2009 Nissan Maxima problems
Owners have filed 460 complaints with NHTSA about the 2009 Nissan Maxima. Steering is the most reported problem area, at 37% of complaints. After that come electrical system (17%) and air bags (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 460 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Steering 37% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 6 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 70,000 miles 364 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 | 41 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 41 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 74 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 61 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 48 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 42 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 19 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 10 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 12 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 6 |
| 200k+ miles | 10 |
What the data shows
Among the 364 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 70,000 miles. For steering specifically, the median reported mileage is about 64,000 miles (142 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 6 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 90% 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 2009 ranks 6th most-complained-about out of 30 model years of the Nissan Maxima with enough data (204 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 pulled out in front going at a minimum speed. Driver that hit the maxima was on laptop thus pulling out in front of the maxima which was traveling the full speed limit. Maxima was struck on drivers side causing the whole front of car to be obliterated. Bent the frame from the front of car all the way back to back door. Cracked driver side chrome rim in half and pushed the wheel well up into the interior of the car at the place that you rest your foot which caused jammed the drivers leg up into the pelvis.
Tl* the contact owned a 2009 nissan maxima. The contact's vehicle was struck on the front driver side by another vehicle. The air bags deployed and the vehicle was destroyed. The contact was injured and a police report was filed. The air bag deployment produced black markings and metal fragments that caused further cuts and bruises to the contact, which required medical attention. The contact asked the police if the black markings were normal and the police said no.
Two days after I bought my car from the dealership I had to have it towed from my house because it was unsafe to drive, field steering was so out of control I had a hard time keeping in my lane the brakes were if you were to just touch the brakes the slightest you would go out the windshield practically. After they claimed to have fixed the steering issues, I picked my car up from the shop and I was going down the city street and it jerked so hard to the right that I jumped the curb almost hit a bush and three…
My 2009 nissan maxima does it seem to read my key anymore. It has a orange light on the top left corner of my dashboard. The car obviously recognizes the key for I am still able to lock and unlock my car. It will not turn over at all. When I press the push start button, the only light that comes on is the lock light. It all doesn't make any sense at all. I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. One second it was working, another second it wasn't.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 nissan maxima with kumho ecsta 4x tires, size 245/40/19. The contact stated the tire walls cracked and were cracking across the tread. The tires were taken to a dealer, who stated that the failure did not constitute a hazard. The contact replaced the tires. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle failure mileage was 80,000. The tire failure mileage was 30,000. Updated 8/27/14 updated 09/17/2014