Thank you so much for the info.
I am not sure if I have the( all sports) package on it as the trim is the entry level. I was told by them that this is the trim setting for Middle East to come on 19" rims. I hope the suspension is the sport one too. It feels so nice when cornering and not too rough on speed bumps. I love the overall feeling.
I just picked up the car from teh 3500 miles service where I asked them to check the vibrations of the car above 120 km/h( 65 m/h). All they said was that they have fixed it but is not so. I just drove it last evening and some vibrations are still present, maybe at a lower level. I'll go again and I'll probably have the tires changed. I have warranty for only 3500 miles on the tires, but luckly I am not there yet, but just close.
Thank you again for the input.
I have checked your previous threads about the " Hunter GSP9700"
I have printed out the TSB regarding the same from the Nissan website to show them. Now, frankly, after what you told me about the tires, I hope that's the answer.
Thank's again!

 

Thank you for the information. It turns out the dealer test drove me in an SV model and sold me an S. Needless to say I was very upset since all the S models have this vibration, I spent the extra money and swithced to the SV model, little bit upset since the new price tag puts me close to other cars I probably would have chosen over the Maxima. The vibration is not as bad as the S model but it is still present in the SV model. I brought it back and they did the Hunter balancing and it smoothed the car out even more.
I am still left with a vibration at speeds around 30 to 45 mph. I can feel it pretty bad when cruising down streets at 45 mph, it is the same on all surface roads, from newly paved to older roads. I would agree that it is probably that the tires are mismatched for this car, quite frustrating since Nissan did not pick this up. I am going to ride it out and see if the feeling will change when I add some miles to it. I will switch to a set of Michelin's once I get a chance, I had that tire on my XJ8 jag and I felt like my car was floating on air.

Very disapointed in the Nissan folks telling me that the road vibration that I am feeling is the sportiness of the car. Beleive me I have owned many sports cars, sedans and this is not a sport feeling by any means. On a positive side, I do like the way the car drives on the highway now, especially around 80mph and above. Its pretty smooth with the exception of the wind noise, but I would expect to hear some for a 30K car. It would be nice to have a work around for that.

Thanks for your input.

 

I got my car back 2 days ago after allmost 10 days in the workshop. The car had visited the Bridgestone dealer and they have found that the rear right tire had a problem. Nissan specialists told me that it wasn't a manufacture problem but they have change that tire for me with no costs.
Now the car runs well, with no similar vibrations.
Apparently that was the problem, and if other, I wasn't been told.
As other folks have complained about the Bridgestone sport low profile tires, that let us( the ones with the Bridgestone Potenza on) with the small vibration on untill we can manage to buy other tires.
Too big of a dissapointment for this situation.
Any ways, after 100m/h the car feels realy smooth, so....I'm as happy as I can be!
Good luck!

 

Glad everything worked out for you man! Nice to hear some good news for once. When it comes to vibrations and problems with the ride you really have to go through a process of elimination. If after having a professional balancing done and you still have vibrations, that is a good indication there is something wrong with one or more of the tires or a hub possibly. Luckily for you, Nissan was able to find the specific tire giving you problems. You don't know how difficult it is for not just Nissan but finding a tire place that can locate the specific problem. You can go between 2 or 3 different places until someone actually finds the problem.

The sad part is Nissan's attitude about problems like this with the Maxima. I've gotten it a little bit from my local dealer but to a huge extent by Nissan Consumer Affairs. They think that this Maxima is a true 4DSC and that you should expect rattles/squeaks, vibrations, bumpiness, etc in a Maxima because its a sports car! That is right from the horses mouth on numerous occasions. That is such a bunch of baloney by Nissan and a poor attitude they have, especially how expensive the Maxima is to buy and own. Using its suppose sporty characteristics as an excuse for refinement issues is just lazy and disappointing!

I'm sorry Nissan, your new Maxima drives more like a luxury sedan than a sports sedan so there should be no noises, sounds, vibrations, etc in this car.

Sorry for the slight going off topic there!

 

Well, I took her in today at 7500 miles for the first tire rotation. Had a performance balancing done on all four tires on a GSP9700 machine with straightrak LFM. Suffice it to say, as soon as I drove away I noticed a difference. Almost all the vibrations at 60-80mph is gone and it drives a lot smoother. I was told as the tire dealership today that with performance tires and a 7500 mile tire interval, like there is on the Maxima, its wise to have the tires rebalance at each rotation in order to minimize wear and vibration issues. The tech told me that performane tires like these are at a higher chance for mis-balancing and wear issues if not properly or regularly checked and balanced, hence why they recommend it at each rotation.

