Power Train Problems of Nissan Armada - part 1

On April 5, 2023, I purchased a used 2021 Nissan Armada sl with 74,429 miles on it. On August 29, 2025, I took the vehicle in for front & rear differential and transmission fluid services. On August 31, 2025, I drove the SUV to boston MA. The vehicle began a jerking motion and slow acceleration. I assumed it was due to a possible low grade of gas. I filled the vehicle with 93 octane gas. The issue continued. On September 15, 2025, I took the vehicle into Nissan for a further look and was told I needed to replace the entire transmission! after speaking with Nissan's consumer affairs, I was told there was nothing that can be done for this issue. The vehicle is less than 5 years old. I have owned the vehicle less than 3 of those years and drove it less than 40,000 miles and now Nissan wants me to pay $11,000 for a new transmission. There has been, no check engine or other warning light indicators alerting this issue or concern. There is no way this can be a normal for a powerhouse company who's reputable as built to last vehicles that their transmission is now only built to last barely past 100,000 miles. This has to be a factory defect in this vehicle. I am presently seeking legal actions concerning this matter. This is a very costly and risky issue that could have left me stranded and possibly caused a serious accident. There needs to be a factory recall for this issue and concern.

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Bought vehicle used from dealer so it must have been damaged by previous owner. In less than 1 hour driving in freeway over 60mph in extreme outside heat of 107f, the transmission went out. It was returned to the dealer and dealer is fixing the problems.

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On July 29, 2025, while pulling into the driveway, my 2023 Nissan Armada experienced a complete electrical and brake failure. I put the vehicle in park, and the entire dash and infotainment screen went black while the engine was still running. The vehicle began rolling forward even though it was in park and bumped into the house. (minimal damage thankfully) when I tried to stop it, the brake pedal went completely to the floor with no braking power at all. The shifter was locked in park, and I could not put it into reverse or neutral. I had to press and hold the start/stop button to turn the vehicle off. After restarting, everything returned to normal and I was able to then shift into reverse, but this is a major safety issue there was a total loss of braking and transmission control. Currently Nissan is telling me that it could have been because the car needed a “software update” and also can be caused by a “bad battery” and they have had several customers with similar break issues and electronic failure due to the battery. This is completely unacceptable and dangerous. My babies were in the car we were terrified!! currently I just have a tow receipt as Nissan of boerne still has the vehicle.

The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Armada. The contact stated that while shifted in reverse, the vehicle failed to respond; however, the vehicle was able to drive forward. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The mechanic, who was a former mechanic with Nissan, informed the contact that it was known failure with the Nissan transmission, and that the shifter was unable to shift into reverse. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the transmission replacement was not covered under warranty or recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 98,000.

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At 100,000 miles, my 2021 Nissan Armada experienced a complete transmission failure, requiring a full transmission replacement. The vehicle has been properly maintained. After researching, I’ve found multiple owners reporting similar transmission failures at relatively low mileage. I believe this could be a defect that needs to be investigated and could lead to a potential safety hazard. I am requesting the NHTSA to investigate this issue for a possible recall.

My 2019 Nissan Armada has a recurring electrical issue that causes the battery to drain and the vehicle to not start, even though the battery tests “good. ” this problem began last year — we took the Armada to Nissan and had to pay over $200 for a new battery, which is now less than a year old. Despite this, the issue continues. Recently, autozone tested the battery again and found it only 60% charged. I took the Armada back to Nissan and paid $99 for a diagnostic test, and they quoted $725 to reset and reprogram the vehicle’s systems — just to address a problem that should not be happening on a vehicle I purchased less than two years ago. The Nissan technician even stated that many Armada owners are experiencing the same issue, yet my VIN is not included in any recall or service campaign. This is not just inconvenient — it is a serious safety risk. If my Armada dies while traveling or loses power while pulling into traffic, it puts me and my three small children in immediate danger. I believe this is a widespread defect and am asking NHTSA to investigate whether this battery drain / no-start issue should be escalated to a recall. Nissan should not be charging families hundreds of dollars to fix a known problem that is leaving people stranded in unsafe situations.

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The contact owns a 2017 Nissan Armada. The contact stated that while driving at low rates of speed, the vehicle came to an abrupt stop with the check engine and abs warning lights illuminated. The contact was forced to restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate above 30 mph. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the contact was initially informed that the output speed sensor was defective; however, later the contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was filed. The vehicle was not yet repaired and remained in the possession of the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000.

