The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that while her husband was attempting to park and turn off the vehicle, the gear shifter failed to shift into park, the STOP button failed to respond, and the vehicle suddenly accelerated, crashed into a tree in the median strip, knocked down three poles, and the brake pedal was depressed but became unresponsive. The vehicle continued driving and crashed into a sign pole and came to a stop. The contact stated that a tire also exploded during the crash. The contact stated that the air bags failed to deploy. The contact and her husband sustained injuries during the crash. The contact’s husband sustained a fractured left shoulder and had since developed balance issues. The contact sustained balance issues and weakness in the body. Medical attention was provided. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 23,000.
Nissan Maxima sudden acceleration problems
97 of the 6,504 owner complaints about the Nissan Maxima describe sudden unintended acceleration, most of them for the 2005 model year.
- owner complaints
- 97
- worst model year
- 2005
- typical repair cost reported
- $5,000
- typical mileage
- 80,000
By model year
Often reported together
Jerking 27Slipping 11Transmission failure 8Stalling 6Hesitation 6Harsh shifting 5No deployment 4Won't shift 3
What owners say
Component Failure: CVT transmission completely failed, requires full replacement. Failed unit available for inspection. Consistent with known manufacturing defect affecting multiple Nissan models, evidenced by $400+ million in class action settlements in the USA alone. Safety Risks: Sudden acceleration loss while driving, unpredictable lurching/jerking, complete loss of forward propulsion, risk of rear-end collisions, inability to safely merge or maintain highway speeds. CVT failures occur suddenly without adequate warning. Dealer Confirmation: Younker Nissan in Renton, WA confirmed complete CVT failure requiring replacement, estimated cost $8800. Manufacturer Inspection: None. Nissan declined inspection citing mileage over 84,000-mile limit, despite known manufacturing defect and my vehicle falling within [XXX] v. Nissan settlement model years (2016-2018 Maxima). Warning Symptoms: Initial: Shuddering and jerking while on highway. Within 1 hour: Intermittent hesitation, jerking during acceleration, transmission shuddering, whining noises, slipping, intermittent check engine light Within 2 days: More of the same, but worse. Completely stopped driving it. These match documented CVT failure patterns in Nissan settlements: hesitating, stalling, jerking, lurching, shaking, juddering, premature failure. Context: This systematic manufacturing defect acknowledged through multiple Nissan settlements totaling $400+ million in trhe USA alone. Failure at 106k miles well within expected transmission lifespan for properly maintained flagship sedan. Arbitrary 84k-mile settlement limits exclude well-maintained vehicles experiencing same inherent defect. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2010 Nissan Maxima The contact stated that when attempting to park their vehicle and shifting into reverse while depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward. The vehicle crashed into the side of the building in front and through the wall of the building causing the front end to be inside of the vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The vehicle had been towed. The decision to total the vehicle had not been finalized as of yet. The contact received injuries to their back and medical assistance was needed. The dealer was not made aware. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 149,000.
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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 nissan maxima. The contact stated that the transmission was slow to change gears. The speed would decrease until the gear changed over, and then the vehicle would suddenly accelerate. An independent mechanic diagnosed that the continuously variable transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.
Intermittent high RPM's with no control of speed. Would happen then not happen for days. Would not go at stop signs/stop lights then surge forward when the transmission (we later learned) finally engaged. On a day it wasn't acting up we took it to where we bought it (dealership) and they immediately notified us that we needed a brand new transmission $5,500. 2,053 miles outside of warranty. We could not believe that when they contacted corporate no consideration for our long-term relationship.never in a million years did we think it was something so serious as a complete transmission failure. This transmission is supposedly the second (improved) transmission type that nissan has put in the maxima with the prior generation of transmissions being given a warranty of up to 10 years or 100,000 miles due to all the prior problems that were supposed to have been fixed with this second generation. Now, they won't even honor the transmission issue with a 62,053 mileage. The transmissions aren't fixed! We have 2 small grandchildren we pick up every other week and regularly use the car to pick them up. How scary to have realized we could have been in an accident with the kids in the car because we had no idea that the transmission on a car with only 62,053 miles would be completely shot. Someone please at your organization look into this.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 nissan maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle unintended accelerated while driving at various speeds. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal to accelerate the vehicle would hesitate to respond before suddenly surging forward at a high rate of speed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000.
Car kept jerking between gears, engine rev'd to 5000 rpms car lunged forward - hitting trailer hitch and rear end of an SUV stopped in road construction.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 nissan maxima. The contact stated that while driving at 10 MPH, the vehicle accelerated without warning. The contact mentioned that the failure was experienced several times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the failure was unable to be duplicated. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage was 84,000.
While driving through the town of westport, ct, the car started to jerk and then it was difficult to get past 25 miles per hour and then all of a sudden the car shut off a couple of times. I then made it to a gas station and after a few minutes it started up and I made it home. I have now been told that there is a problem with the transmission on my car that causes jerking, gear slipping and sudden acceleration and cut offs that nissan is aware of (on the 2006 nissan maxima models) and they have not addressed any of these problems or issues. I guess they will wait until someone gets killed before something happens. It is going to cost me $3000.00 to get my car fixed when it should be free because of the defect in the transmission on this model year car.
Related recalls
Vehicle speed control
- What is wrong
- On certain passenger vehicles equipped with an electronic throttle control system, the stopper for the accelerator pedal will prevent excessive movement of the accelerator position sensor. If the driver applies overly excessive force to the accelerator pedal while at the same time pushing it to the right, the pedal can "over travel" due to the design of the pedal stopper.
- Risk
- This will cause the engine malfunction indicator lamp to come on and the engine speed to be severely limited. If this occurs unexpectedly, it could lead to a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will install a new accelerator pedal stopper. Owner notification began march 11, 2002. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact nissan at 1‑800‑647‑7261 or infiniti at 800‑662‑6200.
Recall number 02V043000 · Recall details
Questions about the Nissan Maxima sudden acceleration
Which Nissan Maxima years have sudden unintended acceleration problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2005 (33 complaints), 2004 (19 complaints) and 2006 (15 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix sudden unintended acceleration on the Nissan Maxima?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $5,000 (median of 10 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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