Nissan Maxima

kennyg8 · May 2006

I don't think the Air Flow Control button activates the A/C. Its only function, as its name indicates, is solely to direct where the air flows. So, in your case, I still thinks the Defog function is active, which triggers the A/C, causing cold air coming from the vents. I may be wrong -- but I believe I may be right -- because I don't have manual controls on my GLE.

perna · May 2006

If your recirc light is on but the button is off, that means you have the hot/cold slider set all the way to the left. The air will automatically kick on in that case.

To get it to shut off, move the lever to the right until you feel it "click" and let it go. The recirc light should then go off.

It also sounds like to me your A/C light might be burned out; when you have the temp slider set all the way to the left, the A/C light should come on as well.

fhs8860c · May 2006

The hot/Cold slider is not all the way to the left, its just before u hear the click sound.
if i take it all the way to the left, then, the A/C light does comes on.

perna · May 2006

The hot/Cold slider is not all the way to the left, its just before u hear the click sound.
if i take it all the way to the left, then, the A/C light does comes on.

That's strange, then. Maybe bring it into the dealer for your next oil change, and have 'em take a look at it.

fhs8860c · May 2006

well i took the car to the dealer today and they said its normal. they said that the AC comes on when u press the recirculation button and the fan is on.
somehow i am not convinced yet. i will try to post this message on the other maxima forum. lets see what i can get from there. so perna, which model is ur maxima. if its same as me, can you try it in ur car. I think the outside temperature plays a role in this whole story also. so if u are in Alaska or some place which is cold right now, maybe the ac wont come on.

perna · June 2006

well i took the car to the dealer today and they said its normal. they said that the AC comes on when u press the recirculation button and the fan is on.

That much is true - mine has always done this.

I have an '03 SE.

Even if it's cold outside, I think the compressor still comes on to keep the windows defogged. Hard to tell though, the Maxima's heater is probably the best one I've ever seen in a car.

racer6k · June 2006

My headlights are blinding everyone when on dim. Dealer says they are adjusted where they are supposed to be. 70% of the care we passed on a two lane road at night flashed their brights at us..even trucks and busses. When on dim the lights shine a mile down the road and on bright i see tree tops. What do i tell the dealer after he tells me they can't be adjusted down any more and that's all they can do? Please help.

maximafan · June 2006

It sounds like you might have the xenon
lights which come on the driver preferred
package or standard on the SL, am I correct?

I have noticed the current generation of
Maximas that have the xenons are much
brighter than the xenons on my 2002 Max.

maximafan · June 2006

By the way, I was wondering what are
everyone's thoughts about the 2007 Maxima?
I've read that it's getting a drop in hp
to 255 (Same hp as my 2002 Max) with a CVT
tranny. I was liking the new changes until
I heard about the drop in hp. This is
bugging me. The Maxima has been compared
to the Avalon extensively. So how is it
supposed to compete with 255 horses vs. 280
horses in the Avalon? I don't know. It
seems like Nissan takes two steps forward
and then two steps back. Frustrating!

It seems the 2007 Altima will now have more
hp than the 2007 Maxima.

perna · June 2006

I've read that it's getting a drop in hp
to 255 (Same hp as my 2002 Max) with a CVT
tranny.

I'm not positive, but I think the CVT makes more efficient use of the car's horsies, so it actually feels quicker than it's HP indicates. I'm certainly test driving one, I can't wait to see what they've done with it.

biancar · June 2006

Have a question here about my 2000 Maxima. We've noticed that sometimes there's a sticky blue residue of something on the lower sides of the car just forward of the rear wheel wells. With a lot of scrubbing we can get it off, but have no idea what this is. It's almost the consistency of road tar, except it's blue. Feels sort of like plastic, almost.

