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 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
9 / 0
Average Mileage:
86,782 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.

2005 Nissan Maxima drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2005 Nissan Maxima Owner Comments (Page 18 of 24)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #129

Jan 182012

Maxima

  • 103,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. The contact was driving 25 mph when the vehicle started jerking and knocking, causing the transmission to seize. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who completed a transmission flush but the transmission continued to fail. The dealer inspected the vehicle a second time and advised that the transmission would need to be replaced. There were no recalls for the failure. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 103,000 and the current mileage was 104,000.

- Clinton, MD, USA

problem #128

Jul 182011

Maxima 6-cyl

  • 75,000 miles
Began experiencing issue with the transmission at about 75,000 miles. First noticed that when shifting from park into reverse or drive there was a lag of a few seconds and then a noticable surge into gear. Then noticed an occasional (non-driver created) revving of rpms in between gears 1 and 2 and from 2 to 3. the transmission doen't appear to know which gear to engage to. These symptoms progressed over time until I satarted experiencing heavy impact like shifts between gears while in motion. The transmission will get suspended in between gears which causes an overly rapid increase in RPM's from 2000-22000 to well above 4500 until I can remove my foot from the gas (this is not from aggressive accelerator manipulation by the driver but an abnormal increase in RPM's from the transmission gear issues). I have noticed the RPM's are not stable when idling (often idles higher than normal) or with no accelerator pressure as well. Took the car to a repair shop and they pulled the codes from the computer which indicated the transmission was begining to fail. The flushed/replaced the transmission fluid and indicated it could be weeks, months or "maybe" longer but the transmission will ultimately fail. Online research indicates the transmission valve body is the culprit but also the ECM and transmission grounding are also probable contributors. Due to the violent nature on the transmission issues it sounds as though the engine mounts may be cracked as well. This is clearly a manufacturing fault, provides a dangerous situation for the operator, passenger and other drivers. I am surprised that there have not been accidents associated with this due to the instability of the transmission and RPM issues and believe this should be considered for recall.

- Bothell, WA, USA

problem #127

Mar 302012

Maxima 6-cyl

  • 102,000 miles
Started out jerking hard when going from reverse to drive, began to hesitate between gear changes, and eventually shake. Took it to mechanic and was told the transmission needed rebuilt as well as the motor mounts needed to be replaced because of transmission issue. Did online research and discovered more incidents of the same thing and that it is a bad valve body. Contacted Nissan and was directed to a dealer that gave me the run around and when that didn't work refused to see my car because it has 102K miles and they only see cars with 100K or less.

- Clermont, FL, USA

problem #126

Mar 092011

Maxima 6-cyl

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Transmission went out. Online there were a bunch of issues and lot of the transmission shops said they always replace Nissan transmissions from this specific model. So I decided to write on here and see.

- Bay Minette, AL, USA

problem #125

Apr 042012

Maxima 6-cyl

  • miles
I recently purchased an 05 Maxima with 107,000 miles on it. The next day I heard a loud ticking from engine. My tensioners are failing an estimated $2000 repair. In the same day upon acceleration my wheel jerked violently, a sign of a failing transmission. $3000+ this is ridiculous. This is absolutely criminal that a recall has not been initiated by Nissan.this is a problem for thousands of people, and a severe risk to the safety of the driver. I will be contacting every available newspaper and news Agency in my area and will try to contact national news agencies this is absolutely atrocious. I beg other Nissan owners to make this a problem for Nissan that wont go away until proper actions are taken.

- Dillsboro, IN, USA

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problem #124

Jul 302010

Maxima 6-cyl

  • 110,000 miles
Transmission jumps and skips around 30 -45 mph when hot does not won't to drive at all. At the start U put in drive it doesn't do anything the sharply jumps into gear.

- Agawam, MA, USA

problem #123

Sep 012011

Maxima

  • 96,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle jerked while changing gears. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they were unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 96,000.

- Florence, SC, USA

problem #122

Jan 152012

Maxima

  • 109,798 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. The contact was driving 35 mph when there was an increase in the engine rpms and the vehicle switched gears without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The dealer stated that the transmission and motor mounts needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 109,798 and the current mileage was 109,993.

- Addison, IL, USA

problem #121

Dec 032011

Maxima 6-cyl

  • 35 miles
I am told that I am experiencing problems with my transmission and engine. After careful research, and two mechanic opinions it has been told to me that Nissan knew that they had problems with this model of Maxima and has not owned up to this problem. Neither have they recalled or trying right their wrong. These items are the life of the car. I have also checked the reviews on edmunds.com and there are several owners of this same car that have had the same issues and complaints. I would like to know what measures can be taken against Nissan for them own up to these defective components. It will hurt them in the long run if they do not. I will certainly make sure that the world knows about this and do not even attempt to purchase a Nissan. I only wish I had done this before I purchased this car.

- Buford, GA, USA

problem #120

Jan 012012

Maxima

  • 80,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle would lunge abnormally when shifting gears. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was awaiting diagnosis of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 88,000.

