I bought a Maxima because of its great reputation--now I'm wondering how deserved that reputation is...

So I found out today that I basically need all my ignition coils replaced. I was going to have them done piecemeal if I needed to (since I had just had one replaced and at 80 bucks apiece, they're not cheap) but then my engine coded again and the oscilloscope confirmed I probably needed to replace at least 2 more. So, I figured, the hell with it, just do them all at once.

Anyway, my question is this: Do I have any recourse with Nissan to get them to reimburse me (partially or fully) for THEIR defective product? I've taken excellent care of my car--do all the routine maintenance, put in premium gas, etc--and it's a '99 with only 60K miles and it irks me that I've had to shell out over $500 for their defective product.

So, any ideas as to what I can do or who I can contact?

 

Good luck... get all the 99 guys together and complain...

it aint gonna happen

 

same problem here...replaced mine 2 months ago....

people complaining all over the net, but nobody has even gotten anywhere. maybe start a petition on petition.com or org, or whatever???

 

Yeah, I might have to look into that.

 

*knock on wood*
I've only had 1 coil pack go out on my '99. #5

You should visit Pinnacle Nissan for replacement coils if you need to replace all 6.
Pinnacle Nissan Coil Packs
It would end up costing you about $350 if you went with Mitsubishi coils.

 

yup 3 of mine die
when i told the dealership about it they just told me to go f myslef basically

 

Wow i never had any problems with mine (knock on wood) and i have the crappy Hanshins. but then again i only have 116k on my car.
Good luck and if you wanna lodge a petition or a complaint i will be willing to complain

 

So far so good on my 99.5 SEL with about 55k, maybe the SEL has the packs for the 2000?

 

^^ That wouldn't matter...2k Maximas have Coil problems too.

 

135k and have no coil problems..

 

What are the symptomps when one or more coils are on their way out?

Would haf searched but its been years since the search on this site worked.

Thanks

 

Possible rough engine idle or slugish response when accelerating. I recently had this problem at 73k with no prior symptoms and just got the 0201 CEL code. Replaced the coils, cleared code and was good as new again. I wish you luck in getting Nissan to own up to this issue.

 

Stumbling idle...hesitation under WOT...flashing CEL sometimes under WOT...CEL showing you a cylinder or multiple cylinders are misfiring.



^^ Damn you John! ^^

 

99s are 6 years old, sorry guys.....

 

Beat you to it Jeff.

 

I have an SEL and I replaced 4 out of the six since that was all that the dealership had at the time. It is a large expense, but it's worth it once you drive your Max.

 

I sometimes get sluggish accelaration. Always have had vibration at stop lights. Had received CEL for rear O2 Sensor about 3 months ago. Car was under extened warantee so they replaced the sensor for $50. Since then the car gas milage has been lousy and the accelaration has been sluggish. Yesterday car went out of warantee.

What I don't get is no CEL codes are there and sometimes the car accelerates smooth as butter and some times its louse. Mornings are great and coming back from work at evenings is louse. Any insight?

 

Bad coils wont always trigger the CEL

 

Maybe this will help you...and maybe this wont. On a dark night with no or little light start your car pop the hood and examine the coils. On mine I could see a slight infrequent glow coming from my failing coil #5. I pulled it right then and there and it had cracks in the side plastic. Replaced it and was good to go.

 

I think nissan put the coil inspection/replacement in the 100k miles service to cover thier behind anyway but Im not sure.

 

I had the same prob with mt 99 max se
the nissan dealer said that only replacing all
the coils would work.
Wrong, I only replaced the one that was mis-firing
and it has ben running like a champ for a year+.

 

Be sure to perform the proper maintenance procedures at the recommended milage on you vehicle. In addition, check to make sure you are not getting any ghost codes. An example would be the 0304 knock sensor code that does not trip the CEL. This code will decrease throttle response greatly. If you get 0505 then clean out your throttle body and run some seafoam through your car. For the seafoam, put 1/2 bottle in the gas tank at fill up, 1/4 through break booster and the rest in the crank case. Change out the oil and oil filter after ~300 miles. Take note that this will smoke out your neighborhood so plan accordingly. These steps should help with the rough idle you are getting at stop lights. To check for possible bad coils then perform this "ghetto" test. Turn on engine and one by one pull out the coils. Look for excessive vibrations to the top of the intake manifold. If you notice alot of this when the coil is removed then this tells you that the coil is good. If you don't see any vibration then this coil is bad or on its way out. If so, replace with good coils. Once your done with this test, you will have a CEL code of 0701. Just reset the ECU after swapping out with some good coils and go for a test drive. Report back your results.