Anyone have this happen to their car? Any idea what this could be? I'm going to take it to the dealer for a check, but wondered if anyone else had the same thing happen.

dmaljunk · June 2006

have no idea what it is but why take it to a dealer and pay close to $100 for a check-up? I would try a private mechanic unless your car is under extended dealer warranty.

biancar · June 2006

Guess that's the next step. We've been taking the car to the dealer regularly for oil changes and stuff, so will probably continue, as we don't have an established relationship with any private mechanic.

My first thought was that maybe a blue plastic bag had got caught on the underside of the car and was melting off or something, but we can't see anything that looks like that.

03se2hear · June 2006

Mine has always done this too. I've been trying to find a way to rewire it to bypass the compressor unless I press the A/C button. Haven't figured it out yet. Also tried on the Maxima.org forums to figure it out. But since I wasn't installing lowering springs or a grapefruit shooter on the exhaust, they were no help.

biancar · June 2006

Couple days ago the "check engine" light went on, so we had it checked out today. Turns out the oxygen sensor is bad.

I did a search on this topic but didn't find more than a few mentions, but seems that I recall something about Nissan having a service bulletin on the oxygen sensors. Anyone know anything about that?

It's a 2000 GLE, if that makes any difference.

03se2hear · June 2006

Here's the only thing I could find.....

http://maxima.theowensfamily.com/tsb/NTB02-051a.pdf

biancar · June 2006

Thanks!

Does that mean a Nissan dealership will fix it as if it were under warranty? If not, do you have any idea how much it costs?

maximafan · June 2006

Hi, Biancar. It may or may not be covered.
I've been dealing with the same situation
as you for almost the past 12 months. To
digress, the SES light on my 2002 Maxima SE
came on for the first time back in July of
2005. It happened while I was passing
through Atlanta, GA coming from Tampa, FL
for vacation time in the GA mountains.
I had to find the nearest Nissan dealership
since I didn't know if I was supposed to be
driving the car with the light on. By the
time I located a Nissan dealership, it was
almost closing time, no one to assist. I
was told I would have to bring it back on
Monday.(This happened on a Friday.) But I
was told if there were no visible and
noticeable problems, I could still drive the
car. After trying to find the nearest
Nissan dealership to Blairsville, GA, which
would have required some distance driving,
I figured I'd take a gamble and not interrupt
my vacation. I had no further problems. In
fact, after about a day or two, the light
went off.
I took it to the local dealership in Tampa
after I returned home. Well, whatever code
or diagnosis they pulled supposedly was not
covered by the Fed.Emiss. Warranty. I
believe they wanted to charge something like
450 to $600 to replace two bad rear 02
sensors. Well, I was not ready to pay that
kind of money just right then. Well, you
know how it is when you get busy. I've been
driving the car for almost a year with no
problems, even though the SES light does
come on maybe once every couple of months for
a week and then goes off.
As a matter of fact, it was on for the past
two weeks and just went off today. I had
taken the car in to my local mechanic to
remove two nails from my right rear tire and
decided to have them diagnose the SES
problem since it was on when I took it in.

Well, they pulled a code PO138, and he also
gave me a printout of a TSB. He seems to
think that this is something that should be
covered by the Fed. Emiss. Warranty, but I'm
not so sure since the dealership already
told me no before. My neighbor across the
street is an experienced mechanic who has
replaced sensors. He also owns two Nissans,
so he's very familiar with the 02 sensor
problem. He's offered to rerun the code for
me and can probably do some additional
"sleuthing" to try to find out if this is a
Fed. Emiss. Warranty issue.
I'm thinking of taking him up on his offer
because I'm sure Nissan will charge me $90
just to do another diagnosis, while my
mechanic only charged $40 to do it. I hate
to spend another $90 and have them tell me
I'm going to have to pay for this. If I've
got to pay for it, I'd rather take it to my
own mechanic, since it's always going to cost
less.
Sorry about the long letter, but just be
careful and keep your options open.

