2012 Nissan Sentra 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
PURCHASED A BRAND NEW 2012 NISSAN SENTRA 5 YEARS LATER MY TRANSMISSION GOES. THE NISSAN DEALER SAID IT WOULD BE $3,600 TO FIX!! THE CAR HAS 71,000 MILES AND THE WARRANTY ENDED AT 5/ 60,000. AFTER RESEARCHING, TRANSMISSION ISSUES HAVE BEEN DOCUMENTED IN OLDER MODELS BUT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FIXED. COINCIDENTALLY MINE HAS THE SAME ISSUE.
PURCHASED 2012 VEHICLE FROM DEALERSHIP IN JAN 2014 AND HAVE FOUND THAT THE VEHICLE IS HAVING A COMMON PROBLEM IN THIS MODEL. VEHICLE IS DECELERATING WHILE IN MOTION. THE TRACTION CONTROL AND ABS LIGHTS CAME ON SO WE TOOK IT TO MECHANIC WHO SAID WE NEEDED TO REPAIR BRAKES, SO WE FIXED THE BRAKES AS NEEDED. LIGHTS DID NOT GO OFF SO WE RETURNED IT TO DEALER WHO THEN INFORMED ME THAT WHEN HOOKED UP FOR THE DIAGNOSTIC TEST, A CODE RETURNED SAYING THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION. I DESCRIBED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS SLOW ON TAKEOFF. TRAVELS ABOUT 3-4 MPH DURING TAKEOFF, CAUSING BACKUP IN TRAFFIC, AND POTENTIAL SERIOUS REAR END ACCIDENT. TECHNICIAN STATED THAT NISSAN ACKNOWLEDGED THE PROBLEM AND HAD EXTENDED THE VEHICLE WARRANTY TO 60,000 MILES. MY VEHICLE HAS 50,000 MILES SO I WAS GLAD TO HEAR, SO I TOOK IT BACK TO DEALERSHIP FOR REPAIRS. I WAS INFORMED THAT I WAS OUT OF WARRANTY BECAUSE WARRANTY BEGINS ON DATE VEHICLE WAS MANUFACTURED, IN THIS CASE JAN 2012, SO OUT OF WARRANTY BY 9 MONTHS. I ARGUED THAT I HAD NOT OWNED IT FROM THE DATE IT WAS MANUFACTURED, AND HOW MUCH WAS THE REPAIR. COST IS $4500.00 I DO NOT FEEL THAT AS A CONSUMER WE SHOULD INCUR THIS COSTLY REPAIR IF NISSAN HAS BEEN MADE AWARE OF THIS ISSUE ON THIS MODEL VEHICLE. THEY SHOULD HONOR THE DEFECT DETECTED AND REPAIR VEHICLE BEFORE THERE IS A INJURY TO PERSONS BECAUSE VEHICLE DECELERATES UNKNOWINGLY AT ANY GIVEN TIME, MAKING THE DRIVER A SITTING DUCK AT INTERSECTIONS AND TAKEOFFS.
TRANSMISSION FAILED WITH NO WARNING. VEHICLE WOULD NOT MOVE AFTER BRAKING WHILE STILL IN GEAR. ONLY 78,000 MILES LOGGED.5.5 YEARS OLD. EXACT EVENT: BACKING SLOWLY OUT OF A DRIVEWAY (IN REVERSE); BRAKED AT END OF DRIVEWAY TO LOOK BOTH DIRECTIONS; RESUMED ACCELERATION (IN REVERSE) AS I TURNED AND NOTHING HAPPENED. VEHICLE WOULD NOT "LAND" IN ANY GEAR (DRIVE, REVERSE, LOW DRIVE, ETC). HAD TO BE TOWED FROM LOCATION TO MY MECHANIC. MY MECHANIC DIAGNOSED THE TRANSMISSION AS INOPERABLE AND NEEDING REPLACEMENT. RECOMMENDED I TOW TO A NISSAN DEALER FOR HOPEFUL COVERAGE BY NISSAN. NISSAN CONFIRMED NEED TO REPLACE AT THE COST OF $4156.
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
VEHICLE STOPPED PULLING IN TRAFFIC ALMOST GOT REAR ENDED VERY UNSAFE NISSAN SAYS INTERNAL FAILURE COST TO REPAIR 3800 DOLLARS VEHICLE IS NOT REPAIRED SCARED TO DRIVE IT.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 NISSAN SENTRA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE GEARS FAILED TO SHIFT FROM PARK INTO THE OTHER GEARS INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS SCHEDULED FOR AN APPOINTMENT WITH A DEALER (CLINTON AUTO GROUP IN CLINTON, IA). THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE AND ISSUED TWO TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETINS, BUT THERE WAS NO MANUFACTURER RECALL. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS NOT AVAILABLE. UPDATED 09/20/17*LJ *CN
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.
