Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!

Nissan Maxima Maintenance and Repair

1252628303182

Comments

  • kennyg5kennyg5 Member Posts: 360
    Msbehavn -- I am not sure if a transmission flush will solve your problem. What I've heard about engine flush is that it is merely a pricely gimmick and it will not improve your car's performance. They did a piece on Good Morning America (by Diane Sawyer) and even interviewed the guy who invented the gadget used by mechanics in doing the flush. The lesson to be learned is that so long as you follow the manufacturer's oil change intervals, there is absolutely nothing to be gained from engine flushes. In fact, they do more harm than good to your engine.
  • ccermakccermak Member Posts: 260
    I think I tend to disagree, on the tranny flush anyway. I'm very non-mechanical, but I believe the diff in doing a tranny "flush" versus just draining the fluid is with the flush they hook up a machine that pumps out the fluid that's way deep in the tranny that normally doesn't come out with just a drain. You can drain and have clean fluid, but if you flush you can see noticeable difference in fluid, sometimes even black versus pink. I recommend draining every 30K miles and flushing every 60K or so. That's just me, there's many on here and Maxima.org that know 10x more than I do. As for the engine flush, I agree on that one, can gum things up.
  • pbvdqpbvdq Member Posts: 14
    My front passenger side window won't go down. I'm bringing it in on Sat. to get that fixed AND I noticed this weekend that there are a bunch of chips on the paint near the bottom of the car behind the splash guards, on that piece under the door. I think I'm going to complain to NISSAN directly about thta (has anyone tried that yet?). I've got the Majestic Blue and the chips are not as noticible because it seems that the car is black under the paint, but its still annoying since I go to great lengths to keep that car in good condition and these chips show up from no where. Well no doubt about it, the paint is terrible...as for the window, I think that should be fairly easy for them to fix.

    Anyone ever had that happen before (the window thing)? Am I in for more electrical problems?
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    Cannot comment on your window problem, but as for paint, there are numerous complaints about this. Apparently the paint it very thin and Nissan did not use any protective "gravelguard" or "stoneguard" along the lower half of the doors. My 99 Mazda 626 has a layer of vinyl or wax applied below the paint along the lower portions of the doors and I have no chips whatsoever. I also own a 98 Maxima SE and this car does not have any gravelguard, but I have no chips in the paint. Maybe the paint was a little better and more durable on the 98 Maxima cars. I think that if there are enough complaints, Nissan may be forced to take corrective action on the paint.

    It may be worth the expense to take your car to a custom body shop and have the lower portions of the door gravelguarded and repainted. This is easy to do and should not be awfully expensive. This way you will take care of the problem for good.
  • pbvdqpbvdq Member Posts: 14
    If I may propose a couple of more questions to p100 re: paint...

    Do you think its worth getting a better/second clear/protective coat on the entire car (rather than just the bottom)? Is there such a thing?

    Thanks.
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    The gravelguard is typically applied along the lower portion of the doors. Typically it is a band about 5 or 6 inches wide and then paint is sprayed over it. This band provides very good protection from road debris or gravel, much better than even very thick paint would.

    As far as reclearcoating the whole car, this would basically amount to repainting the car. You can't just shoot clearcoat over factory finish without sanding down the paint, otherwise it would fly right off. To get a good quality paint job, you need several layers of the base coat and clearcoat both - more than Nissan applies to these vehicles at the factory.
  • rcmaxrcmax Member Posts: 11
    My 97 Maxima has 83K miles on it. Engine spluttered and hesitated when I pressed the gas pedal on the highway and few minutes later the SES light came on. The dealer diagnosed it as a Oygen sensor problem and replaced it, the light away, car ran fine for 2 weeks.

    While returning from a 500 mile trip during the July 4th weekend, the engine spluttered and hesitated again and in a few minutes the SES light came on. Next morning to my surprise the light off on its own and the spluttering/hesitation also went off. However I took it to the dealer and he diagnosed it as a defective ignition coil which is misfiring, the 5th one of the six coils and says it needs to be replaced else it will damage the others too. The dealer is charging $225 for it. Last month itself I spent $1350 fixing the O2 sensor, throttle and injector flushing, brake wires and caliper changes, brake shoes and rotor resurfacing etc.

