marshallc

106k on my 04

got her with 83k last november


so far ive replaced the brakes(when i baught the car owner said 25% life left) i got12k miles on them before upgrading to dimpled/slotted rotors, ceramic pads, ss lines. car stops amazing now

abs actuator- started to tweak, would activate abs for every stop, no mattrer how hard or soft on the brakes, pulled abs fuse, drive with out abs

rear suspension creak - think its because of the progress rsb and not using all the lube on the bushings, my mistake.

other than that the only real issue ive had is the precat failure

dealer wanted 3200 to replace cats/y pipe + labor, yeah, they can suck a fat one.

rear precat failure caused a blown rear headgasket

picked up a vq with 50k miles for 1k, swapping it over as well as adding mmi's, new clutch, and aftermarket headers


even with all of this i <3 this car.

LandsEnd

Glad I bought a late model 2004 (March 2004) with the 5 speed they seem to have a lot less problems, and I have absolutely no shimmy/struts are good with no problems. (My opinion, but I think some of the strut issues are caused by aftermarket bigger wheels with narrower sidewalls. Anyone with stock wheels in late 2004's or newer have any issues with struts? I bet SL's even have less strut issues.) Just the bad tires which got me new one's. Seems the early 2004's are the problem here. Didn't know this at the time got lucky I guess that I picked a late 2004 with low miles which I had to have. Was originally looking at 2005's because its always better to get the second year of a new car, but the prices were too much unless I wanted a base model with nothing I wanted/weren't as many too choose from either as 2004's.

SilverMax_04

While there seem to be more problems with the first production cars from any new model, not all early 04s on this site have problems.

I bought my 04 in late May of 03 and, other than replacing the bad RSAs, my ride has been excellent. I love the car and it has been good to me in 66 K miles over 4.5 years.

I keep expecting the struts to go, but they just keep working like they should. The VQ engine is a champ and I particularly like the low-engine-speed torque it has. The 6-speed is also a winner -- but because Nissan dropped all manual trannies in the Maxima line, my next car will not be a Maxima.

Burny

Wifes 2004 bought in 9/2003 has been in shop 17 times. Now 46k on it.
3 times for squeeky brakes. Got new brakes and rotors each time. four times for shimmy. Car does not shimmy anymore. Alternator failed with less than 1 year. Sub-frame replaced on recall. Whooshing noise on left front tire. This has never been fixed. rattling in rear. I cant remember the others. Count the hours at the dealership and headaches and arguments and it just aint worth it.

chernmax

iTrader: (15)

Trouble free 04...

Bobbymax

Has anyone had a problem with a foul odor upon heavy acceleration? Happens when air condition is on or off, windows up or down, doesn't seem to matter. Took to dealership and they smelled it but couldn't fix, r u kidding me.

chernmax

iTrader: (15)

When was the last time you changed your cabin air filter?

Lealdade

Thanks for the help, I did that this weekend and now I don't have that noise anymore. Also the heat when the car is idle is more consistant.

SilverMax_04

This is most likely the smell from your car's Cat Converter (Catalytic Converter). Depending on weather conditions and the gasoline being burned, this foul smell can be produced when the converter cleans up the exhaust from your VQ engine.

marshallc

my car did that when i got it, it went from a fuel smell to a rotten egg smell, few months of rotten eggs then my precats failed

LandsEnd

What gas octane did you use, and arent catalytic converters being an emissions item under warranty for 100,000 miles?

jlbradley2

I am a newb, so I'm sorry if this has been posted before (but I have searched).

I have a '04 Maxima with (62k) and I've started noticing a very loud metallic rattling sound when I accelerate. The sound occurs when I accelerate in lower gears (1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd), and it happens "most of the time" but not all the time. Has anyone else experienced this problem? And if so, how did you fix it? From reading this board I'm really hoping it's not the transmission.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

SilverMax_04

Most likely a heat shield rattling. Check for posting on that problem -- I have not had it in my 04 that now has 66 K miles.

04MAX_ILLIN

iTrader: (3)

for Maxima's low miles..04SE with 39,000 on it right now....not too low but very near average i guess.

