2000 Nissan Maxima Reviews - Page 22 of 24

Same as many of the other comments, I have had trouble many times over with the 'service engine soon' light coming on. In the 1.5 years that I've had the car, it has come on over 10 times, apparently randomly. While it was still under warranty, I would take it back to the dealer every time the light would come on and every time they claimed they 'fixed' the problem, but nothing has gotten better. At this point, I have learned to just ignore it, and though the car shutters badly at low rpns, it always seems to fix itself after several days.

Service engine light came on at 41000 miles.

If you can afford a $150 scanner buy it. Then if you get a P0420. Check which bank; if it tells you bank 1 it's the firewall side if it says bank 2 it's the radiator side. Change the upstream sensor first, then you have to let the car run for about 30 miles highway until completes the 50 cycles so that it resets by itself. If you have more than 80000 miles it might be the catalytic. I have some experience in mechanic even though I'm a Computer engineer, and I found the problem. So I'm pretty sure you guys can do it too.

When my Maxima reached about 55000 miles, my check engine light came on. The initial code was for an O2 sensor. Upon recommendation from a technician, I tried running higher octane fuel and fuel injector cleaner. The light continued to return after a few days of driving. When the car reached around 60000, the TCS and slip lights came on as well. The car would hesitate and struggle when this occurred. The problem occurs at random intervals.

I took it to a Nissan dealer to have them diagnose the problem. They told me I would have to replace all 6 ignition coils at a cost of $920. Based upon the posts on this forum, this issue seems to be a common theme. Does anyone know if this is a potential "Do It Yourself" job? If so, does anyone have any documentation/recommendations on how to proceed?

The only failure this vehicle has had was with the electric window switch controls on the drivers side, and this was after 70000 miles and probably due a bit to getting wet.

The car handles well, can be driven very hard and is very forgiving.

The only maintenance done on this vehicle has been tires, brakes and tune up, with the exception of an electric window switch.