Problems with 2013 Nissan Altima ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

When driving between 2 to 25 mph hear loud high pitch whining sound from engine. this started after about 200 miles on vehicle. vehicle had 51 miles on it when purchased. dealer said this is normal it is the electric power assist system. the whining noise is very disturbing and distracting while driving. such noise is not normal. nissan needs to come up with a fix. just purchased from dealer on 9/13/2013.

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 nissan altima. when a passenger is seated, the passengers airbag light intermittently stays on. after multiple visits to the dealerships the reprogramming of the recall and sensors also replaced. updated 06/23/16*lj *tr

I purchased a 2013 nissan from bill seidle's nissan in miami florida. when i purchased the car they told me the mileage was around 30 mpg with an average of around 26 mpg. months after i bought the car i mentioned to the dealer that the car's computer was saying around 20 mpg and they told me that i needed it to track the mpg myself because the computer from the car is not accurate. i tracked the miles and the results were 20 mpg. i took that car in to the dealer, i was told that they checked the car and there was nothing wrong with the car and that is the mileage that i was going to get. i also have a problem with the electronic key that on multiple times "no key detected" message comes up and it takes me a while for the car to start. eventually it turned out the battery was not good and it was changed. about a month later the same problem continued and i took the car to the dealer and they told me they could not duplicate the problem so they could not do anything about it. this problems continues to occur and sometimes when the cars turns on the message stays on for a while. this problem does not occur all the time there is no consistency. i now take pictures when the problem occurs and are taking the car back to the dealer. i'm concern about the safety of the car. *tr

Summary: the vehicle blind spot warning & lane keep system intermittently stops working. the warning on the dash says to clean the camera lens but the lens are clean. if you stop the car & shut off the engine then restart the system will start operating again. nissan can't find the problem. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 nissan altima. the contact stated that the air bag warning light illuminated intermittently. the vehicle was taken to a dealer on several occasions where the failure was unable t be replicated. the contact stated that the vehicle was serviced under nhtsa campaign id number: 14v138000 (airbags, electrical system) but the failure recurred. the contact noticed that the air bag light was indicating the air bag was off when a passenger was seated in the front passenger's seat. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 2,000.

Woke up yesterday to a weak battery no start steering wont lock.so it has to be towed cvt transmission went out already ,it was replaced ,air bag for [passenger} sometimes works its the 2nd new car i ever owned and im 54 years old im so disappointed at this car it must have been built on a friday.

The vehicle blind spot warning & lane keep system intermittently stops working. the warning on the dash says to clean the camera lens but the lens are clean. if you stop the car & shut off the engine then restart the system will start operating again. nissan can't find the problem. *tr

The best i can do to explain the problem i am having with my 2013 altima is to compare it to the jerking you will experience in a stick shift vehicle if you do not clutch and shift properly almost causing the vehicle to stop. once i was entering onto the highway, the car acted as if the parking brake was applied while driving. i took my car to the dealer from which i purchased it (st.clair auto mall), the mechanic drove it and almost immediately he experienced the problem. we drove back to the dealership (service dept.). he looked up some information in the computer, said diagnostics tests were ran but the test(s) turned up nothing. and also there were no lights on the dash indicating a problem. so, for that reason nothing could be done. *tr

The instrument panel stopped working completely while i was driving - everything went dark and gauges dropped to zero. the dealer took it right away and they are replacing the entire instrument cluster. the car has 940 miles on it at the time and i had purchased it new 14 days earlier. miles did not accumulate on drive to the dealer (i could see this b/c i stopped the car when the panel went dark, but upon restarting the mileage would display briefly then disappear. i did this again after i drove about 15 miles to the dealer - miles were the same). *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 nissan altima. the contact stated when an adult passenger was seated in the front seat, the air bag sensor light illuminated indicating that the front passenger seat air bag system was defective. the contact stated that the air bag sensor light illuminated intermittently. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and repaired under the nhtsa recall campaign number 14v138000 (air bags , electrical system) but the failure recurred. the manufacturer was notified of the defect. the failure mileage was 1,000. the vehicle was taken to the dealer four times. they re-programmed the computer twice, and replaced the sensors, to no avail. updated 07/22/14

