CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2004-2006 Nissan Maxima has widespread transmission problems. It starts with the vehicle jerking when shifting, & progresses to full-blown transmission failure.
Maxima owners report spending $3,000 to replace the transmission, typically around when the odometer hits 100,000 miles.
There's a class action lawsuit filed in late 2011, & it is still in the "discovery" stage. Apparently, these things take time ... far too much time.
At first the car started jerking when it would go into another gear from reverse. It progressively became worse until about 3 weeks ago in the month of March 2013, I barely got home from work, the car did not want to go. I got the car in 2010 and it was used but with only 45,000 miles on it. It worked perfectly and even took me on my road trip to California last summer. I have never had issues with transmissions because the last car I was driving was a good old Ford mustang. It was standard and never knew what a transmission problem was. My Mustang has over 200,000 miles on it and has taken me to and from California several times and never had a problem with it. Unfortunately I am still paying on the Maxima for another 2 years and I wish I can give it back. I will never buy a Nissan ever again and will only stick US made cars. Very frustrated because the car is just parked in my driveway, waiting on enough money to fix the car.
2005 Nissan Maxima transmission problems. Problem initially was jerking took to dealer no error codes and when driven they were unable to diagnose at that time because when the technician drove the car at that time it drove fine. Problem got worst took it back now to here the problem is the valve body which is a known issue with the 2005 Nissan Maxima. However my problems just got worst, they said the bad valve body caused extensive damage to the transmission and the transmission needs to be replaced. 3,800 which I do not have to spend on transmission. The service adviser and the parts specialist both acknowledge the known issue with the transmissions with 2005 model however they stated it has not yet been recalled. I am a Nissan lover this is my second Nissan and I also bought a Nissan for my daughter. Nissan knows of this issue however they have not recalled it. shame on you Nissan, No more Nissan for me!
It takes about 5 seconds for it to go in reverse and about the same to go into drive. It bangs hard when it does. Sometimes it slips going from 1st to 2nd and 3rd. When I slow down, it bangs from 3rd to 2nd. Sometimes it gets stuck in 5th gear and I have to pull over and turn the car off for about 5 mins and start it back up.
Nissan knows this is a defect but won't do a recall. But if they're not going to do a recall, at least they could offer to pay half to get the repair done. I have found a shop in Searcy, Ar that can do the repair for about $800.
If you want to know the location, email me at katmax74@gmail.com
I have a 2005 Nissan Maxima se with 82,000 miles and the transmission is going out. It started missing gears between 2nd and 3rd. the rpm's would jump up really high and then it will slam into the next gear and about give you whiplash. I have had my mechanic change the transmission fluid twice hoping that it would take care of the problem. Of course it didn't fix and he has just informed me that the transmission will need to be replaced. So we tried to buy a Jasper rebuilt transmission but they don't even make one because of all the issues that Nissan is having with transmission. So i called Jeff Wyler Nissan in Eastgate, Ohio where i bought this car and i told them my story and wanted to see if Nissan had issued a recall on the transmission.
In typical dealer bull crap, he told me that he had never heard of this issue before and that it wasn't their problem.
Transmission is jerky from 1st to 3rd gear. Hard shift if stopping or accelerating quickly. Problem comes and goes but becomes major in stop and go traffic. Having to replace whole transmission due to the heat it created on the mechanical parts. Roughly $3400 for a problem with the Aisin RE5F22A 5 speed transmission that Nissan is aware of. Filing complaint with both BBB and NHTSA.
- Kyle E.,
Hendersonville, TN, US
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Bought a 05 Nissan Maxima because of the Nissan brand and we had great experience with them over the last 10 years. I was trusting of the quality of Nissan and did not do my homework. If I had seen this site or the many others like it, I would have stayed away from them. Anyway. Bought the car at 106k from a local lot. My daughter loved the car, overall its very nice in appearance. When we drove it, it had a slight vibration in the front left. It felt like a tire was out of balance. Because of the traffic, we could not test drive it much over 40 mph. We bought it (bad us). Her job requires highway travel and she immediately complained to me. Got the tires balanced. It did not help. Brought it to a local shop. While on the lift, they pointed out that you can grab the drivers side axle shaft and move it around where it slides in the transmission (alot). The transmission bearing or whatever that is supposed to stabilize the axle was going out and the faster she drove, the more it wobbled. I was really surprised it was this problem as the transmission was rebuilt by the Nissan dealer at 77k miles. Stinkin factory transmission did not last 35k miles. Of course it was out of warranty (12k or 12 months). I brought it back to the Nissan dealer that stated the transmission needed to be replaced again. Estimate was at $3380. I have not yet got it fixed as I am weighing the options. There is an attorney that is putting together a class action lawsuit on the Nissan transmissions between 2004 and 2006. It is the Chimicles & Tikellis LLP law firm. 610-642-8500 ext 314. Ask for Brad Gaughan. If you have not bought one of these cars (same with Altimas) I would suggest staying away from these year models until Nissan owns up to the problem.
well first the car started like jumping when shifting gears i took it to fix and supposedly they rebuild the transmission well it occurs they did it wrong and now the said it burned out first i payed 2000 dollars know they want 2700 dollars i havnt even finish paying the dam car
2005 Maxima 75k miles..started slipping..one repair shop said up to $4500 to fix/rebuild entire transmission..went for a 2nd opinion said valve body needs replacing, @$1800..if entire tranny needs rebuilding @ $2200-$2500...this car is paid for, i cant afford to get this fixed, Nissan NEEDS to grow some balls and take ownership for this problem. If you google 2005 Nissan Maxima transmission problems, you will be blown away by other ppl in the same spot. contacted corp Nissan in TN and was told a "regional rep" would contact me by end of business day Tuesday (Dec 13) but no one has and im not holding my breath. Ive already contacted the local ABC affiliate trouble shooter and have contacted the ABC show 20/20 ..sending backup documentation i printed from online to see if they may want to do an investigation into why SO MANY Maximas (mine at only 75k miles) needs a new transmission. Ive drives cars well over 100k miles before and never had to replace a transmission. I have no idea what i am going to do..i am a single working mother with a child in college, my money is stretched tight, cant afford car payments and a mortgage payment, thats why i purchased what i thought was going to be a GOOD car. I love this car, but if i can trade it in on something thats what im going to do. One thing that pissed me off even more than finding out i needed a transmission, ive read online and was told by more than one mechanic, is that the problem will occur again after replacing the transmission; its a Nissan defect, which they are aware of but wont do a thing about. Im hoping my mouth will help me out, and hopefully others as well. If anyone is interested, contact your local trouble shooter, hell..contact 20/20 to see if they will bite onto this story..i am so pissed about this and everyone affected by this should be too. Its a beautiful car on the outside, mine is black, but a piece of crap when it comes to the transmission. Thousands of owners cant be wrong.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
At first the car started jerking when it would go into another gear from reverse. It progressively became worse until about 3 weeks ago in the month of March 2013, I barely got home from work, the car did not want to go. I got the car in 2010 and it was used but with only 45,000 miles on it. It worked perfectly and even took me on my road trip to California last summer. I have never had issues with transmissions because the last car I was driving was a good old Ford mustang. It was standard and never knew what a transmission problem was. My Mustang has over 200,000 miles on it and has taken me to and from California several times and never had a problem with it. Unfortunately I am still paying on the Maxima for another 2 years and I wish I can give it back. I will never buy a Nissan ever again and will only stick US made cars. Very frustrated because the car is just parked in my driveway, waiting on enough money to fix the car.
- Cecilia P., San Antonio, TX, US