investigation. Transmission failure while driving could easily lead to a crash. I urge the federal safety agency to open an investigation and compel Nissan to take accountability for this widespread transmission failure. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Mar 27, 2024 · Engine · TN · fire

Feb 26th, 2024 i drove my car for the first time since having surgery on Jan. 11, 2024. I was going about 35 mph when extremely fast the car radio turned off it felt as if the engine was also turned off but within a blink of your eye the car was turned back on , all by itself, a tiny jerk, nothing major. I instantly looked at the temp gauge, made sure the key was in ignition correctly. There was nothing to signal a problem. The next day i didnt leave my home. On Feb. 28, 2024 i drove the car about 7 miles and it did this same glitch twice .Again all gauges read normal, i got out of the car this time popped the hood. No smoke , no burning smell or any smell at all. I checked the fluids, the belt, the battery connections everything was fine. Later that night a family member had someone try breaking into their home. Very upset i decided to leave my home and drive over to be if some comfort. I drove a total of 21 miles, as i was turning into the driveway the car fid it again however this time i had to get it in park and restart my car. Again no over heating no smoke no burning or fuel smells. I parked the car went inside. About 7 minutes later , definitely no more than 10 minutes, i heared a loud bang. I look outside and my entire motor was on fire and the tire had already blown!! In under ten minutes!! I tried putting the fire out with the water hose but 911 dispatch heard the second tire blow and repeatedly asked me to stop and go inside the home that fire fighters were on their way . I had let my insurance go since i had emergency surgery and was unable to drive or work and pay for it. I bought this car in aug. 2020 and had to replace the cvt transmission nov. 2022. And now no car. This could have been a tragedy if anyone had small children and had ran back inside because they forgot a coat or a book bag, please look into this for other customers safety. Firefighters said it was so burnt they couldn't begin to tell how or where the fire started.

Filed Dec 20, 2023 · Engine · NC

I was driving down the road and all of a sudden the car started to sputter and I couldn't accelerate. Whenever I came to a stop it jerked after a minute of the RPM just revving, it finally shifted and lunged forward. I think the transmission went bad. Made it home parked it and I've been too concerned to drive it since.

Filed May 4, 2023 · Transmission · 97,000 miles · MA

The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the vehicle was jerking abnormally. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the roadway. The contact then drove to the nearest gas station at 10 MPH and parked the vehicle. An independent mechanic diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000.

Filed Feb 8, 2023 · Acceleration, Electrical · MD

I called my home Nissan yesterday to get the information about my recalls on my car that I was not aware of after the State Troopers helped me get my cat to a safe location. I was told that there are recalls on the car (and was never notified) I called where it was originally bought from a Nissan Dealership and they gave me several recall codes as I was stranded in the freezing cold with my babies in the car. There are several recalls on my car (P1-1,P1-2, and P1-5,2, P1-8.) The car went from 1RPM and shot up to 8, and down to 0 and the car would not drive after that unless it was less than 15MPH. Anything over 15-20 the car would go from 1RPM back to 8, and shoot down to 0 and jerk the car forward and backwards. I was told it was only an 02 reprogramming recall from the location it was towed to, to a different Nissan dealership. However, I was given several codes of recall from the Nissan Dealership that I purchased it from.

Filed Oct 9, 2022 · Acceleration, Transmission · TN

I have repaired the mass airflow sensor 3x’s by the dealership who sold me the car the last 2 times they didn’t make me pay for it.and I’m still having the same issue. My car will jerk and idle and I was driving and all of a sudden I loss speed and I was accelerating but the car was only moving about 5 miles per hr the cars behind me almost hit me in the rear end. The longer I drive the car the worst it gets. Then if u pull to the side and cut the car off and back on again it would run hard but it would get speed. Until I try to accelerate then it will stall again. This is a safety hazard especially on the interstate.

Filed Jul 17, 2022 · Transmission · AZ

I bought the car in May 2019. The dealership I bought it from said they worked with a Nissan dealership and replaced the transmission just before I purchased the car. Shortly after I got the car I noticed problems. I had my mechanic tell me it was the transmission slipping. In August I took it back to where I bought it and they sent it back to the Nissan dealership to check. The Nissan dealership said there was nothing wrong with it. They said it showed no codes. It continued to be a problem. I eventually took it to another mechanic and a transmission shop. Both confirmed a transition problem. I then took it to a different Nissan dealership. Lamb Nissan. They looked at it and said the program that will show error codes was not up to date and the original Nissan dealership should have updated and it was not updated. They said there is a problem but the program needed to be updated for them to know more. They updated it and I have been driving it with continued problems. I will be taking it back to Lamb Nissan in a couple weeks to have them check it out again. The problems have been after stopping at a stop sign on an incline, when I accelerate it gives a rurring sound as if it is going fast, but it barely moves. Then it will finally kick in and drive a normal speed. It also jerks. Especially when I take my foot off the brake. I have occasionally smelled a burning smell. Not sure if it is related. Answering the questions: 1) transmission - I can arrange for it to be available for inspection. 2) my safety is in question because I don’t know the exact problem and when/if it will just shut down and possibly cause an accident. 3) the problem has been confirmed by 4 places as described above. 4) it has not been inspected other than above as far as I know. 5) no warning lights have come on.

Filed Dec 11, 2021 · Transmission · TX

Transmission/Powertrain: Transmission slips throughout various stages of acceleration and deceleration exchange. Vehicle has not stalled (yet) but condition is worsening. Vehicle transmission does not deliver appropriate throttle response, resulting in risk to driver/passengers. In heavy traffic conditions, driver expects vehicle to respond to certain throttle pressure but vehicle will inconsistently deliver resulting in unexpected delays and/or lurches in movement, which has caused me to almost make contact with other vehicles moving at high speeds.

Filed Oct 14, 2021 · Transmission · 85,000 miles · NY

The contact owns a 2013 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration. The contact had to depress the brake pedal aggressively and the vehicle would lurch forward. The failure was intermittent. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who was unable to identify the cause of the failure. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated the failure recurred at various speeds. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 85,000.

Filed Oct 2, 2021 · Transmission · FL

The transmission is failing. The car is slipping, hesitating when accelerating . Also jerks like it punches into gear when driving and wants to stop at times. The car just now is getting 75,000 miles. I see this problem is the same among everyone else, this problem should be fixed as it seems pretty common. The Car sometimes wants to stop while I’m driving. I brought it to a mechanic and he said it’s the transmission is failing

Filed Sep 29, 2021 · Transmission · TN

My car would shake, the rpm gauge jumps at 2, starts slowing down and jerking, doesn’t accelerate at times even when stepping on the gas. I almost caused an accident on the guest with a big rig. Maintained every oil change and tune up and service required. This started at 95,000 miles. With all the same complaints where is the recall to make things right

Filed Apr 20, 2021 · Transmission · 101,070 miles · TN

Transmission has stop being affective in a dramatic time frame. No check engine light, no previous issues, nothing called out by the many nissan techs who have worked on the car over the years. When putting the car into reverse or drive, there is a delay, followed by a hard jerk into gear. While accelerating the car struggles to provide power through the transmission. Then fails to shift into higher gears while accelerating on all road types. When going to accelerate up a hill, I have lost all power when pressing the gas pedal. The car needed to be parked in a no parking zone, due to the sudden loss of power.