    Not sure what to do as the SES light is off and the car is running fine. Should I live with this "supposedly bad ignition coil" or will it damage the others too? I feel it is becoming expensive to maintain a maxima.

    Guys your advice and experience will really help.
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    Refer to post # 1356 in this forum. The retail cost of one ignition coil for the 98 Maxima (97 would be the same) is $86.36. How in the world can they justify charging you $ 225 for one coil? $ 140 for labor to install one coil? Replacement of one coil should be done in no more than 10 minutes, even by the slowest tech they employ.
    I agree with you when you complain that it is getting expensive to maintain the Maxima if you take it to a Nissan dealer for all work. I do all the maintenance on my 98 myself and so far I have done hardly anything to it. I also have a 95 Nissan truck which has been somewhat less reliable than the Maxima. I get Nissan parts at a discount of at least 15% from Nissan dealers that advertise on the web. You do not pay sales tax on the parts if shipped from another state. And some offer free shipping if you buy parts over $ 100.
  • tdyrkacztdyrkacz Member Posts: 1
    Has anyone ever had this happen to them? When filling up the gas tank it feels like pressure builds in the tank and all of a sudden gas spills out. This is happening to my mothers 99 maxima. She is unable to completely fill the car up. She can only put in a few gallons. I appreciate any help with this. Thanks
  • ccermakccermak Member Posts: 260
    Happened to me one time only about a week ago. I have a 2000 SE with 51K miles and it's only happened once. I just figured it was the pump. Filled up twice since with no issues. Just figured I'd chime in.
  • sglatorsglator Member Posts: 20
    I had all ignition coils replaced under extended warranty (see my post earlier).
    I also asked them how much it would cost me if I didn't have warranty. They said - $1K easily.
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    I have a 98 Maxima and because I heard about the coil problems (do not have problems with coils on my car so far) I called the local Nissan dealer and asked about the cost of one coil. It was $ 86.36 a piece. It is possible that they cost more for later models, but the 97 Maxima uses the same coils as 98. I believe that the problem with coils started with the 2000 year model.

    As far as labor for replacing the coils, it should be minimal because you simply disconnect the electrical connector and pull the coil off the spark plug. So unless the price of the ignition coils for 2000 and later models is much higher than for 95-99 models, I do not see how it would cost $ 1000 for a set.
  • ckone0814ckone0814 Member Posts: 71
    2003 GLE bought new. The car's rear suspension bottoms-out with a loud "clunk" going over modest dips at a reasonable speed. I can recreate the problem over speed bumps easily at a speed much lower than what I can in my 2001 Mazda 626. I took the car to the dealer and they found nothing and told me to go slower. Trust me, I am not flying over these obstacles! The springs just seem way to soft. With the way the car yaws over the road i feel like i'm in a cadillac! Any other similar experiences out there? Thanks.
  • ckone0814ckone0814 Member Posts: 71
    Ok, I've read a lot about the unusually harsh ride these cars have and I'm trying to accept it. I lowered the tire pressure to 31-32 and it helped but am considering a tire replacement as well. The choices however are limited. Any experience with tires? Thanks.
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    I would say that unless your car is loaded with 5 people who weigh 300 lbs each, this does not look normal to me.
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    I have had good experience with the following tires:

    Michelin Pilot, Michelin MXV(?), Toyo Proxess.

