2012 Nissan Sentra — Known Issues & Recalls

Your transmission is making a whining noise and producing a bad smell. When driving at 60-70 mph on highways, your car shakes, slows down significantly, and sometimes comes to a near or complete stop and won't accelerate—requiring you to pull over. Adding oil temporarily allows the car to move again, though slowly. A mechanic found a worn wheel bearing and repaired it, which reduced some shaking but didn't fully resolve the problem.

Your car suddenly loses power while driving at highway speeds and won't accelerate, even when you press the gas pedal all the way down — this has happened multiple times and nearly caused an accident during a lane change. No warning lights appear before or after the problem occurs. After a few minutes of no acceleration, your car may suddenly accelerate without warning. A mechanic found transmission-related trouble codes when they scanned your vehicle. The fix will likely involve diagnosing and repairing or replacing transmission components.

While driving on the interstate at 70 mph, your transmission appeared to slip out of gear, causing the vehicle to suddenly lose power and slow down. The car then bucked and jolted several times, nearly causing a rear-end collision from following traffic. When you checked the transmission fluid after stopping, it read full for hot conditions.

Your transmission is malfunctioning, causing your car to lose power momentarily and then jerk forward when starting from a stop. This creates a dangerous driving condition. The problem has only 28,000 miles on the odometer and hasn't been reproduced by a dealer yet. Fixing this will likely require transmission inspection, diagnostics, and possibly transmission fluid service or internal repairs.

Your Sentra was hit on the passenger side by another vehicle while traveling at 40 MPH, causing it to leave the road and strike a tree. The airbags did not deploy during the crash, and the driver sustained injuries including bruised ribs and pain in multiple areas. Your vehicle was declared a total loss. A repair would involve inspection and replacement of the airbag system components to ensure they deploy properly in future impacts.

Your airbags deployed unexpectedly while you were driving and trying to turn on the headlights, even though there was no crash. The deployment may be related to a faulty passenger presence sensor module that detects whether someone is sitting in the seat. Your vehicle's VIN wasn't covered under Nissan's special coverage program for this issue. The fix will likely involve diagnosing and replacing the passenger presence sensor module.

Your 2012 Nissan Sentra caught fire while being driven, with smoke appearing from an unknown location on the vehicle. No warning lights came on before the fire started. The fire department extinguished the fire, and the vehicle was declared a total loss by insurance. The exact cause was never diagnosed since the vehicle wasn't repaired or inspected by a dealer.

This complaint has been marked for deletion by NHTSA as it is a duplicate of another complaint (ODI# 11502677). No new information is available to translate.

Your car suddenly lost all engine power while driving in traffic, and the gas pedal became unresponsive. After pulling over and turning off the engine for a few minutes, the power returned and you were able to drive normally again. This intermittent power loss is a serious safety concern that could happen again at any time.

Your car suddenly lost nearly all engine power while merging onto a freeway, forcing you to drive at only 16 mph with severe jerking and hopping through traffic; after turning it off and restarting, the problem persisted for another 10 minutes before resolving on its own. This same sudden power loss and jerking occurred previously at 82k miles. Additionally, your steering wheel cruise control buttons stopped working at 60k miles, and the dealership indicated other steering wheel controls would gradually fail—which they did by 70k miles. The underlying issue likely involves the transmission and engine control system, which may require diagnosis and potentially transmission repair or replacement.

Your car suddenly lost engine power while driving on the interstate at normal highway speeds, forcing you to pull over and creating a dangerous situation for other drivers. No warning lights appeared on your dashboard before or during the power loss. After restarting the car a few minutes later, it returned to normal operation. A repair shop identified this as a known CVT transmission issue where the transmission fluid overheats, causing the engine to reduce power as a protection mechanism.

Your car's speed automatically drops from 70+ mph down to 60 mph on highway driving and won't accelerate when you press the gas pedal, then suddenly accelerates on its own after a few miles. Your mechanic suspects it could be a transmission or fuel pump issue. This unpredictable speed control is dangerous, especially on expressways, and has been happening frequently over the past 6 months. A dealer inspection and possible transmission or fuel system diagnostics will be needed to identify and fix the root cause.

Your car's CVT transmission began making a high-pitched whining noise around 55 mph, sometimes shifting hard or revving higher than expected before shifting. While making a left turn, the transmission started jerking and lurching unexpectedly, causing the vehicle behind you to brake hard to avoid a collision—you barely managed to limp the car out of the intersection before having it towed. A mechanic indicated the CVT transmission was failing and would eventually need complete replacement. Fixing this issue will likely require a full CVT transmission replacement or rebuild.

Your ABS (anti-lock brake system) warning light and skid control light stay on constantly. This indicates a problem with your vehicle's anti-lock braking system that should be diagnosed by a technician, as it affects how your brakes behave in emergency situations. A mechanic will need to read the diagnostic trouble codes to identify the specific issue.

Your rearview mirror detached from the windshield and fell off while you were entering the vehicle to drive. When the mirror fell, it took glass from the windshield with it, creating a safety hazard and blocking your visibility. This appears to be a known issue affecting multiple Nissan Sentra owners. The repair will likely involve reattaching or replacing the rearview mirror and possibly addressing any windshield damage.

Your transmission is leaking oil, and your engine is burning oil rapidly—within a week of an oil change, the oil level drops to empty even though you don't see any leaks. This suggests internal engine wear or damage that's consuming oil faster than normal. You'll need a transmission inspection for leaks and an engine diagnostic to identify why oil is disappearing without external evidence.

Your car is stalling while driving at various speeds and sometimes won't restart. A mechanic replaced the ignition switch once, but the problem continued. The dealer diagnosed that the ignition switch needs to be replaced again. The issue started at 79,000 miles. Fixing this will likely involve replacing the ignition switch with a new one, and possibly checking the electrical connections to the starter and battery.

While driving on the freeway at highway speeds, your car suddenly shakes violently, loses power, and drops to a maximum speed of 55 mph regardless of how hard you press the gas pedal. Your engine RPMs also drop significantly during these episodes. This has happened four times over two months, and it persists even after you paid $970 for repairs including new spark plugs, air intake hose, and coils. The issue may require a more thorough engine diagnostic or transmission inspection to identify the underlying cause.

While driving on the highway, you pressed the gas pedal but the engine didn't respond with power, which created a dangerous situation. This loss of power when accelerating needs to be diagnosed and fixed to ensure your car responds properly when you need it.

Your car hesitated to accelerate when you pressed the gas pedal while driving at 35 MPH, and your check engine light turned on. The issue happened at around 160,504 miles on your odometer. A mechanic will likely need to scan your engine computer to identify what's triggering the check engine light, which could involve replacing spark plugs, fuel injectors, or other engine components.