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So, I bought a 2019 CPO Maxima SL w/ just over 11K mi on it in late January of this year. During the test drive, I noticed that rear of the car fishtailed once over a bump (I was driving straight ahead). I didn't "know the road" so I discounted it and paid attention to other things. Since then, I've noticed this many other times - but not always. I brought it back the the dealer - they said they didn't notice anything like I described. Ugh. I found that there was (and subsequently corrected) a 5 PSI difference between the rear left & right tires. I still notice this fishtailing from time to time, but can't predictably duplicate it. I haven't seen anything on recalls or bulletins for this either. Any ideas?
Unrelated: How far does your moonroof open? It seems like there's a lot of unused track and a fair amount of wind noise I hear while it open. I mentioned it the the dealer and they said it was sticking and lubed it. That was B.S. as it didn't open any further when I got it back. So.. if someone could MEASURE the travel of the glass - I'd appreciate it!
How much fishtailing are we talking about here? I'm imaging you breaking the rear out on a significant angle but it's probably not that bad.
I've only noticed the rear being really bumpy on like a really bumpy concrete ramp near me going like 75mph but in every other instance the car is pretty solid. Definitely never noticed any fishtailing.
How fast were you going/was the bump over the whole road or just one side of the lane/ how big was the bump. Need more details.
Re: sunroof here are a couple pics. I get like 10 inches of opening on mine? But mines pre-facelift but it should be the same maybe?
[QUOTE=Goldpanda94;9235418]How much fishtailing are we talking about here? I'm imaging you breaking the rear out on a significant angle but it's probably not that bad.
I've only noticed the rear being really bumpy on like a really bumpy concrete ramp near me going like 75mph but in every other instance the car is pretty solid. Definitely never noticed any fishtailing.
How fast were you going/was the bump over the whole road or just one side of the lane/ how big was the bump. Need more details.
Re: sunroof here are a couple pics. I get like 10 inches of opening on mine? But mines pre-facelift but it should be the same maybe?
I had a '16 Maxima and it was rock solid. No fishtailing. Nothing. If it were alignment, I think I'd be fighting the wheel.. or wearing tires..I've only put 1k on it so who knows. It's definitely there. Others have felt it too. I feel it on city streets (it's pothole season in New England) at 20, 30 and 40 MPH. But not all the time. Weird. Anyway - thanks for the picture. Do you hear a lot of wind noise on yours? Thanks!
Hmmm that's really weird then since you had a Maxima before and know how it should feel. Def worrying then, Maybe the previous owner messed up the axles/suspension somehow? Hope you can figure it out soon though.
And regarding wind noise when its open. Yeah it gets pretty loud at like 50-60 and I normally shut it for the highway. I wonder if one of those plastic aftermarket wind deflectors would help with the sound when its open. Never had one on my cars
With the sunroof shut, around 85-95 I started hearing a little whistling too recently. Not like a high pitched whistle but def some extra wind noise that wasn't there before. Im at 71k miles now with my 2017 SL.
How much fishtailing are we talking about here? I'm imaging you breaking the rear out on a significant angle but it's probably not that bad.
I've only noticed the rear being really bumpy on like a really bumpy concrete ramp near me going like 75mph but in every other instance the car is pretty solid. Definitely never noticed any fishtailing.
How fast were you going/was the bump over the whole road or just one side of the lane/ how big was the bump. Need more details.
Re: sunroof here are a couple pics. I get like 10 inches of opening on mine? But mines pre-facelift but it should be the same maybe?
I had a '16 Maxima and it was rock solid. No fishtailing. Nothing. If it were alignment, I think I'd be fighting the wheel.. or wearing tires..I've only put 1k on it so who knows. It's definitely there. Others have felt it too. I feel it on city streets (it's pothole season in New England) at 20, 30 and 40 MPH. But not all the time. Weird. Anyway - thanks for the picture. Do you hear a lot of wind noise on yours? Thanks!
Yes. More wind noise than I'd like, esp. at interstate speeds. Rarely do I drive with the top opened anyway as I can't hear my music. You wanna hear some noise, reach up and pull down on that plastic screen. Then you will know what that does.
Last edited by compyelc4; Mar 23, 2021 at 06:55 PM.
Yes. More wind noise than I'd like, esp. at interstate speeds. Rarely do I drive with the top opened anyway as I can't here my music. You wanna hear some noise, reach up and pull down on that plastic screen. Then you will know what that does.
Yeah, I did do that... it seems that all that noise comes from the air hitting the rear of the opening of the roof. My old 2013 Altima and my wife's 2019 Murano are *much* quieter.
Yeah, I did do that... it seems that all that noise comes from the air hitting the rear of the opening of the roof. My old 2013 Altima and my wife's 2019 Murano are *much* quieter.
Yes, my Altima did seem way quieter, but I had some type of dark plastic diffuser on the front of the opening. Made it much quieter but a little dorkier. If one were available for the Maxima I would probably install one, dorky or not. As I recall my Altima's moon roof glass slid back into the roof out of sight, which would cut down on wind noise. The Maxima's glass just lays on top. Makes it look cheap. That's the only disappointment I've ever had with the car. I think that's where most of the noise originates. This was a real cost-saver for Nissan and probably added more head room.
Last edited by compyelc4; Mar 18, 2021 at 07:14 AM.
