dennislduncan

I purchased a new 2016 Nissan Maxima SV on 7/16/2015. About 2 months later the car started jerking and shuddering between 20 - 30 mph when starting from a stop after making a left turn. I also started smelling antifreeze, especially after the car sat and idled for 15 or more minutes. Took the car into the dealership and they found a code for the CVT. Nissan sent a new CVT to replace the bad one. The dealership never found a coolant leak even after pressure testing the system. A month later my Maxima starting jerking and shuddering again between 20 - 30 mph. I was informed that my new Maxima needed another CVT. I called 1-800-NISSAN1. After Nissan looked at the number of times I took my car in for smelling antifreeze and transmission problems, they agreed to buy the car back. The process will take up to 30 days. Nissan is allowing me to buy another Nissan at employee pricing (VPP option A) if I so choose.

kevin_ohio

Sorry to hear about the problems but it sounds like they are taking care of you with the buy back. Good luck.

Maximam

It amazes me Nissan still has not resolved the CVT issues. This juddering has been a problem since they started selling the new Pathfinder 3 years ago.

My '13 Maxima has the old designed CVT which has been reliable at least for the last 62k miles. I had two '13 Altimas that both had CVTs that would smell like they were burning up going up a hill. The dealer bought back the first one and I traded the second one.

I'm done with CVT. I prefer the driving experience of a conventional transmission anyway.

In your case have the car bought back and go with another brand, Nissan is not what it once was. Toyota/Lexus still makes the most reliable cars out there, I loved my old Lexus GS400 that needed almost nothing over 168k miles and drove like new until I got rid of it (regretfully).

Darkwing48

iTrader: (1)

High-Tech Transmissions Shifting Into Higher Rates Of Trouble

Maxima 97 SE

The best Maxima Nissan ever made was the 4th gen 1995-99 as those cars never had any major recalls or troubles and it was the first car to introduce the VQ engine which was the VQ30DE. 321,000 miles here and it still feels new with original engine and transmission which is automatic and I prefer to drive that over my 2009 Nissan Murano simply because the cat transmission sucks. I have a Honda Accord 2014 sport which also has a cvt and let me tell you that Honda being that it was there first time putting a cvt in there cars they got it absolutely right. For a i4 cylinder it halls *** and runs like an automatic and even shifts like one. Just disappointed on the fact that Honda did right in their first try and no transmission recalls or complaints and Nissan couldn't. For people that love Nissan and the v6 VQ engine go to Infiniti as all of there cars have an 7 speed automatic and a G37 or a Q50 is the same price as Nissan Maxima and you'll get a VQ 3.7 liter engine which is the fastest VQ till date with 328 horsepower and 269 pounds of torque vs a VQ 3.5 with only 300hp and 261 torque. The 7 speed will glue you to your seat. I regret not going to Infiniti back in 2008 and not looking at the Infiniti fx35 or fx37 which is just like a Murano but better and come with 6 and 7 speed automatic transmission. Infiniti is everything Nissan is not and used to be.

ATDoel

You do realize that Infiniti is Nissan right? You might as well be saying "go buy the Nissans that come with an automatic" because that's what the Infinitis are.

I've driven the Q50, it was more money, it didn't glue me into my seat any more than my Max does, the transmission was still an automatic and did not offer any more driving pleasure. I hated the steering in that thing, it had 0 road feel.

Sorry about your experience Dennis. I've had mine for a couple months without any transmission issues.

Maximam

I agree. Nissan turned to sh.. My '01 and '03 was miles a better car than my '13. It seems also that when a Japanese car gets built in another country, quality control goes to hell. The Maxima was notably lacking quality control in my '05 and '13. Same thing happened with the Honda fit. I had a '12 Fit that I could not find one problem with. They now make them in Mexico and there are many QC complaints that did not exist before. The 4th gen was a great car! A friend had a '96 GLE and that car was a gem.

Darkwing48

iTrader: (1)

Infiniti is The luxury brand Nissan. But Datsun are back too. Just because they are under the same group doesn't mean that they have the same R&D dedicated to it. Where's Mercury? What happen to the twin of the Mustang?(Cougar, which wasn't when Ford killed it) Where's the Eagle brand? Geo Prism?

Everyone has an opinion on the Maxima, to each there own. But Consumer Reports, and Road & Track (They test everything from the Miata to High end Lambos) both have lackluster reviews on it. Even Autoweek, although they think a little higher for the Maxima than the former. I like to hear their long term review. I current will see what Automobile magazine will say. They're make a comparison to the 510, or the Bluebird.

Maxima 97 SE

No duh, I know that Nissan makes Infiniti. My point is Infiniti is much better than Nissan cars right now mainly because they are all made in Japan and have automatic transmissions. For people that love Nissan but don't want cvt, they can go to Infiniti and enjoy a Nissan car with automatic transmission.

