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 slow speeds and taking off from stop, gear box gives a jolt and skipping gears. Very annoying. Especially when starting from stop, the motor revs and car does not move, and all of a sudden takes off.
Vehicle started with hard transmission shifts last year(approx. 125K miles). We thought we should check the transmission oil and it appeared "dirty". Went to local Nissan dealer and they changed the oil. After a few weeks is started again and continues to get worse. Slippage happens after slow take off and slowing down and speeding up again. Hard shifts during gearing down.
Didn't realize Nissan had this problem until I looked it up on web(thought I bought a "lemon"). Looks like not only sedans but SUV's have the problem as well. Nissan should be held accountable for producing a poorly engineered transmission and offer replacements. The Quality department should be screaming at upper management to correct the problem.....complaints multiply 10 fold compared to compliments.
Extremely frustrating that the manufacturer refuses to recognize and create a solution for this issue with so many trusting customers filing complaints.
I am posting this for my 88 year old mother. She babies this car and it has very few miles for the year. I drove it last week and was going 25 mph and the transmission slipped, engine went to 5000 rpm and I let off on the gas so the transmission could re-engage.
Took to my trusted transmission shop and they said valve body replacement at $1800 or complete rebuild at either $3200 or 3700 depending on warranty.
i have owned this car for over a year (3rd owner) and bought it right at the 100k mile mark. for the past 5 or 6 months now it has been shifting really rough and slipping really bad, i knew it wasnt good by any means but no lights came on so i guess i just assumed it would fix itself. until last week when i was driving home from class and it acted up again but this time a CEL came on and car went into limp mode. had the code pulled and replaced the camshaft position sensor - problem solved. until the next day when it went out again and into limp mode. i figured it only happened again because i didnt get the code erased. a scanner wouldnt clear it so i hard reset it and for the most part it has driven fine, unless im carrying friends around in town (stop and go traffic seems to be the problem) it seems im definitely not the only one having this problem and it is incredibly disappointing that a company like Nissan would just turn the other cheek.
I just my Nissan Maxima four months ago paying payments on something that don't wanna go half the time its bull when u pay on something you can't trust to drive your kids and grand kids anywhere, That was the whole reason I got this car everybody kept telling me to get a Nissan there good cars I got news for them all I have had is problems since I got it.
I think Nissan should be held responsible for fixing the transmission I can hardy afford the payments sure can't afford a new transmission that cost almost as much as I paid for the car.
I am like everybody else on this site there should be a lawsuit against Nissan. I was driving down the road with my daughter and granddaughter and my car stopped changing gears and died in the middle of the road if a car had been coming we would have got hit.
My transmission has been making a clunk sound, sounds like the transmission is jerking and slipping. This is so frustrated, it happens almost every day.
really frustrated with this issue. cause it is a nice dependable car except for the transmition issue. really wish nissan would step up and take responsibility for its short comings.
This Nissan Maxima 2006 is very unsafe the transmission is slipping just going down the road pops out of gear, hits real hard when put in revers. cant trust it to take off when pulling out in to traffic. I will not own another Nissan they don't back their products. I feel Nissan should have a recall on these transmissions. This a Safety issue which needs attention. I bought my car used and it started with the transmission problem not long after I got it. I don't have the money to get it fixed. I had to buy another car, I would love to have my maxima fixed. I love the car, but not the problems. I had the transmission fluid changed in my car and it had medal flakes in it but it didn't help. Please help
Purchased the car used, but only 48200 miles on it and after 15 miles of driving I smelled a burnt smell. Took it to the Nissan Dealership and they changed the fluid in it. Drove it 4 miles and the transmission burned completely out.
This car has every shifting issue a transmission can have.It jerks when taking off. Sometimes when slowing down and I take my foot off the gas it jerks downshifting. It even jerks after I have pulled into the driveway and put it into park. A few seconds after putting it into park it jerks so hard it feels as if it is going to come out of the car. I have degenerative disc disease and it hurts my back when these things occur. It is happening every time I drive the car now. I don't have 3500 dollars to repair this car so I guess I'll have to have it repossessed. It is a shame Nissan will not address this issue. This is my 5th Maxima and I am sad to say my last.
