Don't let it scare you, zman is the exception, reading some of the stuff he has gone through with his car is frightening, makes my rear sway bar noise and seat bottom rock look like nothing

By the way zman, how is the car

 

You may want to consider sending your story to http://consumerist.com/ or another customer-focused website/organization. I've seen plenty of stories which get bad coverage in the press which then cause the Manufacturer/Dealership make things right. They may even contact them on your behalf. Worth a shot anyway...

 

Thanks! I really appreciate the reassurance, especially as my '09 is out of the 3 year / 36k mile warranty due to mileage.

It's been an amazing car thus far!!!

 

Sorry to hear of the problems OP. That said, I've had a BMW and a MINI Cooper (BMW-made) and they were both flaming pieces of crap. I will never buy a BMW product again. The MINI was a 2011 and was traded in for this Maxima. It had 3000 miles on it, owned for 3 months, and it was in the shop 3x for various crap. Never again... I have owned something like 15 Nissans since 1995, and they have all been great. I took a 1996 240 in for a bad O2 sensor, and a 2001 Frontier in for a rattle which was a heatshield. Other than that, oil changes and tire rotations... We currently have 3 Nissans, an 11 Maxima SV, 11 Titan SV and an 11 Murano SL.

 

I have to agree that from looking over this thread, I am starting think twice about going for this 2009 SV with 59,000 miles on it.

zman one thing you could try is have a sit down with the management of the dealer. Simply explain that after all the trouble this vehicle has given you, it's in their best interest to meet you halfway to make things right. After all, if you have to print flyers and hand them out to people coming into this dealer.. you won't hesitate to inform the public about the sub-standard service you've received at this dealer.

 

- Sorry for the absence I had to have a brake from thinking about this headache. Just to catch up.

I have had the car back for a few weeks now. The sunroof shade still occasionaly binds up while opening and closing. There is a new rattle in the roof. The dealership broke 2 trim pieces and 1 speaker grate in the dash during this last attempted repair. They have yet to repair these items. The windshield has glue smeared around the edges from the sub-par install job that was done on it. The roof has a new rattle when going over any surface that is not glass smooth. The service manager rode in the car with me while the roof was making this rattle and he looked me straight in the eyes and said, "we expect these types of noises." I informed him that noise was not present before he attempted to repair the car and I would not be accepting it. He decided to be a d!#@ words were exchanged and I made the most mature decision of my left by leaving without stomping his @$$.

Summary of issues with my 2010 Premium Package with 18,XXX miles

-Strut Isolators replaced under Recal
-3 attempted repairs on sunroof for binding during operation (still not resolved)
-7 attempted repairs on HVAC drivers seat for sporadic operation (still not resolved)
-The first entire year I owned the car the HVAC seat was inoperable... (I'm a dumbass for keeping it, I thought Nissan would make it right, go figure.)
-Headliner squeaks and rattles in multiple locations (only started after attempted sunroof repairs)
-Rear end squeaks going over bumps (dealership refuses to lubricate struts / body mounts)
-2 misaligned / broken C-Pillar trim pieces (from sunroof repair)
-Broken speaker grate in dash (from sunroof repair)
-Possible electricla issue (drove car for 45 minutes parked for 3 hours nothing left on, dead battery when attempted to crank)

I am to the point where I do not care. I have accepted that the only dealership available to me(which nissan has given all of the "awards" for service to) is incompitent and incapable of servicing vehicles. I have accepted that this car will never be right. The whole thing sadends me dearly. This was my first Nissan, my first new car, and my first car(have previously only owned trucks). I saved for this car for 2 years it was my first major purchase after I gradauted college and now I have nothing but disdain and contempt for the car. I will just suffer with it being a piece of garbage until I get my next vehicle (most likely BMW at this point).

Nissan customer service has been even ruder than the dealership and of no help. They have not even said sorry for the troubles.

 

Giving up is not an option.