 

Actually, for those of you who think Jose is out of luck, he isn't. Mileage or age has nothing to do with a chronic problem. It is what it is.

Jose, what you need to do is this.

Step 1. Get names of owners who have reported this problem through an online petition.
Step 2. Highlight all the maintenance you've done in accordance with their recommendations.
Step 3. Communicate to the Service Manager your expectations when you bought this car with respect to reliability and how it has failed.
Step 4. Ask him if they have this part in stock. If so, ask how many and why they stock that number? Then ask them how many 99 ECU's they have in stock and why. (you're attempting to correlate a bad component is a known issue with the dealership).
Step 4. Try to negotiate with the dealer on this issue. Have them give you the coils if necessary to replace yourself as an alternative.

If steps 1-4 fail, inform the dealership two items:
A) You will take him to small claims court and sue for the parts. (you’ll win with steps 1 to 4 followed).
B) Tell him that you also plan to file a complaint with the NTSB that the coils are leaving your car in a dangerous condition. It hesitates and often goes near stall during intersections. If the NTSB gets wind that this indeed could be dangerous, Nissan will be forced to make a recall on all coil and repay all coil repairs.

I’m just waiting for mine to fail and give me something to complain with my sheit Nissan dealership.

The fact that dealerships across North America all have this part in stock makes me suspicious that Nissan trying to sweep this issue under the rug. Previous engine faults have been recalled on many vehicle, and Nissan should not be excempt from proper customer care.

 

Just pay up and fix the problem. Payed $360 local for 6 BRAND NEW mitsubishi coils, car runs like a champ now and will for a long time.

 

Well, part of the problem is that I bought the car used and not from a dealer. I also have the work done at my local garage (who I trust), not the dealership.

That said, if people think it's worthwhile, I will try to start an online petition.

Also, I'm pretty sure I'll get a lawyer involved.

Whoever said, "just pay up..." why the hell should I have to pay up? It's not my fault that Nissan made a sh!tty product and then screwed me with the $600 bill. I bought a Maxima precisely because I thought these were the kinds of problems that DIDN'T happen with them.

 

Listen, it could be worse. Ive seen much newer cars having much worse problems. The 4th gen is built pretty solid imo. Coil packs are a minor problem, car still runs. I'd sign a petition of there was one, but bringing in lawyers is gonna open up a can of worms for you. Have you seen the problems that a lot of domestic cars see at lower miles? This is nothing.

 

dude, its a used car, and a great car, but dont expect things never to go wrong with it.
I had mine 1 month and had to get the clutch replaced (90 under the crappy warranty), 2 months later the diff bearings failed and ruined that new racing clutch(1200).... Now i replaced at alternator (220), and i need a ks(110) and o2(70).... but she has 118000 miles on her.

Why take all that time and money with lawyers, it will cost you more..... ITS A FIVE YEAR OLD CAR!! Stuff happens, you think youre actually going to get something from your "fighting"..... IF people did, do you think FORD would still be around....

So like someone else said shut up and just pay it and be glad your trannys fine.

No car "doesnt" have things wrong with them, its sucks I know.

Get used to it, because you are going to be paying for repairs the rest of your life (unless youre a mechanic[lucky me])

if you hate that nissan has let you down, dont buy a nissan next time, get a ford or mitsu or chrysler product and tell me how great that treats you

 

Ouch. I guess truth is always bitter.

 

Oblong - your reasoning because you're stuff breaks is not reason not to negate this problem. If my wife is in the car with the kids, and during a busy intersection, she gets into an accident cause the forking car hesitated/stalled due to faulty coils, god dang right I'm gonna be pissed as Nissan. So will the NTSB and the DoT.

And because it's used or non-dealer repaired is a non-issue. I'm a consumer advocate for automotive issues. This is something Nissan has been ignoring for a few years now. Citing age ( 5 year old Nissan) is not a valid reason. Anyone who has low milage and well maintained car that has problems with their vehicle should expect it to work. If it don't, then something needs to be address.

For example, if I bought an Chev Impala and paid thousands less versus a Nissan Maxima that is $10'000 more, I would expect $10'000 more reliability. If I don't get it, I'd complain.

Which is why we all own Maxima's. They're a great car, but if there is an issue with the coils for 99's, then my expectation is that because I own a Nissan, and because my expectation is a reliable vehicle, I would expect Nissan to fix it for free.

