1999 Nissan Maxima

JUST FOUND OUT THAT WE SHOULD REPLACE ALL 6 COILS IN OUR 1999 MAXIMA. NISSAN WAS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM AND DECIDED TO RIP US OFF EVEN MORE (SINCE THE CAR IS FALLING APART IN EVEYWAY POSSIBLE) BY ONLY OFFERING REPLACEMENT COILS - WHICH ARE BETTER INSTEAD OF A RECALL. IT WASN'T UNTIL I HAD THE COIL PROBLEM THAT I LEARNED THAT IT WAS A PROBLEM IN ALL NISSAN '99 MAXIMAS. IT IS COSTING ME OVER $700!*AK

IN JUNE OF 2003, MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. AFTER PAYING FOR THE EXPENSIVE COMPUTER DIAGNOSIS I WAS TOLD THAT ONE OF THE IGNITION COILS WAS BAD. HOWEVER THEY COULD NOT TELL WHICH ONE AND I WOULD NEED TO REPLACE ALL OF THEM EVENTUALLY. SINCE IT WAS SO EXPENSIVE MY MECHANIC SAID WE COULD START BY REPLACING ONE AT A TIME THAT WORKED FINE UP UNTIL NOW. RECENTLY MY CAR HAS STALLED IN TRAFFIC. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY IF SO MANY PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEMS, WHY A RECALL IS NOT BEING DONE AT NISSAN'S EXPENSE. I WISH I WOULD HAVE FOUND THIS WEBSITE BEFORE I PURCHASED MY MAXIMA. I WILL THINK TWICE BEFORE BUYING ANOTHER NISSAN. *JB

I OWN A 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA. THE AIRBAG LIGHT STARTED TO FLASH FOR NO APPARENT REASON. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO TYNANS NISSAN IN FT. COLLINS, CO ON JULY 2, 2004 FOR DIAGNOSTICS. WAS INFORMED THAT A MODULE WAS DEFECTIVE, AUTHORIZED ORDERING NEW MODULE ($450). RETURNED ON 7/20/04 FOR REPLACEMENT, WAS TOLD THAT THE ERROR WAS MISDIAGNOSED AND A SERVICE BULLETIN (NTB00-043) STATED THAT " IF A 1998 OR 1999 MAXIMA HAS THE SRS LIGHT FLASHING... INSTALL A SRS SIDE AIR BAG MODULE OF THE TYPE INDICATED IN THE PARTS INFORMATION TO RESOLVE THIS INCIDENT. THIS NEW SIDE AIR BAG MODULE (WITH LONG HARNESS) REPLACES BOTH THE AIR BAG MODULE AND THE SEAT SUB-HARNESS." I REFUSED TO AUTHORIZE THIS REPAIR, THE DEALERSHIP THEN REPLACED THE ORIGINAL PARTS. THE PROBLEM THEN WENT AWAY. ROOT CAUSE IS THE MANUFACTURER ORIGINALLY USED A TWO PIECE WIRE HARNESS THAT MAY (IN MY CASE DOES) BECOME DISCONNECTED WHEN THE SEAT IS MOVED THROUGHOUT ITS RANGE OF MOTION. THE REPLACEMENT HARNESS IS LONGER AND HAS A DIRECT CONNECTION ACCORDING TO NISSAN. I STRONGLY FEEL THAT THIS SAFETY ISSUE SHOULD BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OEM NOT THE CONSUMER DUE TO THE FLAW IN DESIGN. IF SOMEONE NOT AS TECHNICAL AS MYSELF (ELECTRONICS AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEER) WAS TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM THEY WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR OVER $1000 IN COST DUE TO NISSANS POOR DESIGN. *AK

