CarComplaints.com Notes: We don't recommend the 2009 Maxima nearly as highly as the 2007-2008 Maxima, because NHTSA complaints show a pattern of the electronic steering column lock module failing.

When the module fails it prevents the car from starting, & Nissan dealers charge over $1,000 (!!) to repair it. Nissan recalled the module on some other 2009 models with the same steering lock problem, but for some reason they left out the 2009 Maxima. See this page on the Nissan Maxima Electronic Steering Column Lock (ESCL) defect.

If you're thinking about buying a 2009 Maxima, instead you might consider a 2007-2008 Maxima, or a newer model year.

8.6

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$1,120
Average Mileage:
82,400 miles
Total Complaints:
16 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. steering wheel lock failure (10 reports)
  2. repair steering wheel lock (4 reports)
  3. not sure (2 reports)
2009 Nissan Maxima electrical problems

electrical problem

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2009 Nissan Maxima Owner Comments

problem #16

Apr 072021

Maxima

  • Automatic transmission
  • 102,002 miles

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

This is crazy that they didn’t have a recall on this but opened a volunteer service campaign that ended in may 2020 but never notified the owners of the option to get this repaired. My vehicle is at a family members house and will not start but both my keys are working we have checked both of them but when we call the Nissan dealership they said this has expired so it will not be covered, I have been looking at the new Nissans thinking of purchasing one but now if your not going to get notified of problems they know of possibly coming down the road and would rather leave you stranded somewhere - this is not a car I will buy again. I also saw where the price of the part has went up over 25 percent since they know a lot of people are going to be needing to replace it. Why this hasn’t had a recall on it, I’m guessing they don’t drive one but when it’s 10 o’clock at night and being a female sitting in a car that won't start isn’t a good thing.

- Cathy T., Maryville, US

problem #15

Dec 232016

Maxima 3.6L

  • CVT transmission
  • 112,000 miles

I do not understand why Nissan has not recalled the Maxima for the Ignition Lock situation...why do I have to pay for the whole thing to be repaired, I just got the car,....

- Ernest A., Decatur, GA, US

problem #14

Dec 102016

Maxima SV V6

  • CVT transmission
  • 98,000 miles

The electronic steering column lock went out and I was unable to start my car. I had to have the car towed to the dealership for which I had to pay $1,100 to get a problem fixed I never even heard of. There was an extended warranty on this part that "expired" a year and a half ago. Nissan never recalled this part that is clearly a problem.

- Fletcher O., Houston, TX, US

problem #13

Oct 242016

Maxima S 3.5L

  • CVT transmission
  • 75,000 miles

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

After a long day at work I was expecting to go home at a certain time. With my usual routine, sat down in the car, put my foot on the brake and then push the start button to start the car. This time, nothing was happening. On the odometer, the key light was on and when I pressed on the brake the picture to push the start button was on. But nothing was happening. Frantic, I bought a new battery for my car remote (FOB) and what it seems like it wasn't recognizing my key. That did not work. So I googled the problem and found out that It has been a known problem from Nissan for 09, 10, and 11 vehicles with steering wheel lock. I am very angry that there was no recall. Now since my warranty is up, funny that I am a few months up, I have to pay out of pocket. It was a troublesome night. I had to call a tow truck and tow it to somewhere safe. How ridiculous.

- maggieny, Elmhurst, NY, US

problem #12

Oct 142016

Maxima SV 3.2L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 113,000 miles

My wife is a nurse in a hospital. After her shift she went to start the car, a 2009 maxima, and pushed the start button only to get nothing. She called me at home at 8:30 p.m. and said that she was stuck in the parking garage at the hospital. I drove 45 minutes to get her. When I got there I tried to start the car. It was dead. the doors would unlock and lock with the fob. The horn would blow and the lights were bright (unlike Nissan) push start button NOTHING. I tried jumping it but that was a waste of time, again nothing. After 2 hrs. we drove home in my GMC van that ran. The next morning another 45 minute drive to meet the tow truck driver to tow the car to my mechanic plus $150.00 tow charge. There my car sits. He figured it out to be the STEERING WHEEL LOCK. He also informed me that this is a frequent problem with the Altima and Maxima's. He also informed me that this was covered by Nissan and to take it to the dealer and that I should have been notified by them. I was never notified nor advised of the time limit placed on the repair that Nissan was responsable for. Do they really think that I will ever buy another Nissan product again? I will advise everyone that I come into contact with about how Nissan treats their once loyal customer's.

- Charles P., Philadelphia, PA, US

problem #11

Oct 102016

Maxima SV 3.5L V6

  • CVT transmission
  • 90,200 miles

Car doesn't start leaving you stranded where ever you happen to be. Great feature that opens windows from the intelligent key becomes a real problem after you realize your car won't be starting and there's no way to put them up. Extremely stupid to not build in some type of override for the steering lock or the windows.