I have a new 2013 nissan altima sl v6 i have had several problems with this new car. blind side warning, and traction control light stayed on one time. my car wouldn't start up several times after walking up to the car and pressing the button on the door. the key wouldn't unlock the doors, it wouldn't auto start the car. i had to wait to get in my car, i actually had to stick my key in the door to get in the car. when i did finally get in the car and try to start it nothing happened, it said no key this is dangerous i am a female god forbids somebody tries to rape or kill me and i am not able to get away in my new car that i pay all this money for every month. the dashboard says: key not detected or no key, or incorrect key id. my car has been in and out of the shop and they still doesn't know what's wrong. i've recently went to a different dealer hoping they can work on my car and get me the results i'm looking for... i completely hate this car because it has been n the shop more times than my last car. all they kept saying was more computer problems. i got my car 12/2012 and my car has been in the shop over 20 times with lots of issues. i'm still within my 36000 warranty. i also hear a clicking noise in the front tire. dealership replaced some bolts and greased it as well. they said it needed grease.. the noise has came back about 2 weeks later!! its time consuming to keep going back to the dealership to get repairs!! but i have to do it. i had the recall for air bags but it still didn't register an adult who sat in the front seat who weighed about 103 lbs. so his air bag wouldn't deploy if we got in an accident. that isn't safe at all.. pls fix and change that feature for the sake of smaller adults. nissan shouldn't restrict the weight of a front seat passenger.. all these problems.... i will be opening up a lemon law case!! this is ridiculous!!!! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 nissan altima. the contact stated that the air bag and the brake lights illuminated on the instrument panel intermittently. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who repaired the vehicle under nhtsa campaign id number 14v138000 (air bags, electrical system). however, the failure recurred. the manufacturer was not notified of the defect. the approximate failure mileage was 14,000.

I purchased a 2013 nissan altima and within 1 week the brake light came on and would not go off during the same time period the phone would ring in the car and would not stop ringing until the car was completely shut off. the car has been into the dealership over 5 times for the same 2 issues and the problem still has not been corrected, as recent as yesterday may 31, 2014 the car continues to have the same problem. *tr

I love the fact that my car has the heated steering wheel and for paying so much for this vehicle to have this wonderful feature you would expect it to work. well it did for the first month, but i used it alot, usually on highway trips when it would cut off i would turn it back on, then about a month after that i noticed it was only getting warm at the top of the steering wheel and not the rest. then a little later it doesn't even get warm anymore. i have taken it to service at least 2 different times, and they just tell me that it is normal. but in the armada, and maxima they loaned me while my car was in the shop those seemed to work fine. their answer to that is that in the altima it reads the temperature inside the car to determine how hot it gets. this is not the problem because in march of 2013 here in northern va we had a big snowfall. i went to my car at 3:40 am the day of the snowfall, and started it. it was about 28 degrees outside, and the inside of the car felt the same. i turn on the heated steering it i never felt it the entire 30 miles i drove. to me it feels like the electricity is not getting to any or all of the heating element. nissan says to take it to another dealership, but all the dealers around me are owned and managed by the same. *tr

After a few weeks of owning this new car, the brake light came on and stayed onwhile i was driving. i started hearing squealing and thunking coming from my brakes. these are new and on a new car, the car just now has 6000 miles on it and it still should not makes these sounds. i took it in they did something to clear the brake light and said the noises are normal. this should not be making all of these different noises. nissan needs to find the problems of their cars and fix them! i feel like there is something still wrong but the dealership does not want to look any further. *tr

I was driving a brand-new, nissan altima rental car on a business trip. after i returned to my hotel one afternoon, i forgot to turn the engine off. this vehicle has a key fob and a "start/stop" button only. there is no metal key. after i exited the vehicle, i noticed that the horn did not honk when i locked the vehicle with the key fob. the trunk release did not automatically open when i used the key fob. i manually pressed a button under the trunk lid to retrieve my bag. the next morning, i noticed steam and water coming out of the exhaust tailpipes. (it was app. 34 degrees that morning.) i discovered that the engine was still running, and the car used app. 3/8s of a tank of gasoline overnight. my concern is that a car like this could be driven into a garage with the engine left on, and then the occupants of the residence could get carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust fumes. this vehicle needs some time of warning bell, chime, etc. to remind the driver that the engine is still running if they open the driver's side door and/or exit the vehicle. thank-you. *tr

