9th Mar 2005, 11:11

I have a 2000 Maxima with about 64K miles. Just got it back from a dealer who took two weeks to determine the mass air flow valve and 2 ignition coils were bad. Said the computer codes kept changing and that corporate tech support didn't return their calls. Cost over $800 to get my car out of the shop. I called Nissan corporate to complain about the problems I've had with this car (bought new and pampered, only use premium gas and already replaced another ignition coil at 38K) and was assigned a case number. I was told a regional rep would contact me. I've now called three times and no-one has ever called me back. Nissan has published technical service bulletins about the ignition coils, and is making consumers pay for faulty parts.

10th Mar 2005, 06:52

Original owner of a 2000 Maxima SE and have always used premium gas. Jan 2004 one coil replaced. Summer 2004 O2 sensor. December 2004 remaining 5 coils. January 2005 mass flow sensor. January 2005 catalytic converter. $3100 total. Had a file opened with Nissan customer service and although they were sympathetic I was denied any partial or whole reimbursement as each time a different code. Extremely disappointed in the amount of money an otherwise well kept Maxima has required. I've owned the car for 6 years (bought July 1999) and it has 99k miles. My next purchase will be a Honda.

13th Apr 2005, 17:04

I have a 2000 Nissan Maxima SE with 83,000 miles on it and the Service Engine Soon light came on. I have always put premium gas in my car. I went on-line and did some research and that is when I found this thread. I tried disconnecting the battery, waited, then took it for a test drive right after. The light didn't turn back on for three days, and then turned back on again. Also, the car engine started to shake and loose power intermittently.

At this point I realized that I had a serious problem, and brought the car to the dealer for diagnosis and repair. Well, I have to say that my dealer's repair department was quite knowledgeable, and have seen plenty of similar Maxima problems. Even without seeing the car they told me that the problem is likely to be a loose wire, ignition coils, or bad oxygen sensor/EGR valve. He also told me that unless it is a simple loose wire, I am looking at $600 - $700 repair bill. Well, the diagnostics showed multiple failure codes, with the likely cause of ignition coils failure. I also asked the dealer to replace spark plugs, since they recommended replacing all 6 ignition coils anyway. Well, I just picked up the car, and the engine is running smooth and produces more power. At the same time I am $720 lighter.

I have to say that I like my Maxima a lot. I bought it new in 2000 because I did not like the 2000 Camry V6 plastic dashboard. Also, Maxima offered better performance and was quite more refined and larger then the Honda Accord V6. However, the ignition coil problem is a big disappointment. Clearly, any car can have a design or production problem. However, I expect the Nissan company to acknowledge that the ignition coil problem is a defect and recall Maxima for coil replacement (the replacement coils are redesigned by Nissan, and this problem should not re-occur after replacement).

I just hope that something else does not fail, and cost me more money to repair. I am aware that the oxygen sensors in Maxima also fail en masse, and I dread the expense of replacing them. In the future I will stick with Toyota - every Toyota I owned was very reliable. My advice is that if you consider a Nissan car - do not buy it. After the French bought this company, Nissan's legendary reliability is history.

12th May 2005, 08:50

I own a 2000 Maxima GLE with 103,000 miles on it. I love this car because it is comfortable, drives well and has a lot of power. Recently, it started driving very sluggish and service engine soon light came on. I put it in the shop 2 days ago and the mechanic is saying that I need a new computer. I had planned on keeping this car until the wheels fell off of it, but reading these comments is making me wonder if this is going to be the start of a number of problems.

18th Jul 2005, 16:35

OK. Orig owner of a 2000 Maxima GLE from May 2000. Had few problems, but now the Service Engine Light is on. Always use premium gas. Gas cap is tight. Taking it in this week. Will give full report.

Mostly OK with Maxima, altho there's a rattling on uphill acceleration no can figure out. Also, the sun roof stopped working properly about 3 yrs ago. Otherwise, it runs very well. Only 40k on it so far.

21st Oct 2005, 19:13

I have a 2000 Max SE which has about 100K miles and my check engine light came on about 8 months ago. I had two mechanics check my car out. The one mechanic changed the oxygen sensors, fuel pump, checked for vacuum leaks and the light came back on a couple of days later. The other mechanic replaced a vacuum hose that had a small crack and double check the O2 sensors again but he couldn’t figure out what’s wrong with my car. After I drove the car for a few days the light went out and just recently the light came back on. From what I’m hearing it’s probably the ignition coil. It looks like I will be driving around with the light on for a while until I can save up and pay for work. By the way, great forum.

23rd Oct 2005, 19:35

I, too, have a 2000 Nissan Maxima. Bought it two years ago. A week after I got the car, it started stalling on and off, and "bucking" when I was driving. I took it back to the dealer (it was a certified car). They replaced an oxygen sensor.

Well, to make a long story short, I kept having problems on and off over the first year. A mechanic friend I know said the '99 and 2000 Maximas had ignition coil problems. I ended up having all of the coils replaced (at a cost to me close to $1,000) and the car has been fine ever since.

I recommend anyone who has similar problems to just replace all the coils (you can try to have the dealer cover it, but most likely they won't since it isn't a recall, but there was some sort of service bulletin about these).