ATDoel

You do realize the 2016 Maxima is made in the United States, right? Are you suggesting that cars made in the states are of lower quality than cars made in Japan? Also, not all Infinitis are made in Japan. Some are made here (at the same exact plant the Maxima is made), Europe, and I think Canada and Mexico as well.

I've been to a Honda Plant stateside and I can guarantee that the QC is every bit as tight here as it is in Japan. Heck, these plants are virtually ran by Japanese management, there is very little difference between the ones here and there.

I'm beginning to think all your hate has no basis in reality and maybe you're just mad your older Maxima is no longer "the best Maxima ever made". It's ok, it happens, progress is good, embrace it.

ATDoel

Yes, everyone has their opinion, but why are you giving more merit to Road & Track and Consumer Reports (lol!) who gave the car a bad review over Car & Driver, Edmunds, Car Connection, Automobile Mag, Cars.com, Autoweek, U.S. News, Kelly Blue Book, Motortrend, Autoblog, and Autotrader who all gave the car either rave reviews (some reviewed it as the #1 car in its segment) or at worst, "good".

You don't have to like the car, but the mainstream reviews are overwhelmingly positive and as much as you want to try, you can't spin it otherwise.

Maximam

I am saying that.

It's my experience to have found worse build quality when not built in Japan.

My first two Maximas were flawless and built in Japan, I could not find a build quality issue and loved those two Maximas.

The '05 and '13 Maximas however had build issues, silly things like a mis aligned gas door, fender well lining falling out, drivers seat that leaned to the side, cup holder cover sticks shut and a front bumper not secured to the front inner liner for example. Every car I speak of I bought brand new and these were evident when brand new.

My two '13 Altimas had many, many issues as a result of bad build quality, both bought brand new. Silly things like molding not glued down or something not secured in the B pillar causing a tapping sound. The wheels were not balanced and the car pulled to the right. There were many other issues.

I used to buy Nissan because I could be confident the quality would be there. I've been a Nissan fan since driving Datsun 510s, 620s as a teenager. I had a 1993 Pathfinder that was fantastic. The '01 and '03 were excellent, the '05 slipped a little and the '13 even more so. Nissan is not the same brand it once was. You no longer can just go buy a Nissan and know it will be a good car.

So my opinion is based on my experience of six brand new Nissans I bought and the quality slipping over time.

Now having said that, my '13 Maxima is proving to be a great car so far. It did have quality control issues which I resolved myself but as far as reliability it has been rock solid. 62k miles and not one trip to see the dealer. I'm looking forward to 100k+.

Maxima 97 SE

Now, I never said I hated Nissan cars. I still love them but hate the cvt transmission. I had to replace my cvt transmission twice to get a good one from Nissan. The Nissan Maxima is meant for power and lexury and should come with an automatic transmission. Reason why is that they have the Altima with the same engine that has about 30 horsepower less that also comes with cvt. Nissan instead could have just made the Maxima a performance lexury car without cvt and with an automatic instead. Now I don't care where's the car is made I but I know that cars built in Japan are better with little to know quality control issues. Now not every gets the same quality control treatment as my new Honda Accord 2014 just had a little under 1000 miles and one of the struts failed just like that with a big popping noise and they replaced it under warranty and while working on the car they told me that the nuts weren't properly tightened at the factory so they tightened all the strut nuts. I wasn't the only one that had that same issue if you go to an Honda Accord forum there was another Honda owner that had noises coming from his brand new Honda Accord and he was told that his nuts were loose on the struts as well.

Darkwing48

iTrader: (1)

I'm not giving more merit to anything. You misread. Did you know Car and Driver and Road & Track are sister magazines. When people dislike Consumer Reports, they think it is bias to another brand. I cited Road & Track because they are more driver focused than Car and Driver. Like I said, I rather see the long term results of this car because only that truly makes or breaks the car. Long Term are things a "positive" test drive do not account for. As positive reviews the Altima has, one generation have a class action lawsuit filed against Nissan for it transmissions.

There should be no reason why people should get all butthurt on a disagreement of someones opinion. The truth of the matter is one Maxima of thousands sold, has a quality issue. More of that, may trickle to the name of the model. See Chrysler "Sebring". Which still has issues as a "200."

ATDoel

The question is, is it an issue of lack of QC in non Japanese plants or is it a reduction of QC in general across the board? I wonder if anyone has done research to compare Japanese made Hondas vs Stateside made Hondas to see if there are any differences in QC.

Maximam

With the Maxima the answer is yes, I noticed QC issues with American built Nissans. With the Honda Fit the answer is yes, Fits went from being built in Japan now Mexico and you notice it.

boondoxmax

iTrader: (1)

Nissan American built cars have very spotty QC. I hate to say it but the autos built in japan are better. My 03 Maxima has been great. 13 years old and it runs like a new car. Work with a guy whose 10 Maxima CVT is crap. Bottom line. Nissans CVT is trash. I highly doubt it will last 13 years without problem.