dmaljunk · June 2006

Fed Emissions warranty for Long Term Defects covers only cat converter and ECM for 8 years/80K miles, O2 sensors are covered as regular emissions defects for 3 years/36K miles. So, biancar, your 2000 GLE is not covered for O2 sensor. The part is $135 or so and if you want to follow the Service Buletin then you must do it at the dealer since noone else can re-program the computer for you, the labor will no doubt cost $200 in addition to the cost of the part. That's how they get you. The Service Bulletin is just a guideline to the dealer on how to perform a repair, it is not a recall. Sorry to bring the bad news

dmaljunk · June 2006

if your SES light comes on and off then yor O2 sensor may be fouled. The O2 sensor measures the difference between oxygen content in the outside air and inside your exhaust, so if the receptacles are dirty then it may be throwing an error code. It could be your harness connector too. And as far as paying for diagnostics - Autozone does it for free, the scan your computer and give you the code and then you can just do your own research and figure out which part to replace.

biancar · June 2006

We already paid $75 for the diagnostic test.

So guess I'm looking at a repair bill something north of $300, then. Wonder if they'll cut me a break since I just bought my Z there a couple months ago.

Oh well. The Maxima has not had anything wrong with it for the first five years. Then recently we replaced all the ignition coils, and now this. I guess for a six year old car we're still ahead of the game.

autoboy16 · June 2006

Is it me or does it seem strange for nissan to continue to use the 3.5l v6 in the maxima? Its in the altima and gives the altima almost as much horsepower as the max. IMO, nissan should have put the 4.0l v6 from the pathfinder suv into the maxima. It would have much more hp and torque and further the line between altima and maxima.

biancar · June 2006

I agree. I think the Maxima now occupies a sort of strange place in the line-up. It used to be "the 4 door sports car." Now they seem to be emphasizing luxury (which is fine, I guess), and the new "4 door sports car" is really the Infiniti G35.

I see a LOT more newer Altimas on the road than I do new Maximas.

I'd be curious to know where former Maxima owners are shopping now. Do they buy another Max, or figure to economize with the Altima that gives you 90% of what the Max does, or step up to the Infiniti? For those of you whose car is now 6 years old or older, what do you plan to do in the next few years - keep your current car until it falls apart, buy new Maxima when the time comes, or shop elsewhere?

kyleknicks · June 2006

i have a 2000 maxima gle which i bought in sept of 2000... im planning on driving this thing till it can't run anymore.. its got 59k miles on it... and still running great... the problems i've had on it were brake rotors..which i replaced all 4... and the exhaust pipe behind the muffler breaking into 2 pieces.. which was not too bad of a fix..... so i'm hoping for at least another 100k miles..

given the new look of the maxima since 04... i wont be shopping for a new max any longer..... i'll probably wait for the current new 5 series in about 3 to 4 yrs..and pick up an used one... those are beautiful

biancar · June 2006

You and I were on these boards that same summer. I bought my GLE in the summer of 2000 - this is the one that right now needs the oxygen sensor replaced.

I agree with you that the body style of the 2000 - 2003 cars was more attractive than the current edition. I love the S-curve look around the tail lights, for instance - it's unique and attractive.

The new ones just haven't grown on me. The back end looks slab-sided or something, large and ungainly.

I'm with you, we're keeping ours until it just won't run anymore. Right now it has slightly upwards of 80,000 miles on it.

maximafan · June 2006

I actually like the exterior of the current
generation Maxima. It was the interior that
I had a problem with. But it seems the 2007
is going to address that, plus some minor
front exterior freshening. The Maxima
remains a car of interest to me due to my
positive experience with my 2002 Max (present
problems with the 02 sensors excluded) I am
leasing my Max, so it will soon be time to
make that plunge for something new. I'm
really starting to like the new Lexus ES350
more and more. I've been reading the
Edmunds boards over there and the people that
have purchased the Lexus are really happy.

