2004 Nissan Maxima Si 3.5 petrol

Summary:

A smooth, reliable and powerful car

Faults:

103000 kms (60000 miles), and nothing wrong with it.

General Comments:

Fantastic car. Leaves Ford for dead in reliability. Would buy another Nissan Maxima without hesitation.

Service every 15000km, and transmission every 60000km with a trans flush to get all the old crap out, and no problems.

I've seen these cars go to 300000km in NZ, and still going.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 31st March, 2011

2004 Nissan Maxima ST-L 3.5

Summary:

I have never had a near new car that has had so many problems - terrible

Faults:

Power steering inlet-hose to pump came off, and hose was perished @ 129000klms.

Air box clamps broke off due to a faulty air sensor @ 141000klms.

Alternator needed replacing due to a recall around July 2009.

Right CV joint needed replacing, and new CV boot @ 151000klms.

Right drive shaft needed replacing @ 159000klms.

All belts needed replacing @ 159000klms.

Engine had serious problems with cold start up, that made terrible lifter noises throughout the period that I owned it, and got worse. The problem could not be resolved without a complete overhaul.

A major problem with the oil pump and the oil lines was discovered after my head blew up, and a new engine has to be purchased, resulting at a cost of around $6790.00 Australian currency.

General Comments:

There had been a recall for the air intake unit that I had already replaced before I got the recall from Nissan.

All of the problems listed above, bar the power steering hose, belts and the CV joint and boot, are major manufacture issues that in my opinion are poor craftsmanship errors that could have easily been picked up.

Note that the car had been serviced every 10000 klms, and had been driven only by my girlfriend, who I purchased the car for, and had only done 30000 kilometers in the 3 years we owned it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 2nd March, 2010

2nd Mar 2010, 09:09

"I have never had a near new car that has had so many problems - terrible"

- A car with that much mileage on it is by no means near new.

And I wouldn't have put that much money out for a new engine.

I would have sent the roach back to Japan, COD!!!

2nd Mar 2010, 12:00

126K km and 3 years old is not 'near new.'

2nd Mar 2010, 18:15

Piston slap was a big issue with this car. That was why it was making noises on cold start-up. As the car warmed up, the noise stopped.

3rd Mar 2010, 10:04

"126K km and 3 years old is not 'near new.'"

Last I checked 2010 was 6 years after 2004, not 3. Also you are correct about a car with so many km's on it being not "near new". So much could have happened to this car in its high mileage state. You can't really fault a heavily used car, as you can't possibly know how it was maintained and treated before you had it.

17th Mar 2010, 13:48

150ks is not a new car, what do you expect, my mum had a 03 Maxima, driven it till 235000kms before selling, no problems. Either you're a Maxima hater or got a raw deal, but never expect high mileage cars to be reliable and new LOL.

23rd Apr 2010, 17:14

To everyone standing up for this car saying that he got a "bad one" and "don't expect a new car." While it is indeed a fairly used car, let's not forget, this is supposed to be one of those imports that lasts 500K, remember? Had this been an American car, I can almost guarantee this review would have been plagued with comments bashing American made cars. Am I right? Let's get real here people, Nissan has tons of quality issues. High mileage or not. This is a fact.

24th Jun 2011, 07:20

Hi all Nissan Maxima 2004 owners. I have one, and never had any bad faults; she just keeps going every day. The V6 3.5 litre tows my 4.7 metre boat with ease. The only thing that I have against this car is that I didn't get it new... Maxima to the end.