HusH

I have a quick and hopefully easy question... i recently started hearing a little ticking noise everytime i turn on the a/c or fan, It comes from behind the dash in the passenger side. I asked a nissan mechanic who worked on the car changing the oil and air filter that it might be a leaf or something inside the filter and that after a few use it might go away. After now almost 2 months i still hear the same ticking, any suggestions?

larsim

04 here. 39k miles. Not a single problem (knock on wood)

jgrabina

Nice ride larsim

Blkmagic

iTrader: (4)

As far as the RSA's go, through the Goodyear Replacement Program if you had sent in the receipt for the tires you paid for out of pocket, they cut you a check as long as they are replaced for sidewall cracks, thats why I save my receipts

My 04 with 88K has a mean noice from the timing chain area, gets worse the closer it gets to an oil change that gets done every 3k, brought it to the stealership and all they could tell me was it would be $800 to break it open to check it out, or $1000 replace chain/tensioners

SteadyC

I have a 04 maxima elite with 81,250 and have had only minor issues all covered by warranty at the stealership. We have had many maximas, maybe even one from each generation. And we always haved loved each one for a different reason. Anyone who talks bad of maximas has no clue.

Vogizzle

I've had my Maxima for about 2 weeks and I should not have joined any of these forums. LOL

I'm so scared of crap going wrong with it now.

larsim

Thank you sir and welcome

striderg3

bought my Maxima privately two weeks ago.

already I'm facing the ABS sensor issues so many have faced.
Thought i got a good deal, but i guess it was too good to be true.
Now I'm facing the replacement of the sensors ($600 incl labor).

the cd player skips randomly and i also have #4 already.
weird vibration when its in 4th gear. bothers me a lot, knowing i paid so much and am getting no satisfaction in return.

almost makes me wish i had considered that G35 =(

MaxEx

I think I may have #1 going on right now. The front of the car rattles when I exit the garage and I can feel it in the steering wheel and brakes. I don't think it's coming from the suspension. It may be a motor or tranny mount, but I'd be willing to bet it's the steering.

maximadawg420

I got a 04 max in Novemebr of 07, right off the bat they needed to replace the ski view because of a leak, The bearings in the rear wheels, I guess then i burnt the clutch, OUCH! it was my first standard but thats no excuse, But ya i replaced it with a better one. The front pass suspenson is going looking into getting new suspension come summer. I had to replace the u joint cuz i hit a curb in the winter. NOW something in the engine fired wrong or something and i need a new engine. LOL 86 000 KM. Thank god its under warrenty Still.

Oolatec

iTrader: (5)

Had the ABS sensor fixed... alternator died... drive belts were fubar... and the fog lights keep dying (not going to bother replacing them anymore)... in spite of all of that, and the TSBs I had fixed, I still love my '04. And this is my 4th Maxima I have ever had. My first was a '90... the tranny dumped on that so I got a '95 (relatively trouble-free)... traded up for a '99... and I traded that up to my '04... this is my first significantly modded car, and I plan to keep it for a long, long time.

Lovemycar

42K trouble free

PanamaMax

LOL

tomhorn

I just turned 68k miles on my 04 SL. Went to the dealership to check on a strange rattle coming from the front end.

Dealership says I need new struts, and also told me the steering rack is leaking badly and needs to be replaced. Ouch! Not sure whether I will fix, or trade her in on something else. Will get a second opinion before I decide.

Previously I had the front wheel bearings replaced under warranty, but other than that just routine maintenance.

Oolatec

iTrader: (5)

Struts... don't let the dealer do it... get the KYBs here in the group deal section.

The power steering rack... now that's a pretty expensive repair. Ugh!

If you trade it in... Pontiac G8 GXP!

I hate to admit it, but I'm more tempted to do something like that myself as time goes by... but I still love my '04, even with all of it's imperfections. And the headers... well adding those in has made it fun again.

KonkeyDong

I have a question and I cannot yet post a new thread. Here it goes.

I am working on my dads 2004 Maxima SL. The driver's side window came off the track, so my brother and I took the panel off and put the window back on the track. We put the paneling and everything back together, but now when you start the car, the seats don't move into place. However, you can still move the seats back and forth and what not. I was wondering how to fix this. THanks. :]

tomhorn

Figured this was worth an update ...

Took my car to a local mechanic to get another comparison price on replacing the struts. He said 'Let me look at it first because I'd hate to replace the struts and have it not fix the problem.' Thought that was a great attitude!

