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.
Hard shifting banging when engaging gears. Its only a matter of time before it blows up in their faces since they won't accept responsibility. Too many of the same cars are doing the same thing. Spells mechanical error to me in my 10 years as an engineer.
Got into the car today after the gym. Car barely started. When I put the car into drive it clucked hard into gear. However when I put my foot on the gas the car barely moved. I placed the car into reverse and the car had a loud aggressive cluck into reverse. The transmission has failed once again this is the second time now the transmission has failed we have replace the transmission about 3 years ago. And once again it has failed. There are no lights on in the car and it wasn't acting up until today.
Only 45,702 miles on my 2005 Nissan Maxima those are ORIGINAL miles, car is not driven much and last night 5/23/2017 my transmission FAILED IN MIDDLE OF ROAD...SUDDENLY NO POWER..never had problems shifting, no kicking or loud thunk when placing in R or D!!! I am heart sick, cannot afford a new transmission and it is the only car I have. I need it for my lively hood of getting back and forth to work. What do I do??
- Dawn H.,
Spokane, US
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The problem just happened recently. We brought the 05 Maxima to the Manoa Chevron gas station. They could not repair it. They towed it to a transmission expert from the Chevron station. We bought it new in 2005.
Here is the problem: When you first start out, the car feels okay, but after a few blocks the car transmission slips even when you give it a lot of gas and rev the engine. Then the car slows down and the TMC light and engine light both go on and it stalls dead. After stalling its hard to re- start it. There is a burning smell we also noticed. The last thing that happens is there is a hard thunking sound and jolt when you put it in reverse. The transmission shop says they need another day just to figure out what is wrong with it. I will try to call again tomorrow and see if they can fix it or if I need to junk the car. It has too few miles on It for this to happen, and we took good care of the car by having the transmission fluid changed at 30,000 miles with Nissan Transmission Fluid. I am 89 years old, and I never had a car break down like this with so few miles on it.
My car was always dealer maintained. I've been the sole owner of this car since new. It was babied and taken very good care of. (Everyone says that, but it's true here.) The car was running fine, until it wasn't. Meaning that this situation is not pothole, accident, or abuse related. There are no oil leaks or other signs of potential problems. But, here's something funny, the front brake pads and rotors lasted as long as the transmission. At 91,000 I had to replace the brakes for their first time and transmission. The transmission "clunks" then you switch from reverse to drive with an impact that you can feel in the seats as well as hear. The only other problem that I've had with this car was with a leaky AC hose inside the cabin, and the telescoping motor for the steering wheel.
Here it is less than a year later the transmission on this car has failed again! This is really ridiculous and I am fed up with this transmission issue!!! Now the transmission has completely gave out. (The car gave up on me in the middle of a busy intersection!) When I stepped on the gas pedal, the car started going then it made the sound as if the car was sitting in neutral without stepping on the gas! Luckily I was able to roll really slowly out of the intersection and into a gas station! I tried stepping on the gas again and the power to the car started failing, as if the car was going to cut off, and it did! I had to get my car towed home.
This is the second time this has happened! How much more money do I have to spend to get this crap fixed!!!??? Called Carmax (again) to let them know, now I'm playing the waiting game. Want my advice? Do not buy this crappy car! From anyone! Google "2005 Nissan Maxima issues". You will see the issues are for 2004-2006 Nissan Maxima. Do your research people!!! I will update once (or if) this issue is fixed (again)!
No warning, no nothing, just driving home one night, car starts to rev higher, with no speeding up. Car slowly drifts to a stop on side of busy road. Shut off, turn back on, and drive for another half mile until it repeats with no recovery. Car was towed and impounded before AAA got there, which was another bonus.
Apparently, this is an issue across ALL Nissan models. The transmission is cooled by the radiator, so antifreeze goes into the tranny. Apparently, the trans components are not compatible... Things I could have know earlier.
Nissan doesn't care, it's out of warranty, even with only 59K on the car! What an incredible rip-off! Never again, Nissan! I picked up a Subaru that has been a dream, in comparison!
Bought this car thinking Nissan was a great car for my daughter & granddaughter, not. The transmission is gone @ 80,000 miles what a joke. Nissan should do the right thing a do a recall.
Transmission failure. (2005 Maxima-77,000 miles). Car was only used for work and church. When driving and reducing speed, it would downshift and as the speed progress it would jerk really hard as if you have been hit in the back. After driving about the 15 minutes, the car would overheat. When putting car in reverse, it would jerk really hard.