The Acura TL was at the top of my list, but
one thing negative that's starting to come
to my attention is that it doesn't seem like
Acura treats the customers as well as Lexus
and Infiniti. I don't know. I'm not getting
a good vibe about Acura Customer treatment.

I might even end up going with the 2007
Altima, if I decide I like it better than the
Max. It does seem as though the "sports car"
mantra is pushing more towards the Altima
these days. Time will tell.

aggiedog · June 2006

Nissan uses that 3.5 in just about everything. They just tweak it for the specific models. No problems with my 02 SE so far. Had the 02 sensors replaced at about 35k, just before I was out of warranty. Just hit 60k miles and will need new tires soon. I still don't like the latest model. It just doesn't appeal to me.

perna · June 2006

I'd be curious to know where former Maxima owners are shopping now. Do they buy another Max, or figure to economize with the Altima that gives you 90% of what the Max does, or step up to the Infiniti? For those of you whose car is now 6 years old or older, what do you plan to do in the next few years - keep your current car until it falls apart, buy new Maxima when the time comes, or shop elsewhere?

I'll be sticking with my '03 SE for a couple more years, but if I totalled it out tonight and had to buy something this weekend, I'd test drive:

1. Infiniti G35 Sedan
2. Charger Daytona R/T
3. Cadillac CTS
4. '07 Maxima, if I can find one

Since I live in Michigan, I'd have to get traction control. I think it's available on all 3 RWD cars.

suydam · June 2006

I love my '01 GLE and hope it lasts forever. If I was looking to replace it, I guess I would hope that a newer generation of Maxima would be more like it than the current one, and if that isn't the case, I would probably look at the Acura TL or maybe even Honda Accord.

autoboy16 · June 2006

only 2 of those are rear drive vehi.... Is a g35 rear dive car :confuse: ?? Hey add this to your list:

but I'm going to make you guess what it is but you'd have to be farsighted not to "see" it. Imo, its ergonomics are better than its twin the pontiac g6! Try among the best at gm!

If you are :confuse: as to what it is, its the SATURN AURA!

tobinaz · June 2006

AFTER I TRIED TO READ THE CODES FOR MY GXE MAXIMA 94 I COULDN'T PUT ECM BACK. I TRIED DISCONNECING THE BATTERY FOR A WEEK AND WENT BACK TO FLASHING IN INTERVALES 1,2,3,4,5 AND BACK AGAIN.

PLEASE HELP
:confuse:

biancar · June 2006

...cost us just under $300. Is that about what others have paid?

I HOPE this is the last expensive thing we have to do to it for a while. $900 in extra expenses within the last year (coils and this).

Still cheaper than replacing it, though.

maximafan · June 2006

Biancar, did they change out one sensor or
two? I was told they would have to replace
two 02 sensors. That could be why my quote
was higher. Did you do it through the dealer?

biancar · June 2006

The receipt says "Misc diagnostic check out confirms rear oxygen sensor failure bank 1....Replace rear oxygen sensor and reprogram ECM."

Part was $150, labor was 160, and they gave us a $25 discount before taxes.

Yes, we had it done at the dealer.

perna · June 2006

Yeah, the Aura is a neat car, I'd have to see one in person. From the pictures, the exterior is really bland.

The upcoming GM that interests me is the LaCrosse bearing the 5.3L chevy V8. Even so, they'd have a hard time talking me into it. Mechanically GM makes some good cars, but they're missing that X factor that makes my Maxima such a joy to drive. I had an Olds Intrigue, and Alero before that, and they were just dull cars. The Intrigue had a great exterior design that still holds up today, but driving that thing was just boring.

salil · June 2006

Hello Friends,
I wanted to know how much can the life expectancy of a Nissan Maxima 3.0L V6 engine be? I have been offered a 1999 maxima which has run 132k miles for $6k. I would say that it is in fair condition but has leather seats and sun roof. Do you guys think it is a good buy? KBB says that the car should be sold for $9k at a dealership. For how many more miles can I expect the maxima engine to last? What are the common problems I could face?

biancar · June 2006

Check the service records. If it has had the recommended oil changes and other maintenance done along the way, you should be able to hit 200k miles, maybe even more.

