NHTSA Complaint #11090298 — 2014 NISSAN SENTRA

WHILE DRIVING MY 2014 NISSAN SENTRA (66,000 MILES) ON THE HIGHWAY, I NOTICED THE RPMS STARTED FLUCTUATING, FOLLOWED BY DIFFICULTY SHIFTING. I EXITED THE HIGHWAY AND CAME TO A FULL STOP. THE CAR WAS THEN UNABLE TO ACCELERATE. PUTTING IT IN PARK, TURNING THE ENGINE OFF AND ON AGAIN ALLOWED ME TO ACCELERATE AND DRIVE TO A GAS STATION. I CALLED MY MECHANIC, HE SAID IT COULD BE CONTAMINATED GAS, AND DIRECTED ME TO FIND A NEARBY AUTOZONE, WHERE AN EMPLOYEE SCANNED THE CAR AND AGREED IT WAS CONTAMINATED GAS. I PURCHASED SEAFOAM AND PUT IT IN THE GAS TANK, WITH ASSURANCES THAT THIS WOULD CLEAR UP THE ISSUE BUT THE RIDE MAY BE 'BUMPY'. I DECIDED TO FINISH MY DRIVE TO NEW ORLEANS. UPON ENTERING NEW ORLEANS AND SHIFTING TO STOP AND GO TRAFFIC, IT WAS APPARANT THE ISSUE HAD NOT RESOLVED ITSELF. THE VEHICLE WAS BARELY ACCELERATING OR SHIFTING. IT FELT VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE THROUGH AN UNKNOWN CITY. THE FOLLOWING MORNING, I BROUGHT IT TO AUTOZONE AGAIN, THIS TIME THE SCAN SHOWED ISSUES WITH THE TRANSMISSION. I HAD A TECHNICIAN REBOOT THE COMPUTER, BUT NOTHING CHANGED. NOT KNOWING THE SEVERITY OF THE ISSUE AND BEING 500+ MILES FROM HOME AND MY MECHANIC, I DECIDED TO RISK THE DRIVE BACK TO NASHVILLE, HAVING HAD EVERYONE AT THE AUTOZONE AND MY MECHANIC TELL ME AT 66K MILES THE TRANSMISSON SHOULD NOT NEED TO BE SERVICES. THE CAR WAS CLEARLY HAVING ISSUES, BUT I WAS ABLE TO GET IT TO HIGHWAY SPEED. I MADE IT TO ABOUT 200 MILES OUTSIDE OF NASHVILLE WHEN IT SIMPLY BECAME TOO UNSAFE FOR ME TO CONTINUE ON THE HIGHWAY. I GOT A TOW 200M HOME, DIRECTLY TO MY MECHANIC. HE INSPECTED THE TRANSMISSION THE FOLLOWING DAY AND FOUND THE TRANSMISSION FLUID WAS DANGEROUSLY LOW WITH NO SIGN OF LEAKAGE. AFTER CHANGING THE FLUID, HE DETERMINED THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. I TOOK IT INTO CARMAX, WHERE I HAS PURCHASED THE VEHICLE JUST OVER A YEAR PRIOR. THEY CAME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION.