2002 Nissan Maxima problems
Owners have filed 278 complaints with NHTSA about the 2002 Nissan Maxima. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 18% of complaints. After that come air bags (11%) and electrical system (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 278 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 18% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 37 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 26 and 7
- Typical mileage
- 68,000 miles 174 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 | 39 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 27 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 16 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 18 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 19 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 6 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 22 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 14 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 5 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 5 |
What the data shows
Among the 174 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 68,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 98,000 miles (39 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 37 complaints mention a crash; 26 injuries reported; 7 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 8th most-complained-about out of 30 model years of the Nissan Maxima with enough data (142 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
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.
I hope nissan would take my headache away by taking back their garbage 2002 maxima, because this car is a piece of garbage and nissan should be a shamed of themselves to manufacture a $750.00 light with two plastic brackets that my 7 year old son can break out of the car within (30 seconds yes 30 seconds) my xeon light has been stolen five times (5) from january, my car has sit in the nissan repair ship for about six months out of the year.
Tl* the contact reported a 2002 nissan altima. The driver was traveling at an unknown speed and became distracted, veering off the roadway. The driver maneuvered the steering wheel in various directions in an effort to regain control of the vehicle. The vehicle rolled over approximately eight times. The driver was not injured however, a passenger was killed.
Driving under normal conditions. Ping and nocking coming from engine during light acceleration. Causes loss of power , loud noise and possible internal engine damage if goes un repaird. Nissan is aware of the problem but chooses not to make it a recall. Uses tactics to get owner of vehicle to pay for repair or ultimately repairs while making customer aware they are one of the lucky ones.
Dt*: the contact stated there was a recall NHTSA campaign 01v357000 concerning the engine. However, the recall did not correct the problem. The service engine light continued to illuminate which caused the contact to fail inspection. Although the vehicle displayed no obvious problems, the contact took the vehicle to an independent repair shop. The repair shop performed a diagnostic test, which detected a problem with the crank shaft position sensors.