Failure for Nissan to resolve this issue will result in deaths. If you think I'm kidding, the first time it happens to my car, I'll be calling the dept of transportation to file a complaint citing the hazard it places.

I'm actually expecting Nissan to fight this, no different than most businesses who don't really give a sheit about their customers. Automakers are notorious for this. Unless you hit them with a hammer, they really don't care.

Oblong - for a lot of your issues, I'm sure they're related to your driving style (racing clutch?). I drive my car to pick up groceries, and visit the inlaws, and to toast most Hondas at red lights.

 

He does have a point. When you someone said its a USED car there is nothing wrong with buying a used car and having to replace maintance items. plugs fuel filter, clutch, ect. But something like Coil Packs which should last the life of the Car then it becomes a problem. i am all for contacting nissan for some sort of recourse. there is obviously a problems since this is only rampant on 1999's and i belive 2000's to an extent.

 

at 73000 had to replace four so your not alone hate those things i thougt maximas were superior with there no spark plug wire design boy was I wrong these things arent cheap. Any ways good luck I really want to put brand new ones in but I settled for used ones it is running nice so far but we will see.

 

My coils are fine with 90k, I have found a set of all three coils for $75, ends up being around $160 for all 6 shipped. I don't recall where, but they had decent reviews if all you need them to do is work...

 

First, Coil packs do not last the life of the car, believe me, I HAVE changed tons ask chevy about it on their malibus, ask buick on their regals (an more expensive car that you claim should have insurance against malfunctions), fords on their explorers and focuses..

Second, when your car is hesitating and bogging down, you shouldnt pull out at a busy intersection when its a close or questionable call. If its raining out, and you KNOW that you could have a problem with traction, you dont pull out in front of that Semi 100 yards away. In most cases its not like you will accelerate thru an intersection and BAM coils crap out, if that would happen then yes you have a valid issue, but you should know that your car is not working right and shouldnt do such a stupid thing.

Third, you cannot go entirely by the price of a car for reliability. There are mercedes and bmw's that have like things go bad. I bet you money that a honda civic at its 17,000 dollar tag will out live the ford mustang with its 32,000 dollar tag. Its a name.... Nissan is a great car company, but its still made by humans, its not perfect. Mistakes happen, BELIEVE me, companies mess up all the time

Fourth, I am merely stating that he should just be quiet and replace them, Nissan wont listen to him or do anything about it for a long time, after much headache and time of calling and calling and complaining.. they had an engineering mistake, they have since fixed it, and if you buy new ones, they will be properly engineered. But they arent going to fix everyones car out there that is out of warranty. Call the BBB and their Corporate, see what happens.... good for you if you get it, but to me its just less of a pain to eat it.
i.e Ford explorers driver side coilpacks had coils with a ditch in them... it so happened that the coolant lines passed over them, and dripped slowly in the indentation and shorted them out at around 50,000 miles (out of fords warranty on those cars) Do you think they gave everyone new 125 a piece coils even though it was an engineers mistake? NOP

Fifth, come on Dots are jokes, they stand around and collect awesome salaries.

Sixth, YOU HAVE NO clue how I drive. Ks, O2, and alternators have nothing to do with driving style, at 118000 their lives have ended.
Also, at 103,000 miles the clutch is dying too, I dont know how the previous owner was on it.

Again, differential bearings were a wonderful engineering defect on our 5spd trannies, the bearings were undersized .0064 just enough that oil couldnt lubricate them to keep them from wearing, its a problem every 5 spd will encounter at some time in a maxima 95-98ish.
SHOULD I get my money back because its a known problem? I could have been going thru an intersection and that go on me (more likely than your coil scenerio). But, No i was stuck with a 1200 repair, and I even got a deal thru people I knew.

DIRECTED TO YOU FORK


Also, If you would know what you are talking about you would see that a exedy stage one clutch is cheaper than an OEM replacement. And it has a 36% more gripping capabilities. HMMMMMM Which one should I go with? why would I put the OEM in? Please know what you are talking about before you insult me and make stereotypes. Your 34 you should be beyond that stage in life. I drive 60 miles every day to school and work, I dont beat on my car, I obey the speed limit, and I shift at 3000 RPMs. I need it to last for me, its all I have to depend on to make money and get my education. True I love to get to the track 6-7 times in the summer, but other than that youre more wreckless than I am racing hondas at a redlight that you have nothing to prove to.

I think youre just mad cause your coils crapped out and you got beat by a 16 year old in a civic with a muffler.... X 2

 

Ford Trailblazer??

 

Ob -

Jose: go get em. We're behind you.