There are 50 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2009 Nissan Altimain NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Check engine light came on with sudden decrease in power. Code is P0840. Car is an 09, but has only 96k miles.
The CVT transmission CONTINUES to "FAIL"; the transmission goes into "fail-safe mode" when the driving long distances. The engine/transmission will decelerate right in the middle of the roadway while traveling at highway speeds. This is dangerous and WILL cost someone their life.
The contact owns a 2009 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while at a stoplight, her vehicle would intermittently stall without warning. The contact had a friend inspect her vehicle, who immediately smelled an oil odor emitting from the vehicle. The contact's friend checked under her hood and discovered that oil had leaked out of her transmission and into her side spark plugs. The contact called the dealer where she had previously serviced her vehicle and was given an estimate for a diagnostic test. The contact declined the diagnostic test and called Darcars Nissan of College Park (9330 Baltimore Ave, College Park, MD 20740) and was given an appointment. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and the contact was given a case number. The vehicle had yet to be repaired or diagnosed. The failure mileage was approximately 176,000.
The contact's sister owns a 2009 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while her sister was driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine revved loudly but the vehicle would not accelerate above 20 MPH. Additionally, the vehicle overheated, causing the antifreeze to leak. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, but the mechanic could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, and the dealer informed the contact's sister that there was a recall for the continuously variable transmission (CVT) that was unrepaired. The dealer referred the contact's sister to West Herr Nissan of Orchard Park (3580 Southwestern Blvd, Orchard Park, NY 14127). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.
Loss of power after 2-3 hours of driving, speed dropped down from 70mph to 45mph and then continue to drop to 20-25mph on the highway. Pull over on the should waited for about an hour and then it regained power for about an hour till once going uphill it loss power again. This is very dangerous to loose power like this on a high traffic interstate highway.
My transmission went out on me while I tried to accelerate at a busy intersection. There was no check the engine light or maintenance required light that popped up but just wouldn't go nowhere. I had to call 911 in order to direct traffic on top of calling a tow truck. I had to wait 45 on both and directed traffic myself from not getting hurt or prevent someone from hitting me and my car. The transmission was already replaced once in 2016 now its needing to be replaced again with a price tag of about $4000 which is wrong when I took car of the car very well by doing what was required of the maintenance and the part that they put on through the warrenty in 2016 only is good for 1 year which is not fair for the car owner knowing that this is an ongoing problem with nissan. I feel like if it's under 5 years or 100,000 after a part have been replace they should pay for it because thats the price for another car
TRANSMISSION FAILED AT 149,000 MILES WHILE DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY.
ITS MAKING ALOT NOISE JERKING WHEN DRIVING.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE HER SON WAS DRIVING 70 MPH, THE VEHICLE DECELERATED TO 20 MPH, WITHOUT WARNING. THE DRIVER PULLED OFF THE ROADWAY, RESTARTED THE VEHICLE, AND THE VEHICLE DROVE AS DESIGNED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS WORKING AS DESIGNED. THE LOCAL DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THE CONTACT STATED THE FAILURE WAS SIMILAR TO TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN TSB-10052883-6508 (POWER TRAIN). THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 135,000.
II WAS JUST DRIVING ALONG THE HIGHWAY AND MY TRANSMISSION JUST WENT OUT, NO WARNING OR ANYTHING
CAR IS JUMPING..TRANSMISSION. THE CAR JUMPS WHEN DRIVING AT NO PARTICULAR TIME. I WAS TOLD THE CVT WAS AN "EXPERIMENTAL" TRANSMISSION
ON MORE THEN ONE OCCASION WHEN DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY FOR ABOUT 45 MIN. THE ACCELERATION SPEED DROPS TO ABOUT 40 MPH. AND WHEN GOING ON HILLS ITS EVEN WORSE. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR SOME TIME NOW, BUT NOW I HAVE A SECOND ALTIMA THAT IS HAVING VERY SIMILAR ISSUES. AFTER SITTING ON THE SIDE OF THE FREEWAY FOR A HOUR, THE CAR RETURNS TO NORMAL. THIS CAN NOT BE A NORMAL PROBLEM, I HAVE SEARCHED AND FOUND THAT A NUMBER OF PEOPLE HAVE HAD VERY SIMILAR ISSUES AND IN FACT I RECEIVED A LETTER STATING THAT 2014-2018 NISSANS WHERE HAVING ACCELERATION ISSUES. ( I HAVE ATTACHED THE LETTER) I HAVE 2 CARS NOW THAT HAVE THE SAME ISSUE AND I CAN NOT AFFORD TO FIX THEM, ESPECIALLY IF I AM NOT 100% SURE WHAT THE CORRECTION IS. I HAVE ALSO ATTACHED COPIES OF OTHERS THAT HAVE THE SAME ISSUES, AND YOU WILL SEE THAT SOME HAVE TRIED TO FIX BUT GET DIFFERENT RESPONSES ON THE FIX. PLEASE HELP!! THANKS
WHEN ON THE ROAD AND GOIN UP A SMALL HILL THE TRANSMISSION LOOSES POWER DON'T WANT TO GO, LOOSE LOTS OF POWER
THE CAR LOSSES ACCELERATION WHILE IN THE HIGHWAY. IT APPEARS TO HAPPEN WHEN IT'S HOT AND THERE'S NO WARNING AND THUS COULD BE FATAL.
