CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2004-2006 Nissan Maxima has widespread transmission problems. It starts with the vehicle jerking when shifting, & progresses to full-blown transmission failure.
Maxima owners report spending $3,000 to replace the transmission, typically around when the odometer hits 100,000 miles.
There's a class action lawsuit filed in late 2011, & it is still in the "discovery" stage. Apparently, these things take time ... far too much time.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
6 / 0
Average Mileage:
71,392 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Transmission problems for 05 Nissan Maxima. Recall should be issued. There are numerous complaints all over the web. The company needs to be brought to justice.
2005 Nissan Maxima auto transmission. Vehicle randomly jerks violently when shifting from first to second gear and from second to first gear. This problem does not always happen, but it is getting more frequent. Just purchased the vehicle with 55,000 miles on it, less than 10,000 miles later I am being told I will need to replace the transmission. I was quoted $ 4,200 by the dealer. This is not under warranty.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle would jerk into first gear when braking to a full stop and the check engine warning light would illuminate. The vehicle was taken to a local repair facility where the transmission was rebuilt. The vehicle operated as normal for approximately one year following the repair. The failure recurred and the vehicle was taken to a transmission specialist where they were unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired and the failure persisted. Neither the dealer or the manufacturer had not been contacted in regards to the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000 and the current mileage was approximately 119,000. The VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. While traveling 0 to 5 mph the contact attempted to accelerate and the vehicle lunged forward and hesitated to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the engine mount was replaced; however, the failure continued to occur. The vehicle was taken back to the local mechanic where the contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not serviced. The failure mileage was 80000 and the current mileage was 85000.
- Pataskala, OH, USA
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My transmission skips and runs rough from 1st and 2nd gear... the Nissan Maxima is 2005 and has 127,000 miles. This started when the car was at 119,000 now it's getting worse.
2005 Nissan Maxima started having transmission problems at or near 73,000 miles. Problems consist of the following: While shifting from drive to reverse and vice versa, the engine jumps/jerks; while driving the engine will hesitate to accelerate, revs and then jump. Currently, the vehicle has over 80,000 miles. Unfortunately we have not been able to get it assessed by a Nissan dealership because we live in italy (military). We had the vehicle assessed locally and the prognosis was that the transmission is going bad. We move back to the states in a couple of months and the first order of business will be a stop at the Nissan dealership. We anticipate the same runaround that everyone else has been getting. Please note: We would like to be included in any and all class action lawsuits. We pay off our max next month!
2005 Maxima jerking between gears. Occurs constantly. Taken to 2 repair shops and had transmission fluid changed without resolve. Told need new transmission by both shops.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. He stated while driving at speeds of 30 mph, the gears began shifting without warrant. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure and current mileages were 91,000.
I am the original owner for my 2005 Nissan Maxima, at approximately 80K mi my car began hesitating slightly. I took my car to the Nissan dealer and was told that the problem was not detectable with a diagnostic machine, but the technician indicated that the problem was possibly a missing engine mount. I was also told that a transmission flush may also help the problem. The flush found no particles and did not stop the hesitation. My lease ended and I decided to keep the car. This hesitation has gotten progressively worst over time and culminated with almost lost of power while traveling from my home to the mall tonight. The car had very little power and made a low humming sound. I put my hazards on as other cars whizzed by. By the time I pulled into the restaurant and tried to back into a parking space the car would not drive. I turned it off then on again that helped and I was able to reverse. Going home the car would not accelerate and the RPM needle kept going up to 4-5 then hesistated before coming down. I am scheduled to work tomorrow and I must now see about having the car towed to the dealership for evaluation. I am at a lost I just don't know what to do. I seen many other complaints about the 2005 Nissan but no recall. I can't afford to buy a new car as I still owe 12000 and I am afraid my daughter and I are not safe in this car. Please help.
Transmission on 2005 Nissan is not operating normally. This is an on-going problem and occurs when engine is warm. Transmission has a hard "clunk" going from 2nd to 3rd gear on acceleration...and from 4th to 3rd...3rd to 2nd on deceleration. Transmission recently went into "safe" mode where it's always in 4th or 5th gear. Check engine light is intermittent. Car drives normally at highway speed, but on acceleration or deceleration the transmission could fail at any time, creating a dangerous driving situation. If you "google" Nissan Maxima transmission problems, thousands of postings on numerous blogs detail this exact problem. Nissan has known about these transmission failures for years. The cars usually experience the transmission 'issue' between 45/50 thousand miles and 70/75 thousand. Out of warranty. The Maxima transmission is not a component that can be easily repaired as I have had a transmission expert take it apart. Nissan puts a new (or rebuilt) transmission in. Cost is 2K-4K (or more). Is this a problem that has been reported before?
I have a 2005 Nissan Maxima. For the last 2 years I have been experiencing problems with my car hesitating and the RPM raises very high while driving. I have also been experiencing heavy engine vibrations while braking when driving. I took Nissan service and have a diagnostic done and they came back with a code for the transmission. They suggested that I have the transmission flushed, which I had done 6 months prior. Nevertheless, I had it flushed again and the problem continued to escalate. I decided to look on the internet to see if I could possibly find a solution. I found that these problems were common with many 2004-2005 Maxima owners and have been reported to Nissan for many years, but they refused to recall these vehicles. In each case the problem began right after the warranty expired, which makes me think they were built like this purposely. I am now getting a shift malfunction code and was advised to replace the transmission. These are very expensive vehicles and it is just inexcusable for Nissan to install faulty motor mounts and transmissions in them and not take responsibility for the repairs.