- Chester Springs, PA, USA

problem #119

Jul 152011

Maxima 6-cyl

  • 95,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have a 2005 Maxima and I am having very bad transmission issues. When I take off it jerks real bad between 1st and 2nd gear and then when I am slowing down about to come to a stop it also kicks and jerks real bad when it gears down to 1st and 2nd and sometimes it just wont go at all..and then when I sit there a min and put my car from park to drive it hesitates for atleast 7 to 10 secs. And then jumps real bad and then goes into drive.it usually does all this when the car is hot. I bought my Maxima 18 months back, used. I started noticing this about 8 months back when there was a very evident lag in shifting and then only during park<>reverse<>drive. This was at around 95,000 miles and when I bought it had 87,000. Now it has become worse to a point where it is very unsafe to drive. We have a 2 yr old daughter who always has to be transported to day care and home in this car. Now I am unable to sell it because no body would pay even 25% of what I bought the car for and we are left with no choice but to drive this until it fails even though it is very dangerous to drive this car. Please have Nissan help me fix this car or better recall these transmissions. Please please please help fix my car. Thanks.

- Mckinney, TX, USA

problem #118

Jan 052012

Maxima 6-cyl

  • 96,500 miles
When transmission shifts between 1st and 2nd gear or from drive to reverse, there is sometimes a hesitation and then a violent jerk when the transmission seems to catch up to the engine. I was advised to have the transmission flushed and filled and this should correct the problem, after doing so, this problem went away for a couple of weeks and is now back and happening more frequently.

- Douglasville , GA, USA

problem #117

Mar 012012

Maxima

  • miles
I notice alot of the 2004 2005 2006 Nissan Maxima are having problems with the transmissions. I was wondering why Nissan was not calling for a recall of this, they need to.

- Vacherie, LA, USA

problem #116

Mar 042012

Maxima

  • 84,000 miles
Just bought a 2005 Nissan Maxima 2 weeks ago (2/28/12). After noticing the jerks when it shifts into lower gears I decided to google Maxima transmission problems and thousands of Maxima owners are going through this same issue. Obviously this is a defect and should be Nissan's responsibility to fix!!! what is it going to take before a recall is issued"??" please someone help!!!!!

- Pride, LA, USA

problem #115

Jun 012011

Maxima

  • 82,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. The contact was shifting from reverse to drive when the vehicle jerked froward abnormally. The failure only occurred when the vehicle was driven for a long period of time. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic S where the technician advised that the motor mounts would have to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure continued. The vehicle was not further repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 82,000.

- Cedar Hill, TX, USA

problem #114

Dec 042010

Maxima

  • 84,000 miles
I bought this vehicle used with and it started jerking 2 months later. It has gotten to be really bad now! and very dangerous. I have read many many many people with the same problem. I dont want money or a new car, I just want my car fixed. Bad transmission.

- Jonesboro, AR, USA

problem #113

Jun 162011

Maxima 6-cyl

  • miles
Having problems with the transmission. It continues to jerk when shifting from gear to gear. It also slows down and has no acceleration.

- Knightdale, NC, USA

problem #112

Oct 042010

Maxima

  • 98,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle would jerk forward when attempting to up shift. In addition, when the contact would depress the accelerator pedal, the vehicle would hesitate to move and would jerk violently when the contact would lift his foot from the accelerator pedal. The dealer attempted to repair the failure by flushing the transmission, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but denied any assistance with repairs to the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 98,000 and the current mileage was 110,000.

- Knightdale, NC, USA

problem #111

Dec 172010

Maxima 6-cyl

  • 131,000 miles
I bought my 2005 Nissan Maxima SE used and it ran fine a first, but within 2 months the transmission began acting up by jerking, hard shifting and hi engine rev's. I took it to the Nissan dealer and they blame everything else except the transmission. They said it was the motor mounts, but they were new then it was this sensor and that sensor, the dog, the cat anything but the transmission. The dealer gave me a powertrain warranty when I bought the car so I took it to Nissan to do a transmission swap while I had the car there getting some other work done. Since it was another warranty company other than Nissan, they tried to milk the warranty company with parts thrown at it while my car was there. The service manager said that broken subharness caused the problem. With the subharness repaired it did not fix the problem. Next he called and said I had a bad vias solenoid was the problem and that would fix it. He called back the next day and said "well your car is still stuck in 4th gear and I would like to try something else. I told him no since the warranty company had called me and telling me what Nissan had told them and I was being to another story. They told me to take it to a transmission shop from the Nissan stealership since Nissan was playing us both. The car had become a hazard to drive because it stalled in the middle of shifts and it was hard to predict what it would do next. The car worked fine as long as the transmission was cold, but when it warmed up it was hard jerk and shift city. I nick named the car mule kick since it kicked like a mule. I paid the stealership for the work done I but didn't want to since they didn't fix it and it left on a tow truck. Nissan will blame your grandma for the problem before they say it is their transmissions.. these cars need to be recalled and as for this Nissan stealership I would not buy a.50 sugar cookie from them.

- Wichita, KS, USA

problem #110

Aug 222011

Maxima

  • 80,000 miles
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. While parked, the contact placed the gear shifter into drive when the vehicle suddenly jerked forward and exhibited a delayed response. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

- Natick, MA, USA

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