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2012 Nissan Sentra

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2012 Nissan Sentra do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 116.

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When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

129 reports with mileage · 51 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Power Train. Review the 68 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Engine. Review the 39 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Vehicle Speed Control. Review the 22 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

10 crash reports4 fire reports7 injury reports

What owners actually said

180 reports
Mileage unknown · Jan 2, 2022
Power TrainSteering

I was getting on the freeway all of a sudden my steering wheel gets stiff and my car comes to a complete stop traffic is going at full speed me and my children could of being in a serious accident and then a few minutes later the car is back to normal. I would really appreciate if it's looked into someone can get hurt.

NHTSA ODI #11445880

70,000 miles · Dec 15, 2021
Latches/locks/linkages

The contact owns a 2012 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while leaving the ignition on and exiting the vehicle, the doors would lock independently after closing the door. The contact stated she had to leave a window down to be able to manually open the door from the inside. The contact stated she had experienced the failure on …

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The contact owns a 2012 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while leaving the ignition on and exiting the vehicle, the doors would lock independently after closing the door. The contact stated she had to leave a window down to be able to manually open the door from the inside. The contact stated she had experienced the failure on multiple occasions. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The dealer turned off the safety feature that would lock the doors independently within 10 seconds. The contact stated she continued to experience the failure. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

NHTSA ODI #11443889

144,000 miles · Nov 15, 2021
Power Train

The contact owns a 2012 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact drove at a slow speed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with transmission failure. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. …

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The contact owns a 2012 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact drove at a slow speed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with transmission failure. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 144,000.

NHTSA ODI #11440458

Mileage unknown · Sep 10, 2021
Power Train

I was stopped at an intersection. When the light turned green, I pressed the gas pedal, and the car started forward, but it would lunge forward and stop repeatedly, all the way through the intersection until I pulled over and turned the car off. The "slip indicator" light was on when this was happening. The light was not on prev…

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I was stopped at an intersection. When the light turned green, I pressed the gas pedal, and the car started forward, but it would lunge forward and stop repeatedly, all the way through the intersection until I pulled over and turned the car off. The "slip indicator" light was on when this was happening. The light was not on previously and did not come back on when I restarted the car. I believe the jerking motion was due to the CVT transmission or the Vehicle Dynamic Control system not operating properly,. This was dangerous because I didn't have control of how the car was accelerating. If this had occurred at a faster speed, someone could have easily crashed into me. The problem has only happened once, and has not been inspected by anyone other than me.

NHTSA ODI #11432543

Mileage unknown · Aug 3, 2021
Power Train

I was going on a road trip with my sister that should have taken 5 hours and I had enough gas to make it there with no stops. I had gotten an emissions test done a few days prior for registration purposes and the car passed (there were no engine lights present). When we started the drive between Nevada and Arizona, there were m…

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I was going on a road trip with my sister that should have taken 5 hours and I had enough gas to make it there with no stops. I had gotten an emissions test done a few days prior for registration purposes and the car passed (there were no engine lights present). When we started the drive between Nevada and Arizona, there were many steep inclines and downhill areas. The first few inclines were fine, but about an hour into the trip we were going up a hill and I could not get the car to accelerate past 45mph with the pedal fully to the floor. At first I suspected that I may have made poor use of my momentum, but after cross-checking my RPM gauge, I noticed that the car was not making effort to go over 3000 RPM's. I was very fearful being that the car was barely able to hold 45mph in the 65mph zone and we may not be able to make it over the hill. After suffering through many steep inclines in the middle of nowhere, I was finally able to pull over and turn the car completely off. There were no mechanics within an hour drive in either direction, so I chose to continue. I got back on the highway and the car was behaving normally again. I thought the whole thing was a hoax until it happened again on another bout of uphill stretches. We were trying to find another town to pull over in and hit a thunderstorm at one point. It was absolutely terrifying because we were practically crawling up the hills and unable to hold a constant speed, but it was not safe to pull over because of the weather. We eventually made it through and were able to turn the car off. The problem went away again for a short time and came back a final time on a flat stretch of road. I was unable to accelerate over 70mph. The only problem that I've ever had with the car was that the transmission wasn't changing gears smoothly, and it caused an engine light at one point. I got the engine light checked and it was for the transmission, but the engine light went away soon after and has not come back.

NHTSA ODI #11427547

Mileage unknown · Jul 28, 2021
Power Train

I purchased a 2012 Nissan Sentra for my daughter for school. Sunday July 25th she was driving on I95 when the vehicle began to lose speed while driving in the middle lanes. She proceeded to pull the vehicle over and turned it off to see if the car needed to cool down. Once started, the car was fine but the car began to lose s…

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I purchased a 2012 Nissan Sentra for my daughter for school. Sunday July 25th she was driving on I95 when the vehicle began to lose speed while driving in the middle lanes. She proceeded to pull the vehicle over and turned it off to see if the car needed to cool down. Once started, the car was fine but the car began to lose speed once again. This was ongoing on a Sunday night while she was on here way home from DE into NJ (2hour drive). The vehicle was taken to a mechanic who diagnosed the car as having transmission failure and the car will need a new transmission. This is extremely frustrating and this car should be recalled based on the danger while on the road and continued reported issues with the CV.

