My '04 Max has 11k mile on it and I've already started to notice a shimmy in the breaks when stopping from 55 mph or higher.

It's almost as if the rotors are out of round. I know this can happen with excessive hard breaking, but I would have never thought that it could happen with only 11k on the car.

The question is, is this something I should even bring up to the dealer and fight, knowing that they might chaulk it up to normal wear and tear, or should I just bite the bullet and have the rotors turned when it gets bad enough

thoughts?

 

Go ask the dealer. Tell them that you know and that "he" knows that this is a common problem. From what i've read a lot of people have had this problem addressed by the dealer.

Bob

 

Thanks Bob. Just talked to the dealer and they said that Nissan covers wear and tear on the rotors for 1yr./12,000 miles. So they are going to shave a bit off and get them back into round.

 

Thanks for the info, I have the same problem. I thought if I had went to the dealer they would have said something like.

You must have drove through a puddle while braking hard or some other BS.

 

After noting the dozens of warped rotors here over the past year, it seems fairly obvious that, although the brakes on the '04 Maxima are generally excellent, it may not take a bundle of stops from 50+ MPH to warp the front rotors. Other factors, of course, are also involved.

I have managed to avoid much braking from high speed, preferring to let the engine compression gradually slow the car down, then braking when moving slowly, as I know from 25 years of driving with disk brakes that the rotors are almost never designed to endure lots of high speed braking.

The two best ways to brake gently are to never be close to the vehicle in front of you, and, when possible, begin slowing down well before the point at which you must stop. That is easier said than done, but it sure makes things better on the rotors.

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jrussell - keep in mind that shaving warped rotors helps for awhile, but shaved rotors sometimes warp again more readily than new ones.

Also, depending on how much they take off, the rotors may have to be replaced next time; one or two turnings is all a rotor can usually take before becoming too thin to be safe.

Let us know how this turns out.

 

I just started having this problem on my 04 SL a couple of weeks ago. I'm taking it to the dealer next week to have it checked out, but the bummer is that I have 13,700 miles on it... So they'll probably tell me I have to pay for it.. And I'll be ****ed cuz theres no way that I should be buying new rotors for a $30K vehicle that is only 6 mos old!

 

kosd - bummer! You are probably correct about having to pay with 13k on the clock. You are also correct this problem shouldn't be happening with this mileage.

Worst of all, after the rotors are turned, I would be surprised if the problem was not back within 3K to 5K miles (turned rotors are more prone to warp than new ones), and you could easily be buying new rotors at that time.

You might try to play on the dealer's sympathy; maybe by hinting that other makers of supposedly upscale cars stand behind their products. Good luck with whatever path this leads to.

 

Personally I live with it... It doesn't make since to me to take it to the dealer who will shave the rotors and make them more likely to do it again. I don't know about it being from braking too fast or from high speed, but I personally noticed it after going through a auto car was that used high pressure swirls to hit the under body and tires. I think that one side got cold and warped because the far side was still hot. Mine is almost 6 months old. With a around 12000 or 12500 on it.

 

guess I should have read lightonthehill's posts... I just repeated... sorry. But lightonthehill is right on with his advice... as usual. ;-)

 

Thanks for the advice.. I do plan on pitching a ***** about it when I take it in.. I bought the car because it is the Nissan flagship. I'd expect that they would stand behind it. Wish me luck and I'll let you all know how it turns out.

 

OK...I brought the car into the dealer with the intention of getting the rotors replaced. I made the argument that at 11K miles, this should not be happening and that other Max owners were experiencing the same issue.

Also stated that were this almost any other make of foreign car (VW, BMW, Audi), the dealers would be replacing the rotors without question.

The service manager told me his hands were tied, and to call Nissan directly. Nissan was no help.

Long story short, they ended up shaving the rotors to get them back into round.

Nissan said that if the rotors went out of round again within the next 1yr/12,000 mi, they would swap them out.

I guess they would rather hedge their bets at the expense of pi$$ing off a long-time Nissan owner/fan.

I would like to hear if others have attempted this and what responses they received from the dealer/Nissan.

 

My dealers was Ok about it because they had this problem with others. But what I was told, the dealer must resurface the rotor first, then replace them. They need to try before they replace. So they can get credit from Nissan to pay it's techs. They were great for 2 days. But now it's back to skimmy again. I'm having them replaced soon. But what I don't get is that they are replaced with the same rotors. I'm assuming it will happen again. We'll see..