I have replaced the motor mounts and still have the same problems. Can only drive a short distance because you do not know if the car will make it to one point to another. I am afraid that someone, not just the driver, but the passengers as well will one day get hurt or killed because you do not know when or where it will stall in traffic. It is sad to say, but I am really afraid of my car. the fear is really worse of getting shot by a bullet.
I was told by the Nissan dealership that it would cost me $3698.82 to fix in which I do not have that sort of money. It is a shame that a car looks and cost so much, but is so shameful (Maxima). When sold to me, they wanted to put me in a sharp car. I did learn in one of my college classes-(contract) that a dealership would rather pay out a death if one, than have to recall cars to fix the problems because they will be losing more money. Everybody has to survive in this world, but my God, at people lives.
TRANSMISSION FAILURE, UPON DOING RESEARCH THE TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED IN FEB 2014 BY A NISSAN DEALER IN NORTH LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS. THEY SAY IT NEEDS ANOTHER TRANSMISSION AND THE WARRANTY IS ONLY GOOD FOR 12 MONTHS, SO IT IS OUT OF TIME. THEY SAY I NEED TO BE SAVING UP FOR ANOTHER ONE BECAUSE THE TRANSMISSIONS ARE BAD AND THE NEW ONE WILL GO OUT AGAIN IN A YEAR OR MORE.
I called Nissan for assistance in 2014. They declined as the vehicle was not in the name I gave them. I had to provide proof to get a $100+ transmission diagnosis test, for them to still decline to pay for the transmission.
We bought this car in 2008 with 24,000 miles on it. The car ran good with no issues, until around 60,000 miles. The car would jerk if you put it in drive and then reverse and drive again ( as if you were parallel parking). if the car was still warm from running if you started it and put it in drive it would give a hard jolt. The reason we let it go so long because it didn't affect anything else. If you started it up cold and put it drive ( no problems at all). Then overtime the jolting became more frequent. The last straw was when I was driving my wife's car one day and notice it was downshifting hard. I felt like it was on its last leg and took it to a local transmission shop recommend from a friend who owned a mechanic shop.After opening up the transmission he said it needed to be rebuilt. He gave me 2 options 1 was to rebuild to OEM specs which would last another 50 - 75k miles for $3400 or rebuild and reinforce which would get me over 100K $3800 I chose the latter as I want to keep the car for a long time especially after investing 3k in it. All in all this is a great car engine runs like a champ, its fast, comfortable looks good. Just make sure if you buy a used one you ask about the tranny and if it hasn't been replaced start saving now.
I loved my Max. I always keep the maintenance up to date, it still looks brand new. It started jerking when braking or stopping suddenly & also hesitates when trying to take off. I see there are so many complaints all stating the same issue. I hope that something is done before someone gets seriously hurt or loses their life because of the jerking and stalling to take off. Those Maximum are not cheap cars. I saved and deployed twice to get this car where I can afford it. Now the transmission is causing problems and I don't have an income. now I'm a full time student using my GI Bill to pay for school. I hope Nissan owns up. spread the word on social media so Nissan can be held accountable for this issues.
This is the second time I will have had to replace the transmission in this car, in two years!
Nissan should honor the owners of these cars -- they installed a poorly designed transmission. In the course of two years, I will be paying more than the car is worth in order to keep it running. The transmission specialist told me to plan to continue doing this due to the poor design -- the engine mounts are stretching again and soon will be gone, as they did less than two years ago.
DO NOT BUY ONE OF THESE CARS. SKIP THE NISSAN 2005 MAXIMA!!!!! BAD car.
I bought this car (used) in 2008. I absolutely loved my car. In 2012 the transmission began slipping and I learned it had bad engine mounts, which resulted in my having to have the transmission rebuilt for $3500.+/-.
DO NOT BUY THIS YEAR AND MODEL.
I bought this car thinking I could put 200K miles on it -- intended to keep it for a VERY long time.
A common problem. When my 2005 Nissan Maxima reached about 110,000 the transmission really started to jerk. I had to have it rebuilt. It cost me nearly $3000. This is my second Nissan Maxima and I will never buy another. The jerking has never fully gone away. I see this is a common issue on this website, has Nissan ever offered any recall or fix on this issue?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Blown front seal of the transmission, twice in 2 weeks.
Car goes into "Limp Home Mode"
- Rex T., Columbus City, IA, US