NHTSA ODI #11426868

Mileage unknown · Jul 27, 2021
Power Train

Continuously Variable transmission (CVT) failure. Specifically the torque converter and valve body. While operating the vehicle, without warning, it goes into safe mode, effectively losing all power. When in the mode, power to the engine stops and power steer and brakes are disabled. The risk of an accident, when this occurs, …

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Continuously Variable transmission (CVT) failure. Specifically the torque converter and valve body. While operating the vehicle, without warning, it goes into safe mode, effectively losing all power. When in the mode, power to the engine stops and power steer and brakes are disabled. The risk of an accident, when this occurs, is extremely high and very dangerous. Especially with a newer driver (17 years old). No warning lights or chimes come on indicating a problem. The vehicle was taken to the Nissan dealership where it was confirmed that it needed a new transmission (99988). Nissan has extended the warranty for the CVT for model years 2003-2010 and for 2013 and later but not 2012 (or 2011). As there were no changes in the transmission for those two years, they are aware of the high risk of failure but appear not to be concerned with the increased risk of injury or death from an accident caused by the transmission going into safe mode.

NHTSA ODI #11426648

Mileage unknown · Jul 19, 2021
Power Train

CVT Transmission Failure: My son was driving on an Interstate at 75 miles per hour when suddenly the 2012 Nissan Sentra he was driving, suddenly powered down and he was not able to go over 40 miles per hour. No warning lights came on and the only indicator was the vehicle making a knocking sound and jerking around on the highw…

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CVT Transmission Failure: My son was driving on an Interstate at 75 miles per hour when suddenly the 2012 Nissan Sentra he was driving, suddenly powered down and he was not able to go over 40 miles per hour. No warning lights came on and the only indicator was the vehicle making a knocking sound and jerking around on the highway. This created a very dangerous situation with other traffic going 75 MPH or faster. He pulled onto the shoulder to avoid a wreck and being rear-ended. He called a tow company to take him and the vehicle to the nearest town and to a non-Nissan dealership which was the only option. They did a diagnostic and stated that they thought it was the CVT transmission but recommended we tow to a Nissan dealership. We then had to tow the vehicle over 100 miles back to our hometown and to a Nissan dealership. They ran diagnostics and found that the CVT transmission went out and would need to be replaced. Counting a 100 mile tow, this CVT transmission problem is going to cost my family around $5,000 for repairs. I can't believe that the 2012 Nissan Sentra is not included in the Nissan Extended Warranty for the CVT transmission as it is basically the exact same transmission of the other years that were having the same problem. In researching this problem, I found that hundreds if not thousands of 2012 Nissan Sentra owners were having the same problem. Imagine going 75 MPH on an interstate and suddenly your vehicle drops down to 40 MPH in traffic with traffic behind you. That is a very serious safety risk and I am thankful that my son was able to pull over before getting in an accident.

NHTSA ODI #11425388

Mileage unknown · Jul 2, 2021
Tires

There are several Cooper tires recalled and I was told this line is not one. This tire failed with a sidewalk bulge and now the rear passenger one is starting to bulge as well.

NHTSA ODI #11423295

Mileage unknown · Apr 2, 2021
Power Train

I REALIZED I WAS LOSING POWER WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE SAGTIKOS PARKWAY. I PULLED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, TURNED OFF THE CAR, AND ATTEMPTED TO RESTART. THE CAR WOULD START, BUT WOULD NOT CHANGE INTO DRIVE, NOR REVERSE (OR WOULD NOT REGISTER). I WAS EFFECTIVELY STRANDED ALONG THE PARKWAY. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT MY CAR EXPERIENCED …

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I REALIZED I WAS LOSING POWER WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE SAGTIKOS PARKWAY. I PULLED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, TURNED OFF THE CAR, AND ATTEMPTED TO RESTART. THE CAR WOULD START, BUT WOULD NOT CHANGE INTO DRIVE, NOR REVERSE (OR WOULD NOT REGISTER). I WAS EFFECTIVELY STRANDED ALONG THE PARKWAY. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT MY CAR EXPERIENCED -- WHAT I UNDERSTAND TO BE -- TRANSMISSION FAILURE. I PURCHASED THE CAR ONLY SIX (6) MONTHS AGO.

NHTSA ODI #11406153

Official recalls

0

No recalls in this snapshot.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.