New Maxima won't drive straight
 

Hi Everyone... Turning to this site in hopes for some answers.. I purchased a 2017 Maxima and have about 6K miles on it... "From day 1" it has pulled to the left and when its not pulling to the left its "Drifting" with a sense of not much control... I have a very long commute and I'm exhausted in trying to keep it in the middle of the road... Its very disheartening... Its been to the dealer 3 times and now they just hand me the alignment paper showing me that its aligned proper.. They are stating its the "Characteristics of the car"... My answer was "Are you friggin kidding me"... I think they are full of it...

Is anyone else experiencing this???? I would expect the car to drive with ease without much effort...

Thoughts?

Appreciate your time
Rich

Take it to a Firestone, see what they come up with. Get a lifetime alignment, then take that bill back to the dealership and insist that they pay. Lifetime is something like $120 on the low end, $180 on the high end. I always get mine with a coupon or discount somehow. That lifetime coverage is the bomb, anytime you feel an issue, bring it in. Only time it doesn't apply is if you had suspension work, i.e. lowering, they may charge you a 1 time for getting that back into place.

Oh, and check tire pressure, if it's too high, you will be floating all over the road. Cold 32-35 at 72degrees in the morning will warm up to well over 40psi at 90+ degrees, so I always check the cold temp later in the day, also check them once after some time on the road, gives you a feel for what you're up against. Never let the tires get over 40PSI even hot is my rule of thumb...

Check that all gaps in all 4 doors, hood and trunk are equal. If there is any variance in the gaps, the car is accidental rebuild. Then you may be aligning the hell out of it and it would still pull to a side.

If all gaps are absolutely equal and all doors close equally easily, then check tire pressure is equal, all tires are the same and have reasonably equal tread wear.

Thanks for the input and please keep them coming
 

The car is brand new so all doors are aligned.. Everything else is working perfectly... I have triple checked the tire pressure (They had 44lbs cold) when I purchased it and noticed that right away... They are down to 33lbs cold... goes up to 35-36 when hot...
I so want to love this car and its awesome in so many ways... But this is so weird... How do you have a clean/perfect alignment and yet the car pulls left... In addition, its difficult to make right turns... You need to forcibly hold the steering wheel hard to make even a slight right turn....

I don't understand how they can say its the characteristics of the car... Nissan would not have created something that is this hard to drive... This is not normal...

I made another appointment for this Saturday...

Also... I can't find any complaints on this site for such an issue... If this car had that issue, I think you would have had many people talking about it...

Just confused at what could cause it...
Appreciate all the responses...

Oh, I did not realize you bought it new. Are all tires same make, model and size? Does it always pull to the left no matter on what road? Then IMO you got a defective vehicle.

The car is NOT difficult to drive. Have you gone for a ride with the service adviser or tech to duplicate the problem?

It sounds like a (at least one) tire with a bad belt to me.

You need a 4-wheel alignment so that all wheels are not just pointing straight, or have the correct toe, camber, caster, etc. But that the rears are within proper spec when compared to the front. This way all 4 wheels (viewed from the top of the car) form a rectangle when going down the road and not a parallelogram.

For what it's worth...

We bought a Versa a few years ago and it pulled to the left. I eventually convinced the dealer to fix it and they replaced part of the steering rack and controller. Whatever that means! But it did fix the problem beautifully. It may or may not be related.

outside the box here.... could it be a bad abs?
as if it is braking on one side???
the maxima does have that active trace control thingy...
just a guess.

I'm shocked that they don't feel the what you feel when test driving it. As suggested, maybe take the advisor on a test drive, make sure he sees what you are seeing, once they are fully aware of the issue you're experiencing they will be obligated to repair this. If they do you wrong one more time, another dealership, and I don't know if Nissan has a preferred customer care department, I know Kia does, and I've used it to facilitate a few things, they get in touch with the dealership for you and discuss the problems and make sure you are satisfied in the end. Nissan has to have something like that.

I appreciate EVERY response and the time everyone took to help add to the discussion...
I have only ever been on 1 other car site for years for help with my Prowler.. I was hoping this site would have people to respond like on the POA so many thanks!!! All response can help as you never know where the issue leads... If and when its resolved I will be sure to post what happened as it may help someone in the future....

Tires are all the same... Car pulls left only but strangely, there are brief moments "Sometimes" that it does not seem to pull left but at the same time feels like its drifting with not much control...

I will ask the tech to drive it with me in the car... There is NO way they can argue that its not happening (Just let go of the steering wheel and your off the road)... Not sure how after 3 times they give it back to me and state "It better"...

As gizzsdad stated above... The car is Not difficult to drive... No one is having this issue from what I have read so its not normal for this car...

Good advice MadMax0SL... I will follow it...

Saturday is coming and I will update everyone... I'm hoping its just a bad tire...

