Three problems related to owners/service manual have been reported for the 2013 Nissan Altima. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2013 Nissan Altima based on all problems reported for the 2013 Altima.
Unable to shift into gear when engaging foot brake when starting vehicle. Shift is stuck in park. Have to use tool in shift lock release to move between gears to drive car. I was driving and was stopped at a railway crossing. Put car in park. Once train had passed I tried to put car in drive position and was unable to do so. After reading manual I discovered that if a fault occurs you must use a tool on the shift lock button release to move vehicle. Very dangerous.
For unknown reasons, the brakes stay on causing the car to either not move, or to go into limp mode. When this happens, the gear shifter can be moved out of park without depressing the brake. Also, the car can be started without having to depress the brake pedal. Sometimes, the outside brake lights stay on, sometimes they don't. I replaced the brake light switch and manually operating the switch would not make lights go off. Sometimes when driving, the brake system will release and vehicle accelerates rapidly, to the point of losing control. Sometimes, a quick pump of the brake pedal will release whatever is going on-sometimes nothing will cause it to go back to normal. Removing the negative battery cable will turn off the lights, but will not reset the problem. Dealer has no suggestions to remedy the problem, except to let them keep the car and to start replacing parts until they make the problem go away. Nissan America says Nissan has already spent too much money trying to resolve previous issues on this car and would not spend another penny!!! private mechanic that is trying to troubleshoot problem is having no luck determining the cause. There are Nissan TSB's about shorted wiring, but only Nissan techs can acces those. Car has been in shop 44 times for 62 days for various major problems that Nissan can't or won't fix completely. Nissan refuses to try to make the situation right, even though they admit the down time is exorbitant and not in lines with their company satisfaction guarantee.
When I started the car in the morning the car would not get out of parking tried several times to turn of car and start car to see if it get out of park and it would not. Had to insert another object in manual shift release to get car into gear and drive. Called dealer they said it is unknown if covered. Took it to the dealer they looked at it and said it is not covered and the part is over a month away. I have seen several other cars have the same issue.