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.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle would jerk abnormally when driving 35 mph and above. When shifting gears, the vehicle would not respond for approximately five to ten seconds before engaging and the engine would exhibit an excessive increase in rpms. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who recommended having the valve body assembly replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was not contacted in regards to the failure. The failure mileage was 92,000 and the current mileage was 97,000.
I bought my 2005 Nissan Maxima about 2 yrs ago. I love this car but the trans really makes me not want it. Im thinking about trading it in. It jerks and slams into gear so hard. I saw trans fluid in my yard the other day. The local dealership told me it would be about 2500 just to rebuild it..
2005 Nissan Maxima transmission problems. It seems to be a serious and common problem with this car! my Maxima is jerking between 1st 2nd and 3rd gears, rpms reaching 4 during shifting, hard jerks in down shifting as well. A 5 sec pause when putting the car into reverse or drive! a grinding noise when shifting. This occurs on a daily bases! very unhappy with Nissan, they refuse to pay for a new transmission. Nissan needs to take responsiblity for this faulty transmission. I will never buy another Nissan and I make sure that I tell everyone to buy Toyota or Honda!
Transmission problems............when shifting from 2nd to 3rd it kicks really hard just shakes the entire car at first it was a light kick but after 1month it became a really hard kick it knocks you back.....I've taken the car to the dealer and they say nothing wrong with it but how is nothing wrong when your driving and it feels like a mule kicked you........I took the car to a repair shop and they said it needed motor/transmission mounts, I did the repair it cost me $2000 and it still does it I've heard on forums that alot of Maximas from 04-05 have this problem and nothing seems to help.
I own a 2005 Nissan Maxima sl with around 88,000 miles on it. This car is experiencing problems with the transmission especially when shifting from gears from 1st to 2nd and reverse to park and park to reverse. The car revs to very high rpms before shifting to gear and then jerks violently. I called Nissan Consumer Affairs department 1800-647-7261 and they informed me that I have to take to a Nissan dealership and have diagnostics done and I would have to pay for it out of pocket, which I refused because they know that they have a problem and not doing anything to assist us. In this website alone there are 316 complaints regarding 05 Nissan Maxima. The problem to my understanding affects Maxima from 04-07. If you go to this web site www.aboutautomobile.com/complaint/2005/Nissan/Maxima/automatic+transmission, there are over 150 complaints. If you go to www.carsurvey.org/reviews/Nissan/Maxima/R83689/comments/page-7/ there almost 100 complaints of people with the same problem. I am sure that there are many more people who are having the same problems and have not reported it. To fix these issues according to my understanding would take on average $3000 which is a lot of money. Kindly help us get some resolution from Nissan.
- Quincy, MA, USA
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The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the transmission became stuck between gears, usually between first and second gear. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated that the transmission needed to be replaced. The failure mileage was 98,000 and the current mileage was 100,000. Updated 04/15/11 updated 05/02/11
2005 Nissan Maxima is having jerking/slamming shifting problems from park to drive to reverse, and back, etc. Not smoothly shifting into gears besides the jerking. Already told by Nissan to replaces mounts and fluid, and have done so and expensive for that... but still having problem and I've ready many, many forums on various websites of people having the same problems and many having to replace transmission. The dealership I use for service told me my transmission as well may need replacement after spending a lot of money already. I thought Nissan was a reliable car and I understand that this transmission problem an replacement is happening from 60,000 to 100,000 - this should not be and Nissan should step up and rightfully put a recall on this transmission. My understanding is that Nissan is not doing anything. This is a safety issue because if this jerking or hestitation problem continues while driving, as many owners have reported, it can cause an accident not only on a local street, but definitely on the highway. This complaint form is asking at what speed and I can't put a number on that - when park to drive or reverse, not much, when hesitating or feeling roughness/shifting while driving it varies in the speeds - a safety issue, and recall issue to be looked at. Nissan - do the right thing.
