CVT failure on the 2011 Nissan Altima
When cvt failure gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Nissan Altima report CVT failure at a median of 110,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 90,000 miles and a quarter after 125,000 miles, from 17 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 80,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 145,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 66,800 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78,000 miles | 90,000 miles | 110,000 miles | 123,000 miles | 144,800 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $3,000–$8,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 11 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2015, at a median of 62,500 miles, and latest on the 2011 at 110,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 180; the 2011 has 24. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I was traveling on the 60w in moreno valley. The temperature was about 90, it was pretty dry and hot. I was cruising along at 70 MPH with my brother, infant niece and 10 year old son. When all of the sudden the speed just dropped to about 35 MPH, due to there not being any warning at all (no error lights or brake lights), the car behind us nearly rear ended us. They had to swerve so suddenly it almost caused them to crash into the car next to us. I ended up pulling over for a few minutes, everything seemed to be fine, so we continued the drive home. About 8 miles down the road, the car's speed dropped again. This time I was already in the slow lane and was able to avoid any near crashes. I brought the car to nissan in corona ca. After a couple days, they were able to diagnose the problem being the CVT. I feel there should be some sort of a recall on the altima CVT. Nissan has been aware of the potential problem with the speed reducing while the CVT goes into safe mode without any warning to the driver or others on the road. Nissan has known about this issue for quite some time, but they do not seem to care about their customer's…
At 45mph my vehicle lost power and when gas was pressed it did not respond. I continued to travel home. Everytime I stopped at stop sign or slow speed and try to accelerate the car would shake violently (all captured on video) and would not accelerate. This was very scary. No service light ever came on!!!! I continue the approximately 3-4 mile drive home and it would do the same every time I slowed or stopped. I had to drive up a very steep hill and I did not think my car was going to make it. The research I have done and the information shared to me by several mechanics state that the 2007-2010 altimas warranty for the CVT were extended from 60,000 to 120,000. This should have included the 2011 also, because the CVT problems continue. My car has only 104,000 miles on it and should not need a 4,000 transmission. I have owned a maxima and sentra in past and they were really great cars. All of the research that I have done reveals to me that jatco which nissan has 75% ownership of should be responsible and liable for these issues. The government should protect the public from this monopoly and help the little guy. It does not take…
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 nissan altima. While attempting to drive the vehicle, it hesitated and failed to accelerate. The contact stated that the CVT indicator illuminated and the floorboard was constantly damp. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the air module needed to be repaired/reset. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failures. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 170,000.
Also reported on the 2011 Nissan Altima
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
Complete transmission failure
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 24 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does cvt failure happen on the 2011 Nissan Altima?
Across 17 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 110,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 90,000 miles and a quarter after 125,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is cvt failure on the 2011 Nissan Altima?
24 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 2.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed