Max8

Here is the bulletin released yesterday by Nissan:

"Nissan notified NHTSA that it will be conducting a Voluntary Safety Recall Campaign on approximately 5,458 MY2016 Nissan Maxima (A36) vehicles manufactured at the Smyrna, TN plant between March 19, 2015 (SOP) and June 2, 2015 to address a potential fuel tank assembly issue."

"On some of the affected vehicles, the fuel sending unit may not have been affixed to the fuel tank correctly and could potentially leak. The issue was identified during a recent crash test. There have been no customer reports of leaks, accidents, or injuries associated with this issue."

The bulletin also states that 2,803 of these vehicles are in dealer inventory. Service Comm I.D. PC384

I was told by my service manager that my vehicle is one of the ones that will be recalled and that I can have a loaner provided at no charge to me. He also said that Nissan told them it will be approximately two weeks before a fix will be available.

I turned down the loaner. Not too worried about it.

guitarman

Thanks for the heads up Max8, as the NHTSA site still doesn't show any info yet.

charliebrown

Thanks for sharing the info. Much appreciated.

coasterswim

So not at all about the panoramic sunroof as people here had speculated.

Max8

I see also in the Q and A section, they have more details:


"The vehicle was crash tested and then rotated onto its side after the test as per procedure. Once the vehicle was rotated onto its side, some fuel leaked out of the test vehicle."


"Nissan determined the affected vehicle population by tracing the issue to a specific manufacturing process. Vehicles manufactured after the date are not affected."

ronalds

Thanks for the information. So now the question is this, do they resume sales of affected cars, with a fix in site, or do they hold off for two more weeks?

I have been waiting for over a week now with the car I want being part of the stop sale.

Wonder if they will let the sales resume...i hope so

mrgooch

Why would they make the sale and put them selves in legal jeopardy?

Max8

No, dealers are supposed to hold all cars affected. It doesn't actually say this, but some dealers could interpret the part about affected cars coming in for service as saying they should hold these cars too!


"It is the dealer's responsibility to check Service Comm using the appropriate Campaign I.D. for the campaign status on each vehicle falling within the range of this voluntary safety recall campaign which for any reason enters the service department. This includes vehicles purchased from private parties or presented by transient (tourist) owners and vehicles in dealer inventory. If a VIN subject to this recall campaign was part of a dealer trade, the letter associated with that VIN should be forwarded to the appropriate dealer for service completion."

beeeeeford

Since this affects Maximas manufactured at the Smyrna, Tennessee plant, I figured dealers must be able to tell from the VIN if a car was manufactured there or not. I did a little research and found that yes indeed you can tell this. If the 11th character in your VIN is the letter "C" is was manufactured in Smyrna. If it is an "N" it was manufactured in Canton, Mississippi. You can click the link below to confirm. You guys may have already known this but thought I would pass it along if anyone didn't. What I don't know is if this affects cars manufactured from March 19-June 2, was my car affected? I have a manufacture date of 6/15 but I don't know the day. Is there anyway to find that out myself without calling a dealer?

http://nissanhelp.com/diy/common/nissan_vin.php

charliebrown

Recall look-up is on Nissan's site now. Enter your VIN to see if your car is affected: http://www.nissanusa.com/recalls-vin#/

jc53

The car that I have been negotiating to buy is on the list! I wonder if I can use that info to get the price down further?

guitarman

Yay, mine's clean!

WasDmater

Of course! Use everything you can just as they use everything they can to drive the price up. They tell you that the car is a hot seller, a brand new design, that people are tearing down their doors to buy it. You tell them that the cars are sitting on their lots, that there is already a safety recall , etc, etc.


Its all a mental game, but they want to sell and you can wait to buy.

WasDmater

Plus, most car sales are down from 2014, you can use to your advantage.

adamgalazka

So checked my VIN on their website and no recalls exist but my 11th letter is C SO IT WAS MADE IN Smyrna. Hopefully it is after the dates that were mentioned. I will still check with my dealer.

Max8

The web site does work. I put in my VIN and it said I have a gas tank recall.

shrews824

According to the link mine is clean too.

R1600Turbo

Maxima sales are up though, so it might not work as well as you'd think.

wtgkb8

No matter what VIN letter you have...all Maximas sold in the US are built at the Smyrna, TN Plant.

lanre82

i'm affected by both

lightonthehill

Absolutely true. Every Maxima made in the U.S. since production moved from Japan with the 2004 model year has been made in Smyrna.

Chris Alexander

These autos will be sold at Wal Mart in no time if Nissan doesn't get their stuff together who's building these cars with Aunt Slappy's crazy glue!

Max8

Then don't buy one. By the way, why are you on this site. It is "The Home for Maxima Enthusiasts" (as it says on the top of the page), not Maxima bashers!