    Bad experience:

    Firestones, General tire, Bridgestone Potenzas, and the worst ones without any doubt were Continentals CH4s.
  • lorchanianlorchanian Member Posts: 12
    I have a 2003 Maxima GLE and experienced the same problem. Sounded like the exhaust was hitting the bottom of the car when I went over a dip or large speed bump. But as suddenly as it came it went away. I can't make the car do it any more. Didn't go to the dealer because it stopped. I guess I'll wait to see if it happens again.
  • ccermakccermak Member Posts: 260
    You're sure it's not the spare tire stuff clunking around in the trunk, right??
  • ckone0814ckone0814 Member Posts: 71
    Yeah. I removed everything from the trunk except the spare tire itself. Also locked down the jack hard. Still happens. The rear suspension just seems SOOO soft. Thanks.
  • pathstar1pathstar1 Member Posts: 1,015
    Do you have a trailer hitch? On the early Pathfinders (2001) the exhaust pipe bangs on the hitch on some vehicles.
  • lorchanianlorchanian Member Posts: 12
    Now that I think of it my trunk was full when I first noticed the clunk. When the trunk was emptied, I had a couple of clunks, then it went away.
  • vijuviju Member Posts: 2
    i had to jumpstart my 95 maxima a couple odays ago,the airbag light has been flashing since anyone with similar problem help!
  • beanctrbeanctr Member Posts: 99
    There is a TSB out there for the rear suspension bottoming out. I copied (see below) this from Edmunds "Ownership" page. My 2002 does this as well, with only two average sized people in the back seat and no luggage in the trunk. As soon as I get time, my car is going in to have this fixed . . . and the dealer is going to get an ear full if he tells me its normal!!

    Component Description:
    15. SUSPENSION:SINGLE AXLE:REAR:LEAF SPRING ASSEMBLY NHTSA Number: SB633599
    Bulletin Number: NTB02056
    Bulletin Date: MAY 2002
     
    Vehicle: 2002 Nissan Maxima
    Summary:
    SUBJECT REGARDING REAR SUSPENSION BOTTOMS OUT. *JG SUBJECT REGARDING REAR SUSPENSION BOTTOMS OUT. *JG
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    rear leaf spring assembly? What leaf springs?
  • vanbo57vanbo57 Member Posts: 46
    HELLO ALL.
    THE BRAKE CALIPERS ON ALL 4 CORNERS OF MY 26,500 MILE SE HAVE SURFACE RUST. I HAVE CHECKED EVERY MAX I SEE INCLUDING DEALER LOTS AND HAVE NOT SEEN ONE WITH RUSTED BRAKE CALIPERS. I WILL TALK TO THE SERVICE MGR. BY PHONE, CHECK TO SEE THAT HE WILL IN FACT, BE THERE WHEN I COME OVER THERE TO SHOW HIM AND SET UP APPOINTMENT FOR REPLACEMENTS. I WILL GET REPLACEMENTS, RIGHT? THE RUST WARRANTY SHOULD APPLY HERE, I WOULD THINK. BY THE WAY, BRAKES ARE FINE BUT THE CALIPERS LOOK LIKE CRAP. DO YOU THINK I'VE GOT A CASE HERE?
    OH AND, I WASN'T YELLING - HAD THE CAPS LOCK ON. SORRY.
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    Many car manufacturers do not paint the brake calipers. These are metal castings and surface rust does not matter and will not harm the caliper. Other metal cast parts which are normally not painted are brake rotors, drums, and wheel hubs. Take one of your wheels off and see how rusty the wheel hub is.

    Most likely the dealer will tell you that a rusty caliper is normal. I would not worry about it at all because aside from esthetics standpoint, there is no issue. These will not rust through like sheet metal as they are thick cast parts.
  • vanbo57vanbo57 Member Posts: 46
    Thanks for the feedback P100 but why is my car the only one that I see with this problem? There must be some kind of treatment that is used during or after manufacturing that didn't take on mine. It really looks poor.
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    In the days before spoke alloy wheels became popular on cars you could not see the calipers, rotors or brake drums. Almost without exceptions, these were not painted and got rusty really quick. I had quite a few GM and Ford cars and none of them had these parts painted.

    If the rust really bothers you on your calipers, you can paint them yourself. Wire brush as much rust as you can, then paint with a good quality engine enamel which is heat resistant to about 500deg F. Just mask off the areas you do not want to paint. And if you use a power drill with a small wire wheel to remove the surface rust, be careful so you do not damage the rubber parts or the brake line. The total cost of paint will be about $ 5. Pep Boys carries pretty good selection of engine paints.

