Ignition Coils at 70200
Mass air flow sensor at 70500
Moonroof motor at 70500
Front Struts 72000.
Bought car used from Chevy dealer in Long Beach, CA. They replaced all problem items except for the front struts under the month-long warranty.
Other than the problems at the outset, it's been a wonderful car. It's very quiet, smooth and comfortable. When I have passengers they often think it's a new car! The only options that we didn't get were the heated seats and traction control, but in SoCal, what's the point? The stereo sounds great, the leather is holding up well and when you step on the gas, it really gets moving! Though it is a bit on the fat side when cornering and parking, it feels very light and responsive in regular traffic and on the freeway. The transmission (auto) is by far the most responsive/sporty that I've ever driven. You don't have to stand on the gas pedal in order to get it to kick down to a lower gear and it seems to know when you're going up a hill. Very nice.
The seats are for fat people as they're very wide. If I'm wearing wool pants and take a corner too fast, I end up sliding around on the leather!
My only real beef with this car is the fragile paint. If someone sneezes near this thing, I have a new paint chip. The rubber door rails that are supposed to keep other people from adding door dings look like hell because they are apparently made of black silly putty.
The premium fuel requirement is a bit of a drag and you just can't get away with using the cheap stuff--if you do, you'll be rewarded with an unpleasant knocking sound everywhere you go!
Regarding the MAF and ignition coils, the dealer said that there IS a recall, but Nissan doesn't state it. The dealer told us that they didn't have to pay for the parts when the requests were made, so for those of you with problems, you might want to investigate further.
Original poster here.
Since posting, I have replaced the tires with some Yokohama performance tires and handling has DRASTICALLY improved. Can't say enough how well this car corners now. MUCH better.
The issue with paint chips remains and the bumpers are in pretty ugly shape--perhaps I'll have them repainted or something.
The driver's side door hinges are starting to fatigue and as a result, the door does not close cleanly, bumping the bottom door sill on the way shut. I understand that replacing the hinges fixes this issue.
The seat belt retractor on the driver side is getting lazy and I often have to stuff the seat belt back down to the winder. Annoying, but not awful.
It also now makes the funny startup sound that is impossible to describe which seems to be the valve timing control sprocket. There is a TSB (NTB30-060) on this but it seems to be more of an annoyance than anything else. I got used to my old Sentra doing this and after 160,000 miles nothing bad ever happened--so I'm leaving it alone.
Still a good car and I enjoy driving it quite a lot.
Original poster here yet again. For all the problems that others seem to have, I've finally had some of my own; however being the handy sort, I've fixed them mostly on my own with few issues.
As many have, the spark plug coils went belly up around 75k but that was replaced by the dealer under the 3 month warranty. The items that I've replaced recently (about 125k) were the mass airflow sensor (check engine light came on) which was super-easy. Took about 20 min and the part cost less than $100. Improved weak acceleration and shut off light.
Next, the check engine light came on about three months later. This time it was the front bank catalytic converter. If you go to the dealership for this one, it'll cost you well over $1000 as the part itself is close to $700 for a Nissan cat. BUT, if you keep your wits about you, you can get an aftermarket (eastern) catalytic converter for less than $200 shipped. Even if you have a muffler shop install it for you, you're still way ahead, but it's a DIY job if you don't mind some rust and have a lot of socket extensions. Not exactly easy, but doable.
Finally the muffler flange rusted off and required replacement of the entire muffler. This annoys me because the muffler was in perfect shape, but muffler shops don't actually weld anymore, they all just want to sell you a new muffler. The fellow I eventually took it to could not weld it and just replaced the whole thing. This could have been a DIY job, but I didn't have the time.
The one problem I see over and over with folks who have a bad time with their Max is that they keep going back to the dealer. This is rarely ever necessary since even the smallest independent shops have access to most of the same repair data (though not the same diagnostic equipment). Dealers can charge up to $125 an hour for their work while a perfectly reasonable independent can charge as low as $45 an hour! Going to the dealer is just not a good idea anymore, so save yourself the hassle and stop going unless you're getting warranty service!
Oh yeah, those Yokohama AS430s that I put on ended up being terrible tires. Had two sidewall blowouts in less than a year. They say that I ran over curbs or hit big potholes but one of the sidewall bulges happened while I was on vacation -- and left the car home for a week! They're all worn out now and need to be replaced anyway. It's really hard to find a decent touring tire for the 17" wheels.
Is your Maxima registered in Califonia?
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