Make sure you do the test drive with the dealer on a flat road so they can't blame the road camber, like they tried with me.

@Richnew41
I agree, I have a 2017 SR and it's bothersome at times to keep it going straight on the highway.
I really have to actively adjust the steering wheel to keep the car going straight. It seems to only be an issue when going over 50 mph.

Even if it's a smooth road the car still wants to move around. This was a issue since day 1.

Sport mode tightens the steering and the steering is not so loose. but not great.
I'm at the point where I almost always use Sport mode on the Expressway as when using Normal Mode, it's almost dangerous.

This was surprising as I've never experienced this issue in my '10, 03, or 99 Max.

Richnew41

Temporarily switch your front tires to the opposite sides and test drive it at highway speeds. If you are now pulling to the right then your tire is bad. If it still pulls to the left you ruled out a bad tire as a cause.

Is it because the firmer suspension and lower profile tyres follow the grooves and bumps on the road surface more than the lower trims? I noticed a similar thing when I test drove a model with firmer suspension than I'm used to (forget what car). This wouldn't account for a pull to the left but perhaps it might explain a drifting sensation?

Nope

I've been where you are... Trying to justify it so you can accept it because they're calling you crazy at the dealership... But don't accept that.

Maxima's are pieces of ****

Have you tried getting the tires balanced? My car used to need constant little steering adjustments to keep going straight on the highway, but getting the wheels balanced at the dealer completely removed that.

Really? Well this is interesting.

https://www.kbb.com/new-cars/best-re...11256065233300


https://www.automotiveworld.com/news...e-value-award/

It must be far better put together than the 6th gen was, which was a POS. My cars since, GM, Chevy and even the Land Rover have been basically trouble free. I was used to something always broken or breaking several times, electrical problems, shaking/shimmy, etc, ABS problems etc. and this all began as early as the first year on my new 2004 I had. Never again.

I call BS. Just registered and already preaching dealer service. Fishy.

slava may have been lucky and hit a good dealer. I have been fighting dealers since 1949 (I am a geezer), and the only dealer from that long stretch of misery that I would recommend to a friend is the dealer I currently use. I am good friends with the service manager and with the service writeup crew and the lead technical service analyst. I actually look forward to visiting the service department at my dealership, which is a big change from a stretch of over 45 years during which I dreaded dealer service departments more than trips to the dentist. In fact, one of the primary reasons I have owned no vehicle other than Maximas since October of 1984 is my current dealer. I do not want to change vehicle brands because I doubt I would get a service department I would trust with the new brand. I could tell of some heartbreaking experiences with dealerships from my past, but I don't want to cause young, hopeful, impressionable posters here to break down crying.

OP, you're not alone here... I posted my link to my thread above where I needed an alignment from day 1 off the lot. Now, a few hundred miles later, took the car in again... Front steer ahead angle was way off. I'm not sure why my Maxima is so easy to get knocked out of alignment, but I miss bumps like the plague, and I drive more cautiously over rough roads than 99% of the population, and I've already had 3 alignments in the first 1200 miles

I am sorry you are having such difficulty with alignment. I had alignment problems with one of my two 1985 Maximas, but have been more fortunate with every generation Maxima since. I drove my 2009 Premium from July 2008 until September 2015 with the alignment never touched. The Goodyear OEM tires went over 50K miles wearing very evenly with a smooth ride. So far, my 2016 Platinum has also been perfectly smooth, even at speeds the mod doesn't want posted here. Other than having the double panel roof replaced (major deal) and the few recalls (brake ABS actuator fix caused brake fluid leak), I have been extremely happy with my 2016. I just returned from a two week trip which included driving to the top of Mt Mitchell NC (highest peak in Eastern US (6,684 ft) and Roan High Bluff, as well as several days on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Such a pleasant trip, thanks to my Maxima. Many of the sixty or so folks at my family reunion were checking out my ride. Maximas have given me many happy times over the last 33 years. Helps offset my distant past of thirty-some years of nursing Detroit stuff to and from incompetent, uncaring dealers.

Were you able to resolve this alignment issue? My wife's 2017.5 maxima is pulling to the left on the highway.

I don't have as good a memory as I used to, but, IIRC, CNTRT may be having his lawyer working with Nissan to declare his car as a lemon. His primary problem is the steering, and steering is one thing hat is very important. I could not stand to have my car pulling to one side. That would ruin any trip.

Hi Rich,

If you look under my post, "many issues" you will see that someone commented saying their car is a lemon. He had the same/ similar problem. If the dealer has attempted.to fix the problem three times you might qualify for the lemon law. I encourage you to look into this. Our cars are way too expensive e to have to deal with these issues..

I'm sure someone has mentioned switching the front tires with the back tires. If that stops the pull, then one of the tires you just moved to the back is bad.