KArthur

My wife had a Maxima several years ago and now she wants another one. So I have started to search and would like to be in a 2010, 11 or 2012. I do alot of the maintenance on my own cars and have been scanning over the posts here. For the 2010 thu 2012 models, do these engines have timing chains or belts? I searched the forums, but could not find mention of this for these year models. Anyone know where I could see a factory service manual? I found a sicky in the FAQ's for the 2009 FSM, but the link was dead.

Is there any one of two issues that this generation is known to have? I did not see any re-occuring issue that keeps coming up in this forum, but thought I would ask anyway.

Thanks

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Click the link in my signature for a 2009 FSM. Welcome to the Org.

mahanddeem

These engines have timing chains, virtually lasting the age of the engine and car if reasonably maintained with proper oil and filter changes.
Maximas 09 to 14 are virtually the same cars. Main issues are:
1. CVT: These transmissions are picky, they like frequent fluid and filter changes, and don't like to be pushed hard for reliability and long life. The biggest issue with this car and a Russian roulette pull if bought used.

2. Wheel bearings, common failure item

3. Front seat racking, in some cars even from day 0

4. Leaking power steering pumps

5. Alternator seems to last 120k to 150k miles

6. Needs premium fuel

Martinez1031

Honestly, id get a g37 sedan or q50. Get the q50 twin turbo. You get can a decent q50 TT for about 17k-20k. Both of these can be found with awd and have a lot of aftermarket support engine wise. I know you said it’s for your wife but might be worth trying to convince her. Q50 TT,with downpipes,upgraded heat exchanger and ecotek tune puts down about 423 to the wheels. That’s my next move once my union settles on a new contract with the county and I get a retroactive check.

KArthur

I looked at the FSM. The three seperate timing chains on the front of engine and then more chains on the rear.... that scares me to death. With these engines, when/if the chain breaks, it will ruin an interference engine. Gone are the days when you can just replace the belt/chain if that happens. I worked on a Ford Explorer once that had a failed TC guide which eventually came loose and caused the TC to break... thus scraping the engine. I have seen a few posts about timing chains repair\failing\noisy.... etc in the newer Maxima's.

I know the Altimas are a POS. Mainly b/c of the CVTs, so I am staying away from them totally. I was under the assumption that the CVT in the Maximas were probably different since they are V6 engines (similar design, but stronger for the V6... maybe). Surely, they are not the same CVT in both cars. I have seen some reports of them being an issue in some cars, but not that many really.

I hate a leaking/noisy p/s pump. Had a Honda Odyssey once with that issue and it drove me nuts. Luckily it was on top of the engine and super easy change.

I am still in the look for one. I found a '07 that needs a motor. I might get a good motor and freshen it up (timing chains /guides and water pump) before putting it in the car.

Thanks

mahanddeem

Get an infiniti, as said above. Sad Maximas went the wrong way when CVT started to be used in this "4DSC".

LWilspeed

I think it is a great choice! You won't get a better looking car that does everything well (maybe my opinion is a little jaded). Reliability is great from what I've seen and experienced. And if you are looking for lots of options, you'll be hard pressed to find something in this price range that is better. Maybe an Azera but then you've got to look at it every day (pre apologies to Azera owners reading this.) The G35 is really nice too but a tad more money and the cab felt significantly smaller to me, which I didn't really like. I've never checked a q50 but that has got to be a lot more money than a 7th gen Maxima. But they are nice cars!
Besides what was already mentioned the steering "theft" lock was quick to break on these cars. If it breaks you are stuck with a hefty part cost, and possibly a tow bill. Most everyone has pulled the fuse for the lock and then you don't risk the problem. There are some threads on here about that.
I love the panoramic roof on my car for looks, and it makes the cabin feel a bit bigger or more airy. But the squeaking/creaking from it bugs me, others have posted about that too, I believe there is a Nissan TSB involving disassembling the panoramic roof and putting some goo in the slides and mechanism for the roof, I just haven't devoted the time to doing this.
I was leery of the CVT before buying mine, but now I like it a lot. As mentioned above, regular fluid/filter changes seem to be the key to a long CVT life. At part throttle acceleration mine drops into low revs after a few seconds on the throttle. It isn't linear in relation to my foot's input on the pedal, a feature of the programming attempting to provide better fuel economy. It is odd to get used to, but that would be my only dislike. I think this may not be the way all the CVT's behave, there are different tunes for the CVT, I have driven newer maximas 2012, 2013 that seemed less prone to dropping the rpms like mine does. Besides that one oddity I love the CVT. It sure is smooth. I get irritated driving around cars with automatics now when they are shifting all the time
The Maxima still has a timing chain = fantastic, much better than a belt in my opinion.
While premium fuel is "recommended" - I have used 87 the entire life of the car w/o any issues. I hesitate to say that afraid of offending those who take really good care of the cars, but the 87 is working fine....so far. I researched it as much as possible and it seems the engine makes more power with 91 and by labeling it as "premium recommended" Nissan was hoping to push the Maxima into a more luxury class range of cars.
There are some different packages, so if you want certain extras you might have to do some looking (ex. rear passenger windows that are one touch up/down; cooled driver seat; panoramic roof vs. sunroof, seat memory, heated steering wheel, navigation, audio choices, rear arm rest audio and hvac controls, rear spoiler, 18" vs 19" rims, folding rear seat vs. armrest pass through, hid head lights, etc.)
The 18" rims change design and the grill changes design around 2012, maybe some other items.
I have a 2009 and it is missing 2 items that newer models have, and I wish I had noticed before I bought it. I know they are silly things but they bug me:

