2015 Nissan Altima Power Train
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The ABS warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle failed to accelerate immediately. The contact was able to drive to the residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with CVT judder, and the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 33,737.
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated, and the vehicle failed to accelerate from a complete stop and jerked. Additionally, the vehicle failed to respond as intended while in reverse(R). The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was later taken to the local dealer, where a diagnostic test was performed on the vehicle, and it was confirmed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 68,000.
Car began shuddering when trying to accelerate. Car periodically will stop running or not start. No dash lights came on until recently when car would not start the battery nd engine light came on This all started end of September. Has been diagnosed by Nissan Dealership with 2nd diagnosis by an automotive shop close to my home. Informed this is a known issue with this make and model. Researched online and found this the be true. I received no notification. Both came up with transmission and CVT internal problem. Safety hazard for car to die in traffic. I have cancer and heart failure which makes general mobility an issue. I canβt quickly exit the car nd get out of the way of traffic. Informed only the dealership can address the issue. Quoted $6700 to repair/replace
Transmission issues
Car was driving fine went to work on January 2nd 2025 and when I went to leave I put it in reverse it went and when I put it in drive the car would not. Shift into drive . Had it taken in where they quoted me $7,776.00 For the transmission to be replace my Altima has been taken very good care of it was bought at 31k and it has 141k all high way miles. Nissan said it was under warranty and I missed it by 20k miles I was never notified of a recall on the transmission they sent out recalls for the hood latch amd a Reprogramming issue with the cvt. Prior to that. That was fixed at a Nissan dealer ship.
See attached document for complaint
The contact called on behalf of her daughter who owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while her daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate and respond as intended. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 88,000.
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that on several occasions, the vehicle failed to immediately start after being driven for more than one hour. Additionally, while driving at various speeds the vehicle would not properly accelerate and shuddered while driving. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the CVT was faulty. No further information was available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 67,000.
AUTOMAKER REFUSED TO COMPLY WITH THE CVT RECALL.
Vehicle has problem accelerating after a stop, this doesn't flash codes and so dealer claims vehicle is okay to drive... upon asking in forums this is a common issue relating to the Step Motor and has been replicated across various model years with varying mileage. This issue has been happening for approx the last 60k miles and the dealer cannot replicate.
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle hesitated and failed to properly shift gear. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed and repaired. The manufacturer was notified on the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 170,000.
While stopped at a light, pressed gas pedal and car wouldnβt go for some time. After it started going car wouldnβt shift out of first. I revved the car a few times to get it to shift then car wouldnβt shift out of second. Took into mechanic and had diagnosis around a pulley in the CVT transmission. Also was told that the mechanic sees this model many times a year for transmission issues
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made an abnormally loud sound. The check engine warning light intermittently illuminated. The vehicle later failed to start and was towed to an independent mechanic, who replaced the variable valve timing (VVT) solenoids. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 87,287.
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle jerked abnormally and failed to properly accelerate. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. After several minutes, the vehicle started to operate as designed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but the contact was unsure what needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 120,000.
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that there was an abnormal winding sound detected coming from the vehicle. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the local dealer for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 62,000.
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact was able to coast to the side of the road and discovered that the transmission had completely failed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed back to the residence. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
The contact's wife owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, she noticed that the transmission was slipping. The contact's wife drove to their residence and informed him. The contact test drove the vehicle at 40 MPH and noticed that the transmission was slipping into a lower gear. The contact drove to his residence and used an OBD reader to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the continuously variable transmission (CVT) needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that the warranty would cover half of the repair fee and he would be responsible for the other half. The failure mileage was approximately 86,000.
Original transmissional failed at 67,000 miles. Replaced under a Fidelity warranty. 54,000 miles later, the transmission failed again. My safety and the safety of others was at risk due to the car not accelerating properly. Car was revving to 4rpm and only going 20mph. No warning lights appeared, I drove straight to the dealer to have it diagnosed. 2 "red codes" came back indicating needs to be replaced again, at my own expense.
My engine service light is on and I have scanned with diagnostics. The code P0101, C119A, and C1155 with the most likely solution is to reprogram the power train control module(PCM).
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle was jerking. The contact was unaware if there were any warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
CVT transmission is shot. Nissan says they have "fulfilled their obligation" due to the warranty being out of date. Had a lifetime powertrain warranty with the dealership which was shut down by SOS police. Now no one is responsible for this transmission which Nissan knows is a terrible product. Lasted 6 years. There should be a recall on all of these transmissions which seem to affect the Altimas the most.
I was driving on the Chicago skyway toll bridge when my transmission went out in my 2015 nissan altima with 103k miles on it. I had it towed to the dealership where thru quoted me 5500 for a new transmission because of cvt failure. I take extra care of my vehicle and even pay for the premium oil change EVERY single time. Cvt transmission should be banned from US roads.
CVT failure and headlights failure
Transmission went out with no warning. Ran fine the night before, the next morning I couldn't go anywhere. Shop has confirmed by code that is being thrown the transmission has went out, $2900 fix.
This car only had 136,000 miles. The transmission failed. Research shows this version of Nissan has issues with its CVT transmission. The transmission has to be fully replaced by a new transmission costing upwards of $5,000. Based on my research multiple Nissan cars with CVT transmissions are having issues and costing owners money.
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2015 Nissan Altima has 105 Power Train complaints on file. 3 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.