2016 Nissan Versa: CVT failure

Filed Mar 11, 2026 · Airbags, Transmission · AL

0 The vehicle has a CVT transmission failure causing severe shuddering, jerking, and progressive loss of acceleration. Initially the vehicle would not exceed 20 mph, then worsened to 15 mph, then 10 mph, and now will not exceed 5 mph. The issue consistently occurs after the vehicle has been driven for more than approximately 2 minutes. There are no warning lights or alerts prior to the failure. The vehicle has completely lost power while driving and has stopped in the middle of the road with no ability to accelerate or restart the vehicle, creating an extremely dangerous situation and risk of collision. This appears to be a known and common defect with the CVT transmission on this vehicle model and year. The condition has progressively worsened and makes the vehicle unsafe to operate.

Filed Mar 10, 2026 · Fuel system, Transmission · MI

While merging onto [XXX] toward [XXX] , my 2016 Nissan Versa suffered a total loss of power while crossing active railroad tracks. The car stuttered and jerked before completely stalling and stopped responding. I was stranded in a high-traffic zone around [XXX] PM. I was worried that the vehicles coming behind me would not see my small car right away, as I was positioned past the railroad tracks and partway down the middle of the downhill slope. Because of the crest of the hill behind me, I lost sight of approaching traffic in my rearview mirror, which meant drivers coming over the top of the hill wouldn't see my stalled car until they were already descending toward me. I was fortunately able to get it restarted and drove it immediately to a Nissan dealership. A diagnostic scan confirmed Code P0746. The service technician told me the CVT assembly is internally destroyed ('toasted') and requires a full replacement. This catastrophic failure happened at only 50,484 miles, which is dangerously premature for a major transmission component. (note- i have a tech video that they sent me of there diagnostic just cant apply to the notes) INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Dec 20, 2025 · AZ

The vehicle has a CVT transmission failure causing severe shuddering, jerking, and progressive loss of acceleration. Initially the vehicle would not exceed 20 mph, then worsened to 15 mph, then 10 mph, and now will not exceed 5 mph. The issue consistently occurs after the vehicle has been driven for more than approximately 2 minutes. There are no warning lights or alerts prior to the failure. The vehicle has completely lost power while driving and has stopped in the middle of the road with no ability to accelerate or restart the vehicle, creating an extremely dangerous situation and risk of collision. This appears to be a known and common defect with the CVT transmission on this vehicle model and year. The condition has progressively worsened and makes the vehicle unsafe to operate.

Filed Mar 18, 2025 · Transmission · 78,000 miles · GA

The contact owns a 2016 Nissan Versa. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate from a complete stop at a traffic light, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the vehicle responded as needed. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to drive back to the residence, where the vehicle stalled. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the CVT transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the repair could not be covered because the vehicle was not previously serviced at the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.

Filed Aug 25, 2023 · Steering, Transmission · FL

My engine light has always been on in my car contacted the dealership and they never cared to take care of the situation. My car has a problem with picking up speed and turning corners. Took it to a mechanic and said it’s my transmission and that it was never good especially the cvt transmission in my 2016 Nisan versa that it was recalled and no one contacted me. I would like it fixed I’m a single parent and I need my car

Filed Jul 20, 2023 · Transmission · OK

Since buying car used last summer ive have numerous scares for the car stalling jerking and shutting off while driving or slowing down and taking off. I drove over train tracks on my way home and the car jerked stalled and died luckily i made it over the tracks and there was no train. Had a mechanic look at it and said the Cvt transmission more than likely blame for this problem. After researching more this particular make model and year had numerous of the same complaints and saftey is my main concern here. Thanks

Filed Apr 13, 2020 · Transmission · 79,000 miles · HI

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 nissan versa. The contact stated that while attempting to drive up a hill, the vehicle started rolling backwards. The contact depressed the brake pedal to stop the vehicle from rolling backwards. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the CVT transmission needed to be repaired or replaced. Kamaaina nissan (471 kalanianaole ave, hilo, hi 96720) was informed of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 79,000.

Filed Jan 30, 2020 · Transmission · 83,000 miles · MA

I had issues with the gears that initially the issue showed up as a problem with AC/heater not working properly, but when the mechanic examined the issue, it was an issue with gears. Soon after that, my car began to hesitate while driving and then began to smell like something burnt. The car was well maintained, I did regular maintenance as instructed in the manual, but it was around 60,000 mileage when issues began to show up and around 90,000 when it began hesitating and smelling. It is unsafe to drive on city streets because it will not accelerate properly and so I cannot drive it on the highway. I contacted nissan while I had mileage in the range of 80k-84k to see if they will examine my CVT, given the current lawsuit, free of charge. But they stated that the lawsuit hasn't been settled yet and that by the time it is, I will likely be over the extended warranty.

Filed Sep 23, 2019 · Steering, Suspension · 30,000 miles · NM

Vehicle hesitates when accelerating jerks car when getting speed when going at highway speeds car wanders back and forth hard to keep it on the road , clunking noise comes from CVT transmission when changing gears also produces severe vibrations when car is in motion getting worse and worse have been having these problems since I purchased car 1 year ago at 27,000 miles now have 70,000 miles and car is not very safe to be on the road I have replaced struts hub bearings control arms and tie rod ends along with motor and transmission mounts but the problem keeps getting worse and worse every day. Took it to local dealer and was told they couldn't do anything about it because it was out of warranty. The hertz car rental place that sold it to me was made aware of the problem took it twice to pep boys but I was told they couldn't find anything wrong I've spent about a 1,000 dollars in parts to try and correct the problem but still no luck