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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

Engine complaints

39 reports
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160,504 miles · Aug 1, 2025
EngineVehicle Speed Control

The contact owns a 2012 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated to respond. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. T…

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The contact owns a 2012 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated to respond. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,504.

NHTSA ODI #11677777

Mileage unknown · May 31, 2024
Electrical SystemEnginePower Train

Our nissan Sentra with 106K miles the car lost nearly all power as my son was turning onto the freeway. He could only drive 16 miles an hour and it was hopping and jumping through a 8 lane freeway/highway intersection while he tried to get into a parking lot off the road. He turned it off, waited 5 minutes, and turned it back on…

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Our nissan Sentra with 106K miles the car lost nearly all power as my son was turning onto the freeway. He could only drive 16 miles an hour and it was hopping and jumping through a 8 lane freeway/highway intersection while he tried to get into a parking lot off the road. He turned it off, waited 5 minutes, and turned it back on, but it was still slowly hopping and jumping. After another 10 minutes my husband drove it for about 10 minutes and it operated normally. This same behavior happened in 2019 with 82k miles at a large intersection. It suddenly lost power and slowly hopped through the intersection. At 60k the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel quit working. When we asked the Nissan Dealership about it, we were told that was typical and it would slowly lose all the functionality of the steering wheel controls. All the functionality was gone by 70k miles. We have learned that Nissan's transmissions are very problematic and these situations are typical as you get closer to 120k miles. We planned to have this car for several more years. If we sell it and buy a different car we are out several thousand dollars or if we keep it we will likely have to pay for a new transmission also several thousand dollars.

NHTSA ODI #11591810

Mileage unknown · Mar 29, 2024
EnginePower Train

Leaking transmission oil. Also burning engine oil a week after doing an oil change to the point there is no oil but no leaks.

NHTSA ODI #11580187

100,000 miles · Jan 19, 2023
EngineFire

******* DELETE VOQ ******* THIS COMPLAINT IS BEING MARKED FOR DELETION BECAUSE IT IS AN INADVERTENT DUPLICATE OF ODI# 11502677*DJR ******* DELETE VOQ *******

NHTSA ODI #11502678

100,000 miles · Jan 19, 2023
EngineFire

The contact’s husband owns a 2012 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle started to smoke at an unknown location of the vehicle and caught fire. No warning lights were illuminated. No injuries were sustained. No medical attention was required. The local authorities w…

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The contact’s husband owns a 2012 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle started to smoke at an unknown location of the vehicle and caught fire. No warning lights were illuminated. No injuries were sustained. No medical attention was required. The local authorities were notified, and the fire department was notified and extinguished the fire. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard and deemed a total loss by the insurance company. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

NHTSA ODI #11502677

Mileage unknown · Nov 7, 2022
EngineVehicle Speed Control

While traveling down the interstate doing the normal speed limit, I was forced to pull over to the emergency lane so cars can pass me. My car lost power to the engine without notice. No check system engine lights were not activated during this time. Car and Trucks were having to swerve over in other lanes to keep from rear endin…

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While traveling down the interstate doing the normal speed limit, I was forced to pull over to the emergency lane so cars can pass me. My car lost power to the engine without notice. No check system engine lights were not activated during this time. Car and Trucks were having to swerve over in other lanes to keep from rear ending me and causing a major wreck. This happen several weeks ago again with no lights lighting up on dash. I was able to pull over for a few minutes and restart the car and it was back to normal. I looked things up online and took my car into a repair shop to let me know the problem, They stated that they have seen this issue with Nissan vehicles. It is the CVT transmission issue. The loss of power comes from the CVT fluid getting too hot and reduces power to save the CVT transmission, I have a 2012 Nissan Sentra that was Manufactured 6/2012.

