2008 Nissan Altima Power Train
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
FROM A COMPLETE STOP, PLACED FOOT ON BRAKE PEDAL, PUT TRANSMISSION INTO FORWARD, RELEASED FOOT FROM BRAKE PEDAL, VEHICLE ACCELERATED INTO REVERSE WITHOUT TOUCHING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL CAUSING AN ACCIDENT INTO A PARKED CAR. TEN DAYS LATER, FROM A COMPLETE STOP, PLACED FOOT ON BRAKE PEDAL, PUT TRANSMISSION INTO REVERSE, RELEASED FOOT FROM BRAKE PEDAL, VEHICLE ACCELERATED FORWARD WITHOUT TOUCHING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL CAUSING AN ACCIDENT INTO A TREE. EACH INCIDENT OCCURRED WITH DIFFERENT DRIVERS. TRANSMISSION IS FAULTY AT 42K MILES. CAR IS UNRELIABLE AND UNSAFE TO DRIVE. *TR
2008 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5 4 CYLINDER WITH CVT TRANSMISSION, WHEN PULLING OUT ON HIGHWAY THE CAR BEGAN TO ACCELERATE NORMALLY AT FIRST (0 TO 25 MPH) BUT THEN WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AND COASTED INTO TRAFFIC NEARLY CAUSING ACCIDENT. THIS HAPPENED TWICE MORE ON THE WAY TO THE DEALERSHIP. THE PROBLEM HAPPENS INTERMITTENTLY AND HAS BEEN REPORTED TO A NISSAN DEALER TWICE FOR REPAIR UNDER WARRANTY. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON WHEN LACK OF ACCELERATION HAPPENED 3 TIMES AND TWICE THE DEALER RESET THE CODE, CHANGE THE FLUID AND REPROGRAM THE COMPUTER AND SAID IT WAS JUST A FLUKE AND THAT IT FOUND NO HARDWARE PROBLEMS. THE NISSAN CVT TRANSMISSION CONTROL ELECTRONICS ARE UNRELIABLE, UNSAFE AND SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED. THIS RECURRING PROBLEM VERY NEARLY RESULTED IN A MAJOR ACCIDENT TODAY. *TR
2008 ALTIMA 2.5S WAS ON 35-35 DEGREE INCLINE WITH FRONT FACING UPHILL. AS I WAS EXITING THE VEHICLE, IT POPPED OUT OF PARK AND INTO NEUTRAL. BEFORE I COULD STOP IT, THE DRIVER DOOR CAUGHT ON NEIGHBORING YARD/HILL AND BENT FORWARD. DAMAGE TO REAR BUMPER AS WELL. DAMAGE TOTALED APPROXIMATELY $3700. NISSAN SAID THEIR FILED TECH COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. I HAVE FOUND 7 OTHER INSTANCES OF THIS HAPPENING BUT THEY DID NOT SEEM TO CARE. THIS CAR IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE OR PARK FOR THAT MATTER. *TR
ON OCCASION/RANDOMLY THE CLUTCH ON THE 2008 NISSAN ALTIMA COUPE WILL SINK TO THE FLOOR WHICH DOES NOT ENABLE THE DRIVER TO SHIFT THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER REPLACED THE MASTER CYLINDER IN THE PAST TO REPAIR BUT THE SAME SITUATION HAS ARISEN. NOT HAVING ABILITY TO SHIFT CAN STALL THE VEHICLE AND REDER IT INOPERABLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FREEWAY, ON AN OFF-RAMP, IN AN INTERSECTION, ETC. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. *TR
CVT TRANSMISSION IS WARMED UP AFTER APPROXIMATELY THIRTY MINUTES OF DRIVING. ONCE WARM, FROM A COMPLETE STOP, I LIGHTLY ACCELERATE TO 20MPH. THE RPMS DROP SLIGHTLY AND MORE ACCELERATION IS NECESSARY TO DRIVE FASTER THAN 20MPH. I PRESS THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO ABOUT HALF WAY DOWN AND THE VEHICLE SHUDDERS/SURGES THREE TO FIVE TIMES THEN ACCELERATES RAPIDLY. THIS CAUSES YOUR NECK TO SNAP BACK AND THE VEHICLE TO LOOSE CONTROL. NO ACCIDENT YET BUT IT COULD EASILY HAPPEN. TAKEN TO NISSAN DEALER IN CALIFORNIA WHO CALLED IT A "NORMAL OPERATING CONDITION" AND SENT ME HOME. STILL FIGHTING WITH NISSAN CUSTOMER SERVICE. *TR
PURCHASED A 2008 NISSAN ALTIMA, DROVE THE CAR FOR 3,000 MILES. CVT TRANSMISSION STARTED MAKING STRANGE NOISES. TURNED OUT TO BE DEFECTIVE. THEY REPLACED IT, BUT DID NOT PUT IT BACK TOGETHER PROPERLY. BEEN HAVING PROBLEMS WITH IT EVER SINCE. NOV 30, 2009 TOOK VEHICLE IN FOR SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE, HAD THEM EXAMINE TRANSMISSION AGAIN FOR A GRINDING NOISE. THEY DID NOT "SEE" ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT BUT ACKNOWLEDGED TRANSMISSION COULD BE DEFECTIVE. CAR IS GOING IN FOR MORE "TESTS". NISSAN EXTENDED THE WARRANTY TO 10 YEARS 120,000 MILES FOR CVT'S, HOWEVER I DON'T FEEL SAFE DRIVING THE VEHICLE. *TR
WHILE DRIVING MY 2008 NISSAN ALTIMA I CAME TO A SUDDEN STOP GOING UPHILL TO AVOID HITTING ANOTHER VEHICLE. AS I TRIED TO PROCEED THE TRANSMISSION WILL NOT CRANK INTO GEAR EVEN THOUGH IT WAS IN DRIVE POSITION. AFTER SHUTTING THE ENGINE OFF AND RESTARTING IT I WAS ABLE TO PROCEED FORWARD. *TR
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2008 Nissan Altima has 57 Power Train complaints on file. 5 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.