2023 Nissan Versa Engine Problems

Mileage when the problem started

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2023 Nissan Versa owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

The contact owns a 2023 Nissan Versa. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. Additionally, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were yet contacted. The failure mileage was 11,000.

Recently began driver training on this vehicle with my son (at approximate vehicle mileage of 12,500). Vehicle is manual transmission and had never previously been stalled. Once vehicle had been stalled during driver training, reduced vehicle power was available, creating an unsafe condition when attempting to merge into traffic or driving on an uphill grade. The issue produced no warning message or CEL but did produce a pending OBDII error code of P2615 (camshaft signal output circuit low). The error appears to resolve after a full restart (shut down, unlock and open door, close door, restart). The error is reproducible and has occurred on multiple occasions. The error does not reset if simply restarting vehicle without opening door between restart. I have scheduled an appointment for evaluation by dealer, but it has not yet been confirmed by dealer. …

The car lost power and would not go over 40 MPH. This made for a dangerous situation on the road. P2615-00 A Crankshaft Position Sensor code was thrown, but when I took it to the dealer they could not replicate the problem. I have video documentation of the problem I can provide. Since I posted my video, several other people have come forward with the same issue. It seems as if when the manual transmission version of this car is stalled or fails to start, it will throw this code and severely reduce the power. It seems to be a simple software issue, but so far all the Nissan dealers who have looked at these cars have not been able to provide a fix. This problem apparently affects all 2022-2023 Versas with the manual transmission. The problem is likely they did not properly code for the removal of the push to start button. …

I was taking my 23 versa M/T to the dealer for its 10.000 mile service and upon driving the vehicle while pulling away from a stop sign I stall the vehicle and after that there was a significant loss of power, restarting the engine did not help. When I got to the dealership I did not shut the engine off and told them about the issue and said it was a safety issue and did not have the power to get out of the way in a emergencysituation. Unfortunately they claimed they could not duplicate the issue and requested to hold the vehicle for further investigation. Before the vehicle le was stalled there were no warning lamps or check engine lights or any symptoms prior nor any warning lamps on the wa to the dealership while the issue consisted. This problem has happened twice before while my wife was on the way to work and after her shift the vehicle preformed normal.

Multiple incidents where car has failed to accelerate properly. When it happened this morning, I was in the vicinity of the dealership. Foreman mechanic road-tested vehicle with me, and back at Nissan my car put out the engine code P2615-00 camshaft posi signal B1...I was told this is a known concern on manual transmission Versa vehicles that is "being looked into by engineering." On a previous visit to the dealership about this problem, I was told that the acceleration problem could have been caused by bugs covering the front crash sensor! Anyway, on a couple occasions, when merging into traffic, this problem was dangerous..I've resorted to my emergency blinkers a couple times....Then, upon being able to pull over, I shut off the car, and when I re-start the vehicle it runs like a champ again.

Car is 4 months old 12,000 miles. 3 intermittent episodes upon startup car has only 20% power even with gas pedal to the floor like it's in limp home mode. All episodes so far on cold start up 60-80 degree weather. No CEL lights, no misfire, no odd smells. YouTube poster has same problem and ran obd scan tool showing crank position sensor malfunction. Others suspect problem is software issue associated with Nissan removing the push button start from Versa S trim level only cars in 2022/2023 model years and possibly in manual transmission cars only. Car is extremely unsafe to drive in this condition and the female owner is reluctant to drive it 50 miles to work and be stranded. Nissan dealer examined the car and found no issues on first attempt. Car going to the repair shop for a second time.

I stalled my vehicle (5-speed manual) in a drive through. I quickly restarted the vehicle and proceeded through. When I pulled out onto the main road my car had no power. There was nowhere safe to pull over so I had to continue. My car would not accelerate above 20mph and even that was extremely hard. I had to downshift to 1st gear to proceed up the hill. Finally, I was able to pull off and restart my car. This fixed the issue and I was able to drive home. I've not stalled the car before so I had never experienced this issue. I've read about it, and having it happen is terrifying. Had the car who was driving behind me been going faster, I likely would have been hit when I pulled out of the drive through. This is extremely dangerous.

Car has manual transmission: If engine stalls from starting on a hill or any other reason, when restarted it runs on limp mode with severe loss of power. Problem usually resolves on next restart, but may take up to 2 restarts to resolve. Issue was reported to Buckeye Nissan, Hilliard Ohio on 11/08/23. at that date it had occurred 3 times in the first 1,200 miles. as of 02/24/25 it has occurred approximately 15 additional times within the first 19,000 miles. potential danger in that most stalls occur from start at traffic light, and if left turn is made at traffic light after restart, there is not enough power to avoid oncoming traffic, merge onto freeway etc. this condition is easily reproduced with an intentional stall.

My 2023 Nissan Versa S5MT has a reoccurring issue where under a stall condition the car will occasionally loose all power on a restart. This happened once in traffic. I got to a red light and fumbled the clutch pedal and stalled in stopped traffic. I went to get in front of a semi that was moving faster then me and if I didn't realize what happened I may have cut him off and gotten T-boned. In a 2500lb car like the Versa, that could have killed me. I have taken the vehicle to the dealership and they failed to replicate the issue. There were no symptoms or warnings prior to the failure. Many others have claimed this issue exists with their 2023 Nissan Versas and also claimed the dealership could not fix theirs.

My car stalled while backing up in heavy gravel. I started out and did not notice that my car was not accelerating. I pulled out into a 65 mph road and began shifting and realized my car was not accelerating. It was a road where pulling over was dangerous. I found an area and turn the car off. I restarted (fixed it when 1st occurrence happened). Got back on the road and again my car was not accelerating above 25-30 mph. Pulled out off the road shut the car off and waited 2-3 minutes and again restarted and the car resumed working properly. This was extremely dangerous due to the road not having safe pull outs. This is the second time this has occurred in my new car.

Engine complaints in other Versa years