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It will stall out when we try to start the vehicle. The battery is still pretty new and there are no check engine lights on. It will stall 2 or 3 times but then start about 5 to 10 minutes later.

I was driving on the mass pike (rte 90) when exiting the highway the vehicle lurched and the engine started racing. Then the vehicle had no acceleration and would not go above 20 mph. I towed it to a mechanic who stated the transmission was shot. Six weeks later the vehicle was fixed and the transmission was replaced for a lot of money!! there was no warning before the transmission broke.

My driver's side rear "cv axel" needs replaced, and there are many TSB's regarding the powertrain. My vehicle has roughly 87,000 miles on it. It seems as if there is an issue the manufacturer knows about but there hasn't been enough complaints as of yet.

The contact owns a 2007 Nissan Armada. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. An unknown message was displayed after the failure occurred. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

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The engine is failing on many Nissan vehicles with the Nissan vk56vd (gasoline v8) engine. Cylinder 7 on the engine has significant scouring, and there is a Nissan technical service bulletin (ntb19-057a) indicating this problem is widespread among 2017-2019 Nissan Armada, nv, titan, and titan xd models. This is a major safety concern. When there is a problem with the engine, the vehicle may stall, lose power, or even catch fire. If a driver loses the power from the engine while driving, or is unable to accelerate as expected, the vehicle could be at risk of getting hit, seriously injuring the occupants of all vehicles involved. The problem has been diagnosed, reproduced, and confirmed by kline Nissan in maplewood, mn. The vehicle was inspected by kline Nissan. Diagnosis details attached, along with borescope photo showing significant scouring in cylinder 7. Repair action is a new engine short block. My vehicle was outside the 60000 mile powertrain warranty window at the time of inspection. My service advisor at kline Nissan contacted Nissan consumer affairs to submit a factory goodwill case, but was informed by Nissan consumer affairs that they would not be assisting in the replacement of their defective engine. The concern I share with NHTSA is the cost I was quoted to repair this problem is $9203. 70. This problem is so widespread, among 3 years of Nissan's vehicles, I expect very few vehicle owners outside of the warranty window will be investing this level of repair in their vehicle. As a result, many of these engines to fail on the road, putting the public highways and roads at major safety risk. There are no warning lamps or messages for this problem, simply a tick noise that gets louder over time as the cylinder continues to get scoured, worn and damaged. This will eventually lead to damage significant enough to unpredictably blow the engine while driving which would be a major safety concern putting the vehicle occupants and others on the road at risk.

The transmission is shifting incorrectly at low rpms. I can clearly see the rpm fluctuating especially going uphill. This happens 30-50 mph. Lack of power/acceleration. Feels like transmission is shifting in lower gears too sooner and and won't accelerate until driver pushes significantly. This is very dangerous especially making turns at stop lights.

The airbag light has been on for a while indicating that there is a defect in the airbags . The brakes light comes on randomly and the car brakes on its own without me applying the brakes and that is very dangerous especially on the highway and the transmission light comes on showing the 4x4 light as on for no reason and I would have it on just the 2 wheels.

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In August 2020, I had to jump start my Armada due to battery drained while parked. The very next day, same thing happened. Nissan reprogrammed ecm in September due to recall. Worked fine until October 21, when the same problem occurred again. I drove it that morning, but when I tried to start it that afternoon, it would not start and the interior just flash on and off. Had to jump start again.

While driving at rate of 45 miles per hour in the city of oxnard, CA in my 2017 Nissan Armada sl, the car started to immediately slow down to a speed of 5 miles per hour, which almost caused an accident. The antiskid and 4x4 lights and check engine light came on, but the car could not accelerate. I had to pull over to allow traffic to continue. After waiting for several minutes with the car off I restarted the car and then drove as normal. I took the vehicle to get looked at, but the technician couldn't determine the cause using diagnostic equipment. The car continues to drive normal, but then stalls and the same issue arises.

The vehicle will start having erratic rpms, hesitation to accelerate, engine rpms will not go above 2000-2500 or below 1000-300 without severe hesitation, then sometimes it will just completely shut down everything no matter if stopped at a light or driving highway speeds. Total loss of vehicle control happens. . . No brakes, power steering, no acceleration. Every light turns on on dash and if your driving at the time you better hope that you can quickly throw it in neutral, crank the engine at least 2-4 times before it'll start up, then kick it back in drive to gain control of the vehicle again so you can pull over somewhere safe before you get into a serious wreck. Taking it to Nissan was pointless since after you get the Armada restarted, it doesn't retain any codes that the dealership can use to diagnose the problem nor can the mechanic replicate the issue on test drives. At which point I look like I'm the crazy one, then they send me off on my way with no answers. The only other problem that the Armada had long before this problem, during it, and currently is a cracked exhaust manifold which, too, is apparently a very common issue that plagues other Armadas which Nissan refused to acknowledge as a very common problem and issue a recall. This issue is hard to support with pics or documents since it almost always occurs while the vehicle is in motion so you're too occupied trying not to kill yourself or others on the road and when you do go to Nissan there no codes to pull since I guess the vehicle erases it after the complete loss of power. Feels like I'm chasing my tail. . .

