Nissan Maxima Real World MPG

Karen_S · June 2005

Please post your Maxima actual MPG here.

"Real World" Fuel Economy vs. EPA Estimates

fido1 · June 2005

Current mileage @ 3800, running Mobil 1 Full Syn - 5/30, Regular octane fuel, live in Massachusetts - mileage will avg. between 22.5 to 24.5 depending on ratio of hgwy to local driving. Highway trips avg. about 26.2 @ avg speeds 70-75 mph.

george2k5 · June 2005

Current mileage is about 1600. At last fill up Average was about 23.6 MPG calculated using actual miles driven and gallons pumped (about 23 according the on-board display). This is for mostly city and freeway commute mileage.

duke87nuke · September 2005

I have a 99 SE that I normally run on regular 87 octane. It consistently gets 24-26 mpg on long trips. Around local Atlanta traffic I get closer to 18 mpg.

silverfox1 · September 2005

What is the actual gas mileage (city and hwy) for either the 05 or 06 Maxima SL?

plumman · September 2005

I use 93 octane and avg. 24-25 overall. Driving the speed limit 55-60 I recently got 32 mpg.

eddie982 · February 2006

93 octane fuel is recommended, how [non-permissible content removed] you folks are putting regular in your maxima's????

leirex · February 2006

Current mileage is about 2300 miles. From the day I bought it, it averaged 24 or 25 city/freeway combined. This is calculated using actual miles driven and gallons pumped. Display reports 22.8. I use regular unleaded.

gwkenne · February 2006

I'm looking into purchasing an '01 GLE - any experience with running regular as oppposed to super unleaded as recommended?

jg28 · February 2006

Average between 21-22MPG. This is not relying on the always wrong trip computer. Those of you relying on the trip computer need to manually calculate your gas mileage. The trip computers (even on the 6th Generation Maximas) are consistently wrong.

poodog13 · February 2006

Average between 21-22MPG. This is not relying on the always wrong trip computer. Those of you relying on the trip computer need to manually calculate your gas mileage. The trip computers (even on the 6th Generation Maximas) are consistently wrong.

Manual or auto?

habitat1 · February 2006

This oldie but goodie has been relegated to our second home. But at 155,000 miles it still gets 20-23 mpg around town and up to 28-30 mpg at 70 mph on the highway. Overall average since the day it was bought = 24.5 mpg. And it is still capable of 0-60 in about 6.6 seconds.

They added a lot of do-dads, but I don't think Nissan made a much better car than this generation. And its fit, finish, paint, etc., are holding up quite well - due in part, I believe to being made in Japan.

stevtec · February 2006

Another 4th gen owner

I generally get about 22 mpg in town, and on the highway I get:

65-70 mph: 29 mpg
65-70 mph while drafting trucks: 31 mpg
75-80 mph: 27 mpg
75-80 mph in cold weather: 25 mpg (higher drag)

I can generally squeeze out about another 1mpg with regular fuel, but then the power around town stinks and the driveability is also poor with a lot of lagging and surging from the ignition timing getting pulled. If I'm about to do a lot of highway driving I might put in regular, and if I'm going to be doing a lot of city type driving I'll put in premium. On the highway the engine is always running with a very light load and the premium fuel isn't really needed.

kevin32549 · March 2006

When I purchased my 2000 SE in 10/03, the dealer had filled it with regular. You never heard anything ping as loud as that did any time accelerating. In good tune though, it doesn't need premium, runs ping free and performs just as well on mid grade.

nissanfreak87 · March 2006

I've got a 99' GLE and I drive around Cincinnati and in between Lexington, KY and Cincy. I've been averaging just over 26mpg, with about 97,000 miles

jg28 · March 2006

Auto. All the postings about the 3.0L gas mileages makes me wish I had a 2001 instead of 2002. I've never done better than 23 and that was hwy and premium.

poodog13 · March 2006

Auto. All the postings about the 3.0L gas mileages makes me wish I had a 2001 instead of 2002. I've never done better than 23 and that was hwy and premium.

Be happy, I average 15.5-17.5 depending on HVAC use.

poodog13 · March 2006

I just bought an 06 Maxima SL and am wondering if anyone has done anything to boost MPG, such as high-end air filters, additives, special spark plugs, etc.