 

I'll trade you my 2004 Toyota Avalon for it lol. jk
Seriously though if your spending 35k on a car it should be able to get your through a long time without issues. The only repairs on my Avalon I have ever made other than maintence is a windshield wiper motor, i had to solder a wire for my factory sub, and had to grease my steering column u joint. And I have 130,000 miles on it. I hope everything gets worked out for you

 

shouldve slappen him in the face right then and there

 

Believe me, not stomping this jerks @$$ was the most mature decision I have ever made... and one I'm sure I will regret for years. lol

I've been realizing these last couple of weeks. This is the first car I have owned that I do not feel a bond with. I have only owned old piece of crap trucks before this car and when they had issues it never bothered me, because they were old pieces of crap. My previous truck was a 4x4 f150 with 230,XXX miles, it ran great and never left me stranded, was like a trusty friend. I do not imagine how I would ever be able to feel that with this maxima.

I am glad people on here love their care. I am very jealous that I am not one of you.

 

Bought a new 2010 back in Oct of last year, the 1st 8 weeks of having the POS it was in the shop 6 weeks with everything wrong...Brakes, sun roof and so on....but my biggest deal was the air bag light show OFF when my wife was in the passenger seat....took in back to the dealership again and they could not make it happen, said they drove it all day and nothing was wrong....so i video it the next time it happen, wife in the passenger seat going down the hwy at 70 mph and the light keeps coming on and off.....long story short they bought the car back and gave me a new 2011 said something was wrong with the 2010 air bags.....well after 7 months guess what this one is doing the same thing....i have been a firefighter for 20 years, went to classes on how air bags work and how they save lives, i do not want my family in this car or anybody if the damn airbags may work or may not....this was my 1st nissan and my last nissan, have a meeting today at the dealership with Nissan to see what they are going to do....they bought the 1st one back, they can buy the 2nd one back.....If you are having air bag issues please make that the #1 thing with Nissan...

 

poor guy who buys this vehicle

 

No offense but how much does your wife weigh? I believe the airbag turns off if the passenger is below 120lbs.

 

Wife weighs 127....meet with Nissan Friday and the tech with Nissan told me that there is no weigh limit, unless there is a child in the front seat...so I ask why would the air bag show to be off when I sit in the seat go down the hwy ( I weigh 195 and wife is 127 )...he told me that our butt must not be in the seat right wow...so I showed him the video of us going down the hwy at 70mph with our butt in the seat and the airbag light showing to be off and he didn’t have much to say after seen the video....

 

Technician told me on my 2011 that the minimum is 105. Driving with zero in the seat the light is not illuminated. My 30lbs laptop bag in the seat and the light illuminates. My 93 pound GF and the light illuminates. 165 lbs co-worker, light goes out.

I might be f-ed

 

Hate to cause thread drift, but I'm a new Maxima owner (2011 Premium) and a new poster to these forums (Says I can't start my own thread until I've posted 15 times?).

First off, I bought the car after talking to numerous others who have owned Maximas through the years. No one had bad things to say about them. After reading this thread, I feel for those who are having problems and I'm scared that this may happen to me. Anyway, I have 1900 miles on mine. Bought it early October and got a decent deal on it as 2012s are coming out. No complaints to this point, but I am noticing a funny noise - sounds as if I'm running over something and it's being kicked up into the undercarriage - whenever I surpass 31-32 mph for the first time after turning it on. Subsequent deceleration to less than 31 and then passing 31-32 mph again results in no noise. It's only after the vehicle has been completely off for a period of time and it has just been turned on that it does that. The noise also sounds like it's coming from pretty much directly under the driver, maybe slightly behind the driver, but it's difficult to tell.

Anyone ever heard of anything like that? I have not taken it back to the dealer or asked any questions at this point. And otherwise, the car is incredible to this point.

Thanks for any help, and again, I'm sorry for the change of topics.

 

Karmakid:

Are you sure it's not at 20 MPH? There's a brake-system clunk on all of these cars passing that speed for the first time. Other than the speed, the symptoms mirror what you've described.


As to the airbag issues:

I've brought my car into the dealership twice for an 'airbag off' light that shows with a 150 lb passenger. The first time, they couldn't replicate it. The second time, I pressed them on it because I had a picture of the person in the seat with the light illuminated.

When I asked for a weight cutoff where they'd call it a problem, they said "when the airbag fault light on the dash turns on."

