CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2012 Nissan Maxima is a very good reliable vehicle, continuing a stretch of good model years from 2010. Beware of Maximas from 2009, and 2004-2006 though.
The 2009 Maxima has an expensive problem where the steering lock prevents the car from starting, & costs upwards of $1,000 to fix.
Nissan Maximas from 2004-2006 have a widespread transmission defect, but judging from our complaint data, Nissan fixed the transmission problem starting with the 2007 model.
For the 2012 Maxima, so far so good!
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
5 / 0
Average Mileage:
25,955 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.
Shortly after purchasing vehicle I noticed that passenger air bag "off" light would come on when my wife was seated - the instance did not repeat itself for several weeks and then it would consistently happen when other passengers of various weights were seated. Been that I was still under warranty I returned to the dealership where I had purchased the vehicle to have it serviced - the service manager went to the extent to asking me to have my wife come to the dealership so they can inspect her "seating position" (not a joke, that's how he wanted to diagnose the problem even after I told him that passengers of various weights and statures had presented the same problem). So dealership was not able to replicate the problem but later that day on a short trip to the supermarket with my wife the problem happened again. I returned to a different dealership and once again was given the same "we can't replicate the problem". this vehicle posses a serious safety concern to me and my family. I have been a loyal Nissan customer for 15 years and have owned multiple vehicles but this will be the last vehicle I ever purchase from this maker.
Me and my wife were traveling northbound in our 2012 Nissan Maxima around 30mph on western avenue in Chicago when suddenly a Ford Focus 2007 that ran a stop sign traveling East bound on rosemont avenue T-boned us on driver's side. As our car was moving at a significant speed it stopped after crashing into a fire hydrant which was on the corner of the intersection. My wife was taken to a hospital in an ambulance with arm and back injuries and I also had injuries on my left arm, shoulder and lower back. My main concern is why none of the airbags deployed if the car was traveling at a speed more than 20 mph and hit a solid object(fire hydrant). Both of us were wearing seat belts. The car was declared totaled by both the insurance investigators. I am glad that this did not happened at a high speed otherwise I would resting in peace not be filing this complain. Nissan should be questioned as to what speed the airbags in Maxima deploy and why none of them including curtain and frontal deployed.
The passenger side airbag turns off when either when my husband which is 230lbs and myself 132 lb and some other passengers. Reported this to Nissan brought the car in. The say its working fine. Even when I have video that the airbag has clicked off for long periods of time. This is a major safety issue.
Air bag off light illuminates when a 200 lb adult is sitting in the passenger seat. The problem is intermittent but more often then not. The dealership says they can not find a problem. This is a big safety issue if someone is involved in a frontal crash.
When any adult sits in the passenger seat who is not heavy will not enable the airbag. I took it to the dealership and they said that is how it is suppose to be but this has never happened in any other car.
- Southlake, TX, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
Passenger side air bag intermittently (a lot!) does not have an airbag for 130+ pound person, but does have airbag for 80lb child. Have had to the dealership multiple times, Nissan reports that this is within their specifications; they have dismissed the complaint. I have further reported to Nissan Consumer Affairs complaint #11108041, but since I've been working on this for a year now, I do not feel confident in their "help".
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Cedar Grove, NJ, USA