Sorry you're having so many issues. I got a very early 2009 and other than the "rocking chair", haven't had 1 other issue. Your dealership sucks, maybe time to shop around for a better dealer. Mine still calls me AT LEAST once a month asking how things are, reminding me about service, and of course telling me the latest sales, and I get an email from them weekly. There really is a huge difference between dealers even tho they all say Nissan on the sign.

 

Just got a phone call more bad news. Something broke while they were working on my car, they are taking it to a body shop to weld something. . . WTH?!

 

This whole list are cars that (anecdotally) will cost you similar amounts to the Maxima to keep on the road.

Here are two cars I would add to the list: Pontiac G8 GT, Caddilac CTS, Lexus IS350

also look at http://www.truedelta.com/.

 

For the current sunroof repair. The car has been in the shop almost 20 days starting on 9/06. Should I be able to get Nissan to compensate me for the loss of use of my vehicle?

 

God forbid you drop your key or your cell phone or even some change between your seats. You will never get it baack or you have to move your seat all over the place... I got so mad this morning at this piece of **** interior that i ripped out the cushion on the front seat just t grab my freakin key that fell between the seat and the seatbelt FML!

 

*** UPDATE ***
Ok wholly poo biscuits ... Just got off the phone with the service manager. The entire car has been gutted, all the seats are out, all the trim is out, the windshield is out. The frame of the sunroof is welded/cemented into the metal roof of the car. To remove it they had to cut the metal roof of the car open remove the old sunroof assembly and weld/cement the new sunroof assembly into the roof of the car. The weld/cement will have to cure for several days while staying inside of a climate controlled shop ... Then they will begin re-assembling the car.

No Effing way No Effing way am I keeping this car now. I immediately called Nissan Consumer Affairs explained the situation starting with how I had issues with this car since day 3 and told them I wanted them to buy it back from me. They said they would create a file of the highest importance and forward it onto the highest level of claims. Who would then contact the dealer and assess the extent of what is going on and then I will be contacted....

Worst part of all of this ... I have a hot date tonight and I have to take her out in a stripped down Murano, totally killing my style :-(

 

wow on the car thing. why would they need to strip the entire interior just to re-cement the sunroof.

hot-date-comment: well atleast you don't look pretentious

 

Lexus is350 essentially an expensive two seater.

CTS - $10 grand more for the same content than the G. When I rented the CTS I was not wholly impressed with it.

Pontiac G8 - Not sold on the reliability. If you're going to have the car for three years then fine.

 

Holy cow! Good luck!

 

There was a sticker stuck on the roof right above the rear view mirror of a '72 Chevy pickup I bought years ago that read: "IF IT HAS **** OR WHEELS....IT'S GONNA GIVE YOU PROBLEMS" needless to say...the sticker remains!

 

Just trying to have a since of humor after being repeatedly licked in the nuts

 

Haha, been there done that. It does suck!!

 

i hear you that sucks. Also I assume you meant "kicked" LOL.

 

After all the problems Nissan should be lickin

 

Well the licking has been taken care of now ... but yes I did mean Kicking* autocorrect Win!

 

Just got done driving a 335i sedan... Wow, what a machine. I understand why C&D mocks the 4DSC tag line now. Although it is much smaller than the Max. This is a pretty big draw back but the only one so far.

 

I'm not surprised. My 1st car was a bimmer, and I love their sporty ride, exhaust note, handling, etc. I couldn't buy anything smaller than a 5 though. Too bad I can't afford one right now

 

Wow. My Maxima has about 1k miles on it and pretty much everything you described I have already experienced.

I could live with most of the faults, but the driver seat rocking is really bothering me.

Has anyone tried taking apart the drivers seat to fix it themselves? The dealer hasn't been very helpful with this.

 

The drivers seat rocking has a TSB. They need to fix it for free period end of story.

 

12th consecutive day my they have had my car ... I have not heard anything else since they told me they were welding the roof back together >:-(

 

That stinks. Only problem we have had is one of the cigarette plugs stopped working and it seemed to be a blow fuse. Other than that all is well. *knock on wood*

 

While Nissan has never enjoyed the same stellar reputation for quality as its Japanese compatriots at Toyota and Honda, it has lately found itself in danger of acquiring the opposite rep. Nissan's performance on influential J.D. Power quality and dependability studies has been below average lately, as many of its rivals have improved. Nissan will be launching a new quality plan in November, but Automotive News has the scoop today.

The most immediate change in Nissan's quality approach is a shoot-the-messenger measure requiring dealers to present car buyers with a two-page quick-reference guide that's part of 2012 owner manuals. The manual insert will seek to address some of the common threads that have cropped up in J.D. Power survey results. Nissan will also be addressing some of the most frequent customer complaints, like poor shift quality from its new seven-speed automatic transmissions used in Infiniti products. Nissan tells AN that it is already upgrading the software in the transmissions.

