4 complaints reported

2018 Nissan Versa Power Train

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
4
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Aug 2025

I was driving on the express way in rush hour traffic, and my car started to judder and rpm were reving high.i tried to accelerate and the car just stop in mid traffic, I had to have the car towed home,and from home to the nissan dealership. They told me that my transmission had failed and needed to be replaced.i had no warning light or any other problem and I could have been hurt really bad if the car behind me hadn't stop and help me get out of the rush hour traffic.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 NISSAN VERSA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Aug 2025
Sep 2022

My Versa appears to have the same transmission issues as other Nissan vehicles where it has a harsh downshift slow speed shutter and bump when when coming to a complete stop vehicle has loud wine coming from transmission and has a slipping feeling under hard acceleration Nissan refuses to do anything about it at the dealer because it is not under the VIN covered vehicles

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 NISSAN VERSA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Sep 2022
Oct 2021

I have a 5 speed manual transmission that has a defective throwout bearing clutch assembly that 'sticks' and does not engage or release in a smooth manner. Each shift is 'jerky' when the clutch pedal is released and the power transfer from gear to gear is is a sudden jerk instead of a smooth continuation of acceleration. Downshifting is not as jerky as up thru the gears shifting. My assumption is the folks who assembled the transmission and connected it to the engine did not line all parts in a straight line, so that the throwout bearing clutch plate mechanism is not perfectly balanced, along with the hydraulically controlled throw out bearing clutch plate mechanism forcing these items to over ride the off centered spinning mass to re-connect with a sudden jerk to complete the up shifted gear power transmission. I get the sensation of the clutch being 'ridden' even tho' the clutch pedal has been completely released back to its start position. Quite often when shifting from 2nd to 3rd, the clutch gets released but the gear is still in 2nd and not in 3rd, I have to resort to pushing the clutch pedal down again and releasing it so that 3rd gear engages. Getting into reverse is not easy, either. It takes 2 or 3 attempts from neutral to get the gear shift lever to get into position to allow the reverse gear to get engaged. It was like this from day 1. Nissan mechanics tell me the car is so new, it will take time for this stiffness to ease off. Well, 3 years later that never happened. The transmission/clutch/throwout bearing assembly was mounted in a defective manner at the factory, Nissan refuses to acknowledge this mistake. A recall is mandatory so that these defective transmission/clutch/throwout bearing have to be replaced and installed to original factory specs, with the engine out of the car to ensure the alignment/balancing required can be done properly. In the Army the expression...MAKE IT HAPPEN ... applies here.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 NISSAN VERSA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2018
Sep 2019

I HAD ONLY HAD MY CAR FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS, WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD GOING ABOUT 40 MPH, AND IT COMPLETELY STALLED OUT ON ME. I WAS ABLE TO GUIDE IT TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. TO MY ASTONISHMENT, IT TURNED OUT TO BE MY TRANSMISSION. THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THEY HAD TO PUT IN A WHOLE NEW TRANSMISSION. IT SCARES ME TO THINK WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I HAD BEEN GOING FASTER, OR IF SOMEONE HAD CRASHED INTO THE BACK OF MY CAR. I LATER READ WHERE NISSAN HAD BEEN HAVING TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS FOR YEARS.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 NISSAN VERSA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2019

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2018 Nissan Versa has 4 Power Train complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.