I have a 2005 Nissan Maxima with some serious transmission issues. The first time I ever felt the trans shift roughly was at about 35K miles, I thought nothing of it at the time because it was so random and the car was new. Throughout the next 30K miles or so it would happen so randomly that it would never cause any serious concern, it would be during a descent down a hill when it would downshift or at rpms higher than 2500 as it downshifts. At about 70K the trans started to show some slipping, only after it would warm up at about 20 to 30 miles of driving. This caused for some concern, my wife has driven this car and we have a two-year old daughter, so I know for certain that the car was not abused. I took the car to a local dealership and soon there after they called stating that the trans will need to be changed out and of course since the warranty so conveniently just ran out I would have to pay $3500. This is my first Nissan so I did a lot of research on line trying to see if there is others out there with similar issues, and did I find out that there is... apparently the 04 and the 05 Maximas have a major trans issue that Nissan is failing to admit to. I am having a hard time to get them to acknowledge the issue and assist me with the cost associated with a new trans. I just think that Nissan needs to address this asap. My car is still drivable so my wife will drive as long as possible, hopefully something will be done before the car completely brakes down.
I am having problems with the transmission in my car. When I drive and put the car in drive it jerks really hard. When I am accelerating it drags like it doesn't want to go and then jerks and starts back up to speed. Nissan said it is a transmission problem. My car was only 4 years old when I first noticed the problem and Nissan would not fix it. I see tons of complaints about this very issue and they have defective transmissions and don't want to admit, but I think someone needs to make them accountable.. $4800 is not pocket change, and most people don't have that kind of money. They should fix this for free.
I own a 2005 Nissan Maxima, I had to have a new transmission put in my car. When I first took the car in to the Nissan dealership here in memphis, tn, I was told by the service agent after test driving the vehicle that I was not having a transmission problem but that I needed motor mounts among other repairs which turned out to be quite expensive...about 3 days after having these repairs done, I took the car back in with the same complaint as before and was then told I need a transmission (this was my complaint when I took the car in, I complained about the transmission) and this would cost me $3,000+ in addition to the $2,000+ I had already spent. Everybody that I know who owns the '05 Maxima has had to replace the transmission or is at the point of complaining and questioning transmission issues. The dealer nor corporate is owning up to any problems with the transmissions in this particular vehicle. We would appreciate any help that you all can give to get Nissan corporation to own up to this known defect....thanks.
I have a 2005 Maxima with the very same trans problems in the lower gears. Hard shifting, slamming into gear, etc. Fortunately, it is still drivable for now. I don't have the $3500 to fix it. This after just spending $1700 for a new catalytic converter 3 months ago. The car is a money pit. Never again!!! told by dealership that I can still drive it until it wont go anymore. That doesn't seem like a very safe business practice for a dealership to tell its customers.
My 2005 Nissan Maxima's transmission started slipping in the September of 2009, I had maintenance done on the entire car done including the transmission which stopped the problem temporarily. By January of 2010 the problem came back and worst. The car would stop in the middle of traffic and it took about 5 seconds for the car to change shift. It would also jerk very violently when changing shifts, so hard that I was almost pushed out to the car in front of me, I finally had it on April 5th 2010 when out of nowhere the transmission gave out entirely. I was going up a hill and the automatic transmission let go so it started going backwards fast, I pressed forward on the gas only to get a hard rev and nothing else. I kept going until I hit the brakes hard inadvertently making me hit a tree denting my bumper. My car is now sitting in my driveway until I come up with the money to pay for a brand new transmission. I spoke to Nissan and they suggested I take my car to a certified dealer for a diagnostics run which cost me 100 dollars. They offered me a new transmission for 4500 but I haggled down to 2500. I am in college and cannot afford spending that kind of money. I am still paying off this car and it is causing me distress. If I don't get any help I don't know what I will do.
2005 Maxima SE....76,000 miles...... I have had jerky transmission problems around 0-20 mph... I have read hundreds of the same complaints..... someone get Nissan to do a recall please... I'm sure they can't come up with the money to repair all of Maxima's transmissions for free, that is probably the only thing holding them up...... well, being 23 years old, working 110 hour weeks during the summer farming.... I found myself buying a nice 2005 Nissan Maxima thinking that it was going to be a dependable car, weeks later I find out it is nothing but junk and is too late to return back to Nissan.... I'm sure you guys have dealt with many of other 2004-2006 Nissan Maxima owner's complaints... but it's time to force Nissan to stand behind their product and admit failure, and someone needs to put an end to this non-sense. I have 4 years of payments on this car, the least they could do is give me a properly working transmission...... also--- I have read many of A/C complaints, all which report of A/C hose needing to be replaced costing hundreds of dollars, my air conditioner just went out the other day..... good thing I have a sun roof and windows that work. This might as well also be thrown in the with the recall. Thanks
I am filing a complain about my Nissan Maxima 05. I have been on different websites were I see a lot of people that owns the Maxima 04-05 models have the same complain. And the complains are the timing chain and the transmission. I think Nissan should stand by their work and do a recall for they can see what is the problem and fix the problem. Some people are still paying for this expensive car and can't afford to paying for manufacture problems. The timing chain and the transmission was not properly installed. And the problem needs to be fixed.
Wow! this is crazy! I have the same problem> I have a 2005 Nissan Maxima and lately about a month ago when I put my car in drive it jerks big time. This is on and off. I took it to the Nissan dealer for them to say it was my motor mounts and they needed to be replaced. Well after hearing all these complaints it looks like I will just waste money to get these mounts replaced. My car has 81,000 miles on it and its been driven lightly and babied> I don't understand why they will not have a recall on this. Noone should have to pay money for an issue that's obviously messing people over!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Richmond, VA, USA