While that's a start, Nissan has a long way to go to hit its stated goal of having both Nissan and Infiniti brands in J.D. Power's top three in their respective categories by 2016. Nissan ranked just 24th in the Initial Quality Survey released in June, and managed only 25th in the Vehicle Dependability Survey, according to AN.

Other issues that have bothered Nissan customers include difficulties with HVAC controls, confusing rear wiper controls, and using hands-free phone systems. Kazumasa Katoh, Senior Vice President of Global Quality, said that these kinds of customer complaints are the result of Nissan customers' embrace of new technology, which can be complicated.

We've heard this line rather often, ever since Mercedes-Benz saw its J.D. Power scores plummet almost a decade ago. Yet automakers seem to continue to struggle in designing in-car systems that are simple and intuitive. Earlier this year, Ford's MyFord Touch system led Consumer Reports to pull its coveted Recommended rating from the 2011 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX.
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...310109957/1117

 

No doubt. Long story short, I took it for the rocking problem, they replaced a part, the problem is now worse. I took it back in today and they just called me and said they ordered a brand new seat, they're replacing the whole seat.

Doesn't that sound nuts for a car with 1228 miles on it?

 

Man it sounds like on top of dealing with some unfortunate manufacturer defects, you have some TERRIBLE Nissan dealerships you guys deal with!

I've taken my car to Nissan once and gave them 3 under-warranty repairs (new motorized steering column due to squeaking, new heat shield on left muffler, filled up brake fluid due to ebrake light coming on) and a TSB (the ECU re-program to make it accelerate faster) to take care of they told me to come back in a week cause they had to order a part, then did everything in 6 hours gave me the car back everything finished and even washed/vacuumed it before giving it back. I highly recommend looking for another dealer with better service, it makes no sense why these idiots wouldn't want to help since they can submit the repair to Nissan for reimbursement since it's warranty work.

 

^^^ Summing this up - "Our customers are not smart enough for our vehicles" Brilliant approach there Kazumasa...

As for finding a new Nissan Dealership there is only 1 other in the area and its almost an hour away ... at this point it does not matter I have no intentions of keeping this car longer than it takes me to save up for the BMW.

 

Hey guys im a VW CC owner now and i hate it. I'm buying a maxima saturday 2012 premium tech sv w spoiler im super excited. I want to know what are some issues i should be aware of with the MAX because my CC drove me nuts. Responses would be appreciated.

 

I have heard a lot of bad stories about the cc.

 

Just got my car back ... Took the interstate home now when I go above 50 mph there is so much wind noise it sounds as if you have the windows rolled down :-/ - god I hate this car

 

wow man that sucks you're having so many problems with the Max. I've had a couple small issues but nothing Nissan didn't take care of under warranty and beyond that the car is amazing. def looks like some duds out there as far as quality goes..

 

wow this sucks..it seems to confirm that earlier 2009 models were more reliable than 2010 and 2011... I have a 2009 and it's given me zero problems fortunately...

as for the dealer, tell them your gonna contact carlos ghosn and management directly...they will get on your case in a heartbeat.

most nissan dealerships I've been to have been nothing but typical swanky run of the mill "cheesy car salesman" places. Sometimes I wonder who does the interviewing of these salesmen and service guys cuz they actually do more harm than good to nissan.

 

Zman - I feel your pain...I will try to keep this short. First off, reading your story made me register and post a reply - i had been a visitor to the forum for the past 2 years, but I wanted to share my story and hopefully it will help others.

I had a 2009 SV w/premium package that I leased new. I had ALL of the same problems that many have had, tires that vibrate (replaced 8 tires on the car thru Goodyear - they were nice but they still vibrated, just to a different degree than before), drivers seat that rocked (still rocked a little after replacement), heated seat that worked intermittently, sunroof that "cracked" over certain bumps (in addition to being too noisy to open over 40MPH), front struts that broke (and were noisy), a stereo that intermittently just shut off, and on top of that, the car just didn't ride right - seemed like I was driving a truck.

I too was going to throw in the towel on the Maxima, but like others have said, there is nothing that looks as good, has the features, or performance that isn't over 40K. I was lucky though because I decided to LEASE, figuring that if I got stuck with a lemon I could walk away - even if it cost me a few extra $ in the long run, I had an out.

Last month, I was able to find a dealer that would buy my car for the lease buyout (the car was absolutely mint with only 26K miles). Now that I was a returning lesee, I got extra $$$ thrown at me to release, and leased a 2011 SV w/only cold and monitor package for $100 less per month than I was paying before.

This car is night and day compared to the old one - heated seats that work, a sunroof that is quiet when open @ 70MPH, struts that are as quiet as a mouse over speedbumps, and NO tire vibrations - this car rides, steers, and handles like a dream (not as good as a BMW - had one before - but they have problems too...BMW = Big Money Wheels (for repairs).

My advice - keep the full court press on Nissan and the dealer - be nice but firm. Don't give up. I don't know if you bought or leased and how much equity you might have, but tell the dealer that you want a new car and you want out of the old one. Get an SV without the Premium package - like someone else said, all the problems tend to be with those options.