Wish you guys the best of luck and find a Hunter GSP9700 machine at all costs to get your tires balance on. Its the top of the line on the market right now!!

 

I have these same two issues, they cannot give me a firm answer and it is to the point that I will be ridding of this dream car of mine and go back to a SHO.

 

Well my car has been in service since last week and they are re-balancing all 4 tires and adding nitrogen to the tires. They will also be re torquing everything properly including the wheel lock. Hope it makes a difference because it would suck to live with it and after going through the same thing with Honda.

Update 5/5/10
I picked up the car today and its better but its a little smother @ 60,70 and especially at 80mph. I generally drive at 72mph so its an improvement but not a fix. They also replaced the seat brackets and guess what ITS THE SAME. I am not happy at all. On the bright side I got new valve caps in a nice emerald green color for the Nitrogen.

I do want to say that the dealer and all its service people do a great job with customer service and despite being upset I know I can complain some more and they will be there for me unlike what I have heard from other dealerships.

 

i bought my 2010 sv premium last week. I loved the car and it drives great. The only things that seems to be annoying me is this very slight inconsistent vibrations coming through the gas pedal. Its very slight in fact my father my brother and my girlfriend say they dont feel anything but its driving me crazy. It doesnt matter how fast im goin even if im coasting and i rest my foot on the gas pedal it feels like a scratchy vibration. I brought it back to nissan they said it was fine and i had to get used to the car. I brought it to my mechanic they drove it put it up on the lift and said its fine and they didnt really feel anything out of the ordinary. I feel like im going crazy i had a 02 i35 sport before this and i love the new car but if anyone has any suggestions id love to hear them

 

i bought my 2010 sv premium last week. I loved the car and it drives great. The only things that seems to be annoying me is this very slight inconsistent vibrations coming through the gas pedal. Its very slight in fact my father my brother and my girlfriend say they dont feel anything but its driving me crazy. It doesnt matter how fast im goin even if im coasting and i rest my foot on the gas pedal it feels like a scratchy vibration. I brought it back to nissan they said it was fine and i had to get used to the car. I brought it to my mechanic they drove it put it up on the lift and said its fine and they didnt really feel anything out of the ordinary. I feel like im going crazy i had a 02 i35 sport before this and i love the new car but if anyone has any suggestions id love to hear them

 

I had that also and it went away.... Very strange feeling but it stopped.

 

I was just looking at some pictures of a stock 18" rim and noticed that the inner lip is extended upward. I also think that as a result the inner side of the rim is very likely to bend or go out of round. The front of the rim has the structural support from the design but the inner is just out there. If this theory holds true then we will never see the end of this problem. Does anyone with aftermarket rims have this problem? The only other thing I can imagine is that we have very weak front struts and poorly designed tie rods. The majority of the issues I have are during thrust at the point where the wheels need the struts to push down on the ground. I am going to have the fronts moved to the rear without any other adjustments to see what happens.

 

This is exactly what I feel now....It feels better after they have changed one tire....but it was a fix for only 1 week or so. The vibration in the pedal is still there, but to a much smaller rate...but is there!
Now it started clicking and clacking...so, once again, for the third time since Feb 14 to the dealership!
Not Happy!

 

I have the 19'' rims with 245/19R/40 Bridgestone Potenza
Apparently not the best choice of tires here....
All I see on other sport cars with 19" rims or more is Continental and Michlen....but after I asked about the price....I really need to save for another year for those...

U R right about the strut ...as they are having a recall on the front strut mounting insulators.
U can check it here:
http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/TSB/T...%26+SUSPENSION

So, I will just pass by Nissan again end of this week to have them check my cara again, second time in a month.

 

I know Michelin and Bridgestone tires can really hurt the wallet is your on a budget or strapped for cash, I've had to pass up those tires on more than one occasion because I just couldn't afford them.

To be honest, I have really good luck with Kumho's in the past. Most models are rated very highly on tirerack and are pretty close to Michelin in ride quality and low noise level but are much cheaper than their Michelin or Bridgestone equivalent. It a nice alternative if your strapped for money or on a budget and want to get rid of these God awful OEM Goodyears!

 

For those members on 18's with no issues could you please share the information on the picture. Maybe we have bad set of tires. PS these are not my tires just an illustration.

 

My RS-A's say the 32nd week of 2009. I have no idea if that batch could have been bad or not? Good luck trying to find out!

 

This issue is becoming like CSI we have to try and identify a possible link between issues and non issue tires or any other problem. It could be stright from the manufactures hands or something inbetween our purchase and the delivery of the vehicle. I am almost certain these problems are tire related but I want to have as much info as possible to try and present this to my dealer again. A well documented case normally wins over ill prepared. Thanks for your info I have to check my two sets to see if we are on to something. Has anyone else had confirmed visible wheel damage without knownlngly hitting something.