    Some manufacturers do paint castings. For example, water cooled manifolds and risers for boat engines come painted from the factory. And they are heavy cast iron items that would not be damaged by surface rust.

    Of course, you can still pursue the argument with the dealer. If they give you new painted calipers under warranty, good for you. However, this is not worth loosing your sleep over.
  • vanbo57vanbo57 Member Posts: 46
    Thanks P - appriciate your input.
  • pghmaxpghmax Member Posts: 7
    I have a 2001 GLE has anyone had the rear pads wear out before the front?. This happened at 18,000 miles.
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    Hmm, interesting, considering that the front pads provide about 75% of the braking force. One thing comes to mind - do you habitually forget to release your handbrake when you take off and notice the red light several miles down the road? The hand brake engages the rear caliper pads.

    This (rear pads wearing out before the front ones)has never happened to me, and I owned a lot of cars. My rear brake pads usually last 70 or 80K miles. I still have the original brake pads (both front and rear) on the 98 Maxima SE with 65K miles.
  • vanbo57vanbo57 Member Posts: 46
    pghmax, When I took my '01 SE in to have the rotors turned on a TSB at 22.000 miles, service told me that I had about 20% to 30% remaining on the rears and about 60% on the fronts. I was not happy because I've never heard of that happening on a car with 4 discs. Aparently, the rears are smaller than the fronts, maybe so they would (supposedly) all go at once. Brakes are still pretty good at 26,500 miles and no warning squeaks yet and the pedal feels pretty good. They'll go a bit longer. Service may be exaggerating your wear a bit,(shocker, huh?). How do the brakes feel to you? did you see the pads? Good luck.
  • gerald13gerald13 Member Posts: 3
    I'm looking to buy a'04 MAXIMA. I am also looking at the '03Honda Accord and '03 Toyota Avelon.
    Any input you have for me would be appreciated. Thanks
  • dinu01dinu01 Member Posts: 2,586
    If you value a fun to drive car, go test-drive a 5spd Mazda6 - the #s (0-60, etc) can't convey just how great this car is.

    Dinu
  • georged98georged98 Member Posts: 34
    I have a 2002 GLE Maxima, with about 21,000 miles, and have noticed that both of the rear rotors have small circular grooves in them. You can run your fingers across the rotors and can feel it. The front rotors are smooth. The pads appear to be just fine except for the grooves in the rotors. Has anyone had this "problem"?? I called the dealer and he stated, as usual, don't worry about it!
  • sgrd0qsgrd0q Member Posts: 398
    dinu01 - this is a MAXIMA problems board - not a Mazda advertising board!!!

    Your repeated posts here are, frankly, quite annoying!
  • dinu01dinu01 Member Posts: 2,586
    The previosu poster asked a question, I answered - I have a Maxima too BTW, but I know a fun to drive car when I drive one.

    Cheers!
    Dinu
  • gerald13gerald13 Member Posts: 3
    I really would like to know what problems, if any, you all are experiencing with the new Maxima.{Thanks for the rotor problem info.)
    Owned one in 84( was called a Datsun then) and was very happy with the car. Sold it after 145,00+ miles. Then drove a Subaru legacy and loved it, gave it to my son, then drove an Odyssey (Honda van). Now I'm looking for a sedan again. The EX V-6 Sedan Accord is best price- wise, but I'm leaning toward the Maxima. Not interested in navigation system. Don't want to buy MAxima if it has flaws or major problems. Blind spots? Air conditioner/heater? etc. Can you all help?! Thanks
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    As with any redesigned model, you are taking some risk, as some problems may not surface yet. On top of that, this is the first year this car is built in the US. So only time will tell how troublefree this vehicle will be. The engine and transmission should be a carryover from the 03 model, except for the SE 5 speed auto transmission with a manual shift mode.
  • pbvdqpbvdq Member Posts: 14
    I'm still having trouble with my car vibrating (now wobbling, really). The dealer has balanced the tires twice in 6200 miles, the car now has 6700 miles. I'm bringing it in again this Saturday (I just brought it in 2 weekends ago and they said a tire balance will fix it, so I let them do the balance and reminding them that I complained about this before and that they balanced these tires already, 3k miles ago). I called them up last weekend and made a new appointment and I told them "THIS CAR DOES NOT NEED ANOTHER TIRE BALANCE!" I think I may have a defective tire or something, but I really don't know. The car kind of wobbles at around 45-50 mph and it gets worse the faster you. You can feel it in the steering wheel and in the seats and in the armrest.