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Purchased a 2010 Nissan Armada and the suspension seems to have just gone out when a code reader is connected to the obd2 censor it throw the code even though it was just replaced but the car lot orlando cars & trucks from eustis . I saw on most 2010 Nissan Armadas they fail . Also my sons seat in the back passenger side doesn't stay clipped down . This is something huge for me . His safety is very important to me . Most days my car sounds like a jet is going to take off and I'm not sure if it is a hub esembly . But the seat situation is completely a malfunction it should stand any different than the way the other back seats stand while sitting in them .

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The transmission on my 2017 Armada seems to shift improperly and even seems to shift prematurely causing a stall or loss of power to the vehicle. I've notice this as I'm starting to accelerate from a stopped position and it appears to happen sometime between shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. This happens all the time while driving in town, on the highway, I've yet to notice any issues. I purchased this vehicle used from Buick/GMC in gilroy, CA. August of 2019. I failed to notice this issue when I test drove the vehicle.

Brake pedal switch failure for second time on a 2017 Nissan Armada. Because Nissan repaired this a year ago (mind you when my vehicle was only a year old and had to be towed from toledo) they will not cover the repair again because they have stated that it outside of the 12,000 miles, one year warranty on the part. Nissan has an issue with this switch assembly. The service technician noted that there were two other Armadas in for the same repair that week. This is not only a reputational issue but a safety issue. One of the main concerns with the switch is that it is not recognizing when you apply your foot to the brake!.

The engine loses power suddenly and unexpectedly (check engine light turns on). With the loss of power, vehicle loses speed and acceleration. This situation has happened on four different occasions. In all cases the loss of power happened while driving, three of the times while driving on a major highway (I-10). The sudden loss of speed creates a hazardous situation for me, my passengers and any drivers around me. In all cases I have taken my vehicle to the dealership that I bought the car from, mossy Nissan in houston (mn). The first time I had this problem I stopped at a shop close-by and the mechanic at the shop reset the engine and fixed the engine momentarily. Details of each visit are: event #1: 05/14/19 - a mechanic at a shop near to where the problem happened connected a hand-held device to my vehicle. The device issued a code. The easy fix was to reset the engine, which I agreed-to do since the car was undriveable. The following morning, I took my vehicle to mn service. I detailed the problem and the code given by the hand-held device. Mn was not able to address and fix the issue. Mn suggested that if the problem happened again to drive my vehicle to mn without resetting so that they could diagnose. Event #2: 06/12/19 - same problem again (loss of power, speed and acceleration). I drove the car to mn. Per mn, the problem was a harness that was replaced, and this took care of the problem. Event #3: 08/12/19 - same problem again. I drove the car to mn. Per mn, the problem this time was the ecm computer that was replaced, and this took care of the problem. Event #4: 12/2/19 - same problem again. I drove the car to mn. Per mn, the problem this time was a motor relay that was replaced, and this took care of the problem. This is an unreliable car and even driving short distances is stressful as I am afraid of this recurring problem happening again. Thank you.

Tl the contact owns a 2004 Nissan Armada. While driving 50 mph and approaching a stop light, the vehicle stalled and the check engine and other unknown warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was restarted and when the gear shifter was placed in drive, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the crankshaft position sensor failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failures and did not assist. The approximate failure mileage was 134,000.

I applied my brakes and stopped 10 feet behind a pick-up at traffic light. The car surged forward. I pushed on the brakes harder, stopped then the car surged again hitting the pick-up twice each time after stopping when pushing harder on the brakes. It is only after putting in neutral that it allowed me to control it and pull over to exchange driver information. The same happened while waiting to fill-up with gas in March 2018. I almost hit a small car. I put it into park at which time the shifter cable broke.

2017 vehicle hesitated while leaving a drive through, would not shift from park. At next venue, the vehicle failed to start. Owner attempted to start vehicle with remote start. The engine turned on, however, upon entry when the owner pressed the start and placed foot on the brake, the vehicle shut off. The vehicle was then towed to the dealership where repairs were made to a stop sensor, however, the vehicle is still hesitating.

