Here is an updated Quality Issues List that includes issues noted on this forum, over the last few weeks.

Please note quality issues you have been experiencing, that are not listed here.

I added item 37 based on your input. Additional issues seem to be slowing down.

Please do not ask for answers to problems on this thread – rather research the other threads or post a new thread to find the answer you are looking for.

Please keep in mind:
1. This is a master listing of most problems noted on the forum.
2. This list has not been scientifically generated, in any way.
3. Most owners experience 0-5 of these issues. No owner experiences all of these issues.
4. Most owners are able to resolve most of their problems on their own, or with their dealer. As noted, sometimes this takes multiple trips to the dealer and patience…..
5. A few problems, such as some brake and wheel shimmy, orange peel paint and broken struts, Nissan currently has no great solution for.
6. The *** rating attempts to rate the issue in terms of severity or number of times reported. No stars means only one or two persons have reported it. Two ** stars means a handful of owners have reported it, and three *** stars means Nissan has a serious problem they have already addressed or they need to address.


Master Quality Issues List

1. *** Brake shimmy or judder when braking from highway speed
2. *** Wheel shimmy between 45 and 65 mph when driving
3. *** Glove box misalignment
4. *** Left turn signal won’t return to center position
5. *** Orange peel paint
6. *** Grill peeling
7. ** Shift plate scratches too easily
8. *** Display screen scratches too easily, is foggy or has condensation inside
9. *** Rear parcel shelf vibrating and/or noise
10. *** Broken strut(s)
11. *** Harsh automatic shifting (especially when cold) with 5 speed auto
12. *** Gear grind from 1st to 2nd
13. ** Slow seat heaters
14. * Instrument cluster plastic protectors peel
15. * Weak radio reception
16. Windows slow to roll down
17. Side mirrors won’t reposition
18. * Seat shifting
19. Rear speaker “beeping”
20. Screeching sound - loose heat shield at 2000 rpm
21. * Transmission failure
22. Air bag warning label on visor bubbling up
23. Sunroof mechanical problems, including deflector hitting glass
24. ** Door trim pieces easily get rub marks
25. * HID lights – high beam won’t return to low beam
26. ** HID lights – burn out prematurely
27. * Fog lights – burn out prematurely
28. Car won’t start (loose fuel pump connector at fuse panel)
29. Right floorboard soaked floor
30. * Liquid running sound in A/C system, especially after cold start
31. Stiff doors after sitting for awhile
32. * Skyview roof exploding
33. Armrest won’t stay down and cup holder comes out of track
34. * Leaking sunroof
35. * Plastics flexing and squeaking inside cabin
36. Stereo buttons on steering wheel don’t work
37. Ticking and/or squeaking noise from driver’s front wheel

JD Power ranks the 2004 Nissan Maxima as:
1. Mechanical Quality – 2/5
2. Feature and Accessory Quality – 4/5
3. Body and Interior Quality – 2/5
4. Overall Quality – 2/5 (!!!)

 

WOW!

I've only experienced and/or agree with:
1, 2, 7, 8, 11 (an unpleasant characteristic but no big deal), 13, 24, 27 (probably people that run them unecessarily - SERVES 'EM RIGHT), and 31.

Also, I would add that it is too easy to inadvertently turn the headlights off.

After 10K miles, this still happens to me occasionally if I change from low to high beam or vice versa and hit the lever in just the "wrong" way.

THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED. There should be more resistance or friction built in to the rotational force of that headlight dial.

 

The heated seats don't work worth a damn when it is cold outside. It takes over 15 minutes for them to heat up and by then the car is already warm. I don't consider this using them unneccessarily. The problem has been fixed for the MY05, but there is no way to retrofit the seats in a MY04 without rewiring the circuits in the car.

Also, add to the list intermediate DVD navigation problems. When on long trips (over 4 hours) the navigation system screen will freeze up if you try to zoom in or out on the map. Shutting off the car dosen't reset the navi, you have to wait about 15 minutes for the DVD drive to cool down before it will work again.
Four hours from home isn't where I want my navigation system cutting out on me.

The DVD drive is getting replaced and I guess I can live with the seats (no choice). Overall it's still a great car, best I've ever owned.

 

What are you replacing the DVD drive with? An aftermarket or you having Nissan replace it with a newer one?

 

hmmm... that sucks about your nav... i haven't had that prob with my nav... just got back from a 2500 mile road trip with no probs. let us know what you replace it with.