 

You really want to hear the kick in the crotch I found out that night? I was on tirerack reading some reviews for the RS-As and Michelin Primacy's. There was a guy on the Nissan reviews for the Primacy MXV4s from Georgia who had a 2010 Maxima SV with the OEM RS-As like the rest of us have. He talked about how much trouble he had with the noise level and vibration troubles with the tires that after having several balancing and alignments done with no resolve of these issues, he brought his Max into Nissan and told them his troubles and non-resolved issues and got Nissan to swap off the RS-As with Michelin Primacy MXV4s and now he states he has no vibration issues whatsoever and the ride quality/noise level was extremely improved!

Yeah, I know the way I've been treated by my Nissan dealership there is no way in hell they would do that for me!! Just goes to show you, they have the top of the line tires for this car yet Nissan refuses to put it on as OEM like they do on the Altima???

Just boggles the mind!

 

My SV had tires made in week 47 2009 and the Premium's tires were made in week 46 2009. The funny thing about that at the dealership today I saw a S model with tires made in week 34 of 2009 and that car just arrived on a truck today. Its apparent that week 46 and 47 have something in common at least for me.
PS I dropped off the car at the dealership today and had the service rep drive it and without a word his eyes opened and the his disbelief set in. The car unlike sick kids home from school exhibited the exact symptoms all of you and myself have been claiming. The best part is that Nissan is acknowledging that they indeed have a problem with the tires on the 09-10 Maxima and are working with dealers(at least mine) to correct the problem. They are keeping the car till its repaired which means no car for me with 82degree weather on Friday coming up. Hopefully just hopefully they make the repair. I still love the car and like the direction Nissan is taking at least in my region. I look forward to taking it down a local parkway and just cruising feeling nothing but the 290hp.

 

I asked the dealer to do that initially and they refused. They ended up swapping the cars from an S model to an SV model. Go figure, the SV does vibrate less than the S model and now that I have 2,500 miles on the car, there really is no vibration at all. Could have saved me an extra 2K because I really do not need leather, Bose, or the XM radio. My goal for this car was to get something a bit more sportier than an Accord to save money.

 

Would you be willing to share the name of your dealer that is working on the problem with Nissan? I have an open case with Nissan Customer Care and would like some additional ammo.

 

Not surprised. I'm still in shock that guy got his Nissan dealer to do that swap for him. Like you, I know my Nissan dealer would never do anything like that. I've found out over the years with tires, and I had this with my TL as well, if there are any issues with the tires, the manufacturers will do nothing about them or adjust/swap them out for another tire. Even most tire shops that sell multiple brands of tires and not just one or two specific tire brands, won't do that either, and they all tell you to go to a tire shop that sells those brands specific. For instance on my TL, I had terrible terrible troubles with the OEM Bridgestones they put on. Finally, had to go to a Bridgestone/Firestone dealer specifically to get an adjustment and a top of line Bridgestones were put on, which solved my problems.

Problem in doing that same thing with a Goodyear dealership, like the one I go to for oil and filter changes, none of their tires are any good so its a futile effort, plus, most Goodyears on tirerack have some of the worst ratings for treadwear!

 

Well the nightmare continues for me with this car and the tires, balancing, and alignments, oh my!!

Here is the situation, I've had terrible vibration troubles with the RS-As since day one of getting car. It was so bad that I was getting pulling to the right within the first two weeks of having the car. Got so fed up that I brought it back into my crappy Nissan dealer at 300 miles only on the car and they did a balancing and front-end alignment on the car. The Service Advisor had the nerve to say to me before I left that day that they weren't charging me as a courtesy because the car was so new and did not have that many miles but that if I brought it in a again complaining about vibrations they would have to charge me for balancing and alignment jobs!

Suffice it to say, and of course the Nissan stealership didn't brag about it, but the tech admitted to me that the tires were way out of balance and the front-end misaligned and that must have been the way the car came to the stealership from the factory like that! But it would have been okay to drive around till 7500 miles with out of balanced and a mis-alignment. The balancing/alignment Nissan did, did improve the vibrations moderately but they remained to a good extent.

As the months went on and I put miles on the car, the vibrations got worse again and figured the damn tires must have gone out of balanced again. At the 7500 mile tire rotation, I paid 75 bucks to have a performance balancing done on a Hunter GSP9700 straightrak machine at a tire shop and they rotated the tires. The performance balancing again got rid of a lot of vibrations, but I still now noticed a tremendous vibration doing anything over 60 mph.