Other than going to a different dealer and replacing the car, how would you suggest resolving this?

 

Zman, what is the current status? I'd dare say Nissan would be paying you to deliver the vehicle to them so Nissan can hopefully improve on their poor customer satisfaction ratings.

 

Sadly I have given up on this car and Nissan. I am shopping around for a good used BMW 335i 2008-2010.
I tried every tactic I know with Nissan and the local dealer. I was completley nice and understanding at the start of these issues.(which began during the first week of ownership) Then faded into disgruntled and requesting any form of compensation, which was refused.
I have owned this vehicle for 18 months. I have only had it in my possesion for 16 of those months.
During these 2 solid months (not consecutive) they have replaced multiple parts related to the drivers climate controlled seat. Nothing has fixed it, they now acknoledge it is not working correctly and say they will not make more attempts to fix it.
The sunroof has been "repaired" on 3 seperate occasions for the shade on the side becoming jammed and inoperable. It still occasionaly jams up. After the last repair attempt they returned it to me and at the front of the sunroof the sun shines through the massive gap they left and at the rear sun comes thrugh a massive gap they left. They have again refused to make any further repairs.

They have driven me to the point that I have nothing but regret for ever trying out the Nissan. My previous vehicle I had logged over 200k miles on and did not have as many problems with as I have with the max.

Nissans official stance is they will be happy to have another DTS come look at the car. Which is pointless as the car has been examined by 3 different DTS whom have all made different suggestions for the repairs and everytime the car comes back worse.

 

Let me see what kind of answer I can dig up.

 

You should contact a lemon law attorney, I had a friend who bought a brand new 03 V6 4Runner and the engine sounded like a diesel, the dealer said the car sounded a little loud but was normal, after several months of the dealers and reps saying the truck was fine, in steps the Lawyer, sets up a court hearing and Toyota bought back the truck. (I should mention the truck was bought back at the purchase price, 2 years later )

Its BS, the Lemon Law Attorney, said the Dealer and Manufacture will do everything to make you give up, his job is to not give up, so get a lawyer, your car has obvious flaws, I would, I like my car but if I was paying 600 a month for something the dealer ripped apart, could not fix and then told me they would not attempt to fix it at all, or give me a new one, besides setting it on fire I would pay a lawyer and sue Nissan

 

Karma Kid,
I bought my 2011 SV Sport just about a month ago and was very disappointed by the same ailment. After countless hours of surfing the internet, perusing the manual, and finally calling the dealer I came to the conclusion that it was the vehicle doing an ABS Check Test.

I originally had an idea that this may be the case but assumed that 30 mph was rather high for an ABS test. I was later informed by a service manager that it can happen anywhere from 16 - 30 mph. Hope this helps and saves you much frustration.

 

if you're talking about the "bump bump bump bump bump" that happens shortly after you start the car yeah that's a self-check nothing to worry about

 

I figured I would show what is happening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=AadDp_ZYcJo

meeting with 4th dts today - so tiered of having problems with this car

 

Just making a f/u post-

Showed DTS 4 different videos of the sunroof jamming up as in the above posted video. However this did not happen on the day of inspection, no repair was made.

Complained about squeaking noise from rear end when going over bumps (4th time I had complained about this) nothing was done. At the time I did not realize there was a TSB for this. But why would the DTS AND my dealer both be unaware of the TSB?

Replaced my defective battery for free (as per Nissan warranty, the battery is 100% covered for the first 2 years of ownership.) - btw I required jumps on 3 seperate occasions the week before this.

They fixed the speaker grill which was horribly mis-aligned after the last repair.

They refuset to fix the c-pillar trim pieces which no longer line up.

They did not feel the heated seat was working improperly the day of inspection. I continue to have a cold *** while driving :-(

Drivers seat still rocks I have yet to schedule the f/u to have that repair done.

I cannot wait to pick out my next car I am so done with Nissan. It's not that it has had problems that bothers me its that they do not care about fixing it...

