2016 Nissan Maxima: sudden loss of power

Filed Jun 26, 2026 · NE

The car has been diagnosed with a CVT transmission problem which the mechanic stated was hard to diagnose. The car sometimes slow down to only 30 miles or less being unpredictable when driving and could cause an accident in a busy street or highway as the problem comes at unpredictable times. The car is close to 61000 miles and a car with this mileage should not have a transmission problem. According to the independent mechanic who inspected the car it might be a problem related to the design of the transmission. I had several incidents when the car really slows down and this has the potential to cause a fatality. This car had episodes of loss of acceleration, power loss and unpredictable driving behavior. One time my car was towed on 05/03/26 due loss of acceleration on a highway and i had to pull over and the police helped staying behind my car to prevent an accident. As i mentioned before the problem was hard to identify and I had to take my car several times to the shop to find out what has been wrong

Filed Jul 3, 2025 · TX

We started noticing the speed gauge losing speed while driving at around the first of May through June gradually getting worse. When in the last week in June, if you tried to go 70 MPH, on the highway, the vehicle would lose power, everything would shut down. Yes it could be harmful on the highway to the passengers and other cars passengers, if it just stalled in the middle of the highway. We have taken the car to a local transmission shop last week. It is at the transmission shop. It was determined that the CVT transmission would have to be replaced. The shop is repairing it now. I thought it was a wonderful car, that would last longer than 3 years. Therefore, I am extremely worried about the cost to fix it. I still owe around $7,200 on it.. I turned [XXX] this year and [XXX]. I would not have bought it if I knew this would happen. Nissan knew about the problem before I bought it. Then I read about them fixing the problem as of July 3. I did report this to Nissan about us having something going wrong with the car. I have not received any word back from Nissan. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Dec 13, 2023 · Electrical, Engine · FL

I recently purchased this vehicle from HHGreg in Tampa, Fl in May 2023. We found out it was associated with a recall regarding the brakes within 60days of having the vehicle, which Brandon Nissan took care of. My car only has 40,000 miles on it now. We bought it with only having 36,000 miles on it. Therefore, we've only driven it 4k miles. However, for the last 3 months, this car will literally shut off while driving, mainly when taking a turn. Which, as you can imagine is extremely unsafe, especially in the middle of a main intersection, which has now happened to me three times. We have had 3 mechanics look at the car, including someone from Brandon Nissan, and no one is able to figure out why the car keeps losing power. When you run a diagnostic on it, all the codes come back as passing. After sitting for a day or so, it will start back up, maybe run 24-72hrs, then it will completely power down again. The car has a brand new battery in it. The alternator is giving out the correct voltage. But something in the charging system and or electrical system is not working. There has to be a shortage or a defect in this models engine. A vehicle with this low of mileage is basically brand new and should NOT have these issues! I am paying for a car I can't even use or rely on. Very frustrated. This will be the last time I ever purchase a Nissan Vehicle.

Filed Oct 12, 2023 · Electrical · RI

While driving on the highway the car will lose power and acceleration, unable to accelerate. Power steering will begin to slowly lock up. After trying to safely pull over, ABS, battery and traction control light comes on. Then when I turned off the car, the car will not turn back on. Had to get the car towed to dealership. Car is now there, technician determined to be alternator issue. I read other similar situations on forum website with people dealing with same issue with same year, make and model.

Filed Aug 12, 2022 · Electrical · 84,000 miles · TX

The contact owns a 2016 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle began to lose power. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal but the vehicle failed to respond. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to exit the highway and managed to drive the vehicle to the local dealer. The local dealer diagnosed that the alternator had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. However, the failure reoccurred and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to an unknown second dealer. The dealer diagnosed that the alternator had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. However, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the second dealer where it was diagnosed that the failure was associated with the alternator. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 84,000.

Filed Aug 15, 2021 · TX

I first experienced this problem before January 2021. While driving the car it will suddenly experience a loss of power while stepping on the gas. It will do this under normal driving conditions. It has done it while I am driving straight on a street or highway or when I am turning a corner. I have narrowly missed being rear-ended or broad sided when it does it. I took it to Ingram Park Nissan in San Antonio January 2021 and they told me the problem was a bad battery. I had them replace it. (I am an over-the road truck driver and don't drive the car very often since I am usually on the road for 2-3 weeks at a time. There are times that I have only driven the car less than 75 miles when I come home and the car won't always lose power.) The car has continued to have the same problem. I took it in to Ancira Nissan at the manufacturers request on 8-3-21. They diagnosed the problem as being a bad battery and alternator. I had them replaced and picked up the car on 8-14-21. While driving the car later on in the evening on 8-14-21 I experienced the same problem. Ancira had the car for 11 days and it is still not fixed. I don't know exactly what component or system is failing and Nissan doesn't seem to know as well. When the problem occurs several lights will come on on the dash (traction control, ABS, air bag, seat belt, a triangle with an exclamation point). There are other Nissan Maxima owners who have posted comments on car websites who are experiencing the same problems. The other owners have said that they have had their cars misdiagnosed by dealers and continue to have the same problem. The problem seems to be mainly happening with 2016 and 2017 Nissan Maximas. I worry that the car will lose power when I least expect it and cause someone to crash into me.

Filed Mar 15, 2021 · Acceleration, Transmission · 74,000 miles · MA

Twice on the highway if had issues where the car accelerated on its own and a few times it's seem to lose power and than compensate and completely launch leading to a quick jerking motion. I'm afraid that it could completely stop on the highway or accelerate into something. Other than that there's no issues but this is concerning since I'm always giving family member rides including a pregnant wife so it needs to be looked into in my opinion it could be a huge disaster if it happens to an inexperienced driver. *also I'm not sure of the exact date of when this happened. I just want to make that known since that's one of the questions asked.

Filed Nov 13, 2020 · Transmission · 86,000 miles · SC

Vehicle stalls in the middle of traffic it looses power with n warning at all. I took to the vehicle to the nissan dealership on 11/7/2020 and they could not duplicate what happen and stated they placed it on the computer with no codes showing. On the way home 11/12/20 as I was entering traffic on highway 85 I lost power again I was almost hit by two vehicles. I press the accelerator 3 times before it took off very fast. I will be calling the dealership again today

Filed May 24, 2019 · Electrical, Fuel system · 68,500 miles · FL

On april 26, 2019 when making a left turn the car did not accelerate as I entered into traffic and instead lost power and would go no more than 9 MPH as I applied maximum pressure to the gas pedal. At the same time the car became hard to steer and I was able to pull off onto the side of the road. I immediately turned off the car and restarted it. The car started but without power to accelerate and I shut down the vehicle again. I waited and restarted a few more times and it eventually restarted. I took my car to the nissan dealership for service and they performed a recall. The same problem happened again on may 9, 2019 and again on may 17, 2019. The vehicle completely loses the ability to accelerate while and has so little power that the max speed is less then 10mph. The vehicle is always in motion happens.

Filed Jul 12, 2017 · Transmission · 18,000 miles · NY

When stopped and start to move the engine or transmission jerks and slips. Slight loss of power as well. Jerks and slips again n regains power. Happens from a stop and also from first gear to second gear.

Filed Mar 7, 2017 · Brakes, Electrical · 13,131 miles · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 nissan maxima. While driving 50-55 MPH and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle stalled. The contact lost power steering, power brakes, and other electrical functions. The contact stated that the failure recurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed, but the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact stated that the dealer replaced the valve assembly, seal lip, strainer assembly, clip, oil pan gasket, o-ring seal, washer drain, and ns-3 CVT transmission; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 13,131.