- Adam C., Columbus, OH, US

problem #10

May 092016

Maxima 6 cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 88,000 miles

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

Manufacturer knows part is defective. After extended warranty expired, the price of the part jumped from $380 to $680 with a different but similar part number.

Manufacturer knows that all of these vehicles will have the ESCL fail so they are gauging us with the price of the part.

- Mindy I., Whittier, CA, US

problem #9

Feb 012016

Maxima

  • Automatic transmission
  • 46,000 miles

Nissan knows about this and recalled other models - but left this one out - would not buy another nissan based on the fact they knew it was a issue and didnt do anything about it leaving me out over 1k!

- Roberta B., Mckinney, TX, US

problem #8

Feb 092016

Maxima S 3.5L

  • CVT transmission
  • 62,000 miles

I take public transportation to work these days so I park at our Transportation Center's Fern Rock Station (SEPTA.... Phila, PA) parking lot for $2.00 dollars per day. I arrived, parked in an assigned numbered spot & realized that my car wasn't positioned / parked correctly after I'd turned the car off. I went to restart it AND NOTHING. I had my fiancee bring me my extra set of keys thinking that it was the key fob battery. Second set of keys in hand, NOTHING AGAIN! All lights and horn were operable, but I COULD NOT push the start button, the brake pedal was hard to depress and putting the key fob in its ignition slot wasn't working either...not to mention I thought that I could reset whatever was going on by playing with the remote / key fob and I accidentally rolled the front windows down (car has a feature where front windows can be rolled down using remote)! By the way, it's 7:30 a.m., it was cold as heck and snowing too. So now I'm sitting in a car that won't start, windows rolled down and snow drifting in while I waited for roadside assistance. Thank God the tow truck driver didn't take too much longer after I placed the call. The car was towed to the dealership where I purchased the car! I received a call from them a few hours later explaining the matter and how much it would cost to repair the problem ($1078). After hearing the price, I forgot that quickly what the problem was...LOL. My fiancee was shocked and she fussed at me about searching the internet for recalls on my vehicle as well as asking about my warranty. The shock of it all left me depressed but I found out that the issue was with the ECL.. Electronic Control Lock wish produces these problems. For someone who always fusses about keeping our cars serviced etc, my fiancee got a chance to return the favor to me by fussing and making the necessary calls regarding the warranty that I'd purchased when I got my certified pre-owned vehicle, etc etc. So fortunately this issue and an additional issue they found regarding the Lower Control System while doing their 10-point check was all covered under the warranty. Had we not done research, etc I would have paid the money just to have my car and would have caught hell trying to get reimbursed from filing a warranty claim if I had paid out of pocket initially. UGH!!! So now I'm glad that I found this site and can do more research is my 2009 Maxima and any other cars in the future!

- devaughn465, Philadelphia, PA, US

problem #7

Jan 052016

Maxima SV V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 45,000 miles

Well, it is fairly a brand new Nissan Maxima with 45K miles on it, and guess what on a cold night it ditch me with the steering wheel lock, it cost me a $1000 to fix the problem from the dealership and $100 to tow it away to the dealership. I was going to trade in my Nissan Maxima for the 2016 Nissan Maxima, but guess what I will not going to do it, because it is not a wear and tear, but it is a manufacturing defect. So now the question is that it is a blessing in disguise for the Nissan, or a cheating with the loyal customers?

- Neeraj A., Sterling, VA, US

problem #6

Jan 142016

Maxima S V6

  • CVT transmission
  • 49,000 miles

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

I bought my a pre-owned certified, Maxima 2009 model, back in June 2011 at Rt22 Nissan. I paid for extended warranty which was kinda useless since it expired before my knowledge of this had occurred. I already called my dealership and they said my warranty on the car is over. But, correct me if I'm wrong but the Electronic Steering Column Lock (ESCL) says the warranty was extended 72mo/unlimited miles. If I had bought the car in 2011 and paid for extended warranty, doesn't that still give me a extra year on my "72 mo" warranty for the ESCL?? So if the car model was from 2009 had 36 month warranty, meaning my warranty expired in 2012 with the extended warranty extending it to 2013. Would I not have a extra 36 months left of that warranty dating from 2013?

I don't know I just find it bullshit that I wasn't informed that there was a defect in the 2009 models and that I bought the car in 2011 and they didn't fix the problem while it was under the dealerships care? What does Pre-owned Certified stand for? Well as I address the issue here I will try again tomorrow to talk to corporate because my dealership that I purchased the car doesn't give a rats ass. Guess it's time to look at other vehicles that are not NISSAN's and INFINITI's.