 

Wow! Since I got my car in the spring, I do not have this 1st hand experience. All my other Max's would be quite toasty within 5 minutes in the coldest of PA weather. Do you other 04 owners agree with the 15 min time frame?

Jaydabee, what did you mean by corrected in MY05 and cannot retrofit?

 

The heated seat issue was a popular thread last January. They suck! Nissan had to redesign the body harness that runs all the way from the front of the car to the rear tail lights in order to fix this problem. If you want them to rip apart half of your car to get a new body harness to make your heated seats work properly then good luck to you. Basically, you can only pull so much current through the present setup without blowing the fuses. The seats are supposed to be up to temp in two minutes on a cold day, prevents the leather from being overstressed.

As for the DVD unit, I am getting a new Nissan DVD unit installed. Same model, hope it works.

I repeat. This is still a great car!

 

For those who have the 6-sp tranny, now many have the 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 grinding issue? How did you get it fixed?

 

This is a minor thing, and may not belong on the list.

I notice quite a few '04 Maximas with the bottom of the trunk lid not exactly parallel with the bottom of the trunk opening. Most seem to have a larger gap toward the left side of the bottom of the lid.

Because it is more important to have the trunk lid match in height and gap at the TOP of the trunk, there is no practical way to address this uneven gap at the bottom.

This is purely cosmetic, and would only be noticed by a detail freak (who? ME?).

 

I only have 2,000 km on my car, and am now starting to experience the noted problems. At least I have a good idea of what to expect :>)

I have the same problem with my heated seats. Takes at least 15 minutes to warm up. (#13). And even then, I don't find them too warm. I would say the heat on the passenger side is almost non-existent. The steering wheel heat works well, though.

Also, my door trim pieces on all four doors have serious rub marks on them. (#24). I am going to wait until the 05s come out, before asking for replacement pieces.

Does anyone else have the "headlights turn off too easily" issue? My car seems to be ok on this front.

 

at first I was always bumping them on or off when turn signaling. now just once in awhile. it's very sensitive. guess i'm more concious of it now.

 

I have owned four other (different gens) Maximas. And although I still enjoy my '04 very much, it has become evident to me that the quality of the vehicle just doesn't match up with the other four. I am at 8500 miles and am starting to experience the shimmy when braking. I have the cloudy nav screen. I have the hollow bottle road noise (is it the tire quality?). And I am getting complaints now from rear seat passengers that the seatbelts lock up on them and have no give (during normal driving conditions). Thus they are "pinned" to their seats! Has anyone else noticed this last problem?

Just my two cents, but is this downturn in quality a result of the fact that it is now an American built car, or a result of being the first year of a new generation?

 

Here's an odd one: I have a Sony CD recorder at home that I burn compilation CDs with (as I am not big on MP3/internet downloading). This recorder allows the user to input song titles onto the disc (there's a brand name for this process but I can't remember it right now). Anyway, if I try to play a CD-R in the Maxima 6-CD changer that has titles on it (burned on my Sony recorder), the discs get "stuck" in the middle (such as tracks 7-10 of a 20-track disc). I have no idea why this happens. So far, I have had no problems playing CDs burned on a computer that have track titles added.

 

I have had my display screen replaced, cleaned multiple times, but it is still foggy on backside. Anyone every get a difinitive fix that stays fixed?

 

Another item of note is the rear window defogger. It takes about 15 minutes of driving in 55 degree F weather to defog the rear window. I wonder how it will perform(if at all) in really cold weather?

 

The reason the rear seat belts lock up is a safety feature. If you pull the belt out all the way, and then let it retract, it will not allow for slack. I think they do this for car seats so that they don't move when installed. So tell the people in the back seat not to pull the belt out all the way. this way it won't lock. Annoying, yes, but a good safety feature to have if you have little kids and car seats.

 

I had all of the same problems as you have described with my '04. I had the brake shimmy at 11k miles. They turned the rotors, and so far, so good at 17k.

My screen is cloudy as well, but not to the point where it bothers me that much.

I've had some complaints about the seat belt locking. I brought it to the dealer, who drove with me trying to recreate the issue. I could not recreate it while the service manager was in the car. They offered to swap the belts, but I didn't want to be without my car for this....don't have passengers in the backseat all that often.

