simon tx

Recently I've been pretty unhappy with the quality of my 2000 GLE.

I decided to look into many of the cars I like from Nissan like the Maxima's and the last 2 model year Altima's.

I have to say these cars have a rather large number of TSBs compared to the typical cars you might consider as "similar".

Although I need to take a some of the blame for buying the 2000 Maxima (first year new design), I did extensive research and Nissan always has had very high scores for reliability and quality.

I think that is mostly based on their cars from the early 90s - because it is my impression that since they have been having problems financially (late 90s-2000s) their quality has declined significantly.

Any opinions on this? I been considering gettting rid of my Maxima, but it is pretty easy for an astute buyer to find out about all the problems with the Maxima - plus most dealerships know it is not exactly up to the quality that Nissan sells them at.

What to do? Hope that all the problems are behind me or take a bath trading it in for another car?

When things are good - it is a great car - but it seems it has a problem on a regular basis.

I might point out that I don't drive it particularily hard and I only have 34K miles on a 3 year old car.

I thought about a G35 - but I'm concerned Infiniti may not be much better than Nissan.

Did the French ruin Nissan's quality when they bought into the company?

Anyone on hear want to buy another Maxima? I live in the DFW area.

asu174

iTrader: (11)

What problems are you experiencing with yours?

vqman

I had a 1994.5 Sentra LE that was solid...and a 1998 Sentra SE...no rattles, nothing ever went wrong...

both my Maximas (1998 and now 2003) have had more rattles than my Sentra's....kinda wierd, but true...

maybe I never heard them in my Sentra's because I had a kick-a@$$ radio in them, and my Maximas have BOSE...so I can't turn it up that loud without distortion...so I don't turn it up, and I hear rattles...

I dunno....

never broke down though...any of them. hella good performers too.

-vq

simon tx

climate control blower motor - 3 times

Automatic transmission TSB repair - once, still not fixed

Wind noise in the rear windows

brake judder

trunk scratch - twice - TSB repair created a new scratch somewhere else.

front window squeal - no lubrication of run rubber in the front doors

replaced driver seat because leather separated at seams (less than 8K on car when that happened).

Just waiting for ignition coils and MAF to fail.

I guess my opinion is that since about 2000 Nissan quality has slipped conisderably - they still have a good quality reputation because a lot of those stats that CR and the like compile go back 10 years and often do not include the most recent model or year, sometimes two.

Not sure if this is just Nissan cutting corners to make money or if it is a result of their deal with (who was it Peugeout?). Or maybe they decided to put all their efforts into Infiniti and cut corners with the Nissan quality.

I'm just generally disapointed in the quality of my GLE and judging by post I've seen here and elsewhere I'm not alone.

asu174

iTrader: (11)

It sounds like you have a bad apple.....

The only thing that I have had problems with are my brakes. I have owned a Ford, 4 Mazdas, and a Mitsubishi. I would say that the 5 Nissans I have owned are the best quality cars out of all of them.....even my POS 1986 200SX.

max...to the ma

feel sorry for u...not big problems with my car

bert

It all comes down to service. If you have a good dealer, all is well.

If your dealer is also an Infiniti dealer and you get bad service from the Nissan side, don't buy / go there.

I have to agree, my service experience has been less than acceptable. I know I will not be buying another Nissan / Infiniti product strictly on my service experience. I love my Max, I hate Nissan!

cwerdna

My 2002 Max is the first Nissan I've owned. My only complaints wrt to reliability are rattles, buzzes and having 2 recalls (a bit disconcerting consider my previous car, a 91 Camry V6 never had any).

I feel for a car w/9.8K miles I shouldn't have the amount of buzzes and rattles I already have.

Most Nissans (except the Quest) do ok to very good in terms of reliability according to Consumer Reports. I'll put up a scan here sometime from their April auto issue.

maximadave

iTrader: (10)

Infiniti service blows away Nissan service and they even give you a free rental car!

RedlineVQ

Yeah i gotta agree with Nissan's being of poor quality. I had a 99 GXE the tranny was sh**(auto) it always slipped and when i floored it took 2 sec to kick in. And then on top of this Nissan told that wasn't a problem. Then the brake line began to leak and it was a warranty repair but on a 1yr old car they refused to give me a rental for their week of fixing it. To Nissan Ti CYka


But Maxs are nice

jjs

Don't get me wrong, I am in NO WAY defending Nissan Service, but the whole loaner thing very often gets blown out of proportion. I mean, YES it is very convenient but how many more $$$'s did the Infiniti cost (in part to get the better service and loaner)? Several hundred dollars or more of purchase price difference? If so, that is one expensive 'free' loaner.

simon tx

to me, the loaner car is not a big seller

however - I would point out that many loaded or even partially loaded Maximas cost as much if not more than the lower end Infinitis (or whaever other luxury brand you might consider).

