From what I've read online over the past few years, Maxima reliability is a far cry from what it used to be back in the 1990s. Can any previous Maxima owners (especially last gen) speak to their experience? I really like the new Maxima but I am a huge sucker for reliable cars as I put nearly 20K miles per year on my cars. I've stuck with Honda, Acura, Toyota, and Hyundai for my last few cars, and those have all been trouble free. It worries me to switch to a brand that has been steadily falling in reliability rankings over the years.

 

Seems the Japanese are going down as the Koreans are going up. http://www.cnbc.com/id/102766497

 

ROMIL, I currently have a 2010 Maxima, SV, Premium package. This is my 4th Nissan and 3rd Maxima. I've had a 97 SE 5 speed, 03 SE, TE, 6 speed, a 2010 SV and a 2010 Murano, LE. By far my 97 was the most reliable one of the Maxima's. Aside from normal maintenance items I only replaced the radiator, the cheap Panasonic battery, the starter, alternator and 2 oxygen sensors, I owned that car for 9 years and 147k miles.


So far my 2010 Maxima has been in the shop for numerous items and this past month alone my car has been in the shop for a new windshield, sunroof issues, the rocking driver seat, and the tilt down mirror actuator had to be replaced twice, (but it's under warranty). I also had to get my hazy headlights buffed out as they cost $1000 each.


I didn't test drive the 2016 nor will I because my next car will more than likely be something else. With all the electrical gadgets that Nissan has used over the years this model doesn't have some of the more failure prone ones from past cars. Such as the tilt/telescoping steering wheel and the rear stereo/heater controls.


But they've finally added the remote start feature that everyone has been asking for and they created a blindspot so they had to add the blindspot detection system.


But I wish they would have added folding mirrors instead, but that's just me. From what I've heard this generation cvt is the best responding one yet. But I hope they've re-thought their cvt fluid change interval, 100k miles is far too long for any fluid.

 

I've owned 4 Maximas, 92 GXE, 96 GXE, 02 SE, and my 2010. Of all those, the 2010 had more issues. Nissan took care of my car through warranty though. I still like my car a lot. I do understand that things happen, but it makes me think about my next purchase....having to have big repairs done will do that. The head gasket as well as the CVT were replaced at about 57k miles.

 

My 2009 7th gen, assembled in Sept 2008 has been a perfect car. Best I have ever owned. Never once let me down.

BUT

The experiences with ONE Maxima mean nothing. The only meaningful data will be from a large number of cars. Such as Consumer Reports, where over a hundred thousand drivers report annually on the reliability of their vehicles.

Consumer Reports shows the 2011 Maxima and the 2012 Maxima as 'above average' in reliability, and the 2013 as 'well above average' (their highest rating) in reliability. Some earlier model year Maximas have equalled that perfection, but no Maxima model year has ever had a higher rating than the 2013.

Tales of diminishing reliability of the Maxima are based on the reports of a few individuals. But the masses say otherwise. As one who has owned every gen Maxima but the first (more than one of some gens), I have never owned a more reliable model vehicle, and I have been driving since the 1940s.

One factor to remember is that the Maximas of these days are a much more complex vehicle than the Maximas of the early generations. I was able to work on my 1980s Maximas, but I wouldn't know where to begin on the Maximas of these days.

 

Thanks for the responses, guys. Yeah it seems like even some of the more typically rock solid brands are having issues these days (Honda with their CVTs in the CR-V, Acura with their 9-speed auto...etc) due to complex technology.

 

My 2010 recently had a CVT failure at 148,000 miles. That was an ordeal and now I am sporting a 2010 junkyard CVT with 40,000 miles, which seems to be doing well. I would not consider another Nissan CVT or another Maxima period. I also have both headgaskets that leak coolant. Thankfully it is a slow leak and hasnt worsened over time, but Nissan made an engine with leaking headgaskets and a transmission that has not withstood the test of time.

I personally have my heart set on a Honda Accord Coupe EX-L V6 with 6spd manual.

Would not recommend the new Maxima. They allowed the previous models to continue production with a documented #1 main bearing knock well after the TSB was released. Then after I get new transmission in, the knock that I had in accordance with the TSB is nearly gone. Tells me that Nissan is without a clue on some things lately.

 

And you are saying this based on your experience with the previous generation that shares next to no parts with the 8th gen...

Ok.

 

It's OK Turbo. I've found from long experiencd that posters with a problem or failure in their car are ten times as likely to post on a trouble thread than someone who has had no problems. That is just human nature.

What we can guess is that the usual ratio applies - for every poster here who has had significant problems with their Maxima, there are probably ten times as many who did not have a significant problem. That would result in the reliability ratings Consumer Reports currently has on the Maxima.

Those who say they will never buy another Maxima based on their personal experience, rather than the overall experiences of many thousands of Maxima drivers as reflected in national rating systems, are mostly just frustrated that they were in that small percentile that had trouble. Just human nature to see the issues nearby rather than the overall view.

 

The 8th Gen is built by the same company that built the 7th Gen. Does not matter that they used different parts. If they could not get the 7th Gen right what makes anyone think they will do any better with the 8th Gen.

The 7th Gen and 8th Gen are some of the best looking cars on the road. If you can get a deal on one it is worth purchasing. The Maxima is only a good value when it is heavily discounted. If you have to spend $40K on the vehicle I would look elsewhere.

