I have a 2011 nissan maxima. When I'm driving locally or stuck in traffic on the high way, after letting go of the gas my rpm needle suddenly drops really quickly to about 500 and then jumps right back up. Sometimes i can feel a jerk in the car when this happens. What could be the problem? I need help!

 

have you checked for codes ?
is your air filter dirty or something blocking air flow
maf clean ?

things to check

 

No codes and I recently had the air filter and maf replaced a couple months ago....is there anything else it could be?

 

loose vacuum line?

 

It happen to my 2010 maxima sv sport package it was the transmission but i was lucky the still was under the warranty on the cvt transmision it to 120.000 mil take to to the dealer and they will let you know I didn't pay anything plus they give me a car into my car was ready

 

How long have you had the car?
Has this problem happened before?
What is the maintenance history of this car?
Are there and diagnostic trouble codes in the computer?
What is the exact thing you are doing to replicate this problem?

As a reminder, the torque converter locks up at low speeds, typically under 16mph, thus as you creep forward in slow moving traffic, the transmission is locking and unlocking more often than if you were in flowing traffic.

My point of reference is that I used to drive on a one lane road that would always get congested with traffic. This road had lots of hills, thus when creeping up hill, the car would always trying to lock the torque converter while going at slow speeds. This action caused some jerks which were rather jarring.
You can work around this by putting the car in "Manual mode". The torque converter locks up at higher speeds, which could therefore mitigate your problem. Just remember to shift up and down as needed.

 

Air filter maybe?