1. There is an apple 30 pin cord (original Iphone plug) going to a Nissan specific plug. I believe in '10 or '11 they went to a USB input. So unless you have an old iPhone hanging around or ipod you won't have control of your music from the steering wheel. I even found an old iPhone but had trouble getting a music app on it that I liked because it wouldn't upgrade to a newer ios. And being an android user I don't really want to buy a bunch of iTunes music.
2. The Bluetooth is only for phone calls. It doesn't have the ability to stream music. I believe newer Maximas have Bluetooth that also streams music (aptx I think it what it is called). There are workarounds for this too, I'm not sure if there is one that allows you to control the music from the steering wheel when using the phone as a music player. I bought a cheap receiver off amazon which elimated the need to plug in but sometimes the audio quality suffered and I still couldn't change tracks from the steering wheel.

So there is my 2 cents. It's a great car, with lots of options, is trouble free, looks sharp, runs fastish, gets decent fuel economy for the hp output. It should serve you well for a long time. Now you just have to pick a color.

VeeQue35DE

2010 Maxima SV 71,XXX miles
I've had my car for about a year and so far I had to change:

power steering pump and high pressure hose (leaking)
intake manifold upper and lower gaskets (P2A00 CODE)
valve cover gaskets and valve cover (leaking, spark plug gasket built into valve cover)
bank 1 & 2 ignition coils and plugs (I was in there anyway)
trunk button (sticky)
throttle body gasket
alternator (battery light turned on)

About to do oil pan upper and lower gaskets (upper is just RTV, no premade gaskets for upper)......not looking forward to this since I'll have to drop the exhaust to get to the pan, but putting in a Stillen cat-back and ART Y-Pipe since I'd have to take it apart anyway.
About to do both front lower control arms, bushings ripped.

If you can do all the work yourself then go for it. Otherwise it'll cost a LOT for the labor.

Richard66

To the OP

I have a 2009 SV sport with the same mileage and I'm at the other end of the spectrum. Bought my car one year used and there have been no issues. I have to say that this car is the very best, dependable nicest driving vehicle I have ever owned. All routine maintenance is done at the dealership. The only items changed besides fluids is a new battery and the tires, running Michelin Pilot sports now. If you can get a gem like the one I got you will be really satisfied.

VeeQue35DE

Nice! You got a good find! I do love my car even with the problems it's given me so far. I actually like wrenching on my car and bringing it back to original, if not better performance than what it came with from the factory. Spent years in the field, I don't want to get too rusty... I'm looking forward to the Y-Pipe and cat-back system and already ordered New Red Akebono front and rear calipers for way under normal cost. Around $900 front and rear.

Martinez1031

Your right,a q50 will run you about an extra 8-10k more. At the same time,you can get a g37 sedan for the same price as the max. Awd, no cvt, 328 hp to the crank. Do enough digging and you can find some that come with the akebono calipers. Again,nothing wrong with our maximas,but definitely other options out there.

As much as I like my max,as much money as I’m putting into and will continue to put into it,it wasn’t my first desire when I was car shopping. G37 sedan was at the top of my list. Sexy,big,luxurious,big engine,could be modified. Unfortunately couldn’t find one in my area for what I wanted to pay. Of course 2 months after I buy my Nissan,a g37 sedan pops up at the dealership 8 miles from me,43k miles on it,MINT condition. FOR LESS THEN WHAT I GOT THE MAX FOR. I then fell into a deep depression. Started drinking,playing videos games and calling out of work hahaha.

Point im trying to make,we all love the max,it’s a good car it maintained. Besides looks wise,not much we can do performance without spending 10k swapping out the trans. You want a fastish car that you can make any faster that has a finiky trans,then yea,get the max. Want a faster car,that you can make faster,that has a solid transmission and has the same interior of the maxima? G37 sedan. It’s your money so it’s whatever makes you happy. Just don’t get to infatuated with the maxima. It has plenty of flaws. Look at VeeQue35De. All those repairs. If he didn’t do it all himself, literally would have cost thousands. I’ve been lucky so far. I bought a 1 owner,dealer maintained with records. So if you do pull the trigger,try and get the most info as possible. Don’t know how bad your need for one is but be patient. Big investment so find the right one,right price with the right type of previous owner.