Well i noticed that my passenger airbag off light was on with a passenger sitting in the vehicle, it has done this many times, and i even have a video of me sitting in it and i weight 180lbs with the light on while the car is being driven. i have taken it in to the dealership 3 different times for this problem. each time they have told me that they have reset the seat. it is still doing it, the video came after the third time and just 3 days ago. i called nissan about this and my other big problems and they have told me that i should take it to another dealer. there is a recall on this through nissan and yet i have brought it in 3 separate times and they still keep telling me its ok. no sir. nissan seems to just not care i have asked them many times for a nissan rep to come out and look at my car and they just keep telling me to take it to a different dealer. the problem is all the nissan dealers around me are owned and managed by the same company. and nissan will not help me with a loaner car if i drive it 200 miles away to the next dealer. so i am just screwed. very upset with how nissan runs their business. this is my first and last nissan ever! *tr

Well my blind spot monitoring system and lane detection system both do not work correctly. my bsm will light up when there is not a car there as well as not light up when there is a car there. this happens very often but not everytime. when it rains it happens almost everytime. i took it in to the dealer and they told me if you read the owners manual it says that this may not work properly. really? i bought knowing the salesman told me this feature works not that it does not work! they didn't even try to diagnose it. very sad. and same with the lds where it will beep and blink and i am not even out of my lan. again this happens when it is dry, wet, sunny, cloudy, snowing. there is something wrong and nissan does not want to fix it even though the customers have spent alot of money on these features! *tr

Driver' side rear view mirror vibrates while driving at all speeds. i have taken my car several times to several different dealers to replace the mirror and mirror housing and problem has not been fixed. mirror continues to vibrate. also, i got several letters of recalls on this car, such as the sensors on the airbags and the spare tire being over-inflated. also, the airbag light has turned on twice and does not turn off, even while driving. i do not feel safe in this car at all, this car is a lemon. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 nissan altima. the contact stated that the vehicle exhibited an abnormal knocking when turning the steering wheel. in addition, there were various warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. the faiure recurred sporadically. the vehicle was taken to the dealer but they were unable to determine the cause of failure. the failure was reported to the manufacturer. the failure mileage was 6,000. the current mileage was 17,000.

The bsw and ldw malfunctioned while driving on board flashed malfuntion and slipp light went on less then a week having the car brand new from the dealer. *tr

Passenger airbag indicator light indicates airbag is "inhibited" even though my wife is riding in the passenger seat. she has no protection from the airbag in the event of an accident.

There is an intermittent passenger airbag detection issue with 2013 nissan altima 2.5 sv. there were in multiple times when a full grown person(weight > 150lbs) sitting on the passenger side, while car was being driven, 'passenger side air bag off' indicator would turn on, indicating that car is not detecting anyone in the front passenger side and in result airbags were turned off. this warning indication stayed on throughout our drive and sometimes turned off after 10-15 minutes of drive and in other occasions it didn't turn off at all until car was turned off. if this was just a feature issue then much lower priority should been assigned but it is a major safety issue/concern and i request an investigation. a blatant disregard from the manufacturer of this issue may result in death, injury and property damage. i request the help of nhtsa for quick and thorough investigation on this matter. thank you! *tr

The problem is with the a/c compressor staying on even though i turn the defrost off. same if i turn auto on then off. the a/c light stays off, but the a/c compressor stays on. the only way to turn the a/c off is to press the a/c button twice (once to turn the light on, next to force the a/c to go off). if the defrost is off, auto is off and the a/c light is off, the a/c compressor must turn off. it should not be a guessing game for the driver to wonder if the a/c is off. i have complained about it before and been to the dealer 3 or more times about it. there are multiple postings (complaints) about it on the internet (see one link below). http://www.nissanclub.com/forums/2013-nissan-altima-discussion-2-5-3-5/351865-defroster-turning-ac-but-not-turning-off-when-changing-different-vent-mode.html i have complained about it to nissan and was asked to see the dealer. the dealer checks other same model cars and the problem is consistent amongst all cars, so he says "there is no problem". the dealer mechanic agrees with me that this is not how it should work, but since all other similar cars do the same thing, there is nothing they can do about it. *tr