    Any ideas what else it could be? I wish I had a friend that was a mechanic.

    P.S. this is an '03 SE Maxima
  • gerald13gerald13 Member Posts: 3
    Thanks P100 for the information. Do you really think U.S. built car will be so much different from one built in Japan or Mexico?
    Test drove the MAX again today. I really do like it. Hope I'm not getting into the wrong car. I need dependability and safety.
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    There are two possibilities:

    1. Tire balancing was done improperly over and over again.

    2. You have a problem with one or more of your tires, such as a broken or shifting belt, or one or more tires are out of round.

    I am absolutely amazed how difficult it is to find a place in the US that will balance your wheels properly. Tire balancers are generally not the problem - it is the people who balance the tires. They either mount the wheel wrong on the balancer by improperly centering it, or they enter the wrong parameters. I had wheels balanced wrong on my vehicles so many times that I tend to believe that this may be your problem. Your Maxima is very sensitive to wheel balance. Suggest take your car to an expensive import car dealer, or an least to an Infiniti dealer. They may have better trained personnel and better calibrated balancers. There are some good wheel balancers out there. Hunter just introduced a new model that presses a roller agianst the tire when it is spun and simulates actual loading of the wheel/tire under actual road conditions. This machine can detect tire problems, such as out of roundness or shifting belts. All parameters are entered automatically into the machine, which helps eliminate the operator error.

    Your tires could be out of round. The best balancer in the world will not compensate for this problem. I bought two brand new Continental CH4 tires that were so badly out of round that they were unuseable. The vibration at 70 MPH was severe despite correct balancing. A broken belt in a tire will cause varrying shimmy or vibration and it gets worse the longer you drive because the tire gets hotter and the belt shifts more. Had that problem too with one of the Continental tires (these were the worst tires I have ever bought!)

    You may solve your problem for good if you invest in a set of good quality Michelins. I understand that it is a hard choice to make when your car is under warranty, but the dealer will likely replace your tires with the same lousy tires that came on your car to begin with. I would recommend Michelin Pilot or Michelin MXV for your car. Your new Maxima is a substantial investment and you should enjoy your new car. I understand only too well how disappointing it must be to you to go through these problems.

    BTW, I was very seriously considering buying a new 03 SE Maxima. Both cars I test drove had vibration around 60 MPH, probably due to defective tires. I walked away. When I test drove a new 03 Honda Accord EX V6, it rode smoothly without any signs of vibration. The tires were Michelin MXV.
  • mirthmirth Member Posts: 1,212
    Recently whenever I try to play a CD in my '02 Max GXE I get a 'CD ERR F3' message. Anyone else ever seen this?
  • dkp72dkp72 Member Posts: 1
    Hi,

    I have just bought 2003 Nissan Maxima last month(June 2003) and has only 400 miles on it. My Xenon Head lights has been stolen in 10 minute from Mall in NJ. I am thinking to replace lights with regular lights (2001 Maxima). Dose any one tell me what are needed parts except for Regular headlights?

    Lights, Wire harness, etc.