NHTSA ODI #11492573

Mileage unknown · Aug 18, 2022
EnginePower TrainVehicle Speed Control

While driving on the freeway pulling approximately 70 miles per hour, my car will begin to shake violently, continuously decelerate and my RPMs drop significantly. I am unable to go over 55 miles per hour when this happens. This has happened to me a total of four times now within the last 2 months. I had my car take this one aut…

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While driving on the freeway pulling approximately 70 miles per hour, my car will begin to shake violently, continuously decelerate and my RPMs drop significantly. I am unable to go over 55 miles per hour when this happens. This has happened to me a total of four times now within the last 2 months. I had my car take this one auto repair shop in which my spark plugs were changed out a brand new air intake hose was put in my coils were changed out and everything. Today while driving on the freeway, going 72 mph my car decelerated and would not go above 55. This is a major safety issue considering I drive on the freeway a lot. I just paid $970 to have my car fixed and can't continue to pay to have the car fixed along with still paying a car note and insurance on this car. Well researching transmission issues I came across this page when filing a complaint. I looked to see if there was a recalls on my car and noticed that there is not. My VIN number is [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ODI #11480032

95,000 miles · Aug 24, 2020
EnginePower TrainSteering

DRIVING DOWN THE FREEWAY THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN MY CAR LOST 90% OF POWER AND COULD ONLY GO ABOUT 25MPH. THERE WAS NO WARNING. CAR JERKS VIOLENTLY STEERING BECOMES HARDER. YOU TRY TO PUNCH DOWN ON THE GAS AND NOTHING HAPPENS. ALSO WAS FORCED TO TAKE CITY STREETS DUE TO NOT BEING ABLE TO GO A SAFE SPEED TO STAY ON FREEWAY/HIGHWAY.

NHTSA ODI #11351048

155,400 miles · Jul 12, 2020
EngineUnknown Or Other

WHEN APPROACHING A RED LIGHT AND STOPPING QUICKLY, THE CAR COMPLETELY STOPPED EVEN THOUGH I WAS GOING 10 MILES PER HOUR AT 1000 RPM, TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT, OIL LIGHT, BATTERY LIGHT AND SEAT BELT LIGHT ALL TURNED ON. THE ONLY WAY TO GET THE CAR TO MOVE WAS TO TURN IT OFF AND TURN IT BACK ON. THIS HAPPENED A SECOND TIME WHILE RET…

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WHEN APPROACHING A RED LIGHT AND STOPPING QUICKLY, THE CAR COMPLETELY STOPPED EVEN THOUGH I WAS GOING 10 MILES PER HOUR AT 1000 RPM, TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT, OIL LIGHT, BATTERY LIGHT AND SEAT BELT LIGHT ALL TURNED ON. THE ONLY WAY TO GET THE CAR TO MOVE WAS TO TURN IT OFF AND TURN IT BACK ON. THIS HAPPENED A SECOND TIME WHILE RETURNING TO OUR HOME. AS I WAS GETTING OFF THE INTERSTATE AND STOPPING FOR ANOTHER VEHICLE, THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN. IT SEEMS TO DO THIS WITH A HARD STOP AT 1000 RMP OR 10-20 MPH.

NHTSA ODI #11338877

Mileage unknown · Dec 29, 2019
EnginePower TrainUnknown Or OtherCrashInjury

2012 NISSAN SENTRA WAS BOUGHT 3 WEEKS PRIOR WITH NO PROBLEMS. WHILE TRAVELING 60 - 70 MPH ON A HIGHWAY THE CAR SUDDENLY STOP RUNNING AND THE POWER STEERING WENT OUT AND THE VEHICLE WAS UNABLE TO STEER OUT OF THE TROUBLED AREA ON THE HIGHWAY. THE VEHICLE BROKE DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF A HIGHWAY. AFTER RESEARCH IT SEEM TO BE THE …

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2012 NISSAN SENTRA WAS BOUGHT 3 WEEKS PRIOR WITH NO PROBLEMS. WHILE TRAVELING 60 - 70 MPH ON A HIGHWAY THE CAR SUDDENLY STOP RUNNING AND THE POWER STEERING WENT OUT AND THE VEHICLE WAS UNABLE TO STEER OUT OF THE TROUBLED AREA ON THE HIGHWAY. THE VEHICLE BROKE DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF A HIGHWAY. AFTER RESEARCH IT SEEM TO BE THE SAME ACTIONS THAT HAS HAPPENED TO THOUSANDS OF OTHER NISSAN SENTRAS. THE DEFECTED CVT TRANSMISSION CAUSES THIS TO HAPPEN. LUCKILY MY SON WAS NOT KILLED DURING A ACCIDENT THAT WAS CAUSED AFTER HE WAS REAR ENDED AND THE VEHICLE WAS TOTALED.

NHTSA ODI #11291934

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.