Overall, I am happier with my '04 than any of my other previous maximas ('93 and 2000). Each of these had their own quirky issues, and the quality seamed inferior to my '04. Little things like center consoles not closing right, knocking when using 89 octane gas, windows that would not go up and down in really cold weather, chronic exhaust manifold leaks, etc...

 

Seat heaters are damn slow. Definitely. However, mine do get plenty warm, and in fact I usually have to turn them to low after they get up to temperature.

What I didn't see on that list is the way the CD changer massively sucks in cold weather. Skips, distortion, etc...

And I've had the rear seatbelts lock too... they're not being pulled all the way out either... there's a lot of belt to be pulled that far.

And a minor design complaint - the light in the trunk is almost useless... gives a 18" circle of dim light in the huge trunk. The one in my 2000 was far far superior.

-Nate

 

There is a trunk light?

Well, I just got back from a 1000mile round trip (To upstate NY-VT-back to NY and then back to PA). I noticed the following:

-annoying glare of door mirror mount of road lines (stripes you pass reflect back)
-visor blocks rearview mirror (not a big deal but rearview is already contrained)
-selecting station-search button is farther than I'd like in reach (I sit with seat all the way back for leg room) Moot point...
-glove box was annoying on some bumpy roads
-definite "bottle noise" from tires...likely 18" rims/low profile tires..no tire wall to cushion bumps
-car is fast to pass and I averaged 29mpg at ave speed of 67MPH. Not bad at all (with air on on trip up...it was 47degrees on morning of trip back and I had heat on!)
-lack of useful coin storage (ok, some of you have EZPass but I refuse to let big brother track me, charge me and even issue a ticket based on VASCAR) I can wait in lanes...

But so far, I am only victim of the glove box TSB. Aside from frontwheel drive torquesteer, and lack of powersocket in truck, This Maxima is vastly superior to my previous Passat.

-Ed

 

"ok, some of you have EZPass but I refuse to let big brother track me, charge me and even issue a ticket based on VASCAR"

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS?

I am unaware of any tickets being issued through the use of EZ-PASS records.

If you know of anything like this, please inform us.

Thanks

 

they can issue you a ticket by mail by the time it takes you to get from 1 toll booth to another. thats how they catch you speeding and you wont even know it. you will just get something in the mail.

 

IMHO I don't think they can do this; it would be considered profiling. This case could get tossed under the circumstances. Sorry for straying from the post topic. Consider this too...all toll booths have cameras. they can clock you that way too so your logic is flawed. Big brother is in everyone's pockets anyway!

 

I apologize for going OT (Off topic).

In NJ, they were issuing tickets to speeders and those that were in construction zones were getting double hit. Getting one of these in the mail was instant high blood pressure! Apparently, they got so many complaints and legal threats that they halted the procedure. NJ lawyer tipped me off to this over a lunch; he had several clients that got the tickets. I decided that EZPass wasn't needed if this were the case. IMHO, Tolls are legalized state-run scams.

 

The seat belts are designed to lock when it senses a jolting movement, as if a person is being propelled forward due to an accident.

This improper locking occurs even when people do not extend the belt out all the way. People can be sitting in the seat on an extended drive, and all of a sudden, their seat belt locks. In order to unlock it, they have to unbuckle and let it retract. If functioning properly, you should be able to lightly tug the belt to unlock it.

I don't believe that Nissan intended to "strangle" people in their seats, safety or not.

 

Yeah, it's not a safety feature, it's a pain in the butt. Then again, we're not the only ones who experience it. Friend of mine has an Accord and has experienced the same thing. I think it's a design flaw in many seatbelts.

-Nate

 

My dealer has fixed the same problem after replacing and cleaning 3 times. There is a sealing kit from maxima to rectify the problem. Your dealer shoule be aware of this.

 

I have a 6 speed and I have the same problem. As far as I know, there is no fix. Maybe the new trannys on the 2005 are better.

 

Actually I noticed this on both of my 2004 Maximas. If we're talking about the same gap, it's caused by the rear tail light unit and not the trunk. I noticed this as I was changing bulbs for the tail light unit. This should be an easy fix.

 

We've all asked for that since the first gen. Nissan doesn't know how to make a smooth shifting manual tranny.

OT but I read the GT-R's VQ is being tuned by Cosworth while the suspension by Lotus. No mention of who's tuning the transmission. Guess what the GT-R's weak link (pun intended) will be?