I now have 8250 on the odometer. I had two big long day trips this past week, one to northern PA and the other to Philadelphia today to see my doctor. On the way home today, I noticed a creaking/squeaking noise coming from my suspension on any medium-large speed bumps, dips, pot holes, cracks in road, etc. I had the windows open because of the nice 70 degree weather today so I heard this. When I got home to look under my car at the suspension, I took a look at the front tires because I had the wheel turned out!

Suffice it to say I'm pissed! The freaking front tires are beginning to show early signs of uneven wearing!!! On both the front passenger and front driver tires, the whole outer half of each tire (the half of the tire closest to the outside of the car/outside of the rear wells) are showing visually more wear then the inside half of each tires, which would indicate the car is pulling, yet I haven't felt that in the steering wheel when I let go of it strangely. To me this indicates there is an alignment issue but I mean this is absolutely ridiculous. I had the alignment done at 300 miles, why, after making sure the tires are constantly inflated to a proper pressure and having the high quality balancing job done, are the freakin tires wearing unevenly??? I'm sick of this **** with these FWD high powered premium sedans! I'm having the same **** going on with my 08 TL right now with uneven wear and alignment troubles! Is the Maxima prone to alignment troubles or going out of alignment quite easily?

I mean if I didn't rotate the tires, make sure they are always properly inflated, and get expensive high quality balancing done, I could understand but there is not reason for this.

If the car was aligned early in its life, I should have gotten more than a year out of it. My God, I had that alignment done last October, its been only more than 6 months now!

Sorry for the long rant guys, but as you can understand, after spending the money I did for performance balancing, I'm extremely pissed that these tires are beginning to wear unevenly! What do you guys think I should do? Should I take it back to my ahole local Nissan dealer who is going to charge me an arm and a leg or maybe go back to the place who did my performance balancing and see if there is something they can do for free since I did a service with them already?

By the way, have any of you had alignment troubles with your Maxima or your past generation Maxima's if you them??

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!

 

I appreciate the rant because it truly demonstrate how $%$^%&&^*^ you are and its only natural to feel that way. I got a call today from the dealer and I am happy to report that they found 1 tire out of round with a bad hop in it. They are in the process getting the tire replaced and they are going to check the alignment to make sure its ok. I have high hopes since they, the service advisor and the tech and for that matter the whole dealership. If this works out I would advise everyone to bring they vehicles to my dealership or at least have a goodyear store look at the tires. They are the only ones that can replace it under warranty so its your best bet. Let me get it back and I will post all the findings positive and negative. Oh and the rims are not bent they were all check with the gauge.

 

Please do, I'd love to hear the good and bad of what they find. Personally for me, Nissan looked at the hubs, etc while they had it at 300 miles, but I mean something could have happen since then. But between the suspension noise I'm now getting and the uneven tire wear beginning to show up, the car is going to have to go back and they better get to the bottom of this and not bull **** me around!

 

Well I can't say I am a fan of the RSAs..as a matter of fact, I can honestly say, "never again" but I have over 70K on my 09 with these puppies on, and while they have to be the most problematic, out of round,noisy, and hard to balance of any tires I've ever had, I can't fault their tread life.

 

Holy **** Leary, 70k! Thats pretty amazing. I think that is probably the highest amount I've heard yet people were able to get out of the RS-As! The majority on tire rack are lucky to get 20-40k miles out of them before replacement so kudos to you for the long tread wear!

 

You know though, I didn't sleep that well last night because I was beating myself up about the problems I'm having with my TL and Max with these tire/balancing/alignment issues, in that maybe I'm doing something wrong, or missing something, but I just take such good care of my cars and make sure the maintenance stuff is done regularly and on time, I just can't find anything that I'm doing.

Personally, I think these FWD high powered upscale sedans are prone to mis-alignments because of their profile and sport characteristics but I do think a lot has to do, and Nissan is not alone in this, but these ****ty OEM tires all the car companies put on their cars. I mean, cars are the second biggest purchase anyone makes in their lives yet these companies put on some of the poorest quality and problem tires each tire manufacturer makes, Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone, Dunlop, Continental, etc etc!!

Personally, I know Leary has had good luck with the wear on them considering he has 70k miles on the tires, but I can only tell you what the guys from Goodyear told me on these tires in that they have a lot of people come in and complain about the poor ride quality, very high/loud noise level, and vibrations they get into the car even with balancing done regularly.