So he goes with me for a test drive. I point out the noise. He says "That doesn't sound like a bad strut.' So, back to the gargage and he goes to work. 30 minutes later he comes out and says my struts are fine ... no leaks, nothing's bent, mounts look good ... no promises, but they probably have 20k miles left in them.

He said he did find a problem though, and wanted me to go for a drive to see if he fixed it. Off we go for a drive. Noise is GONE. We stop and before we head back to the garage, he takes a shop rag out from under the passenger side wheel well. Sure enough, noise is back. I forgot the exact part he told me was loose, but it has something to do with a panel that was in the area of the oil filter that was attached with plastic rivets (?) several of which were gone. He didn't have anything to replace them in stock, so he put the rag in to stop the rattle on the test drive.

So he ordered some parts, and today re-attached everything using the new connectors which he claims should hold better than the stock Nissan ones.

On a whim, I asked him to check the steering rack today too, and after a little while he came back and said 'Let me guess, the guy that told you you needed struts also told you your steering rack needed to be replaced?' Yep, he did. He told me he could understand why, because there was transmission fluid around the area where it would be showing up if the rack was bad. But it was not actually leaking there, it was coming from a loose clamp on the return line (sorry if that's not the right term) and just ended up working its way down there. He replaced the clamp and checked everything for leaks. Everything was/is now fine ... for less than $150.

So, needless to say, the dealership tried to screw me ...

Thanks to spddracer who offered to help with the strut replacement if I had needed it ... even though I'm new here, it's nice to see the members are above and beyond helpful ...

Domestic Violence

holy thread resurrection

ScottyMax

I once had the ABS problem. A new speed sensor in the right rear fixed it. Was like $115 for the part plus another $85 for diagnostic. Sorry to hear of your problems, but I wouldn't give up on them just yet. It's about the most reliable car in it's class.

werdna58

Just passed 100K. Bought it used with 41K in 2005. Haven't had too many problems, nothing major, knock on wood. Brought it in at 60K and 90K for maintenance, nothing major just belts and fliud stuff. Put new Yoko's on there, Brembo Brakes, Hawk pads, got my Sirius hooked up.

Only concerns so far have been sometimes when I turn, I hear the sound of my tires as they turn, don't know how to explain it, but im sure some of you know what im talking about. I got it checked out and was told they couldnt find anything, said if it got worse, to let them know but they said they couldnt see anything, been over a year and it hasnt gotten any worse. In the past 4-6 months the car has been hard shifting in low gears, brought it in to get checked out for transmission problems and they said they couldnt find anything. Either they dont want my money, or there isnt a problem and Im just a psycho....

But overall nothing big is wrong and I love the car. My front left speaker is blown so I am looking into either just updating it or the entire system. I don't want anything banging loud, but something thats got some nice bass. I also have a small leak which I think it is an oil leak, gotta look into that this week, doesn't look major, maybe bolt isn't tightened??

bassjunkie

2004 Maxima SE AT with 105k (bought used at 61K miles) and now being told I need to rebuild the transmission ($2,700 estimate )

Also the body control module failed, so no power locks, windows, seats, or sunroof....another $350 fix

I've loved this car, but now I'm thinking about letting her go. I wish I would've done more research about the ailments plaguing the 2004 Maximas, AT models in particular.

Does that seem like a high estimate for rebuilding the tranny? I thought a new one would run around $3500. Is it even worth it for me to rebuild at 105k miles?

TreySmooth

2004 Maxima SL (I apologize, this being an SE thread) with 59K miles. Bought used at 36K miles in early 2007.

Had my first big fix in the form of alternator (being replaced right now, i'm actually in the dealership's waiting room).

Replaced the OEM Conti's with Yoko AVID's (big mistake, I will be going back to performance tires once these begin to wear. gas mileage and ride comfort are suffering)

Suspension seems a little loose, dealership reported finding nothing wrong to warrant suspension work.

Looks like I will also be replacing pads and rotors very soon, as rear rotors are showing some wear.

Overall I enjoy the vehicle, for performance and appearance. It just seems that there are a lot of issues warranting attention which started to appear right around 55K.

04BlackMaxx

My CD player hasnt played without skipping for years...after one under warrnety fix ive decided just to listen to the radio. However, when its over 70 degrees out I think it works fine, we'll see this summer. 'Premium' audio...