2008 Nissan Maxima SE from North America - Comments

Problem with front struts (noise, bad handling) - replaced.

Replaced power steering shaft and steering shaft (because of clunking noise)

Uncomfortable ride due to vibration; could not figure out where it is coming from.

Excessive rust on suspension parts, as if I had the car for 10 years already.

Paint chips off easily.

Car is very noisy on the road, or when it rains (you can hear the rain as if rocks are falling on your car).

It does not seem that the problems will stop at this point... I hate driving the car already and totally lost confidence in Nissan cars.

Stylish, precise steering, nice features.

Very poor quality, unreliable car.

Would never buy a Nissan or Infiniti again.

Odd review/problems. For one thing many of the suspension components are aluminum. For another, clunking steering is usually a result of a problem with the rack, not the shaft. Finally... rain sounds like rocks hitting the roof??

Sorry to hear about your problem... it just appears that you have a lemon. Every automaker have produced a few lemons. I have been buying Nissan's since I've been driving and I loved every single Nissan/Infiniti I've owned.

I see that Nissan quality has not improved since I dumped my Maxima some years back. Mine had the front end fall apart on it too but it was a recall. You might want to check on that. Nissan has horrible customer service as well and refused to fix a reoccurring problem on my Maxima after it failed three times forcing me to trade it in taking a huge loss because, you guessed it, they hold their value about as well as Kia. It had dropped over 60% in two years. My cousin has the '03 Altima and has had the worst experience with poor quality he's ever had. His Probe GT was a better car and that's not saying much! The last time I was in his car, it was literally falling apart inside. Definitely I will never by a Nissan again.

Support jobs in your own country/continent. Looks like Ford is making some nice cars again, as is GM and Chrysler. Ford and Chrysler have some neat looking and very different cars for different peoples tastes, and GM makes more main stream, somewhat bland cars with good all around qualities... with a 5/100k war. I think Chrysler still does a lifetime power train warranty for the original owner of most of its Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler vehicles, which you can't beat with a stick.

All I say is keep your options open. If you REALLY can't find domestic car that fits you and your budget, then buy foreign I guess. Just think of this next time you hear some one say American cars stink... what makes are the 10 to 15 year old cars in your town? American right? Yeah OK so there are a few Honda Civics and Toyota Camrys, but most are old Ford Crown Vics, Taurus and escorts. Oldsmobile 98, 88 and Cierra. Full sized Chevys of all types and years. Oh yeah... and lots of Pontiac Bonneville. They may be dented, scratched and rusty, but the old GM and ford cars are still running after 200k miles and 15 years of service...

I don't know how any one can complain about that unless they own a Mack truck that has a life span of up to 1,000,000 miles over a 10 year run.

Nissan Altima and Maxima is made in US. This is why reliability is out the window.

I work for Ford, and trust me, I would never buy one, LOL.

I'm not into throwing my money on junk. Ford corporates are in the business of stuffing their pockets with money, not building quality vehicles.

Do your research.

Wow, even Ford EMPLOYEE'S won't buy Fords. Speaks a lot about this new hype about the Fusion.

"Nissan Altima and Maxima is made in US. This is why reliability is out the window.

I work for Ford, and trust me, I would never buy one, LOL.

I'm not into throwing my money on junk. Ford corporates are in the business of stuffing their pockets with money, not building quality vehicles.

Do your research."

I DID do my research. Ford outranks Accord and Camry in reliability with the world-class Fusion. I also used to work for Ford. When I was employed by them my brother bought a brand new 1975 Granada with the 250 I-6. It was driven across the entire county every day to take my sister-in-law to work for 17 years. When it was traded (for another Ford of course) it had over 325,000 miles on it. The car had had one starter, one muffler and three brake jobs... that's all besides tires, batteries and belts.

That's why my garage now has two Fords in it. They last. In the past 30 years we've only had three cars that didn't make well over 100,000 miles without major repairs. All three were imports.

I been hearing MORE & MORE bad things about Maxima and ESPECIALLY Altima than ever before. Remember all the s&^t talking about the Fords, and other Americanized cars in the 80's. Well actually I agree with this! And always put Hondais and Toyotas on the pedestal! ALWAYS! (well that's when Honda, Toyota, Nissan KNEW how to make a car THEN) Well guess what! WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND! I can see that Ford and Chevys are eventually going to COMBAT all the S*&T talking. They will do this by investing more time and money to make a car with QUALITY. (OR I HOPE FORD CHEVY ARE DOING THIS, IF THEY WANT TO WIN MY BUSINESS ANYWAY) And Ford and chevy WILL TAKE OVER the imports! It's going to be WAR!! LOL hehe haha.