- Stephen K., Palisades Park, NJ, US

problem #5

Jul 272015

Maxima S

  • CVT transmission
  • 118,000 miles

Nissan is not doing a very through job of notifying owners that bought pre-owned vehicles from the Nissan dealerships. I bought my 09 Maxima in March of 2011. I never received the manufacturer irregularity notice of the electronic steering column lock......I lived at the same address since I bought the car and all I received from Nissan is sales offers and maintenance notices. That is not Very professional Courtesy from a billion company that I bought a $25,000 call from to spot a $1,100 bill because of its admitted defect that they say is not a recall but calls for an extended warranty......Surely they can treat customers better than that. Then again maybe, not

Update from Aug 4, 2015: I Would like to say that after Contacting the Nissan Consumers affairs & the BBB & giving them detailed

information of my case, that the Nissan Corporate has offered to pay for for the charges as a Professional Courtesy

& appreciation of my business. I was very frustrated & now I couldnt be any happier of the outcome. This is my 4th Maxima & the Nissan Maxima will always be my dream car.

Karen Davis

Little Rock, Ar

- Karen D., Little Rock, AR, US

problem #4

Feb 102015

Maxima

  • Automatic transmission
  • 97,000 miles

Immoral Car Company! Nissan, the next BIG bailout.

While attempting to start my vehicle, the key sensor light illuminated and the vehicle would not start. I notified the local Nissan dealership and described the problem. The dealer indicated there was a failure of the security system involving the steering lock unit. He also advised the Nissan Corp. was well aware of this problem involving the make and model given. Because of this common occurrence he said Nissan issued an extended warranty on the malfunctioning system.

I had the vehicle towed to a certified mechanic where the steering lock failure was diagnosed. I then contacted Nissan North America Inc. with the diagnoses for them to advise the next step for the repairs. Of course they said it had to be diagnosed/confirmed by a certified Nissan mechanic/dealer. Since I had used my insurance company to tow my vehicle, I had no other means of getting the vehicle to a Nissan dealer. The clerk I spoke with at Nissan North America informed me to have the vehicle towed to a Nissan dealer and if the problem was the same as stated in the extended warranty, they would reimburse me for the tow bill and repairs.

After $1710.93 and three long, long, long phone calls later, here I am writing a complaint because I was not reimbursed as promised. The previous total includes the repair cost, tow bill and rental car cost. However I must say I was partially reimbursed for some of my expenses. The tow bill from one certified mechanic to another.

Even though there was an extended warranty, however it had an expiration date. Nissan would not fix my vehicle until it was completely disabled. which was just 2 months after the extended warranty expired.

- Carlitha P., Chattanooga, TN, US

problem #3

Mar 022015

Maxima V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 80,000 miles

Generally my 2009 Nissan Maxima has been a good car. Lately, when I press to start to car, it stutters before it comes on. Sometimes it doesn't come on. So I press again, and it "coughs' stutters and comes on.. Someone told me it could be the starter, and someone else told me it could be the battery.

So I took it to PepBoys to get it checked out. They said my battery was leaking, so I got it replaced. Thankfully my previous battery was under warranty so I only had to pay installation. However, I was bummed because I changed the battery 2 years ago! Asked the guy if it was normal to change the battery so soon. He said sometimes you just have a bad battery. Drove the car that day to work, no problem. When I'm ready to leave work, the car won't start! Thankfully it starts by the time I press the button the second time. The next day, I had the same problem, so I took it back to Pepboys to get it checked out again. He said it definitely wasn't the starter, or the battery. So he gave me some injector fluid to put in the gas tank, and said I should drive a week, and that should clear up the problem. Today is day 3, and I'm still having the same problem.

Has anyone been having the same problem? Could it be the alternator? My biggest fear is being stranded someone cuz the car refuse to start. Help!!!!

- Lovern C., Laurel, MD, US

problem #2

Mar 072015

Maxima S 3.5L

  • Manual transmission
  • 60,053 miles

Went to store this morning to get coffee, got back in the car and it would not start. Lights indicates no key in car and then one indicates key is in car. Had to get it towed and that cost $75 and still haven't heard about what the problem is. Very annoying - it was 17 degrees.

- Regina C., Bensalem, PA, US

problem #1

Jan 042015

Maxima

  • Automatic transmission
  • 82,500 miles

Unbelievable problem with no mention in handbook. Car could not be towed by conventional means. Car was totally "Unelectrical" i.e. could not roll up automatic windows - they were stuck "down" position. Ridiculously expensive to fix.

- batpappas@aol.com, York, ME, US

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