    Thanks in advance.
    Dharam
  • glb5glb5 Member Posts: 39
    I have a 96 Maxima GXE With 75000 miles,I purchased the car new in Oct 95. I have just replaced the front pads for the first time, checked the rears they appear to have at least 15 to 20 thousand miles left before replacement is needed. So if your pads are wearing out noticably quicker than this you must have a serious problem, i.e. dragging or leaving the emergency brake on a lot. I'am not what is called an easy driver and the miles are about 85% highway 15% town. Hope this bit of information helps.
         Now for my problem, I have had a strange drumming noise which sounds like it's coming from the trunk area. It in not the spare tire or changing tools as I have removed everything including the mat and spare tire cover to no avail. This vibrating druming appears only on rough pavement from about 20 mph to 60mph.It is not a heat shield or tail pipe that i'm hearing as I have beat on each with a rubber hammer and cannot duplicate the sound. If anyone can help with this I would be forever grateful for this is driving me crazy. This irratating noise aside my car has been extremely enjoyable and very reliable.
  • ohanohan Member Posts: 1
    I have a 02 Maxima SE ... I got it brand new and I have been suffering since with tire balance, breaks and stereo system. So pbvdq I have been going through the same thing from day one. I noticed a shimmy in the steering wheel on day one. This occurred at speeds of 50 and up. Also, when I applied the breaks the whole car wobbled. The dealer said we need to turn the rotors!!!! I am still puzzled to why a brand new car would need the rotors turned!!! That took care of the breaking issue until now at 12k miles ... it is back.
    As far as the general shimmy, after countless balancing and alignments, the dealer said it was the tire!!! So he replaced the bad tire (which according to the dealer it had a blind spot). This problem reoccurred at 8k miles (after rotating the tires) and we went through the motions again. Now the dealer said it is a bad tire again but this time I need to contact the tire manufacturer to get it resolved. I finally got the tire people convinced and they replaced the tire and that issue is now partially resolved.
    The stereo ... from day one, whenever I played a CD the left side speakers would just go out!!!! And sometimes it would not play at all and give me ERROR reading CD message. The dealer kept telling me that it's because I am playing burned CDs. I was not convinced. Finally the dealer agreed to replace the unit and it got worse. The third unit the dealer installed worked and still working thank God. I investigated to why would a new stereo not work? The dealer said that Bose only sends refurbished units as a replacement. I was furious.... I bought the car new and if their product did not work they refused to give me a new unit!!!! Hello ...
    As it stands today: I have an appointment on Friday because the steering wheel shimmies when I apply the brakes (the car has 12k miles now) and I would never by a Nissan again.
    I have been in touch with the Nissan Consumer Affairs from day one and they do not seem to be accommodating at all. They are like trained robots. They only know how to repeat the same thing over and over again. I have always been a maxima fan. I still think it has the best engine and the performance (the original 4DSC) but I am fed up.
    My recommendation to all of you is to contact Nissan and document all of your issues with the consumer affairs department. And for those who are considering buying a maxima ... be careful, be very careful. Test drive it very carefully, get on the highway, apply the breaks and play the CD while driving on a bumpy road.
  • sgrd0qsgrd0q Member Posts: 398
    I think you are too tough on Nissan. Nissan doesn't manufacture the tires. You can't blame them for faulty tires, except that they selected a cheap brand to begin with. I had a similar problem - the problem was slightly alleviated by putting the defective tire on the rear axle. Then never rotated again until I wore them out and replaced them with quality Michelin rubber. I got just over 43K miles out of the original tires.

    Brakes - wear and tear maintenance item. You got 12K miles before having to resurface the rotors again? You did well. This is a problem with any new car - ever since they stopped using asbestos in the pads the rotors warp really easy. This applies to any new car, not just Nissan. Actually, I put after-market rotors and pads and got the shimmy within 4k miles. In comparison the OEM Nissan pads and rotors are VERY good. You just have to get used to turning your rotors regularly, and then replace them when below minimum thickness. As I said - applies to any new car - and I have two. (One is an Acura.)

    CD - you have a point here, but as long as it is fixed under warranty that should be it. No big deal.

    Hey, and if you are still not happy with your Maxima – you can always go and buy a Jetta!
  • pbvdqpbvdq Member Posts: 14
    p100, thanks for the response. I went to the dealer/service on Saturday and a tech and manager tested my car. The tech found nothing and was afraid to close out the job without first confirming it so the manager (with the tech) took my car out again, I watched them do it. The manager came back and said the "wobble" is just a slight vibration that is felt in virtually all Maximas when doing 55 mph to 60 mph and that it gets smooth again once you start picking up more speed (faster than 60 mph - how often are we going that fast?). He adjusted my tire pressure and said someone put set them all at 42 PSI!!! I, of course blamed one of his techs for that because the car was in service the week before, the car does ride better now, no wobble, but still the slight vibration at 55-60. I'm still convinced its the tires.

