Other powertrain problem on the 2013 Nissan Versa
When other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2013 Nissan Versa report other powertrain problem at a median of 85,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles, from 22 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 30,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 130,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 99,900 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.
14% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31,400 miles | 60,406 miles | 86,800 miles | 103,250 miles | 131,300 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 $400–$4,500 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.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 15 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2024, at a median of 1,700 miles, and latest on the 2018 at 115,000 miles.
By volume the 2012 carries the most reports, with 78; the 2013 has 33. 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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 nissan versa. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle was restarted and operated normally for approximately 5 miles before stalling a second time. The contact indicated that the failure was recurring. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but the defect could not be duplicated and no repairs were performed. The contact also stated that the transmission erroneously engaged into neutral. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 3000. *tr
While my son was driving and after coming to a complete stop at a red light (four way intersection) on a city highway, the car cut off in the center of the intersection. Once the light turned green, he proceeded to accelerate, the car went a few feet and shut off.
I recently purchased this 4 year old vehicle with 62000 miles on it. Driving on the highway at 65 miles per hour, the vehicle suddenly lost power. By the grace of god, I was able to maneuver off the highway without being run over by the semi trucks traveling the highway with me. I had the vehicle towed to a nissan dealership where I was told the transmission was 'defective' and would need to be replaced. After looking into this issue, I find thousands of people with the exact same complaint and one class action law suit already settled over the same issue. How can a manufacturer be allowed to continue using a faulty transmission and not be made responsible for its correction? These vehicles are not cheap, and those of us paying for them did not purchase a disposable vehicle!
Also reported on the 2013 Nissan Versa
CVT failure
Complete transmission failure
Other speed control problem
Other brake problem
Other engine problem
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 33 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 other powertrain problem happen on the 2013 Nissan Versa?
Across 22 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 85,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2013 Nissan Versa?
33 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.7 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