I bought this car off of my parents last year in 2014. It was working great until I noticed slight jerking when slowing, stopping, and starting up again. If i am on the highway my car seems to work best but as soon as i slow down, my cars transmission slips soo bad that it scares me and passengers in my car. some days it seems like it will just crap out on me with the REALLY hard jerks. I went to the dealer today and I told them that i previously called about my transmission and that i can have a walk in transmission diagnostic about my car jerking and right away he says "so we need to check if the transmission slipping?" I have never heard of the terminology until going to the dealership but the fact that he knew exactly what was wrong just by me explaining it should really say something, right? I have a sports luxury edition and i feel completely cheated out of such an expensive paid off car that now has a failure problem like this! Nissan needs to do something. There are lots of cars that run to and after 200,000 miles and this car is having problems at 130,000 miles. Complete bogus!!
DO NOT BUY A NISSAN MAXIMA AND IF YOU HAVE ONE TRADE IT IN OR SELL IT.
I BOUGHT MY NISSAN MAXIMA WITH 58,000 MILES SKUNK ROOF AND LEATHER SEATS NICE ON THE OUTSIDE AND SPACIOUS ON THE INSIDE. VANITY IS NOTHING WHEN A CAR HAS SO MANY PROBLEMS. THIS POST IS REAL AND I AM NOT EXAGGERATING.
I REPLACED THE A/C HOSE AND A/C COMPRESSOR WITHIN THE 1ST YEAR OF HAVING THE CAR. I ALSO REPLACED THE SHOCKS AND STRUTS. MY TRANSMISSION STARTED JERKING AND SLIPPING AND WENT OUT AT 84,000 MILES. MY CAR IS NOW AT 144,000 AND I SOMETIMES FEEL THE PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION COULD HAPPEN AGAIN ONE DAY. I HAVE REPLACED THE HI-BEAM BULBS 4 TIMES COST $80.00 EACH TIME I GOT A NEW BULB AND FINALLY JUST BOUGHT NEW HEADLIGHT CONSOLES ON BOTH SIDES.
THE DEALERSHIP CHARGES $250 LABOR TO REPLACE THE BULBS JUST USE A MOM AND POP SHOP FOR $30.00. I HAD AN OIL LEAK REPLACED, RADIATOR REPLACED, FUEL PUMP REPLACED, FAULTY BATTERY CONNECTOR REPLACED, BACK AIR VENTS NEVER WORKED. NOW MY RIGHT ENGINE MOUNT BROKEN AND MY BANK 1 CATALYST CONVERTER. I'M GETTING RID OF THIS CAR THE DEALERSHIP CAN EITHER FIX ITS NEW ISSUES OR A MECHANIC THAT KNOWS HOW TO FIX MAXIMAS CAN. MY ADVISE RUN!!! NO MATTER THE BEAUTY OF THE CAR.
I purchased my Nissan Maxima on 10/30/05 as a family car used to get me to and from work and to run household errands. I purchased the extended warranty because I wanted to make sure I was extra safe. I took extremely good care of this car. I took it to the dealer I purchased it from for all its timely check up's and oil changes (dealer has records of all my transactions) and even became good acquaintances with my service writer.
Then issues started to arise and each one more elevated and more serious. Then the more serious the issues got the more expensive they got. When things started to not be covered under the warranty, or when it expired, the nightmare turned into living hell. The last straw was when the transmission failed and the dealer quoted me $5,000 to fix the car. I about had a heart attack!!! It effected my whole life. Who has an extra $5000 to spend on something like this. I picked up the car from the dealer and it remains parked on my driveway. I was struggling to get to work. I couldn't do simple things like go to the doctor or grocery shopping without making arrangements. This was one of the biggest financial mistakes I ever made.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
At slow speeds and taking off from stop, gear box gives a jolt and skipping gears. Very annoying. Especially when starting from stop, the motor revs and car does not move, and all of a sudden takes off.
- hss_rao, Randolph, NJ, US