 

Apparently this forum is bad for my car. I made the above post during my last few minutes of work. When I got in my car I opened the glove box to put my trauma shears, id and pens in there. POP a loud pop sound as I open the glove box and now it won't close ... There is almost nothing in it, the above items + the nissan book, a hand towel, and an air gauge.... So I make sure the hinges are clear, they are so I really force it shut. POP, now it sticks when you open it and is real ratchety and ghetto opening and closing as opposed to the nice smooth operation it used it be.
$34,000 car niceeee

 

I'll give an update on my issues as well. I brought my car on the 19th for the following service issues and how they were addressed:

• Rear Suspension Creak - Replaced and lubricated per Service Bulletin. Still creaks, but nowhere's near as much.
• Warped Rotors (just turned 6k miles ago) - Replaced front rotors under warranty. Issue resolved
• Driver's Seat Rock - Ordered new parts for lower seat. Not yet installed.
• Coolant Smell from Engine - Claimed there was a loose hose. Issue resolved.
• Trunk Not Opening Fully (shocks) - Claimed they could not replicate and all Maxima trunks operate this way.
• Bluetooth Recall - Performed a "Nav" update, not sure if this resolved the recall because I know there was another "Nav" bulletin out.

After having the car back for a day my "Service Engine Soon" light came on. I do not know the cause and am not having any issues.

I scheduled an appointment for Saturday morning to look at the light, follow up on the trunk again, the suspension and the driver's seat.

I was half-way satisfied with how the dealer responded to my issues. I was dissatisfied that I had to go around the service tech and go to the Service Manager to make sure I got a loaner car for the first service appointment. Also, the fact that they ignored the trunk and didn't even mention it when I asked them to explain all the corrections and problems.

I really do LOVE this car, but I am fed up with all these issues. I love it, but I'm over it.

 

this is why nissans have bad resale value, get inside a toyota and drive one. You'll see the difference right away.

some here have been lucky and have had very little issues, or have learned to ignore them.

and nissan dealers seem to be really cheesy vs honda and toyota.

oh wells, i guess u get what u pay for.

 

Bad resale value, not Maximas.

http://www.nissanusa.com/maxima/awards.html

 

Those awards are meaningless...its what they trade for in the true market place.

 

Man it sounds like whomever assembled zman's car was hungover or stoned that day Feel bad for ya dude, there are numerous happy A35 owners on here who have had nothing but good things to say about this car. Also sounds like this dealership just sucks... period. Come to Nissan of Chantilly in VA and I guarantee they'll take care of ya!

 

Huh? Bad resale value??? Is that a joke? Which Toyota? Cant be a Camry because I've driven my brother in laws Camry, infact he will be trading in his Toyota soon for a SV Maxima.

What do you mean "get what u pay for"?

The Max is a 31-40 thousand dollar sedan!

Btw love my Max. So far no issues. Sorry to hear about the few that do have issues. Hope all gets straighten out.

 

Since September 2009, Toyota has issued recalls covering more than 13 million vehicles in the U.S. With the company facing hundreds of lawsuits, safety experts and industry analysts contend that quality problems could haunt the world's largest automaker for years to come, affecting its reputation and bottom line.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov...ecall-20111110

 

but honda and toyota don't have that tight rumble when you push that ENGINE START button.

 

The shame is thousands of happy Maxima owners go about their day, happy day in and day out and never are mentioned. Only the "problems" are pretty much ever posted in these forums. I had two A35 Maximas and both were great, only the 09 had the rocking seat that was fixed with the TSB. I've since moved onto Infiniti for my daily driver and love it...

 

i brought a brand new 2010 maxima loaded ! no issues so far 35k miles i work at the dealership for awhile all of these issues
are
common the car was assembled in the usa people out of 10 cars you will get 3 good ones sad to say but its the truth

and i made sure my was built
on a tuesday not a friday

 

thats true that people who love something just go about their day, but its people who have issues that go online and start lookin for forums to troubleshoot the problem and complain about it. whens the last time you saw a post "hey everyone my cars working awesome - just thought id check in!" lol

 

 

i still love my max

 

More like 1 out of 10, but your better off ignoring something then letting the dealer mess with it, to many variables play into fixing something correctly, just one reason I left being a tech.

I love my car even with the few issues it has, every car has several issues, you learn to live with them