Any proven suggestions out there?

holcomb1956 · March 2006

Poodog, I have a 06 SE, I am not sute what it gets but I had an 04 Se w/35k that did get 33mpg on the interstate. I would fill up, get on the interstate and drive 300 miles. I had a free flow filter in it as well as a tornado in the throttle body. Total cost for the two was just over $100.00 but as to the 06 SE, I haven't really had it on the road with just myself in it. By the way, I used regualr gas.

holcomb1956 · March 2006

Silverfox1,

I have two 06's, they get about the same, i.e., in town between 17.9 - 19.0. On the road, if I can keep my toes out of the fuel injectors and set the cruise at 72, I can get right at 30 both both are new and not broke in well yet. My 04 Max SE got 33 on the interstate but I had a tornado in the throttle body and used a Hog air filter. The 04 also had 35 k on the speedo. Hope this is of help to you.

dmaljunk · March 2006

Hi, On my 2K Max GLE with 77L miles I get 28mpg on highway but I get around 13mpg in the city. I mostly drive in the city (NY) with constant stop and go and my trips are usually a few miles at a time. I put in Premium and had plenty of maintenance done on the car, so it's in good condition. How is my highway mpg pretty good while city mpg is way below average?

perna · April 2006

I have an '03, and average 24mpg 80/20 city/highway. I use 93 octane.

It's a small price to pay for such a fun car to drive. I suspect Nissan hooked me for life with this car (it's my first).

lmacmil · May 2006

The car never gets warmed up in your short city trips so the choke is on, idle speed up, etc. My wife's Highlander suffers from the same poor mileage due to her

mile commute.

moms_max · July 2006

Hi everyone... My "oldie but goodie" consistently gets 24-26 around town, and 28-29 highway. I've always used regular gas... and have lived in Southern Florida (both coasts), Colorado (western Slope), and now North Carolina. I l-o-v-e my car.....

azzankel · July 2006

A few months ago, I had a faulty coil in my 2000 Maxima SE 5 speed(52,000 miles). Had it replaced at a dealership, but "service eng soon" light came on a few days afterwards. Took it back in and they couldn't find a problem (car was running great)and reset the light. Few days later, light came on again...took it back in. They recommended that I replace remaining 5 coils. Since they could not find any problems, and car was running great, I decided to live with the light on rather than spend $700 more. Had always averaged 23-24 in town, and 29-31 on the hwy for the 5 1/2 yrs I've owned the car. In a few weeks, car started acting up and it was a rear coil. Had remaining 5 coils replaced at that point and car still runs great. Here is the problem......my highway miles now are 23-24, and my city miles are 21-22. Took it into the dealer and they can't find anything wrong. Everything is within acceptable parameters. Any ideas why I lost 100 miles per tank full on the highway, and 10% of my city mileage? Again.....this problem started right after I had remaining 5 coils replaced. Anyone have any ideas? Thx!!

dmaljunk · July 2006

if you had code P1320 and took your time to replace coils then your spark plugs or catalytic may have been affected. You may have detonation.

debating · August 2006

Purchased our 2000 Maxima SE used in '01, still have it. Still impressed with it. We had all the coils replaced a couple of years ago, and had a sensor replaced a short time later, thats all the problems encountered. We always burn premium by the way.

Our first trip after purchasing was over 3000 miles, it impressed me with the highway mileage. One tank with 28 MPG, and the rest in the 26 MPG range. Averaged 70 to 80 MPH. Have never figured the city mileage, it's not as great however.

From the long term reliability ratings I've seen lately, wonder if the newer Maxima's are still as reliable as ours has been. Plus with current gas prices and the forecasts if a four banger Toyota or similar for an eventual replacement, or even a diesel might not be a better choice? We owned a diesel escort in the mid 80's, those 40 plus MPG highway figures would sure be enjoyable today.