What makes it in "fair" condition? Body dings or something more substantial? Which trim-line is it?

At that mileage - or any mileage, really - you should have a good mechanic give it the once-over before you agree to buy. Then you'll have an objective opinion about this particular car, which is way better than our guesses and general statements here!

The 1999 was the last year of that body style. FWIW, there are those who think that was the best of the recent editions.

kyleknicks · June 2006

well..there was a guy on here ..habitat1? that had a 2000 maxima .. same as me... with the 3.0 engine and he was up at 200k miles.. the only thing is.. he drove long distances alot.... so the engine could certainly go up to 200k miles..and with a timing chain, u dont have to worry bout that.. just make sure u get to see the service records and have a mechanic check out the rest of the car...good luck

xrunner2 · June 2006

I wanted to know how much can the life expectancy of a Nissan Maxima 3.0L V6 engine be? I have been offered a 1999 maxima which has run 132k miles for $6k

Service records and previous owner(s) driving habits are key. One of our vehicles is a 97 Max SE bought new and it has 176K miles. Besides usual maintenance items (tires, brakes, plugs, oil, coolant, belt, etc) main item that failed was one oxygen sensor at about 172K. Car runs strong and is in very good condition. Still a pleasure to drive with good power/acceleration and handling. Another big positive is visibility - good glass area. Body and paint is in excellent condition, no rust on body.

xrunner2 · June 2006

I'd be curious to know where former Maxima owners are shopping now. Do they buy another Max, or figure to economize with the Altima that gives you 90% of what the Max does, or step up to the Infiniti? For those of you whose car is now 6 years old or older, what do you plan to do in the next few years - keep your current car until it falls apart, buy new Maxima when the time comes, or shop elsewhere?

One of our vehicles is a 97 Max SE. In Oct 2003 we needed another sedan and we test drove both a 2004 Max SE and a 2004 Acura TL. We bought the Acura. Acura has better interior, styling, handles better. We thought that the Max was "ponderous" in handling and that the power was too much and was mismatched to the chasis. The Acura TL has about same HP as Max but has far better balance. Front end styling of Max is kind of odd, but profile and rear 3/4 look good. TL looks good from any angle.

maximafan · June 2006

Does anyone happen to know when the 2007
Maxima is due to arrive on dealer lots?

blindmantoo · June 2006

We just traded in our 2000 Maxima SE 5sp manual loaded w/ everything on a '07 Camry V6 SE. While the Maxima felt a bit sportier, the Camry blows it away. Faster, handles as well (had 17" Michelin Pilot Sport AS on the Max), quieter, has NAV, XM, bluetooth, a superior sounding JBL (vs Bose in Max), and many more safety features. The reason I didn't even test drive the new Max was reliability.

Although we loved the Max (Black w/ beige leather), it was never reliable from day one. If you look at Consumer Reports long term reliability reports, it doesn't inspire much confidence in their newer line up. We had a very reliable Pathfinder and Quest, and then a very unreliable Maxima & '01 Quest. Traded in the Quest on an Odyssey last year.

Nissan makes great looking cars & trucks w/ awesome features. I just wish they worked reliably - I'd prefer them over Honda & Toyota.

xrunner2 · June 2006

Although we loved the Max (Black w/ beige leather), it was never reliable from day one. If you look at Consumer Reports long term reliability reports, it doesn't inspire much confidence in their newer line up.

Our 97 Max SE has been an especially reliable car. Our "reliability" benchmarks have been many Hondas and Acuras owned over the last 22 years. The interior and dash of current Max appears to be less quality than our 97. Wonder if Nissan engineering, accounting, parts procurement, etc. intentionally lowered standards to lower cost of assembled car. Did CEO Gohsn give edict to cut content, diminish some engineering to reduce costs?

