2008 Nissan Maxima problems
Owners have filed 100 complaints with NHTSA about the 2008 Nissan Maxima. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 23% of complaints. After that come body & structure (21%) and tires (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 100 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 9 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 5 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 75,000 miles 74 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 | 15 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 11 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 12 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 10 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 10 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 8 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 4 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 74 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 75,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 68,000 miles (14 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 9 complaints mention a crash; 5 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2008 ranks 26th most-complained-about out of 30 model years of the Nissan Maxima with enough data (33 complaints in that window).
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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 nissan maxima. The contact was sitting idle at a traffic stop when a vehicle crashed into the rear of his vehicle at approximately 35 MPH, which caused the vehicle to front end an eighteen wheel truck. The contacts airbags did not deploy. The contact sustained neck and muscle injuries. A passenger sustained injuries to the lower back. The vehicle was destroyed. A police report was filed. The current and failure mileage was approximately 38,000.
My car accelerated causing damage to mailbox, telephones pole and I don't know what else? And myself, along with other people could have been seriously hurt, was driving down the street when a car pulled in front of me, I swerved to keep from hitting them, when I did that my car accelerated to high speed, while my foot was on the brake the whole time and both hands on the stirring wheel while it proceeded to cross the intersection until it came to a stop, foot still on brake while it started to back up slowly back…
Was informed by nissan at the time that the floor boards in my 2008 nissan maxima were beginning to rot. Vehicle was brought to nissan dealership on july 20, 2015 and was told at this time there is extensive rot on both the drivers side floorboard and passengers side. Was also told that since the vehicle is out of warranty there is nothing nissan can do. So now I am forced to either pay to have it fixed or get rid of the vehicle that runs perfectly fine.
Airbag light keeps flashing. Sensor is defective. Nissan said they dont cover. Its not included on the warranty. Cluster light on dash is blinking on and off making car unsafe to drive.