But I dread reaching that point because I have sure enjoyed our time with the current Maxima.

mj9981 · September 2006

Hi All
I have a 2000 Nissan Maxima SE. In a turn hard to the left, I could hear a metal to metal rubbing sound.To make a long story short, I removed the right front hub and found the outer bearing cage broken in three places. Prior to hearing this sound, several months ago I felt a vibration in the front end. The axle nut was loose on the right. I re-torqued the nut to specs and even safety wired it too. Replacing the bearing is a job but it can be done with a press and a tool to remove the ball joints. Happy driving!! MJ9981

alexstore · October 2006

I have 05 maxima SE.. On highway alone I get 33-35 mpg, now funny part,while driving @64 i save more than while driving @ 59. As an average I get 24-27 mpg with 10% city and 90 % highway ( this actually depends on a day of the week as I get stuck in traffic for 2-2.5 hr on almost every friday) I Use Gold from BP. Exxon mobil- i somehow get less by 1-2 mpg.

jbrusca1 · January 2007

my 2000 maxima has 147,000 miles. I was getting 22-24 mpg until last week. It runs a little rough, but still has good pickup but my mpg went below 20 (highway). Can anybody help.

pegasus17 · February 2007

I have a 2003 Max SE with 44k miles. Luckily, zero mx problems so far, only routine oil changes and a new set of tires at 34k. MPG in the city is 18 and mixed city/hwy is 22. Open road highway driving for 500 miles i have gotten 26-28 mpg driving 70mph. Two points: (1) the trip computer mpg is always 2-3 mpg wrong (high) (2) I have experimented with regular and mid-grade gas and have always found that the mpg suffers by ~2 mpg plus performance is not as spirited (also get occasional knock). So while premium does cost more, the car does run better. FWIW, I find BP gas (93 octane) works well in my Max. Also FWIW, Shell V-power made it knock much worse than any other gas.

cmyawn · April 2007

I have a 2007 Maxima SE, and I get about 23 mpg in mixed-use driving so far (only on my 4th tank). I have a slight problem in that the low fuel light comes on and the "DTE" (Distance to empty) on the computer warns I am nearly out of fuel, but when I fill up it only takes about 16 gallons (and the tank is spec'd to hold 20 gallons).

Is this behavior typical? I am used to other vehicles where the DTE is very accurate. Is there an adjustment that can be made at the dealership to improve the accuracy?

Thanks

alexstore · April 2007

First thing first. Never drive in low gas, dangerous.
I had similar situation and even though it was showing 40 miles left in 26 mpg (hey it was new. I can get 30-35 in highway driving alone) a full tank was about 14.5 gallons.
DTE is estimate so if I were you , i will fill up @ 1/2-1/3 of tank.

hercgretch · June 2007

I just bought a 2007 Maxima SE with 20,000 miles on it. It was a rental with 20K on it and sold for 21,900, a great price. But the first time the gas tank light was showing Empty and I filled it up, it only held 14 gallons. I'm scared. Did they stick a Sentra tank in by mistake? Is the gas tank guage so innacurate? I'm somewhat comforted to see that others like you have a similar problem. If you've found any tenable explanations, let me know.

Jeff McMahon
Torrance, CA

alexstore · June 2007

When I go for fill up, depending on a gas station, I get different amount of gas. My assumption to be on safe side , Nissan decided to have low fuel indication on empty while you have 3 gallons in your tank. If I were you, I would never allow my car to be low on gas. The lowest, I try to avoid is being at 3/4. I Usually fill up @ 1/2 tank or more.

debating · June 2007

....stack up against the Maxima? With the base engine or the 3.5? Reliability and satisfaction with the car?

Curious, we have a 2000 SE Maxima that still impresses. But quite frankly the Altima fits our needs better today, and I like the looks of the new Altima better.

hercgretch · June 2007

Good advice. But I'm going to have the gas gauge checked since there should not be a six-gallon disparity. The car gets leather put in this week and they're going to check the gauge. I suspect it needs to be fixed.

hercgretch · June 2007

I bought a 2007 Maxima 3 days ago but my intention was to buy a 2007 Altima. However, after driving them both, I realized the Altima felt cheap compared to the luxury of the Maxima. I bought my 2007 rental Maxima for 21,900, so I recommend getting an almost-new Maxima (you can get low mile ones for low 20s) over a new Altima.

craig777 · June 2007

Hello... My name is Craig.. I live in Santa Monica ..

I happened to read your posting...I have been wanting to have an extended test drive in the 2007 maximum ...

You mentioned that you had bought your maximum from a local car rental place ?

Could you please tell me the name and location of the car rental place so that I might rent a car for a day or two to really get a good feel for it..