Chris Alexander

Heck 8th gen is too nice for problems so early on but hopefully they jump on it fast!

mdfergus

Just looked my up. NOT ON THE RECALL LIST!!!!!

nbwalton2

My SR is affected by the recall. The dealer said they don't have the repair parts yet. Nissan will send out letters to all affected in about 3 to 4 weeks(?). Hang tight! It is a safety recall, but it isn't a problem with day to day driving. The dealer said if i smelled gas to come in immediately - but I think that would be a separate issue from the recall.

It sounded like the recall is an issue with the gas line at the tank leaking after a crash and a partial roll over. Everything had to happen "just so" to cause the leak. I don't think my car is going to spontaneously combust while driving.

I doubt they can sell any cars, though, that are involved in this recall, even if it is voluntary on Nissan's part.

NissLover

It sounds like the leak only happens when the car is on its side. I think what they were saying is that the car was put on its side, deliberately, AFTER the crash test to inspect how the car handled the crash. I initially thought the car flipped in the crash test, but I don't think that's the case. So unless you guys are planning to flip your car on its side, I think everyone should be good.

Max8

Nice wheels!!!

Yeah. First they crashed it (they don't say how), then flipped it on it's side and then some (they don't say how much) gas leaked from where the sending unit attaches to the gas tank. My car is one of the ones recalled and I'm not concerned. I'll get it fixed in a couple weeks (or more) when they have it figured out what they're going to do about it.

WasDmater

I am going to crash test my maxima and turn it on its side. If it leaks, I will take it to the dealer

Madatedison

I am also affected by both the sunroof and gas tank recall.

WasDmater

There is a sunroof recall?

lightonthehill

Not a recall, but several here have had their sunroof make a loud pop when closing. One poster here got his pop fixed by the tech simply slipping a plastic part back in place where it should have been.

lanre82

I don't know if its an actual recall on the sunroof, but I do know mine broke the first time i used it and Nissan had sent someone out to take pictures and they say an engineer has been assigned. This was already in progress over the last few weeks and then my VIN was identified on the Gas Tank issue, for which I was quoted will be a few weeks out in and of itself. The sunroof doesn't have an actual fix identified as of yet either, so I'm in total limbo.

lightonthehill

The speed with which Nissan has jumped on this is exemplary.

General Motors and Chrysler tried for over fifteen years to cover up extremely dangerous problems in many of their vehicles that have resulted in, by recent analysis by safety experts and legal analysts, between 150 and 500 deaths and well over a thousand major injuries. The very sad thing is that both companies continued to manufacture and sell these rolling BBQ pits for over a decade after the problems were known by company insiders.

Several of those deaths occurred in the Atlanta area, and in each case, the accident was charged to careless driving by an innocent teen girl who suddenly found herself moving along at 55 MPH with no motor running, no power steering (which, in today's cars, essentially means no steering), no power brakes (which, in today's cars, essentially means no brakes), and only seconds to decide what to do. They never had a chance.

These incredibly horrid and callous cases of profits being more important than lives are simply added to the long list of reasons why I long ago made a personal commitment to never purchase any General Motors or Chrysler product.

R1600Turbo

That's not necessarily true. There's still a steering shaft connecting the wheel to the tires and your brake pedal is still essentially connected to your brake calipers through normal means. Both of these would be tougher to handle with no power, but they wouldn't quit working altogether...

guitarman

My sentiments exactly, LOTH!

I've owned my share of the "Big 3" autos in my day (9); Dodges, GMs and Fords. Every one of them but 1 had engine troubles before they turned 100k, in some cases <60k, not to mention faulty designs that required multiple same part replacements, a rusted firewall, rotted out floor pan and so on (the list is long)...

You couldn't give me a Big 3 car today, I'd just sell it. The only reason the Big 3 cars are better designed today is because of competition from the Japanese and Europeans.

guitarman

That's really not his point...

R1600Turbo

No but it was incorrect information.

Chris Alexander

Its bad timing for so many problems with the A36 most of us gained hypertension from the 6th gen years.

lightonthehill

Of course you are correct. In fact, I have appreciated your posts here, and have never once found an error in a post you made. Actually, I have come to think you may be associated with either Nissan or an automotive endeavor of some sort.

I still feel the information I posted was essentially true in the situation I was addressing, but only because of the drivers involved and the fact I used the word 'essentially' in each case. Having been driving from before either power steering or power brakes were put on vehicles, I am aware the connection is still there. But, in cars built with power steering and power brakes, it is very difficult to use either when the motor dies.

I recall twice in the mid-1970s when I found myself in this situation when driving an Oldsmobile 88 (and the motor died), and, although I was in very good physical condition at that time, I could barely turn the wheel (forget about any meaningful maneuvering) with the car rolling, and felt I was very near breaking the brake pedal off its shaft by pressing with all the force I could muster. Yet the car was slowing far too slowly to make much difference.

So, with little response time available and little driving experience, for the young teenage girls involved, the greatly reduced steering and braking capacity meant that they essentially lost use of the steering and braking. As I said, they had no chance.

To be fair, I should also admit my wife and I worked with the Dad of one of these girls, the accident happened near our home, and she was their only child. We still cry when we see him. It has been years, and we now accept that he will never recover from this.