The new Armada for 2017 has a cold weather problem in its transmission. The problem is it doesn't shift properly. My dealer says that's the way it supposed to work to warm the fluid. But in the 40 years that I have been driving cold weather has never been a problem for transmissions. It stays in 2nd and 3rd gears way to long . Anyway that's my problem and there should be a solution, maybe a different transmission fluid or a different code to shift more quickly. An updates needed. This happens everytime you start from a stop until the car warms, about 20 minutes of driving. Nissan mileage could go up an additional 2 miles per gallon more if it didn't have such high revs during this warm up period.

The transmission does not seem to shift in a normal manner it does not shift up when starting from a stopped position and seems to downshift un-necessarily. You can hear the engine working harder than it should since it's in a lower gear than it should be, and you can see it in the tachometer because it's running at a much higher rate. On one occasion I noticed the tachometer fluttering for 10-15 seconds while driving at a steady speed. All of the occurrences were on city streets. The problem does not happen all of the time as it could be a few days in between occurrences. I have been to the dealer twice already. They did notice the problem and updated the software, but the problem still exists. They claim they do not have a fix!.

The contact owns a 2014 Nissan Armada. The contact sated that there was an internal leak. The dealer was notified and determined that the transmission coolant line needed to be replaced. The contact was uncertain if the dealer (Nissan of stockton, 3077 e hammer ln, stockton, CA 95212, (209) 390-4978) provided a reasonable solution. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.

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The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Armada. The contact noticed a leak from the front passenger side of the vehicle. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the leak was due to a temporary seal on the transmission cooler line, which needed to be replaced. The contact performed the repair himself; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 126,000.

Sometimes when pressing the accelerator, the vehicle will act like it is trying to choke out and will shudder and/or hesitate. This can occur when trying to climb an incline or when merging into traffic from a slowed down or stopped standing. This can be seen in a shudder in the tachometer needle and feels terrible. There is great concern on my part that it will happen to do this at a moment that my children are with me and will cause me to be hit by another vehicle. The occurrence is unpredictable but is incredibly noticeable. I have been told by the dealership many times that this is normal and that no one else has reported a problem. I cannot imagine that anyone would buy this vehicle given how easily the problem is noticed. It is unnerving.

Rear plastic fender left side had come off while driving leaving the rear sensor exposed and hanging.

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From slow starts, the tachometer will flutter and that hesitation is transmitted through the drivetrain to the wheels.

From slow starts, the tachometer will flutter and that hesitation is transmitted through the drivetrain to the wheels. This hesitation has been seen around all shift points and has been confirmed by service technicians. Nissan does not have a fixed at this time. The condition represents a hazard on icy roads� it caused me to leave a lane due to slip. A video of the tachometer is available on request.

Letter from senator schumer on behalf of constituent re 2010 Nissan Armada se active recall. The consumer stated when he/she put the vehicle in reverse, the transmission changed hard, then the vdc off, brake, and slip lights illuminated. When the consumer put the vehicle in drive, and accelerated, the vehicle took off with more torque than it normally did. Upon trying to stop, the brakes went spongy, and came to a smooth stop, with the brake pedal all the way to the floor.

The contact owns a 2006 Nissan Armada. While backing out of a parking space, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver and an unknown clicking sound was heard. In addition, the gear shifter was placed in the drive position, but the vehicle rolled backwards. The vehicle had to be restarted in order for the failure to cease. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 115,000.

When parked on steep inclined driveway, the parking brake will not engage and vehicle continues to roll. When shifting to park on steep inclined driveway, the vehicle continues to move until it catches. When applying foot brake, then shifting into park and applying parking brake the vehicle continues to move until it catches. When vehicle is on flat surface and only parking brake is applied, the vehicle will move forward in neutral when vehicle is at high idle (warming up) and will move easily without resistance when put in forward or reverse. The pedal can be pushed all the way to the floor board and will not engage. The Nissan manual states in maintenance chapter (8-3) parking brake: check the parking brake operation regularly. Vehicle should be securely held on a fairly steep hill with only the parking brake applied. If the parking brake needs adjustment, see a Nissan dealer. The most common use for a parking brake is to keep the vehicle motionless when it is parked and to prevent damage on the transmission/parking pawl (especially when parked on an incline). I have seen 2 local Nissan dealers and they say this is normal and they don't have a solution to fix the parking brake.