Thanks for your assistance ...

hercgretch · June 2007

Craig, The Power Nissan Torrance dealership acquired the rental car. It was a 2007 with 20,000 miles. I don't think you will have to find a rental car to get a similar price. You should be able to find an 05 or 06 Maxima with low miles in the low 20K range. You will see several with these specs on Cars.com. I recommend leather as cloth seats retain odors and are hard to keep clean. The car rides like a Lexus GS for half the price. You do compromise on gas mileage however. You'll get high teens in town and mid twenties on the freeway.

Best luck,

Jeff

jg28 · July 2007

The trip computer for Altimas or Maximas will consistently give you faulty information regarding MPG. Do it yourself. Most likely, you'll be disappointed. My trip computer (2002 Maxima) consistently says I'm getting 24-29 mpg but I've never done better than 24 (okay 23.7) when actually computing it. The low fuel warning is skittish since I've driven on what I thought was fumes and have never put more than 17 gallons in my 18.5 gallon tank.

hercgretch · July 2007

Thanks for the valuable info. My 07 Maxima holds 20 gallons and my first fill it only held 14.

How's your automatic seat? When going forward, I have to lift my butt a little or else it's stuck. But going backwards, I don't have this problem.

windy6 · November 2007

I just checked my TRUE mileage, 165 miles, nothing but in town, average trip about 6 miles, 18.2 MPG on 87 Octane.

On a recent trip to and from Austin to Denver I realized after my first two fill-ups that driving my "normal" 75-77 MPH wasn't going to get me there a day earlier, since it's a total of 935 miles door to door. Deciding to see what I could "milk" out of this by dropping my speed to 65 +/- was a very pleasant experience. Especially as this was the week that gas was going from $2.80 up to $3.00/gallon.

Two tanks at higher speed; 24.4 MPG.
4 tanks (actually 4 fill-ups on all highway) averaged 30.3 MPG.

BTW, those "all highway only include about 175 miles of Interstate, the rest is 2 lane and 4 lane with a fair amount of smallish towns mixed in. Pretty nice cost savings.

If we all did this we could take some real money out of the pockets of the sheikhs.

windy6

classic57b · April 2008

Hello, I also have a 2007 Maxima. I found the fuel problem the first time I filled the tank. I took it back to the dealer and they said that was normal. I plan to complain to Nissan. I suspect they put the Altima sending unit in the Maxima to save money. (the Altima has a 15.9 gallon tank). I'll post Nissans response.

maximafan · April 2008

Craig, I live in Tampa, Florida and I have been able to request certain cars to drive as rentals at Enterprise Rent-a-Car. I've rented Nissan Muranos in the past. It helps that the location where I usually rent from is across the street from a Nissan dealership also. So you might want to give your nearest Enterprise Rent-A-Car location a call and see if they might be able to assist you. Good luck!

poodog13 · July 2008

2006 Maxima SL

Recent trip from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach yielded 28.5 MPG at 75 MPH including some distances through mountainous terrain. Level land actually got me around 29 MPG. I typically do mostly city driving in high traffic conditions and struggle to average 18.5 MPG so I was very pleasantly surprised.

As for trip computer DTE and fuel guage, I have the same issues and have just learned to deal with it. I consistently get only 16 gallons when both show as being dead empty. I agree that this was most likely done on purpose so that a mis-read by the system doesn't run someone empty and most likely was done after some testing of the tolerance interval of the computer's measurement accuracy. It's hard not to keep that in the back of your head and run it down further sometimes.

guyverfanboy · February 2009

anyone have the real world numbers for the 2009 Nissan Maxima?

go_mdx1 · February 2009

I've got an 2009 Maxima. 4000 miles on it. I've had it since August and love it!! Overall, my average has been around 22mpg (combined city/highway). If I go on a road trip, I average between 27 to 28 mpg.

andy211 · April 2009

I just got a 2007 Maxima SL this weekend. I observed the same thing with my first two fill-ups; when the gauge shows nearly empty, the DTE shows 60+ miles and 14 to 15 gallons will fill up the tank. I suspect it's just Nissan being overly conservative to cut us drivers some slack.

poodog13 · April 2009

Agree, I've never gotten more than 16.5 gals in my 2006

smarty666 · September 2009

wow, that is pretty good gas mileage considering there are 290hp under that hood; I've been getting just about the same mileage in my 2010 max; guess you have to thank the CVT for that!! will never get gas mileage like that in a G37 sedan!

Nissan Maxima Real World MPG

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