I picked up my fifth maxima at the end of January. Overall, I am enjoying the car (3.5SL Elite package). However, there is one annoying problem that I have. The floor just under the accelerator pedal seems soft (like sheet metal that pops in and out). Thus, everytime I switch my foot from accelerator to brake, I hear a popping sound. The dealership service department says that it is just insulation, and there is nothing that can be done! Anyone else notice this problem? Any thoughts?

 

I'd consider whacking it with a rubber mallet. If it is sheetmetal popping in and out, that should "dent" it out enough to give it a set and make it stop popping.

Mike

 

rubber mallet is all well and good, but the problem still exists and I'm used to flawless execution from Nissan!

 

That hasn't been my experience but I've only had two Nissans. Maybe the 4th gen was flawless? That damned sure don't describe my 5th or 6th gen experience.

 

Ditto from me on that.

 

Well, I'm not here as a cheerleader for Nissan, but a kink in the sheetmetal of a floorpan can easily happen and isn't a sign of bad engineering or even bad assembly. A tap with a mallet just puts it back where it's supposed to be.

I will say this: apparently there is some pretty wide variance in the quality of the assembly line output at different times of the day or month. Or maybe there are multiple lines at Smyrna and they vary. Whatever the case, there seem to be 2 types of owners in this forum - those with no problems at all (like me) and others who seem to feel the car is a POS. There's either very little middle ground or the folks with only a minor prob or two just don't say anything about it. It can't be both, though, and the fact some of us have zero problems means the car isn't an engineering failure!

Mike