I BOUGHT THIS CAR IN OCT 1998. AFTER MY 60,000 MILE SERVICE AT THE DEALER (RTE. 22 NISSAN, HILLSIDE, NJ) IN DEC 2003, I NOTICED THAT THE ENGINE STUTTERED WHEN I PUT THE GEAR IN REVERSE. THE RPM METER OSCILLATED BETWEEN 0 AND 1000 CONTINUOUSLY BEFORE STABILIZING. I TOLD THE DEALER ABOUT THIS AND DURING MY REGULAR SERVICE, THE DEALER INSPECTED AND TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS AN IDLING PROBLEM AND THAT HE WOULD TRY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. THE CAR APPEARED TO BE FINE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS BUT THEN STARTED STUTTERING AGAIN WHILE TAKING A REVERSE. THIS PROBLEM USED TO HAPPEN ONLY OCCASSIONALLY AND AND SO I COULD LIVE WITH IT. MEANWHILE I MOVED OVER TO CALIFORNIA, AND IT WAS ALSO TIME FOR MY NEXT SERVICE (66,000). I ASKED THE DEALER (MAGNUSSEN NISSAN, FREMONT, CA) TO HAVE DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM SINCE IT HAD STOPPED ONCE OR TWICE BEFORE AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT AND AFTER BEING $118 POORER, I WAS TOLD THAT THE ENGINE WIRING HARNESS NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF $2,700 AND THAT ONE IN 50 NISSAN CARS HAD THIS PROBLEM. THE UNFORTUNATE PART OF THE DIAGNOSIS WAS THAT THE VEHICLE WAS RETURNED IN A WORSE CONDITION THAN BEFORE. NOW THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ALWAYS LIT UP AND THE VEHICLE STARTED STOPPING WHENEVER THE CAR CAME TO A HALT (STOP SIGNS, TURNS AND TRAFFIC LIGHTS) AND ON SOME OCCASSIONS NARROWLY ESCAPING SOMEONE FROM REAR-ENDING MY CAR AT STOP SIGNS. MY CAR IS NOW IN A NON-DRIVABLE STATE FOR THE FEAR OF IT STALLING ANYTIME ON THE ROADS AND GETTING HIT BY ANOTHER VEHICLE. I CONTACTED NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND FINALLY GOT TO SPEAK TO A SUPERVISOR AND WAS TOLD THAT SINCE MY CAR WAS OUTSIDE OF THE WARRANTY PERIOD (3 YRS/36,000), THEY COULD NOT ASSIST ME WITH FIXING THE CAR. THE REAL PROBLEM WITH THE QUALITY OF THE PART THAT NISSAN HAS PROVIDED MY CAR WITH. THE WIRING HARNESS IS NOT A MOVING PART AND IS NOT SOMETHING THAT ANYBODY HAS ACCESS TO AND ITS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO HAVE A $2,800 SERVICE PENDING AFTER 5 YRS OF PURCHASE FOR A NON-MOVING PART. *AK

WHILE DRIVING AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT CONTINUOUSLY ILLUMINATED ON THE DASHBOARD. DEALERSHIP INDICATED THAT AIR BAG MODULE FAILED, AND THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTED. *AK NO REPAIR HAVE BEEN MADE AT THIS TIME. THE VEHICLE WAS OUT OF WARRANTY BY ONLY TWO WEEKS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED FOR A GOODWILL SERVICE. THE DEALER WAS UNABLE TO OBTAIN SPECIAL ASSISTANCE OF EVEN PARTIAL COVERAGE OF THE REPLACING THE AIR BAG MODULE. *NM

VEHICLE UNEXPECTEDLY STARTED TO RUN ROUGH, MISFIRED REPEATEDLY, AND EXPERIENCED EPISODES OF NEAR STALLING, WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND VEHICLE CONTINUED TO OPERATE UNDER A SEVERE LOSS OF POWER BEFORE BEING ABLE TO SAFELY PULL THE VEHICLE OFF THE HIGHWAY. DEALER DETERMINED FAULT CODE P1320 WAS STORED AND ALL SIX IGNITION COILS WERE FAULTY AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (TSB #01-060) WAS ISSUED BY NISSAN IN SEPTEMBER 2001, WHICH OUTLINES THE IGNITION COIL PROBLEM. THE DEALER REFUSED TO COVER THE REPAIR UNDER MANUFACTURERS WARRANTY OR EXTEND ANY GOODWILL WHEN THE TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN WAS BROUGHT TO THEIR ATTENTION. THIS IS A CRITICAL PRODUCT DEFECT WHICH COULD RESULT IN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT, INJURIES, AND EVEN DEATH, SHOULD THE ENGINE STALL WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE. A SERIOUS INVESTIGATION SHOULD BE INITIATED BY NHTSA DEMANDING NISSAN TO IMMEDIATELY ANNOUNCE A RECALL TO ALL VEHICLES CONCERNED. *AK