My complaint is that I purchased the top of the line Nissan sedan - Maxima GLE in MY 2000. I would expect any car manufacturer to at least attempt to manufacture their "flagship" vehicle to a little higher level of quality than what I've experienced with my Maxima (and judging by the number of complaints on this site and elsewhere and considering the nubmer of TSBs for the Maxima - I'm not alone).

Truthfully - I think the do a better job of building their trucks than they do their cars.

For what I paid for my Maxima I do not expect to have to return to the dealership more than 6 times for different items - many of which are major components - what kind of $25K-$30K car has the piece of crap transmission they put in the Maxima - or the brakes or all the other problems related to poor assembly like poor fitting windows and the trunk scratching the bumper.

I guess my complaint is when you investigate a car companies past history it is not necessarily a good indicator of the current quality if the car - I think Nissan quality is no longer what it once was and most of those ratings are based on cars from the last decade - not the most recent 3 years.

Although the styling of the 5 Gen and some of the performance may be the best ever for the Maxima - I would venture to say this is the worst Gen Maxima from a quality build standpoint.

jjs

But look at your argument from a different perspective (I am talking about service here).

First and foremost, Infiniti IS INTENDED to be the premier lineup for Nissan. As such it BETTTER have a differentiating approach to sales and service, to say nothing of models offered.

Second, you said it yourself...our 'flagships' are equivalent in price, etc to the 'lower end' of quite a few cars. While $25K-$30K or so IS alot to some of us, to others it is still HALF what the brands they buy cost. Again, the differentiation of service and relationship of service to cost (I know this is a generalization, but you get the point).


I will fully agree that initial quality is not what one would expect and if it were better, many, many of us would not have the service war stories that are told.

Axel

iTrader: (3)

I have a 2000 SE and I'm quite happy with it. No big issues except for a piston blowing out of the engine requiring a brand new engine (covered under warranty). I attribute the engine failure to extremely hard driving and Solo-1 racing.

I can't stand most Nissan dealerships though, especially the american ones. I dealt with three different american dealerships in three different states and they all screwed up something and weren't very co-operative. I've had much better luck in Canada where I reside.

As for your other comment, why do so many americans blame the french for this? The french didn't storm in a change their manufacturing process. If a trend in quality has in fact gone down, I personally blame it on their 5 year revival plan. They had to cut some corners to come back from near bankruptcy. Furthermore, french quality isn't worse than other standard car companies and it's much better than american cars (is there anything worse than american cars excluding the Ladas, Kias, etc).

RedlineVQ

So true unfortunatley but the excuse of it's not a Infiniti can't be said because i own a toyota avalon and the service is five times better and it's not a lexus

simon tx

I've been complaining about the quality of my 2000 GLE and often in response I see posts that say "my car has been fine, except for ...

then I see the list of problems - replacing the transmission, having the TCM replaced, having the brakes fixed or replaced, there is even a post on here mentioning a blown piston.

I'm sure in some cases that can be contributed to aggressive driving - but I guess what I'm complaining about is if I buy a car from Nissan that they claim is worth nearly $30K - I should not have to go back in one year or two years and get the transmission replaced.

Maybe for some of you this is your first or second car - but I'm going on 38 and this is the first car I have ever had a problem with a transmission or brakes. More often than not in the past these annoying problems have always been related to electrical things like window motors and cruise.

I just think for what Nissan claims the Maxima to be, they could do a little better with regard to quality if components they put on the car.

Maybe we owners don't ***** at them enough or maybe it is our fault for being "enthusiasts" , instead of walking away and buying a better made car.

jjs

Again I agree with a portion of your points, but this one stumps me...the whole thing is WHERE are you going to get the same performance, size, comfort, etc. for less than $30K?? The catch-22 is that comparing apples to apples, there is NO better made car in this category, with these features, at this price.

simon tx

That is exactly why I bought my Maxima in the first place. I guess I thought the power, comfort, size etc. would also exend to quality - so far that has not been the case.

Axel

iTrader: (3)

Again, that's due to racing the car. And I'm not talking 1/4 mile once every few months. I'm talking road circuit racing twice a month for 2 years (during the summer months). Not many street sedans can handle that much abuse. To get an idea of how much abuse that is, just imagine driving your car at redline constantly in various gears for a few hours to the point where your 4 piston calipers and higher end racing pads are smoking and your larger after market rotors need to be replaced every 2 months and your brake pads every 2 races and your R compound racing tires every 4 races.

