1998 Nissan Maxima problems
Owners have filed 133 complaints with NHTSA about the 1998 Nissan Maxima. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 20% of complaints. After that come electrical system (18%) and brakes (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 133 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 14 and 13
- Injuries and deaths
- 9 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 110,000 miles 48 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 7 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 8 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 6 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 4 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 7 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 3 |
What the data shows
Among the 48 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 110,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 75,000 miles (11 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 14 complaints mention a crash; 13 complaints mention a fire; 9 injuries reported; 1 death reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 86% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 16th most-complained-about out of 30 model years of the Nissan Maxima with enough data (67 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Vehicle came to a stop and suddenly accelerated. Vehicle crossed the intersection and hit two residential walls, went through a lawn, and hit a lamp post. The impact from the lamp post caused the vehicle to turn over on its side. The driver died on impact.
Was driving a (bought new) 1998 nissan maxima with optional side air bags on leather seats in apr 2003. The side air bags did not deploy after a side impact from left to right on front bumper and left front wheel. The car was totaled by accident. I suffer from neck injury from hitting the driver door pillar (by seat belt adjuster). Had cervical fusion of c4 & c5 in the neck. Now suffer a lifetime of pain and numbness.
Letter on behalf of anthony a abele concerning non deployment of front and side air bags during a crash involving 1998, nissan maxima.
When we bought our nissan at 96648 miles, there was remarkably little rust underneath. The alternator went out on 10-12-12 and we had the car towed to a repair shop. They refused to repair it after finding that the core support for the motor is rusted and rotted out. Further research indicates that this issue has occurred in this model of car for many years. If we had known that this car was so unsafe we would never have purchased it in the first place.
I just purchased a 1998 nissan maxima, went to change out the front bumper skin and fenders and as I took off the bumper skin the lower radiator support is rusted beyond belief and only one of the bolts on the cross member holding up the whole engine/trans and that one is rusted too. There is a big hole where the rust is and its affecting the performance and safety as well as handling of this car. I'm actually surprised the engine and transmission haven't fallen out the bottom of the car already.