The Goodyear Tech told me that they usually swap out for an adjustment a better riding/quieter tire, like the Response edge, but I've done research on them and they are just as bad as the RS-As! Also, he told me that the RS-As are prone to mis-balancing and thus have inherent vibration troubles. Well if they are constantly going out of balance, I think that could potentially cause alignment troubles! But of course, if someone comes in off the street, they have no problem in selling those tires to people! Just goes to show you how sales operates!

If the RS-As have inherent balancing/vibration issues, then no amount of balancing, alignments, etc are ever going to make it right! Nissan will just continue to dance around the issue. Such a crying shame!

Goodyear RS-As

 

no idea but good luck in fixing it or it might be done that way? not sure.

 

Update again
They have replaced the tire and the car runs nice and smooth. The service rep was able to roadtest it after the repair and found that it has normal road feel ride for about a mile or two then it almost transforms in a smooth riding 4door. I have yet to drive it but knowing the service writter road tested it before and after I feel very confident that its smooth. Like I said I will post the name of the dealership. It will be picked up tommorrow and then I will drop off the wifes car and hope its the same. Stay tuned and have faith.

 

I wouldn't call it good Luck, I call it poor Luck..I've had to endure these POS tires only because I really couldn't justify replacement just because I "didn't like em." (I grew up in the waste not want not era.) I've had to get these balanced every 4-5 months to get this far (lifetime warranty and balance) and that is just plain ridiculus. But hey, one more 32nd and I can in good conscience replace these problem children.

I really agree that Nissan and Goodyear both missed the boat with this combo.

 

Well I hope they do realize it because Infiniti finally did with the new M37/56! The new one no longer has the RS-As as stock and instead has Michelin Primacy MXM4s!!

 

WHOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I picked up the car today and man WHAT a difference a tire can make. The vibration is since gone and I can honestly say I am enjoy my car. I would like to thank the service staff at EXECUTIVE NISSAN in North Haven CT for not giving up and surpassing the status quo. There is significant difference in the the way the car handles and rides. I will admit that you can feel a slight vibration at first but after the temp reaches normal it goes away. I can take it down the highway and feel the curve not the wheel. I feel every bit of the 4DSC NOW! Once again MANY MANY thanks to EXECUTIVE NISSAN for taking the time to look into my c0ncerns and make igt righr. They aa tryl the bresgt atg I gthan threm for whtaqt they diddd for me abd nyt concernsf.

 

Have you tried it between 60-80mph on the interstate yet? My vibrations and shimmering are their worst at those high speeds.

 

My wife is driving and from the passenger seat it feels really good. Please excuse my previous post I was very happy and under the influence of alchohol at the time(not driving and at home). I am very pleased with the outcome and from my intial drive I could not tell much since I was in and out traffic and changing lanes(4DSC). I wll provide a clear answer as soon as I get a chance.

 

Haha, your funny IH8SPM! I too am guilty of sometimes posting under the influence...

Back to the topic, I drive my car to work and back everyday and usually keep the car parked over the weekend and drive with the wife on the weekend. When monday returns and I drive the car for the first time after it has been sitting still in the same place for two days I notice a vibration in the car. By the time I get to work the vibration has gone away only to return the next monday. Dont know if it makes a difference but I have the 19" sport rims with the Lower profile tires. It seems they develop a flat spot from sitting for a couple days.

When I purchased my car the dealer gave me a copy of their invoice and it had only been on the lot for a couple days before I purchased it. I wonder if a car is purchased after sitting in the same spot for an extended period of time (a month or more) it doesnt put a more permanent flat spot in the tire.

 

Under the influence and it was only 4pm or so. I was mixing some music and staryed sipping and oh well you know the rest. It does have a slight vibration at first but it does go away after the tiresd warm up. The roads up in Annino(pardom the spellin can't copy past) part of ct are a lot better for testing and it seems just fine. I can't drive for reasons mentioned but it feels so good I was falling asleep in the passenger seat. Funny thing is rthe toire o gotr replaced was from 4609 which if you red. Geww pst back was simiular to my cuRrent tirewsa. I hav e to get back to the casaiino floor trhia BB is makiogn em disszzytyu. She yah sion.

 

You probably sleep real good last night... Or should I say yuh prinsbly sleet resl goos lastmiht.

 

Yeah I slept really good last night. I was at Mohegan sun and the ac in there works wonders to kept you awake on the casino floor but man once you leave its like being unplugged. Well back to car. I did not get to drive it on the highway but it did feel great on the local streets at 40mph. I will proably get a chance later this week when I take it to work and I will then be able to provide full feedback.

 

I was at Mohegan sun a couple of years ago with my family and it was quite nice. It was very unique and different from the various other Casinos I've been to over the years! I definitely would go back again! Your definitely right about your A/C on the Casino floor comment though!!!