JAWZ PGT

You guys are making me nervous, I always thought that Nissan were good quality cars but maybe I'm wrong. I'm kind of glad that I havn't boughten one yet even though I still want to. I guess what it comes down to is....would you buy one again? Have the problems been so bad that you wouldn't choose a Maxima if this class of cars was the the best you could afford or am I overlooking some others? I'm a valet and have literally been in hundreds of Maximas and havn't experianced any of the problems you've described other than the drivers side window making noise. Would you recommend that I start looking at other cars instead of the Maxima? I appreciate your honesty and your oppinion.
Jeff

simon tx

I don't know what your budget is and whether your considering new or used, butI would make sure you do your homework.

The Max is a pretty good car for the mix of power, style, comfort etc. but the 5 Gen has had a rather extensive list of problems with some rather major components.

If you are looking at a Max you might be able to go to dealer and have them check the VIN to determine how many of the TSBs have been addressed.

While I complain a lot about my 2000 GLE - I don't think I'm experiencing anything out of the ordinary. You will find a number of posts on here where people have had the transmission replaced more than once, multiple MAF failures, ignition coil failures and a host of fit and finish problems like leaking sunroofs, wind noise because of poorly sealed windows and rattles.

I'm sure some people have had better luck than myself and others worse.

Some people seem to think this is ordinary, but my opinion is that the Maxima is not of the same quality of the Accord or Camry.

However, it is signifcantly more fun to drive and IMO more refined than those cars.

Again - just make sure you do your homework.

If you asked me today I would say no I would not buy the Maxima again. If you had asked me this a year ago I would have told you to buy two.

zoner

Well, I've swung straight from estatic to totally p*ssed and back again with my 'Max. Initially, I was really dissapointed with the quality of my car - I figure a $30k car shouldn't give the owner much trouble in the first 50k miles. That hasn't entirely been the case, but at least none of my problems have left me on the side of the road.
Finally I recognized that even with the problems it has, it's still one heck of a car, looks great, and it's got alot of potential if you spend the $$ and fix some of the stock problems (slotted rotors, suspension, etc). Would I buy it if I had the chance all over again? No. Do I regret buying it? Not really - most cars have problems, and I think that my 'Max will still be around a long time in spite of what I have to deal with now.

JAWZ PGT

What are some of the more typical problems? I do plan on doing mods but I don't want have to spend all of my time and money fixing things rather than modding it. Like brakes are fine since I'd probably replace them otherwise....Things like that
Tanks
Jeff

190hpKiLLA

iTrader: (11)

Get a Honda then.

vqman

i've had 5 nissans. Never had any of the major problems these guys talk about..just a couple rattles here and there in my Maximas..
My wife drives a 4x4 2001 Pathfinder, no problems.
These guys are the exception. Most people I've known with Nissans' have had no trouble.

-vq

cwerdna

Ok, I've posted reliability ratings from the last Consumer Report's April auto issue.

At least look at this to understand how the rating system works:
http://home1.gte.net/res02wrs/2002-cr-reliab2.jpg

Nissan ratings including Maxima along w/a whole bunch of others:
http://home1.gte.net/res02wrs/2002-cr-reliab7.jpg

These are just misc ratings for comparison:
http://home1.gte.net/res02wrs/2002-cr-reliab4.jpg (some Hondas)
http://home1.gte.net/res02wrs/2002-cr-reliab5.jpg (some Hondas, Lexi, and Infinitis)
http://home1.gte.net/res02wrs/2002-cr-reliab8.jpg (some other ratings, but a bunch of Toyota included)

POPO6SPD

iTrader: (1)

Yea, I have to agree with you on this one. My max feels real tight, and from speaking with other Max owners in my area no-one really has had any major problems. I just think that because this is a Maxima enthusiast site, most members drive their cars real hard. And we all know it dosen't matter what type of car you have, if you beat it they WILL die eventually. If anything I've been becoming paranoid from reading some of the posts lately

Maxalltheway

With regards to the rattles, to Nissan's credit, it seems that the 02 Max actually scored a "9" rating for squeaks and rattles (10 being best) in Edmunds editor car ratings while some other cars like the Camry, TL Type S and Passat scored ratings of 8 or below.

Thought it was interesting...

vito1281

This is my first Nissan, but I've also heard good things about them prior to my purchase. You have to keep a few things in mind when you're talking about the problems that people experience here. I'll just talk about a few of them, and I'm sure some of the other guys here can fill in some more.

1. a LOT of folks here do serious modding (i.e. non cosmetic or suspension related). For example, I am pretty sure that a lot of the blown MAFs are caused by aftermarket CAIs. Perhaps they weren't installed correctly, or the ECU was not reset properly, or some other step was not performed, or maybe the Max isn't so good at adopting new components. You have to realize that the electronics and the sensors in the car are very sensitive since these are very high precision machines (i.e. engine and its components), and when you start doing mods, it's on you if anything related to the mod breaks. It would be interesting to take a poll of the stock Maximas on this board (or at least ones w/out engine/intake/exhaust mods), and see how many of them are having serious problems. My guess would be that it would not be too many.