Yes, my Altima did seem way quieter, but I had some type of dark plastic diffuser on the front of the opening. Made it much quieter but a little dorkier. If one were available for the Maxima I would probably install one, dorky or not. As I recall my Altima's moon roof glass slid back into the roof out of sight, which would cut down on wind noise. The Maxima's glass just lays on top. Makes it look cheap. That's the only disappointment I've ever had with the car. I think that's where most of the noise originates. This was a real cost-saver for Nissan and probably added more head room.
A lot of cars with pano sunroofs do that since there's nowhere to put the glass and they can't really hide anything under the headliner since its just more glass behind the opening. Nowhere to go but slid on top. And pano sunroofs tend to be a more luxury feature so idk if really conveys "cheap". Maybe I'm weird but I like the look of the glass hanging over the roof haha.
So, I bought a 2019 CPO Maxima SL w/ just over 11K mi on it in late January of this year. During the test drive, I noticed that rear of the car fishtailed once over a bump (I was driving straight ahead). I didn't "know the road" so I discounted it and paid attention to other things. Since then, I've noticed this many other times - but not always. I brought it back the the dealer - they said they didn't notice anything like I described. Ugh. I found that there was (and subsequently corrected) a 5 PSI difference between the rear left & right tires. I still notice this fishtailing from time to time, but can't predictably duplicate it. I haven't seen anything on recalls or bulletins for this either. Any ideas?
Unrelated: How far does your moonroof open? It seems like there's a lot of unused track and a fair amount of wind noise I hear while it open. I mentioned it the the dealer and they said it was sticking and lubed it. That was B.S. as it didn't open any further when I got it back. So.. if someone could MEASURE the travel of the glass - I'd appreciate it!
Thanks.
Regarding the "fish tailing" that is an effect that may be due to a bad shock on one side or springs that are unequal in strength. The only fish tailing I've ever experienced is in my Vette's sport-type suspension (read: hard) where I was hitting rippled asphalt in a very tight curve. I felt the rear end actually try to "walk" to the outside of the curve. New shocks solved that problem. I think fish tailing is a side to side "walking" over washboard roads on a straight away, right?
Regarding the "fish tailing" that is an effect that may be due to a bad shock on one side or springs that are unequal in strength. The only fish tailing I've ever experienced is in my Vette's sport-type suspension (read: hard) where I was hitting rippled asphalt in a very tight curve. I felt the rear end actually try to "walk" to the outside of the curve. New shocks solved that problem. I think fish tailing is a side to side "walking" over washboard roads on a straight away, right?
I noticed it more so in winter - when the road allowed the momentum of the side motion to travel further. I do still feel it - but the weird thing - is not all the time. I'm trying to find the scenario that allows me to duplicate the issue with predictability.
I usually do business with Commonwealth Nissan in Lawrence. I got to know the sales manager (now the finance manager) on my first of -7- Nissan leases. I was looking for a CPO Maxima, but he didn't have one that fit my criteria. I waited and waited until I couldn't any longer and found this 2019 with 11K on the clock at Marlboro Nissan (on rte 20 near I 495).
Over the course of the past 30 years and 11 Maxima's, I have had a great relationship with Kelly Nissan of Lynnfield. Recently moved to SC and am looking for a reputable dealership down here.
Well, I forgot about this post as it took a little while to resolve. Here's what happened (with answers to some questions along the way) I bought my CPO 2019 Maxima SL at Marlboro Nissan in Marlboro, MA. I ended up going to Kelly Nissan in Stoneham, MA (they're closer to me) for a follow up after Marlboro couldn't find anything and left me to duplicate the problem.. I wasn't too happy with them for that. The Kelly service writer recommended a 4 wheel alignment might solve the problem - but wouldn't know for sure until after it was attempted / completed. There would be back charges to Marlboro, etc.. in the end, I agreed to pay for it and deal with Marlboro myself. The alignment was performed and they managed to get someone high enough in management at Marlboro to agree to pay for the work.
The alignment solved the problem *perfectly*
I contacted Marlboro and thanked them for paying for the alignment - but indicated my displeasure of having tires worn unevenly (to less than 50% life at just 12K mi). They told me to return the car their service dept. I dropped it off that night for them to work on the next day. They called me later that morning and said they would replace all 4 tires at their expense - which made me *quite* pleased (I expected them to maybe offer to split the cost of the tires, balancing, mounting etc.). They expected to have the car ready that afternoon. They called to apologize that they couldn't get tires that day - but would have it ready the following morning. I told them I'd get it the next afternoon. I picked up the car the next afternoon after the service dept. had closed. The cashier gave me my keys and paperwork. The papers showed they replaced all 4 tires with the same brand / type / size that were on the car. It also indicated that they also did a 4 wheel alignment on the car as well. I have regularly check the tires (23K mi on the car today) and they are wearing quite uniformly.
So, while my first attempts at having Marlboro Nissan service the vehicle to my satisfaction left a lot to be desired, Kelly Nissan seemed to have their "finger on the pulse" of the problem and corrected it. In a single visit. But, Marlboro Nissan exceeded my expectations by replacing all the tires and performing an additional alignment on my car. I suppose that my Maxima being a CPO type - the car is classified as being somewhere between a New car and a Used car and that maybe I should expect that kind of treatment; but these are car dealers. They usually don't get high marks for being very honest or having high morals.
Ultimately, I'd do business with either of these dealerships again. Marlboro Nissan is part of a larger group of area dealers in the "Albrecht Auto Group" (https://www.albrechtauto.com/) and Kelley Nissan is no slouch either - but appears to be slightly smaller in number of dealerships - as part of "Kelly Auto Group" (https://www.kellycar.com/) in my area - so they must be doing something right.
