i agree also the more calls to nissan the quicker this problem will be addressed. also on the comment drive a malibu : we all paid good money for a car and to have a torque converter shudder or judder on lock up is not normal operation no matter how you drive on this car or any other car. nissan already acknowledged this by the campaign and clearly states by not fixing this it will lead to CVT wear and possible failure. keep posting your CVT issues and i will be seeing the rep next week.
FYI...go to any of the various auto owner's forums on the internet (pick any make and model) and read ALL of the various complaints and comments. NO CAR is without faults.
The true test is the manufacturer's response to the problems....I think Nissan is pretty good.
Nissans response to the belt slippage in 2.5 cars was not very prompt. Many cars had transmissions permanently damaged and required replacement. The two local dealers both replaced "several" transmissions.
If the converter clutch judders for too long it most probably will cause serious damage. That might be averted if a reprogram would correct it - AND - if Nissan will act quickly.
Nissans response to the belt slippage in 2.5 cars was not very prompt. Many cars had transmissions permanently damaged and required replacement. The two local dealers both replaced "several" transmissions.
If the converter clutch judders for too long it most probably will cause serious damage. That might be averted if a reprogram would correct it - AND - if Nissan will act quickly.
dbc, I have to say your posts have been very helpful. I told my wife that I'd decide between a 2.5 and 3.5 by tonight. I really want the 3.5 but your point above makes me lean towards a 2.5. Maybe I'm wrong but the current issue with the 2.5 is potentially more a of an annoyance than anything else.
It seems like the 3.5 judder, if not addressed, could be a real problem if it's truly damaging the CVT. Not knowing if Nissan will address it will likely force my hand towards the 2.5. The other benefit of the 2.5 is that here are a hell of a lot more owners that can provide feedback to Nissan compared to the 3.5. It would seem that 2.5 issues are more likely to get resolved.
I enjoyed my 2.5 and had no issues with it. The lugging was a minor annoyance to me but worth the great mileage it got. I don't think it's damaging anything - its just the programming choice Nissan made to get the high EPA rating.
The 3.5 lockup clutch shudder, on the other hand, is definitely a design flaw. My car did not do this for nearly 2000 miles. Most others don't exhibit the problem when new either.
The 3.5 exhibits very minimal NVH and is much more refined feeling and a lot faster. I still dont regret trading for the 3.5 - but I will if Nissan doesn't provide a fix soon.
thats what kind of worries me about the 3.5 is there is not alot of them out there ,at least not like the 2.5. i personally like the power over the gas mileage and some of the other issues don't bother me at all really(seats ,wind noise and a sunroof rattle). if the judder was fixed i would be more then pleased with this car. only missing a few options i wish it had , memory seats and power passenger seat. once my car is above 35mph most cars out there in this price range won't hold a candle to it. the dealer and nissan has burned the bridge for me by trying to sweep this whole CVT issue under the carpet on the 3.5's. if they were more upfront with me i would be looking at another nissan product, instead they have fought me tooth and nail and made it out to be i am making this up.
Report Date : December 13, 2012 at 04:22 PM
Search Type : VEHICLE
Year : 2013
Make : NISSAN
Model : ALTIMA
Results : 21 | All records displayed
Make : NISSAN Model : ALTIMA Year : 2013
Manufacturer : Nissan North America, Inc.
Crash : No Fire : No Number of Injuries: 0
ODI ID Number : 10487811 Number of Deaths: 0
Date Complaint Filed: December 10, 2012 Date of Incident: October 18, 2012
VIN : 1N4BL3AP4DN...
Component: POWER TRAIN
Summary:
ON OCTOBER 4, 2012 I PURCHASED A 2013 NISSAN ALTIMA 3.5 SL. IT WAS OBVIOUS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION. UPON TAKING OFF FROM A STOPPED POSITION THE FIRST SHIFT OF THE TRANSMISSION IS VERY HARD, ESPECIALLY UNDER LIGHT ACCELERATION. TWO WEEKS AFTER PURCHASING THE VEH. WITH APPROX. 400 MILES ON THE ODOMETER I WAS PULLING AWAY FROM A STOP WHEN THE VEH. STARTED SHUDDERING AND SHAKING VIOLENTLY BEFORE SHIFTING INTO GEAR WITH A HARD BUMP. THIS INCIDENT LASTED APPROX. 2 SECONDS. FOR THE NEXT 700 MILES OR SO THE SHUDDERING AND SHAKING OCCURRED SIX MORE TIMES. I TOOK THE VEH. INTO THE NISSAN DEALER WHERE IT WAS PURCHASED AND AFTER DRIVING IT THEY ADVISED THAT THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. OVER THE NEXT 500 MILES THE INCIDENTS BECAME MORE OFTEN AND AT TIMES MORE SEVERE, ONE INCIDENT LASTING FOR SEVERAL SECONDS BEFORE FINALLY SHIFTING INTO GEAR. ON DECEMBER 5, 2012 THE VEH. WAS RETURNED TO THE DEALERSHIP. I SPOKE WITH SERVICE MANAGER EXPLAINING THE PROBLEM AND MY CONCERNS OF MAYBE THE VEH. STOPPING IN THE ROADWAY DURING ONE OF THESE INCIDENTS AND BEING REAR ENDED. THIS TIME THE SERVICE MANAGER RODE ALONG WITH ME AND DROVE THE VEH. DUPLICATING THE PROBLEM SEVERAL TIMES. THE ENGINEERS AT NISSAN WAS CONTACTED BY THE SERVICE MANAGER AND THEY CONFIRMED THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION SOFTWARE ON THE V6 ALTIMAS, HOWEVER THEY HAD NO FIX FOR IT AT THIS TIME. *TR
I will post more about my experiences later, but we have a loaner from Nissan, you guessed it, a new 2013 2.5L Altima...This is my 1st drive with this car, and I can honestly tell you that the interior is gorgeous, and pretty well thought out. I love the design cues of the interior. The car we have has like a black wood or something...gorgeous! Much nicer interior than my 2006 SER (which I love). Thats about the extent of my praise. I would soooo NOT buy this car. Brand new and already issues like this to deal with?...and this is my 1st impression. I cant imagine how this car would feel after 80K miles. The whole experience goes down hill once the car starts moving. I havent read too much online hear about everyone's experiences, BUT here is what I noticed...