2011_maxima

Hi,
well I am not going to try and guide you one way or another. As indicated above there are issues with this car model, but I believe that every vehicle is that way. I will share my experience & atleast it will provide more info. to help you decide. We bought our 2011 Maxima SV in 2013 (almost 35k mi.) it was just barely in the factory warranty. i tend to do all (most) of my vehicles maint. and/or repairs, so I looked this over good to make sure that it would be in my limits of capability - LOL. So with that said here are the items that have been done to it in the 6yrs of my ownership. I have replace 4 of the 5 motor mounts ( the first was covered by the factory warr.) and the lower driver side control arm, On the maintenance side I have switched it over to synthetic oil (my original oil change (now going on 60k mi.),1 set of tires, A.C. system charge and finally the CVT trans fluid was changed out at 85k. The near future I will change the drive acc. belt & close to having to put another set of tires on as well. In general my "research" lets me feel that the bad issues with this particular car are:
1) the CVT trans. is very tempermental (hit or miss on if it is going to last on any particular car model)
2) motor mounts tend to not last very long (my experience lends this to be a Nissan item - not just Max's)
3) there appears to be an issue with the driver's seat becoming "loose" or develops a "rocking" motion during decelaration/accelaration

my overall experience with my Maxima is a very positive one. the car has plenty of "get up and go" the stereo is a really nice setup, the comfort level is sporty, but also provides plenty of support & "softness". I feel the gas mileage is good - even if heavy on the right foot & in overall appearance I think it looks really cool - makes an ol' guy look young & makes a young guy look distinguished.....

hope this helps & best of luck with your final choice.

mahanddeem

I liked that part, well put sir.
This car is truly...sexy...

MaximusN8

These cars are very good cars just not without their flaws, The CVT needs to be serviced at least every 30,000 to 35,000 miles with a drain and fill and very important the external filter should be replaced as well. There have been reports of CVT failure at random but it's not as common as the Altima which had a very bad flaw with their CVT'S that caused premature failure, But as I said not as common but the chance of CVT failure has happened and is there for our generation Maxima. The wheel bearings on these cars aren't good either and start to fail prematurely. They reccomend premium fuel, it's not a requirement so the vehicle will run fine on regular but to get that full experience of it's performance and slightly better gas mileage it's best to feed it Premium. If properly maintained I think these cars have longevity there are guys on this forum that can attest to that. Make sure there's a service record just to give you an idea of how well the vehicle was maintained so you know more or less what your getting into. Good luck

Martinez1031

How long do the oem wheel bearings usually last as far as mileage?

MaximusN8

These bearings start to give out pretty much after 30,000 miles. My Wife's 2012 got the right rear bearing replaced 2 months ago and the car is at 72,000 right now, and my 2010 got the right front replaced about 6 months ago and the left front replaced last week at 122,000, My buddy's Wifes Maxima a 2012 went through 2 both passenger side bearings and it's only at 55,000 miles. If you also do a search it's a very common problem with this generation.

mahanddeem

It depends on how and where the car was driven.

cdoublejj

WHY get an infiti? we know the sad story of maxima. what are you implying about the infities? are you implying they have a real transmission?

Edit: what 3.0 is the 2019 q50 rocking? vq? you mention the q50 but, no year?

Martinez1031

^^^^^^^^^^^^
i think that’s exactly what he’s implying.

2014-2015 3.7 VQ37HR. Starting in 2016 the q50 twin turbo engine was added. So you get can it with VR30 which is twin turbo. They also have a 2.0 turbo but eh

As you know,the GTR also has a VR series engine. Although the VR in the q50 is not the same as the gtr,,the design is very similar to the gtr,in some places the engine design is identical to the gtr,just smaller,like heads wise. So the Q50 in a sense is a true Baby Godzilla

cdoublejj

what years are AWD? i assume the VQ-HR years can be had for $20k ?

Martinez1031

All years come awd,it’s just a matter of finding it. Here in NY,the market has a good mix of awd and rwd. Eventually when I get one I have to awd for the winter months.

And yes,you can definitely find the 3.7 for less then 20k. I’d say the average price of the 3.7 is about 17k. But again,that’s around here. Even the Twin turbo can be found for about 21k. Not a 2019 but I see 2016 turbos going for about 21k.

Not bad bad in my opinion for car that after a few modest mods will put you at about around 423. E85 will put you close to 500 but I’m not sure I’d want to put E85 in my Infiniti if I had one