AT 50K MILES AFTER FOUR HOURS DRIVING AT 70MPH THE CAR LOST POWER, RPM NOT MOVING AT ALL WHEN ACCELERATING. AT 67K MILES, THE CAR LOST POWER AGAIN AFTER DRIVING 3 HOURS, GOT CODE P0744 FROM SCANNER. CAR WOULD ONLY 50-60 MPH.
BOUGHT THE CAR CERTIFIED USED FROM A NISSAN DEALERSHIP W/ ROUGHLY 55K MILES ON IT, CVT TRANSMISSION FAILS, HAVE IT REPLACED. THE NEW CVT TRANSMISSION FAILS AGAIN WITH ROUGHLY 55K MILES ON. NISSAN REFUSES TO OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE TO HELP WITH REPLACING A CVT TRANSMISSION THAT YET AGAIN HAS FAILED.
I STOPPED AT A STOP SIGN AND THEN WAS NOT ABLE TO MOVE. TRIED THEN GOING BACKWARDS AND NOTHING. I WAS ABLE TO DRIFT FORWARD. HOWEVER NO ACCELERATION. NO WARNING SIGNS, CAR HAS BEEN WORKING CORRECTLY SINCE PURCHASED. THE CAR IS WAS PURCHASED IN NOV OF 2011, THIS HAPPENED 3/3/16 LESS THEN 65,000 MILES. I HAVE THE CAR MAINTAINED REGULARLY BY ONLY THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I PURCHASED IT FROM BRAND NEW. ONLY ISSUE I HAVE EVER HAD WITH THE CAR WAS BEING ADVISED WHILE MAINTENCE THAT THE BATTERY WAS READING DEAD IN THE CAR SO THEY REPLACED IT. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID IT SOUNDS LIKE A TRANSMISSION PROBLEM AND I'M OVER THE 60,000 MILE WARRANTY.
I WAS DRIVING THROUGH TOWN AND WAS AT A STOP LIGHT WHEN MY CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AT ALL. NO WARNING SIGNS. NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. IT JUST WOULDN'T GO. TOOK MY CAR TO THE NISSAN DEALER AND WAS ADVISED THE TRANSMISSION HAS TO BE REPLACED. NISSAN REFUSES TO ASSIST WITH ANY OF THE COST. IT'S AN AUTOMATIC CVT TRANSMISSION.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 NISSAN SENTRA. WHILE DRIVING AT 45 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE TRANSMISSION FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 68,000.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 NISSSAN SENTRA. WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, THE TRANSMISSION FAILED WHILE ACCELERATING. THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 63,383.
I BOUGHT A 2012 NISSAN SENTRA I KEPT UP WITH ALL THE WORK FOR THE CAR SO TO BE SURE NOTHING WOULD GO WRONG. ABOUT A YEAR THE CAR STARTED MAKING NOISE. I TOLD THE SERVICE DEPT. BUT THEY DID NOTHING ON 07-10-2012 THE SERVICE DEPT TOLD ME I NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION THE CAR IS ONLY TWO YEARS OLD. THE CAR BEGAN TO RUN REALLY BAD. I HAD TO GET ANOTHER CAR FOR FEAR THAT THIS MIGHT BLOW UP. *TR
SINCE PURCHASING THE CAR NEW IN 2012 UPON ACCELERATING AFTER FIRST STARTING AND GOING ABOUT HALF A MILE CAR MAKES A CLUNKING NOISE. DOES THIS ALL THE TIME AFTER FIRST STARTING AND TAKING OFF AND CAN BE FELT UNDER THE DRIVER'S SIDE FLOORBOARD WHEN IT HAPPENS. THE DEALERSHIP TOOK IT FOR A TEST RIDE AND SAID IT IS NORMAL IN SENTRA MODELS, BUT THEY NEVER CHECKED THE BUSHINGS TO DIAGNOSE THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM. IT COULD BE IN THE SUSPENSION, TRANSMISSION, OR THE DRIVE TRAIN. *TR
I WAS DRIVING MY NISSAN SENTRA AND WITHOUT WARNING THE TRANSMISSION FAILED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. IT FAILED AT 66,000 MILES AND THE WARRANTY EXPIRED AT 60,000 MILES I RECEIVED NO HELP FROM NISSAN OR THE DEALER THEY BOTH COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE SITUATION IT WAS A AWFUL EXPERIENCE I BOUGHT THE CAR BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS RELIABLE I WILL NEVER BUY NISSAN AGAIN IT HAS BEEN A BAD EXPERIENCE SO LONG NISSAN. *TR
DURING ACCELERATION THE VEHICLE MAKES A LOUD CLUNK THAT IS NOT ONLY HEARD BUT FELT ON THE FLOOR UNDER YOUR FEET. *TR
TL - THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 NISSAN SENTRA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS SHIFTED INTO DRIVE BUT INSTEAD, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO REVERSE. THE CONTACT HAD TO TURN THE VEHICLE COMPLETELY OFF IN ORDER FOR IT TO RESET AND RESUME NORMAL OPERATION. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHO WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 484. KMJ
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Quick Summary
The 2012 Nissan Sentra has 43 Power Train complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.