I have a Nissan Maxima 05. It has 71532 miles. The transmission already started showing problems. It jerks really hard into 2nd and 3rd gear and also skips gear which causes the rev's to go high. It happen everytime I take out the car and I am scared that this will cause the car to not work at all. I was given a quote of $3500 to get this problem fixed. I see alot of people having the same issue with this cars transmission and I believe there should be a recall.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima SE. The contact stated that when the vehicle started shifting into gear and the automatic transmission started jerking. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the warranty had expired and there were no recalls. The contact was responsible for the repair cost. The manufacturer was contacted and offered no other assistance. The failure mileage was 90,000.
I have a 2005 Nissan Maxima. Around 95,000 miles the transmission began to slip. It would rev the RPM's and then slam into gear. Also, it would take a few seconds to go into drive, but when it did it would slam into drive jerking the car around. Nissan refuses to accept responsibility after repeated visits.
Bought the car new. Serviced as outlined in owners manual. Transmission started having issues around 70,000 miles. I am in the military and with deployments, wasn't able to get it to a dealer. I have changed transmission fluid numerous times to try and alleviate symptoms to no avail. The transmission has a 2-4 second delay going from P-D or D-P, shifts hard in most gears and slips out of gear randomly. Has almost caused me to be in an accident due to inability to accelerate. Have seen many, many post of owners that list the exact same defects. Nissan has extended warranty for 2007-2010 Maximas with cvt transmission but not the 04-06 models for some reason.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the transmission was abnormally slipping out of first gear while driving 5 mph. In addition, the transmission would sputter whenever the vehicle was brought to a stop. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who advised that the transmission would need replacing. The manufacturer was not contacted in regards to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileage was 92,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Maxima. While driving at any speed, the contact noticed that the transmission was switching gears between first and second, causing the vehicle to violently jerk. The dealer had been notified who was aware of the issue but offered no assistance. The manufacturer was notified who took a complaint for the contact and then referred him to NHTSA to file a safety complaint. The vehicle had not been repaired. The current mileage was 102,000 and the failure mileage was approximately 99,000. The VIN was unavailable.
My 2005 Maxima was violently jerking, stalling and hard shifting from 2nd to 3rd gears and vice versa. I kept telling Nissan that something was wrong with my car but they would take may statement say they would get back when me and when they did they said they could not assist me in any way. I took my car to several mechanics spending $1000 of dollars and no one could figure out the problem. I took my car to a Nissan dealership, after the got the car running because it had stopped on me on the highway coming home from work, the dealership said it jerks in 1st and 2nd gear, I asked if that could be fixed they said they'd try, after another $2000 more I brought it home and again the same problem, I brought my car back to Nissan and they gave me an estimated list of repairs that needed to be made for approximately $6,000 which included $4185 to replace the transmission. How is it that within a matter of weeks and only 600 miles that it goes from sensors should fix the problem to you need a new transmission, new starter, I then contacted 1-800-nissan1 which was a waste of time they supposedly reviewed my complaint and told me that unfortunately they won't be paying for any of the repairs. What a piece of junk car and I cannot believe a recall hasn't been made on this car!
I have a 2005 Nissan Maxima. Around 80,000 miles the transmission began to slip. It would rev the RPM's and then slam into gear. Also, it would take a few seconds to go into drive, but when it did it would slam into drive jerking the car around. Nissan refuses to accept responsibility after repeated visits.
I have a 2005 Nissan Maxima and the transmission has begun to slip out of gear while I am driving. I have also experienced hard shifting while driving at low speeds.
Driving normal, takes about 5 seconds to click into gear after the shift lever is put in "D" 2. very hard jerky shifts between 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 1st and accompanied by loud clunking noise. 3. transmission slips out of gear during regular driving allowing the engine to rev freely then jerking back into gear with a loud clunk, been in shop 2 times and still not fixed, replaced senor in tranny still jerks, happens daily.
I have a 05 Nissan Maxima with 66,000 miles on it and im having problems with the transmission, as well as what seems like thousands of other people. Nissan has done nothing to fix the problem. I guess because they don't feel its a safety issue, however I disagree. I almost got rear ended twice because the car gets stuck shifting between second and third gear. As im driving the car starts to slow to a stop in the middle of the road. I have not taken it to the dealer yet because I don't have $108 for them to tell me I need the transmission needs to be replaced at a cost of $2,000-4,000. I think Nissan needs to be held accountable for selling thousands of defective unsafe vehicles. Please help!!!!!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Laurel, MD, USA