with 19 miles on the odometer:
1. Vibration in the steering wheel with even the slightest movement left or right.
2. Slight lag when taking off from stand still, then a sudden engagement feeling (jerking I guess)
3. Constant vibration from the front end
4. Actual diameter of the steering wheel seems vastly too thin (compared to my 2006 SER and my 2000 Frontier).
I just now filed a complaint with NTHSA similar to the one posted above. I'd advise others with this issue to do the same.
In the meantime, I'm driving some of my other cars and minimizing use of the Altima in hopes of a "fix" from Nissan before the transmission is damaged.
...instead they have fought me tooth and nail and made it out to be i am making this up.
Feigning ignorance and treating customers like idiots seems to be Nissan's standard MO. In my situation their attitude changed only after I got the BBB involved:
Took my car(700+ miles on odo) back to dealer yesterday and schedule an appointment to have the "lugging"- vibration issue looked at next week, will have to leave car at dealer overnight. Had my salesman and a senior tech. ride with me in my car and both heard the noise. I also had salesman take out another 2.5 from the lot and he drove it and I drove it and could not make that car produce the noise and vibration as mine. I am now convinced that this issue is not normal to theese cars. The tech called it "laboring" or
"straining". At least it seems they are willing to take a look.
moderator i feel your pain. i had an issue with my car before i got home after delivery. had to notify dealer on same day i purchased this car of the problem. was told thats between you and nissan nothing we can do to undo the deal.we will try to fix it.(wind noise and CVT shudder) car is 2months old and been in shop a total of 20 days. i hope you don't have this experience.
Maybe its just me, but I would not have any hesitation in driving it even if it does not feel right. If there is a legitimate problem, Nissan will have to recognize it once failures start popping up.
It could be more frustrating if they decide there are major issues and your car has the problem but is not easily reproducible and the tech either says they cant prove its broke yet or says there are 5 other cars here for the same thing and we are waiting on parts so you get put way on the back burner.
Having owned my fair share of nissans over the past 20 years, i have no worries that they will take care of an issue.
__________________ 03 350Z Crawford 265 Cams, Plenum, Headers, Cats, Big Bore TB, Fujitsubo Ti Exhaust, TS ECU, JWT Intake, Clutch, Flywheel 09 Xterra X - 6MT 2013 Altima 2.5 SV Storm Blue
This should be interesting. If they get enough complaints, they may need to issue a TSB to reprogram the CVT so that it doesn't do this low RPM lugging that causes the NVH issues. They should at least have that as an option to address the issue when a customer complains. That way, for those who complain, there's a solution (with a bit lower MPG), and for the many drivers who are not sensitive to it, they don't have to do a thing. I can tell you, there are probably 90% of '13 altima drivers who aren't even sensitive enough to notice this. (not saying that's how it should be.. the lugging would bother me, too)
Now if the judder (separate issue) has the potential to damage the CVT, then they pretty much have to issue a recall strictly for financial reasons.
At the end of the day it's mostly about money.. which option is cheapest overall for them.
There used to be nissan engineer posting on these forums.. I assume nissan marketing/PR silenced him quick. Can't have communication with users outside of designated and controlled channels.
I will say I'm a bit tired of how driveability of all cars is being altered to eek out that last 2-3 MPG for the marketing dept. I do hope the coming 7-8 speed transmissions that will be pervasive in the next few years will fight off the increasing use of CVT transmissions. But then with that many gears they will probably feel a lot like CVTs!
I'm starting to wonder if I've experienced this "judder" or not. I have not experienced any violent shaking for seconds or anything like the paragraph posted before. I have simply noticed a minor lag in a couple of cases when accelerating slowly.
Since I've noticed this, I now let the car in front of me get about 1.5 car lengths ahead before taking off... so I can accelerate at a moderate speed through 2.5k RPMs into the low 20s. The car has been driving perfectly smooth since I've done this.
Also, is everyone following the recommended break-in period for their new car? For the first 1200 miles you are supposed to vary your speeds on the highway and avoid accelerating over 4k RPMs. I've gone into 4k-5k once or twice when merging into traffic, but I've been good for the most part.
I wonder how much of this is user error and how much is really a faulty design. Nissan has been doing CVTs for awhile now, I'm skeptical that their engineering dept would totally bomb a brand new CVT. That would be more likely from a competing brand like Honda, who is brand new tot he CVT scene this year in the 4 cylinder Accord (the V6 is not CVT though).
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The whole experience goes down hill once the car starts moving. I havent read too much online hear about everyone's experiences, BUT here is what I noticed...
Linear Mode
