2018 Nissan Versa Powertrain (other) Problems

2018 Nissan Versa transmission issues. i have 2018 Nissan Versa with 116,993 miles. Transmission is starting to skip and slip. it was diagnosed as a possible chain slip. there was bulletin out for this issue in which Nissan has known about. Nissan was contacted to see if they could warranty the transmission, but was told they were not going to cover it. There was warranty extension, but only for 84,000 miles. nissan was unwilling to help fix it and wanted to charge $210 to diagnose it. this is saftey issue because there are probably other nissan Versas out there with the same issue. the point is that there is an issue which knows about. vehicle should be fixed under warranty. car was bought used 4 years ago. tsb is NTB20-036a

NHTSA ID

11740282

Incident

May 20, 2026

I was driving on the express way in rush hour traffic, and my car started to judder and rpm were reving high.i tried to accelerate and the car just stop in mid traffic, I had to have the car towed home,and from home to the nissan dealership. They told me that my transmission had failed and needed to be replaced.i had no warning light or any other problem and I could have been hurt really bad if the car behind me hadn't stop and help me get out of the rush hour traffic.

NHTSA ID

11685820

Incident

Aug 22, 2025

Purchased New in January, 2019, with 10-20 miles on it. In February/March of 2020 it started lurching forward, giving rough idles. It would rumble, and you could hear the engine move around. This reported to Nissan dealership, the Tech. could not find code, simply reset computer. In 2021, I took it back to dealership of purchase, they could not diagnose any problems, they claimed to repair some component in rear break light area. The Service Advisor never sent the completed paperwork to my email. I asked for a copy on site, but he "had to review papers". The problems arised again in March/April of 2022. I asked same Service Advisor for a new transmission. The vehicle was still within 60,000 miles warranty He said he could not do it without code and Nissan Corp. Approval. Losing acceleration when left turn signal on, fear getting stuck in intersection. I was fed up. Now dealing with a 3rd Nissan dealership for the extended warranty (84,000 miles) with 300-400 miles left . Warranty letter came July, 2023. I spoke to a Nissan Corp. Customer Service Rep. who stated that "Nissan would not tell the dealerships what to do". Yet when you go to the dealerships, they state "we can't complete any work without computer code and Corporate Approval." Nissan's Warranty Settlement is a gimmick. They lose nothing. Customers have to take vehicle to their dealerships with no satisfaction of their grievance. I know how to drive and purchased enough new and used vehicles to know when it has problem. I have not ever had transmission issue until dealing with Nissan. I did not go to work on 10-12 hours shifts, to pay over $21,000 for a Lemon. I never saw any warning posted at the purchasing dealer in relations to the CVT issues. I didn't see anything at the other two Nissan Dealers either. I need a new transmission or check. That's what customers deserve and should get. Please issue recalls before innocent lives are lost. I will never buy Nissan again.

NHTSA ID

11551620

Incident

Feb 15, 2020

The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Versa. The contact stated that on various occasions, after driving from a stop signal, the vehicle shuddered. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was provided with TSB’s that applied to the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure recurred. The vehicle was then taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired, and the contact stated that she noticed the vehicle was returned with a flat tire and the instrument cluster was replaced without her knowledge. The contact also stated that the air bag warning light was intermittently illuminated. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 15,000.

NHTSA ID

11517634

Incident

May 1, 2020

Mileage

15,000 mi

The check engine lamp light came on and vehicles current shift lamps not visible. Vehicle began to slip gears and Rev at high rpm. Risk of taking kids to school and myself to work was resolved by parking the car back in driveway. The car diagnostic machine put out code P0705 Transmission Range Sensor A Circuit. Also our vehicle is available for further inspection.

NHTSA ID

11505366

Incident

Feb 3, 2023

My Versa appears to have the same transmission issues as other Nissan vehicles where it has a harsh downshift slow speed shutter and bump when when coming to a complete stop vehicle has loud wine coming from transmission and has a slipping feeling under hard acceleration Nissan refuses to do anything about it at the dealer because it is not under the VIN covered vehicles

NHTSA ID

11485279

Incident

Sep 16, 2022

Unknown! Repeatedly spent thousands of dollars on repairs but car never fixes. Check engine light on every month and car stalls often.

NHTSA ID

11438755

Incident

Oct 29, 2021

I have a 5 speed manual transmission that has a defective throwout bearing clutch assembly that 'sticks' and does not engage or release in a smooth manner. Each shift is 'jerky' when the clutch pedal is released and the power transfer from gear to gear is is a sudden jerk instead of a smooth continuation of acceleration. Downshifting is not as jerky as up thru the gears shifting. My assumption is the folks who assembled the transmission and connected it to the engine did not line all parts in a straight line, so that the throwout bearing clutch plate mechanism is not perfectly balanced, along with the hydraulically controlled throw out bearing clutch plate mechanism forcing these items to over ride the off centered spinning mass to re-connect with a sudden jerk to complete the up shifted gear power transmission. I get the sensation of the clutch being 'ridden' even tho' the clutch pedal has been completely released back to its start position. Quite often when shifting from 2nd to 3rd, the clutch gets released but the gear is still in 2nd and not in 3rd, I have to resort to pushing the clutch pedal down again and releasing it so that 3rd gear engages. Getting into reverse is not easy, either. It takes 2 or 3 attempts from neutral to get the gear shift lever to get into position to allow the reverse gear to get engaged. It was like this from day 1. Nissan mechanics tell me the car is so new, it will take time for this stiffness to ease off. Well, 3 years later that never happened. The transmission/clutch/throwout bearing assembly was mounted in a defective manner at the factory, Nissan refuses to acknowledge this mistake. A recall is mandatory so that these defective transmission/clutch/throwout bearing have to be replaced and installed to original factory specs, with the engine out of the car to ensure the alignment/balancing required can be done properly. In the Army the expression...MAKE IT HAPPEN ... applies here.

NHTSA ID

11438654

Incident

Jan 1, 2018

I HAD ONLY HAD MY CAR FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS, WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD GOING ABOUT 40 MPH, AND IT COMPLETELY STALLED OUT ON ME. I WAS ABLE TO GUIDE IT TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. TO MY ASTONISHMENT, IT TURNED OUT TO BE MY TRANSMISSION. THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THEY HAD TO PUT IN A WHOLE NEW TRANSMISSION. IT SCARES ME TO THINK WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I HAD BEEN GOING FASTER, OR IF SOMEONE HAD CRASHED INTO THE BACK OF MY CAR. I LATER READ WHERE NISSAN HAD BEEN HAVING TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS FOR YEARS.

NHTSA ID

11175890

Incident

Jan 18, 2019

Mileage

179 mi