MY ALTIMA HAS 257K MILES. I WAS DRIVING HOME FROM A FRIEND'S HOUSE AND THE CAR JUST DIED ON MY STREET. THE ENGINE MADE A WHINING SOUND AND WOULD NOT GO OVER 5 MPH. LUCKILY I WAS ABLE TO COAST THE CAR DOWN THE HILL TO MY HOUSE. THE CAR HAS BEEN WELL MAINTAINED AND I AM REPLACING THE CVT TRANSMISSION FOR THE SECOND TIME. THE LAST TIME I REPLACED IT WAS 3 YEARS AGO IN 2016. MOST OF MY MILEAGE IS HWY MILES. I HAVE READ NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ONLINE REGARDING THE CRAPPY CVT TRANSMISSION IN THE ALTIMA. THE DEALER IS PUTTING IN MY 3RD TRANSMISSION TODAY AND ONLY GUARANTEEING A 1 YEAR / 12000 MILE WARRANTY. THIS DOES NOT SOUND LIKE THEY ARE BACKING THEIR PRODUCT. FROM ALL THAT I HAVE READ AND EXPERIENCED, THE CAR IS A TOTAL SAFETY ISSUE LOSING SPEED IN WARM WEATHER ON LONG TRIPS THAT COULD RESULT IN SERIOUS ACCIDENTS. COULD THERE BE A RECALL COMING?
DRIVING THE HIGHWAY 75 MILES HOUR AND HAVE THE ACCELERATOR NOT RESPONSE. WAS TOLD CVT TRANSMISSION OVERHEATING GOING INTO SAFE MOOD CAUSING VEHICLE TO SLOW AND ACCELERATOR NOT RESPONDING. BARELY PULLING OFF THE HIGHWAY AND WAITING TO HAVE CONTROL AGAIN. WAS TOLD THAT A RADIATOR FOR THE TRANSMISSION WAS NEEDED. SCARED TO DRIVE.
I AM EXPERIENCING TWO SEVERE SAFETY ISSUES WITH MY 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA COUPE. 1. WHEN I AM DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR, MY TRANSMISSION WILL NOT ALLOW THE CAR TO GO THE SPEED LIMIT OR ACCELERATE. NO MATTER HOW HARD I PRESS ON THE GAS PEDAL, THE CAR WILL NOT SHIFT, LOSES POWER AND GETS PROGRESSIVELY WORSE THE FARTHER I DRIVE. I HAD TO PULL OFF THE HIGHWAY FOR FEAR THAT SOMEONE WOULD HIT ME BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRIED TO ACCELERATE, THE CAR WOULD ONLY GO ABOUT 40 MPH. 2. THE DASHBOARD IS LITERALLY MELTING CAUSING A BLINDING GLARE WHEN THE SUN (DURING THE DAY) OR OTHER HEADLIGHTS (DURING THE NIGHT OR RAIN) HIT IT...IT CREATES A BLINDING GLARE MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE. BOTH OF THESE ISSUES, THE TRANSMISSION AND DASH MAKE DRIVING EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS.
EMAIL TO JACK DANIELSON FROM CONSTITUENT REGARDING THEIR GRANDSON 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5S TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS. *LD THE CONSUMER STATED WHILE BEING DRIVEN, THE VEHICLE WENT INTO FAIL SAFE MODE. THE CONSUMER WAS INFORMED THE VEHICLE WAS BUILT WITHOUT A TRANSMISSION COOLER AND A SERVICE BULLETIN WAS ISSUED TO PUT ONE IN THE VEHICLE. THE DEALERSHIP WOULD NOT HONOR THE SERVICE BULLETIN. *JS *JS
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 NISSAN ALTIMA. WHILE THE CONTACT'S SON WAS DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE ENGINE STALLED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO JEFFERY NISSAN (30800 GRATIOT AVE, ROSEVILLE, MI 48066, 586-510-1378) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE TRANSMISSION FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 131,000.
NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS WITH THIS CAR SINCE I PURCHASED IT. HAD TO REPLACE ALL TIRE SENSORS, SPEED SENSORS, COILS, FRONT PASSENGER TIRE ROD, THE CTV TRANSMISSION, AND THE TRUNK LEAKS INTO THE TRUNK AND THE TAIL LIGHT'S. I HAVE REPAIRED ALL THESE THINGS OUT OF MY OWN POCKET.I HAVE BEEN STRANDED SEVERAL TIMES, I HAVE ALMOST BEEN HIT, AND HAVE HAD THE CAR TOWED. THE DASH HAS BECOME STICKY AND EVERYTHING STICKS TO IT. IT PRODUCES A GLARE ON THE WONDOW WHICH MAKES IT HARD TO SEE.THE ENGINE EXPERIENCES LOSS OF POWER AND NO MECHANIC CAN PINPOINT THE PROBLEM. I DO NOT DRIVE IT MUCH SINCE I HAVE PURCHASED IT. THIS CAR SHOULD BE A LEMON OR RECALLED. THE PROBLEMS KEEP COMING.
Showing 1–20 of 50 complaints
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026