 

 

For me, I have looked elsewhere, and in the end, I chose a Maxima, and am very pleased!

 

Gen 8 looks sooo non JDM

 

Completely agree. When you have a great experience you tell a handful of people, but when you have a negative experience, you tell everybody.

 

And the 8th gen just came out. Unfortunately some problems will arise with assembly that do not pop up in pre-launch testing, that's how it goes for every manufacture. That's why people say it's usually best to not purchase during the first year.

Your point?

 

omg use your brain

 

Much like LOTH, I have owned multiple Maxima's (9, soon to be 10) over the years and through the different generations. Other than issues that I personally generated (a clutch way back when I was a cowboy on the highway) and fender benders, the only issue that I have had were a bad bearing and the rocking seat which were fixed immediately at no charge. I have been thrilled with the reliability of the Maxima over the years and vouch for it always. However, I rarely hold on to a vehicle for more than three years or 50K miles(I have a vehicle benefit through my job that requires me to get a new one every three years). So I can not be a judge of longer term reliability. The other factor that must be considered is how the reliability has changed (for the better, or for worse, I don't know) since they started building the vehicle in the US rather than Japan.

 

Maybe use yours like telling us why you posted those instead of leaving us guessing. What I see is Nissan is slightly below average for Initial Quality (I think this score has been better recently), and above average (a good thing) in Dependability.

 

I'm sure OP would come up with similar conclusion

 

Well when you sell thousands of cars every year there's bound to be a bad apple come through every once in a while. Even the best manufactures in the world have issues (Porsche replacing GT3 engines recently comes to mind). But your charts show Nissan as a whole, not Maxima specifically so they really don't give much input in here. And like I said I'm pretty sure those scores have come up recently. (or down, i.e better)

 

J D Power initial quality numbers are somewhat useful. But I think you need more in-depth analysis of their data. For example, are the issues related to the infotainment system, or the drive train?

 

This goes much deeper than overall manufacturer ratings. Every manufacturer has good vehicles and some not so good. George may honestly not understand that THE ONLY RELIABILITY RATINGS THAT HAVE THE SLIGHTEST BEARING TO THE MAXIMA ARE THOSE THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY RATING THE MAXIMA.

Nissan Produces almost twenty different lines of vehicles, and some of those are not rated very well in reliability. In fact, several currently have black ***** (much worse than average in reliability). So, for Nissan to be just below average in spite of those vehicles earning black ***** means that there are Nissan vehicles that are rated better than average. The Maxima is, and always has been, a vehicle that is rated between average and much above average.

So the overall manufacturer ratings george posted mean nothing as far as the reliability of the Maxima. But they do indicate Nissan, as a manufacturer, needs to tighten up its engineering and quality control for some vehicles.

 

Some promising signs:

http://autos.jdpower.com/research/Ni...dan/index.html

http://autos.jdpower.com/research/Ni...dan/index.html

 

My apologies, these links may not work. What they were intended to show is that Sentra just won JD Power's Initial Quality Survey, and Murano won their APEAL award.

 

Japanese car quality overall has been on a steady decline in the past 10 yrs.

I don't care how nice a car looks but I'd never buy one with a CVT. Hearing of people dropping $40K+ on a Nissan is outrageous to me.

 

Explain!!!!

 

Technically an Infiniti is a Nissan too, so...

 

I regret that you are going to have fewer and fewer automotive choices going forward. More and more manufacturers are moving to CVTs as the gradually improving CVT is going to have better fuel efficiency and better acceleration than any traditional tranny that has to shift.

Yes, we had fun shifting manual trannies, but they are now the least effective tranny, both in fuel efficiency and in acceleration. They will gradually disappear except in cars intended for fun, not efficient transportation.

Automatic trannies are improving, and now some are up to nine speeds. But automatic trannies are both heavier and larger and more complex than CVTs, and those are three things that add to costs of manufacture, as well as waste room and use more fuel to get the additional weight rolling.

But once all vehicles are automated, with the driving being done by the vehicle control system, I can't imagine why anyone would care what kind of tranny it has, since we won't be able to have any control over it anyway.

p.s. - Is $40K for a Nissan much worse than $65K for a KIA? Just asking.

 

A recent survey released shows the average age of a car in the U.S. is 11 1/2 years old.Here is a qualifier: the vehicle made its way into the used-car market, where someone else bought it..

 

I sat in one at the dealer. REALLY NICE inside.

I notice on the mirror it comes with lifetime warranty of engine and transmission. I got the same thing when I bought my 2014. This is really good, but I am wondering if they are afraid of something..

 

Lifetime warranty of engine and transmission? I haven't seen such a warranty in my long life, and I began driving by shuffling tractor trailers around my uncle's trucking company facility in 1945. That kind of endless warranty will not be Nissan, but the dealer. I would be very interested in reading the fine print.

 

Never heard of this offer. Why wouldn't it be highly advertised?

 

My guess is that it's a dealership promotion.

 

I put 25k miles a year on my vehicles and have owned a '01, '03, '05 and now a '13 Maxima. The '01 was the best built out of the bunch. I now have 55,000 miles on my '13 and it has not seen the shop once. I have zero concerns about Nissan reliability but I have seen build quality decline over the years. I do not like the CVT. I hear the 8th gen CVT is more tolerable but if I was in the market I would look for a conventional transmission.