Female passenger, 5ft. 0in., weighing 100lbs causes front passenger airbag to be disabled (front passenger airbag status light on). light would go away after a while. for a female passenger, 5ft. 5in., weighing 120-125lbs causes intermittent front passenger airbag operation. appeared to operate normally before. 12/24/2012: vehicle was brought to dealer and was found that the scale on the front passenger side seat was off by 25. scale was zeroed out in the front passenger seat. issue appears to be resolved for female passenger, 5ft. 5in., weighing 120-125lbs. 01/07/2013: front passenger airbag disabled for male passenger 5ft. 6in., weighing 160lbs. resolved by restarting vehicle. *tr

While driving on the highway during rain the windshield wipers began to operate intermittently. brought vehicle in for service. informed by service person that problem could not be duplicated, however an update is being made for all vehicles and i will receive a notice in the mail to bring in. as of today the windshield wipers continue to operate intermittently rendering the vehicle useless during inclement weather. *tr

Safety concern, proper operation of air bags (srs light on). this is a major safety concern. one month after purchasing a brand new nissan altima 2013, a major light indicator came on. this light brought up concerns. are the air bags working properly? will the air bags deploy correctly upon impact? are the air bags working at all? will the air bags deploy while driving? will the air bags implode and affect the steering process? is this an indication that there is an electronic or electrical circuit malfunction? after buying a brand new vehicle, should i even have to deal with these issues, questions or concerns? in addition to the above safety concern, the list of electronic, electrical and mechanical issues continues for the newly bought vehicle. there was an issue with the power steering, the brake system, bubbling paint and concerns with the engine compartment and interior compartment of the above mentioned vehicle. all this is reflected in each of the invoices submitted for your perusal. in addition, upon starting the vehicle, it continuously has a rough idle, a rough start at times the vehicle stalls out. he is at a loss because who should he take his vehicle with this concern? all in all, sir all these vehicle discrepancies are troubling to have with a brand new nissan altima 2013 and all of these issues within the last nine months. also, there were problems with the power steering, the brake system and concerns with the engine and interior compartments. in addition, upon starting the vehicle, it continuously had a rough idle, a rough start at all times and the vehicle would stall.

Intermittently, "passenger airbag off" warning light remains on even though passenger (130 lbs) is in the front passenger, it occurred several times, had to turn off and restart the car to clear the light. *tr

Vehicle jerks at stops and takes off, rpms climbed on their own, vehicle won't start and was towed in, vehicle stall in moving traffic on a major interstate, and fan blower.

I have had major issues with this vehicle since the third day after purchase. the brakes have malfunctioned. the brake light would intermittently come on and i had it in several times, but the dealership could never "duplicate" anything. then the car started to misfire and emit a thick black smoke from exhaust. i contacted the dealership and at first they said it was normal because the car has a cvt transmission. then they said bring it in for assessment. a service technician test drove with me and experienced this first hand. i was told they could not service it that day, but to bring it back in. when i took it back a week later, they "could not duplicate" the problem. there has been much back and forth. i asked them to buy the car back because the problems were life threatening. the car actually shut off on me, twice, in traffic. when i last contacted the dealership, on july 24th, 2014, about the major issues i've been experiencing; the earliest they said they could see me would be on august 11th, 2014. on yesterday, it finally shut off for good, in the middle of the interstate. as i was on a trip, i had to have the vehicle towed 125 miles to my hometown dealership at the cost of $230.00, out of pocket. the only reason i got it home that cheaply was because i have four roadside assistance coverage packages and luckily one of them covered towing up to 100 miles. the car is now sitting on the dealership's parking lot. *js