2. this is an enthusiast site, and a lot of people drive their cars hard on a regular basis. This is where you have to keep in mind what the Maxima is. It's not a sports car by any means, and it's not a hotrod. This car was not built for racetracks or 1/4 miles. It's simply a family-sedan with above average performance, and a nice blend of luxury. It was never meant to take the abuse that some of them are given, and I'm sometimes surprised that some of these cars hold up as well as they do given the hard driving.

3. as far as things like the squeeks and rattles are concerned, a lot of cars in the Max price range exhibit the same thing. For example, I sometimes take a peak at the Acura TL board, and people there are complaining more about them than we are. On top of that, these rattles appear when it's really cold out, and given that the dash is made of various plastics, it's reasonable for it to make rattles as the materials expand/contract with the temperature.

4. Would I buy this car again? Well, I've had the car for 4 months now, and it has no mods whatsoever, and I just had my first problem, which is the driver's side window making noise when opening/closing--no big deal to me, I'll get it fixed under warranty. So, bottom line--I would DEFINITELY buy this car again if my budget was the same. This car is, BY FAR, the best bang for the buck, and the problems that it exhibits are within my tolerance, and there's nothing that's out of the ordinary for a car. Now, if things start breaking down and my car stays stock, then I'll have to rethink my position on this, but thus far, this has not been the case.

5. Also, keep in mind that this is an enthusiast board, and most poeple post problems that they have in order to find solutions. It's rare that someone posts "Well, there's nothing wrong with my car..." because that won't create as much discussion. So all you're seeing is problems, but that doesn't mean that the car is problematic. Go to www.bmwm5.com/vbulletin/index.php, which is the BMW M5 forum, and you'll notice that people mostly post their problems with the M5. I think most of us would agree that the M5 is not a bad car (slight understatement here), but yet you still have discussion of its problems.

Anyhow, take the advice of the people here and do your homework. Best thing would be to visit different boards of cars that you're considering, and just see what people are saying about the cars. However, make sure you realize the 5 things I listed, and just keep things in perspective.

Best of luck

Green 2kSE

Thanks for the scans, I think they are pretty reliable indicator of the quality of the Maxima. Based on that, the 2000+ models are almost as trouble-free as they can get. Cars will break down, it's just a matter of time. What makes a car reliable is how long before it breaks down and how frequently it happens.

zoner

My biggest problems have been rotors warping, manual transmision (not broken, just not shifting as good as it used to - might have a bit of a syncro problem). Other than that, pretty minor stuff w/ 52,000 miles on the odo so far. It's not a bad car, just not a great one.

Teflon

I have to agree that the Maxima is a great car -- despite its quirks. Since the last owner of my 2K GLE didn't get the Auto Trans TSB addressed, they clearly didn't notice the issue. There's a bunch of squeaks and rattles, but it is a 3 year old car, so some of that is acceptable -- the rest, i'll fix myself over time. All of the controls, all of the electronics, etc, still work fine!

I've just been hit with my 2nd SES on my 2K GLE in 3 weeks of owning it. Its likely another coil. Before the Maxima I drove a 2K Pathfinder LE. It was rock solid, had no squeaks or rattles, and never had the SES light come on once. I drove it hard -- regularly hitting 6000 RPM during acceleration, often WOT. The difference between it and my Max is a lot of miles -- under 1/2 as many miles on the Pathfinder at the end of the lease as on the Max when I got it!

Would I buy another Maxima? Hell Yes! Even if this Maxima turns out to be a lemon, i'll still buy another! Why? Have you driven one? Have you drive a lot of other cars on the market? The Maxima fits me, its got a nice roomy, functional interior, its got an awesome, responsive engine, smooth ride, great steering, and just overall goodness. It demands driving. It is comfortable. It is Fun! Oh, and it fits me (I have long legs).

When shopping for the car to replace the pathfinder, I drove the following cars, a combination of new and used: Acura 1.6 EL, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Grand Am, BMW 328i, Ford Taurus, Infiniti G20, Infiniti G35.. I've also sat in many more, and driven others on rental.. Sat in: Grand Prix, Alero, Malibu, Impala, all Hyundais including their luxury car (all too small or odd ergonomics), Civic, etc.

I sat in the 2k Maxima, drove it around the block once, and knew I had to have it. None of the other cars demanded purchasing.

I started all of my test driving with a 2K3 maxima, and oddly, I came right back to a Maxima in the end!