 

Re: warped rotors.....I had mine turned at 5k miles due to wheel shimmy upon braking. Yes it helped, but the problem is back at 15k. Nissan wants nothing to do with addressing the problem and puts the blame on me for "agressive driving". I know it's not the case and even if they did replace the rotors, the OEM rotors are (in my opinion) of substandard quality. I owned a '99 with the same issues and went through 2 sets of rotors within 50k miles before I bit the bullet and bought Brembos. I put another 60K miles on the car with no problems. Food for thought.

 

OT Reply -

Highland Mills??? I'm in Monroe. What R U driving? / Where'd you get it?

 

Gentlemen,
This is a common Nissan problem. My '02 had severly warped rotors with 27k on the clock. This is without excessive high speed braking or stop and go type conditions. I had them turned but the problem was back within a matter of months.
On the 5th Gen board, everyone speaks of this problem with their Max. It seems to be the general consensus that the brakes are too small for the size of the vehicle. Some 5th Gen guys are actually running 6th Gen brakes on their cars

 

Yesterday, for the first time, I had braking shimmy, and without hard driving or many miles (5500). Have yet to take it in, because my favorite mechanic's house burned recently and he's (understandably) taken time off work. I have owned a number of cars in my lifetime, and NEVER had this problem. I'm wondering whether any aftermarket rotors would be more resistant to warping. Any ideas other than Brembos? And, would Brembos just bolt on? Someone said several months ago that the Stillen rotors were simply OEMs that had been cross-drilled...If true, that doesn't sound like a plan...

 

'04 MAX SE / 6spd / Black ...bought it at Ramsey Nissan in Nov '03.

 

I shopped Ramsey. They were going to hammer me on my trade in. Got my Blue SE 5sp in Middletown about 6 weeks ago.

 

Hey all,

I just purchased a 2004 Maxima SE (auto)... I've had this vibration/shimmy problem from the get go. I haven't done any hard breaking at this point and am only up to 500 miles on the car. I found it is less noticable in rain. But, it doesn't rain every day here in Columbia, MD <sigh>...

I'll be taking it to the shop tomorrow... I'm glad to see this thread as I also addressed this problem in the NISSAN customer survey I just sent back.

I'm surprised none of the car reviews I read address this... although they do talk about the under steer problem.

When I picked up this Maxima, I traded in a 2004 Camry SE and never had any vibration or shimmy in the steering wheel. I figured the Maxima would be at least equal in that respect... but, guess it isn't.

Hope the NISSAN people back their product with pride and don't give me a hassle, otherwise, back to Toyota.

//Ted//

 

I'm at 10.7K miles now, and just got home from another 500+ mile trip. During the ride back, I noticed that when I applied the brakes at 60+MPH, I would get a very slight shimmy (perhaps 2-3 degs steering wheel movement at most), barely noticable. Does this sound like warped rotors? Do they usually only shimmy when travelling at higher speeds like this (and not at 35 MPH)? I'd like to document that I have this problem before the 12K mile warranty on the rotors expires...

Thanks.

 

I guess the shimmy would vary in sevarity depending upon the sevarity of the warp.

However, mine manifested in light shimmy when braking from 55+ mph. Noticeable, but not tearing the wheel out of my hands.

It was not noticeable at lower speeds

 

When you go fast it will shimmy the steering wheel, and only when lightly applied... If you are hard braking it won't shimmy.

When you go slow (lower than 30 probably) you will feel it in the seat rather than the wheel. It will have pulses of greater decelleration.

Mine are doing this, but I only notice it when I am slowing down slowly. I have always (right wrong or indefferent) braked hard and quick. Maybe this causes more damage, maybe it doesn't... But with my 97 Camry my brakes lasted longer than most other people's I knew. I credit this to not riding the brakes uncessesarily b/c I brake when I need to slow down and am off really quickly because I slow down really quickly.

 

So basically I don't notice the shimmy 95% of the time because I brake hard and fast.

 

Im pushing just over 27k and the shimmy just started happening over the past few thousand miles. I'm planning to get it looked at, glad, well not really happy about it, but at least i know other people are having the same issue as well.

 

Hey I got family in chester( whispering hills place ) We should meet up one day.

 

Yeah. I live about 10 minutes from there. kellymax04 is about the same distance - other direction. haven't met up yet. Hmmm... All 6G Max cruise nite, anyone?

 

If no one noticed, there is a TSB on the front brake noise, when warm. So if anyone replaces the rotors, have them replace the brakes too. Check out Nissanhelp.com, then click Bulletins for Nissan's.