How were Michelin Pilot Sport AS in terms of handling, rain perf, noise and comfort?

cheerioboy26 · June 2006

I think the 07s are out now. I saw on another forum where someone test drove one from his local dealer (in OR I think) and reported opinions.

biancar · June 2006

How were Michelin Pilot Sport AS in terms of handling, rain perf, noise and comfort?

I have Michelin Pilot Sports on my new Z roadster, and so far (after 2 months) like them very much. Noise, handling, everything, is fine. Superior road handling in torrential rains (I've been driving it on the Outer Banks, where rain storms can be sudden and fierce). I felt very secure. These are NOT A/S, though, don't know if there's much difference between the two variations.

Reliability of Maxima: Our car (2000 GLE) has been supremely reliable. Only issues have been the ignition coils last year, and just recently, one oxygen sensor. With nearly 90,000 miles on it now, I'm not complaining at all. Far as I know, Consumer Reports rates Maxima very highly for reliability. I think there was another Nissan product that they didn't like much (the Titan, maybe?), but Maxima and Altima both score full marks for CR praise.

maximafan · June 2006

Sorry about your past problems with your
2000 Maxima. It may be that you got a
first-year teething vehicle, due to that
year being the first year for the fifth-gen
Maxima. My 2002 has been pretty great so
far, with the exception of those "silly"
02 sensors. I have to say, I never dealt
with an 02 sensor on any of my previous
Nissans or Mazda. The cars that I've driven
in the past 17 years have been an '88 RX-7,
'95 Altima, '99 Pathfinder, and now, the
'02 Maxima. All of these cars have been
very reliable. Good luck with your new
Camry! I'm sure it will be a very reliable
car.

joefla70 · June 2006

I bought my 1997 Maxima from my brother a few years ago. It had 173K miles on when I got it from him. I bought it with the high miles knowing that he takes very good care of his cars and keeps up with all maintenance. He only used Mobil1 oil, and so do I. The maxima is currently at 246K miles and still running strong. The only things I had to buy (besides tires, brakes, plugs, filters, oil, etc.) was a starter and an altenator. In my experience, the 4th generation maximas are very reliable cars.

davidvsgoliath · June 2006

DAVID VS GOLIATH
2002 NISSAN MAXIMA
Ive had my headlights stolen three times, the stolen headlights are only part of the problem the real problem is how easy it is to get into the Nissan Maxima. Due to the design of how the door handle is attached to the door, with a flat head screwdriver the thieves pop out the driver side door handle to get to the electronics which allows them to lower your windows, unlock your doors and disarm the factory alarm so they can get into your vehicle and pop open the hood to get to the headlights without damaging them and taking what ever else you may have in your vehicle. This is more then a headlight problem, it is a flaw in the design of this vehicle. And Nissan is unwilling to except responsibility. Shame on you Nissan, you have lost one more loyal customer.

I urge everyone that has or had this problem to call Nissan and file a complaint 1-800-647-7261 and just dont stop there file a complaint with the Consumer Reports www.consumerreports.org and the Better Business Burrow www.bbb.com anyone you think that can help us little guys with this problem. :mad:

bigtight · July 2006

I wanted to know how much can the life expectancy of a Nissan Maxima 3.0L V6 engine be? I have been offered a 1999 maxima which has run 132k miles for $6k.

Just wanted to take a moment to boast on my fiance's 1995 Nissan Maxima SE. I just changed her oil on Sunday,(extremely easy oil and filter change) and she had over 372,000 miles. No engine or transmission problems just maintenance over the years. You cannot go wrong with a Nissan. Buy the vehicle. After having said that, she bought a 2007 Camry last month because of it reputation, quality and nice new body style, but less than price of today's Nissan Maxima's.

tristan1 · July 2006

Just wondering, what are the difference between 04,05 & 06 Maxima?

Nissan Maxima

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles