2005 Nissan Maxima: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed May 7, 2020 · Seats · 112,000 miles · NC · fire · 1 injury

Tl* the contact owned a 20005 nissan maxima. The contact stated that while sitting in the vehicle, the front driver seat began smoking without warning. The contact jumped out of the vehicle and called the authorities. The fire department arrived as the vehicle became engulfed in flames, the fire was then extinguished. A fire department report was filed at the scene. Due to her frantic exit from the vehicle, the contact sustained injuries to both knees and her right ankle; however, she did not seek medical attention. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and destroyed. The manufacturer nor the dealer were informed of the failure. Upon investigation, the contact linked the federal safety agency campaign number: 05v512000 (seat) to her failure; however, her vehicle was never included in the recall. The failure mileage was 112,000. *dt*jb*dt

Filed Sep 29, 2018 · Body, Driver assistance · FL · fire

Abs and brake light came on flashing periodically over a weeks time, speedometer stopped working, next day the parked car '5 hours cold' caught on fire around fuse box area everything electrical burned up. Police report was done but I do not have a copy, still waiting on fire marshal report. Upon researching online other vehicle have had same issue.

Filed Dec 28, 2014 · Driver assistance, Electrical · FL · fire

When I brought my car after 2-3 months I had transmission problems, I took it to the nissan dealership to get it fix. After , a couple of weeks I still was having problems with the car , I took it back they said , it wasn't nothing wrong with it . Then my air condition went out, it was my air compressor took it in to the nissan dealership to get it fix, after, a week or two it went out again took it back to the dealership to get it looked at I was told it needed a part ( some type of clip ). June 10 , 2014 my car was on fire in my garage while I was sleeping. When I woke up that morning my headlights were flashing off and on . When I open the door my window was full of sut and my windshield was cracked . When I open the car door on the driver side the dash board and under the dashboard was melted , the odometer and the fuse box (everything on the driver side was melted ) .you can smelled the smoke,that it was on fire. The fire department was called out just in case it sparked back up. Under the hood was not damage. I have pictures of damages. They had to push the car out of the garage it wouldn't go into gear. The results was it started from the fuse box. My car was totaled out by my insurance adjuster. I feel this matter need to be looked into and something need to be done about this situation . This is a serious situation that need to be looked into before it happen to someone else .

Filed May 12, 2014 · Transmission · 120,000 miles · FL

I had the transmission flushed/serviced at a local nissan dealership. The transmission started slipping and jerking between speeds of 20 to 30 MPH. Sometime it also slips and jerks when I engage the reverse gear. I also started smelling a faint burning smell since then. At a 130000 I had the transmission fluid drained and filled again as the color of the fluid had changed to dark red. I had hoped that the slipping and jerking would go away, but that has not happened. In fact it has grown worse. I have gone online and have found out that mine is not an isolated problem. There are thousands of complaints from 2004-06 maxima owners who are having similar problems with their transmissions. I think it is about time that nissan owns up to this transmission problem with these 2004-06 maximas and issues a recall, replacement and a fix of these defective transmissions. There are posts on numerous nissan forums about owners who have figured out that all these problems are solenoid and valve related, within the bad transmissions. I did approach a nissan dealership, explained this problem in detail, but got nowhere with them. They refuse to acknowledge that such a problem exists. I however got estimate of $4500 from one dealership for replacing the transmission in my car. I also understand there has been a class action lawsuit by some nissan maxima owners since 2011. I am currently researching joining them in this lawsuit. I am on my third maxima since 1999. If nissan does not come through with a recall/replacement/fix of this problem, this is surely my last one.

Filed Jul 22, 2013 · Electrical, Transmission · 116,000 miles · PA

While driving the car in town the car started jerking erratically, launching forward, hard jerks, car shaking like crazy, smell burning smell in the car, I almost hit other cars due to my car jerking forward. I was frightened... The car is very unsafe to drive to say the very least. It doesn't matter what speed you are driving, it jerks and launches forward at will. My children could have got seriously hurt riding in this car. I paid close to $800 toget this car fixed in may of 2013, only to have it all happen all over again as the nissan corporation knew of defective transmissions in the nissan maxiamas. Yet, they continue to sell these "death traps", to citizens.. This is an atrocity, what the nissan corporation has to done it's consumers.

Filed Feb 18, 2012 · Transmission · 31,000 miles · TX

Car has been indicating a problem for two years started off with a few. Drops of trani fluid on driveway..to burning smell,noise while in reverse,clacking noises..replaced mounts burnt oil..now hard shifting from park to reverse to drive. Car hesitates before shifting car has 59000 miles had 31000 when problems started car has been in service at a nissan certified dealer they fix everything except the problem.

Filed Jun 10, 2010 · Seat belts · 62,000 miles · CA · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 nissan maxima. When the contact started the vehicle, she noticed a burning smell. The contact turned off the vehicle and called for assistance. When the mechanic arrived the contact was advised that the seat belt mechanism malfunctioned causing the burning smell. The contact called the dealer and was advised that the repair cost would be $5,000. The contact stated the seat belt failure was recall campaign id 05v512000. The seat belt was repaired in 2006. The current and failure miles were 62000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Jul 31, 2009 · Seats · 95,000 miles · CA · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 nissan maxima. The contact stated that her vehicle caught fire. Smoke appeared from under the driver's seat and the vehicle was severely burned. The contact extinguished the fire and there were no injuries. The dealer advised her to call the insurance company. She was informed that there would be a $1,000 deductible, but she does not want to pay. A complaint was filed with the nissan manufacturer. The failure mileage was 95,000.

Filed Jun 30, 2009 · Electrical · 172,000 miles · NC

2005 nissan maxima, on june 27th gauges all went to negative, fuel gauge showed empty, temp showed cold, tach and speedo did not work, A/C did not work, turn signals inside did not work but outside did. Partial sunroof operation. Kept car in garage, got in car on june 29th to take to dealer, noticed unusual smell, 10 min. Later smoke came pouring out of center dash. Immediately got out of car and disconnected battery. Had towed to dealer, said that they would replace gauge cluster and A/C metering amp, looks like it short circuited by coin that somehow made its way into a vent creavis of the sealed circuit board. We have had 170,000 miles of basically trouble free driving but I am really concerned because they cannot guarantee that this solves our problem. As you can see my wife drives alot of miles in this car with 8 hour trips to florida every 6 weeks. Not sure how she would react to a smoke filled cabin and would be concerned if she could get out if it happened again and flames up. The dealer said it would never really catch fire. Had issue a few weeks earlier where the car shifted strangely, it would often not start and the car would not start unless the A/C was turned off. The suggested a transmission fix, new catalytic converter and a new battery. We could only do the battery at that point. I can't help to wonder if the computer gave false reading because of the recent problem.

Filed Feb 18, 2008 · Electrical, Seats · 47,000 miles · LA · fire

My 2005 nissan maxima sl caught on fire under the dash board on the driver's left side on 2/05/08 at approx 12:00 that day. After returning from a short drive, I smelled smoke. Upon parking in my driveway and exiting the car we notice fire coming from under the dash board. Once we extinguished the flames and called the fire dept we realized the source appeared to be in the area of the fuse housing area. I've had a recurring problem with this vehicle for quite some time. My service record is quite extensive on the electrical problems associated with this one vehicle. The latest being 12/28/07 when I had my vehicle in for servicing for the driver seat failure to move. My vehicle was returned to me on 12/31/07 and the seat was operable then, but I was told by the service tech that they weren't sure if the problem was solved but it was working at the present time. As an ensuing result I was unaware I was driving a vehicle that could of went in flames when being driven. I've attempted to contact nissan corp and have been unable to make contact with anyone other than the rep that took my information on 2/8/08. I've also attempted to contact the owner of the local nissan dealership where I purchased my vehicle and haven't had any luck there either. My vehicle is currently at ray bryant nissan dealership to be repaired, again, post the fire damage. This is the same dealership I've been bringing my vehicle to for al of the problems that have existed with this car. Any help and guidance you can offer me with this matter will be greatly appreciated.