    I know a lot of very loyal NISSAN owners and I hear great stories about people owning these cars for almost up to 200,000 worry free miles (real people I know personally) and I am hoping to be so lucky. I may wait a year or so and just get new tires, I can't justify doing it now.

    Ohan, sorry to hear about all those problems, its really frustrating especially when you expect this car to perform well. I personally don't think that my car in particular has defects (maybe crappy tires). That's really sh*ty of the dealer to put in a refurbised product in a new car, I didn't know they did stuff like that. I'm furious for you. If NISSAN ever does that to me (or anything warranting an earful) I'll be sure to give them an earful, followed by something in writing. I used to own a Ford and that car was a LEMON!! I went through arbitration and Ford extended my warranty. That car was leaking all sorts of fluids, steering, transmission, you name it, it leaked it, and the transmission would kick really hard when the gears changed (that was particularly strange since the Contour was an automatic) it kicked so hard that the first time I felt it, I thought I was rear ended - the transmission was replaced, the rotors went bad twice in 10k miles, the fuel door wouldn't open and to this day it still doesn't, for all the years I kept that car, I had to go in the trunk, hold the emergency fuel door latch in the out position, reach around to the outside of the car and with the tip of my finger, flick the fuel door to get it open, the air conditioner condensation would leak into the car, not out and ruined the carpet, the carpet needed to be changed anyway, two weeks after I had the car, I noticed that the carpet didn't fit and about a 1/4 of the passenger side floor was exposed, the glove box lock fell out, just fell out one day while I was driving, the interior door panels warped forming huge bubbles which looked liked the car was severely sick, the air conditioning vents all cracked into a bunch of pieces, the rear view mirror fell off, the seat belts would jam and it took me forever just to get out of the driveway because I wasn't leaving without putting on my seatbelt, the list goes on and on. That car was my first new car, I took really really good care of it in spite of all its troubles.

    Ohan, I'm not invalidating your problems with your car, just telling you how bad it REALLY could be and to give everyone reading a good laugh (all of the above is true).

    sgrd0q - don't be so hard on Ohan, he/she just wants to drive his/her car and not only to the service department.
  • p100p100 Member Posts: 1,116
    "I think you are too tough on Nissan." What? Do you seriously believe that Nissan has not been aware of the tire problems with the Bridgestone Potenza tires? They could have switched to another brand after several hundred warranty claims and complaints, but they did not. Because they got these tires dirt cheap from Bridgestone. It looks like profits are a lot more important than custumer satisfaction. And what about that comment about the Bose stereo? They charge over $ 1000 extra for this system!!!! I would be angry too if somebody replaced a broken system in my new car with a "rebuilt" unit instead of a new one. There is no excuse for this. None!
  • ocuihsocuihs Member Posts: 138
    give them a chance! look at the excellence sales of BMW X5 being built in the USA! and all of the Japanese brands being built in the USA....

    Maxima sports sedans, Xterra sport utility vehicles, Frontier pickup trucks and Altima midsize sedans are manufactured at the company's award-winning Smyrna plant (the most efficient automotive manufacturing operation in North America by the Harbour Report, an honor it has held for eight straight years). When fully operational in 2004, the Canton, Miss., plant will build the all-new Nissan Quest minivans (launching late May 2003), Nissan and Infiniti full-size sports utility vehicles, the full-size Titan truck and additional Altima sedans.

    "Bringing the Maxima to the United States is key to our company's strategy of building cars and trucks closer to where they are sold"...."Through a concerted effort of employees, supplier partners and countless others we are committed to build upon the Maxima's great heritage." --Emil Hassan, Nissan North America senior vice president, manufacturing, purchasing, quality and logistics.
    ***********************************************
    FYI...
    Nissan North America Inc. has invested nearly $4 billion in its three U.S. manufacturing facilities.
Sign In or Register to comment.