I hope that your story has a happy ending like mine did.

 

@carAddict the cc has its pros and cons like any other car. For me the drivetrain is horrible i would be 12 pages in if i went into detail on every issue! Im excited about leasing my maxima i cant wait im thrilled about having thw CVT v6

 

Wow almost seems worth it to spend the extra 3-5 grand on a "luxury" brand. my buddy had an issue with his maxima and took it in, and they treated him and his car, like the $10,000 nissan versas that come in the door. If i paid $40,000 for a car i feel like I should be treated better than someone who only paid $10,000. That might sound like im being selfish, but money doesnt grow on trees. I know both cars are nissan products but there is a huge gap between prices.
In my experience it seems like the luxury brand dealerships treat all of their customers with respect whether you bought a g37 or an m56 (or whatever it is lol)

 

The issue is with the dealerships and their attitude towards customers - both in the buying experience and service dept. You have to shop around until you find the one that feels "right", although admittedly, that can take some effort.

If you have problems, go right to the top - don't screw around with salesmen or service adviors - only deal with management from that point on.

 

***UPDATE*** - On the way to work tonight I rolled the windows down, Hit the auto up - nothing ... The auto up does not work any more ... but the auto down does... WTH ?!

facarp63 - I bought mine 0% financing and I put 10k down so I could have a minimal payment. With the intentions of keeping this car 10+ years since it has a 120k mile warranty and this particular dealer includes lifetime powertrain warranty on all their vehicles

04avalon - I know exactly what you mean, I pulled that card on the service department, basically just calmly stated... You are not treating me like a customer that spent $40,000.00 deserves to be treated.

I owe so little on this car I really do not want to get into another vehicle but I am at a loss on what to do.

 

Ok, I discovered on the interwebz how to reprogram the auto windows.

On both sides of the sunroof, there is an accordion piece of black plastic/rubber than runs the length of the roof. It was not attached to anything, I found the tracks it rides on and reattached it. This looks purely cosmetic to my eye I cannot imagine it doing any real task.

The sun visors have a plastic trim piece that pops on and off to cover the screws which attach it to the roof, those are missing...



This kind of stuff would not bother me at all if it was a used car... But the fact that it has 17k miles on it and I bought it brand new just burns my bacon. At least the new girl will meet my car this weekend.

 

wow thats sucks with all your issues.. i would keep persistantly calling and bugging them about ur Huge problems over and over. In the mean time keep bringing the car in for service over and over..sooner or later im sure youll get a buy back on the car/exchange for new one. just be persiseant..

i had a pontiac grand Am back in college , bought new, had sooo many problems over and over..the car was in the shop for the same problem 3 times, i then contacted pontiac about Lemon Law, a rep came out to when the car was in the dealers shop next time and test drove car and determined they would exchange car or i could be reimbursed. i said ill take the $$ and they bought car back a a few weeks later..The constant prob was the engine ticking, they replaced valves, top end etc..nothing worked.. but i was persistent over and over with them on the Lemon the car was !!!

i have a 09 Max and i ordered mine from factory built as i have w 99% of my cars..i always refuse to buy a Lot car..ONLY issue i have had is rocking front drivers seat, but nothing that bugs me a ton and also the car pulls alittle on highway speed, buy No way will i let a nissan dealer touch it, it would definately come back worse...

but i kno how bad some of the dealers are around MA, most give u a line of BS..my friend has a Max also and dealer gave him a line of BS for his trunk rusting..all people reasons and prob above is enough for me to never buy another Nissan car again..
i will go back to Honda most likely..always treated above and beyond whenever my car was in for service etc..never any bs, car was always fixed each visit and done right.

 

This thread scares me with all the issues some of you have had. I hope mine will be okay...knock on wood.

Quick question - is the Maxima's engine interference type or not? I believe the engine uses a timing chain, and if if it uses an interference engine it would ruin the engine if it broke.

 

So the sunroof must not have been seated properly or something. After being opened and closed a few times its pretty much just as quiet as it should be in the car.

 

Wow! I am sorry some of you guys are having so many issues with this car. I've owned my car for a little over two years now, it has about 20,000 miles on it and I never had any of the issues you guys mentioned.

During this entire time, I had to take it to the dealership only twice. First time I took it because my wife managed to lose one of the fob keys (obviously our fault) and the second time was due to some noise I was hearing whenever my car went over a bump. The dealer fixed the noise issue in less than half hour by lubricating the struts (I guess), its been over a year since I got it fixed and I never heard it again! However, my battery recently died twice in the space of three weeks. So, I am taking it back to the dealer on Friday but these issues are insignificant. Anyone else experiencing issues with the battery?

I would be pretty upset as well if I had to go through the same experience as some of you on this thread. However, I don't think this is a problem across the board. It could be specific to some batch or trim. BTW, I own a 2009 Maxima S model (base model).