2009 Nissan Maxima
Complaints about this year name steering far more often than the other years of this generation — 50% of them, about 8× the usual rate of 6.4%.
First year of a new generation. The Nissan Maxima was redesigned for 2009. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 339 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 95 |
| Involving a crash | 7 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 1 |
| EPA combined | 22 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- steering — 49.9% of this year's complaints, against 8.5% across the other years of this generation (5.9×).
- start — 34.8% of this year's complaints, against 6.5% across the other years of this generation (5.3×).
- lock — 31.3% of this year's complaints, against 4.7% across the other years of this generation (6.6×). Owners wrote it as: lock, steering lock, wheel lock, key light.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- lock — 31% of complaints, 13× usual
- steering wheel — 25% of complaints, 18× usual
- start — 35% of complaints, 6× usual
What owners wrote
CAR WOULDN'T START, STEERING WHEEL LOCK WOULD NOT DISENGAGE. ALSO WINDOWS WENT DOWN WITH AUTO-DOWN FEATURE ON KEY BUT NO WAY TO PUT THEM BACK UP.
MY STEERING WHEEL COMPLETELY LOCKED UP. I WAS UNABLE TO START MY CAR AND HAD TO HAVE IT TOWED. IT COST ME ALMOST $1300 TO FIX. I SEE MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS. WHY IS THERE NOT A RECALL??
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 09V358000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Nissan Maxima was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2009 Nissan Maxima? What happened to yours?
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