Hello, I have a 2012 Nissan Altima 2.5l with an automatic CVT and at 97K miles. Been experiencing hesitation issues here and then, mostly when taking off from stops or red lights (don't know if this is important, but TCS light came on one time as well). I took it to a mechanic and they said the transmission could be going out and got codes (P0175, P0746, P1778, and P0868), but they also noticed code P0101. Since I am a college student and the price of the transmission is nothing to sneeze at (around $5K), I asked if we could try replacing the MAF sensor first and see where that takes us.

After that was done the SES light came back and I took the car to AutoZone and the code they were able to pull up was just P0101. Since then, I cleaned the cabinet where the air filter is (found a little bit of gunk in there) and bought a replacement just in case (have not put it in as mine seemed just fine). Car seems to be driving a little bit better since the MAF sensor was replaced, but I still had a couple of issues with hesitation.

My question mostly is at this point, what should I do next?

I know I can look at other parts of the MAF circuitry as well as the throttle body and the hose, maybe I could get started there?

Regarding the CVT, should I take it to a transmission shop and do maintenance/diag or should I just keep driving the car and see what happens? The car did have the CVT oil replaced at some point, but it was a long time ago.

Anyways, thank you for your time and in advance for taking a look at the question

Best wishes!