1999 Nissan Maxima

JUST FOUND OUT THAT WE SHOULD REPLACE ALL 6 COILS IN OUR 1999 MAXIMA. NISSAN WAS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM AND DECIDED TO RIP US OFF EVEN MORE (SINCE THE CAR IS FALLING APART IN EVEYWAY POSSIBLE) BY ONLY OFFERING REPLACEMENT COILS - WHICH ARE BETTER INSTEAD OF A RECALL. IT WASN'T UNTIL I HAD THE COIL PROBLEM THAT I LEARNED THAT IT WAS A PROBLEM IN ALL NISSAN '99 MAXIMAS. IT IS COSTING ME OVER $700!*AK

IN JUNE OF 2003, MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. AFTER PAYING FOR THE EXPENSIVE COMPUTER DIAGNOSIS I WAS TOLD THAT ONE OF THE IGNITION COILS WAS BAD. HOWEVER THEY COULD NOT TELL WHICH ONE AND I WOULD NEED TO REPLACE ALL OF THEM EVENTUALLY. SINCE IT WAS SO EXPENSIVE MY MECHANIC SAID WE COULD START BY REPLACING ONE AT A TIME THAT WORKED FINE UP UNTIL NOW. RECENTLY MY CAR HAS STALLED IN TRAFFIC. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY IF SO MANY PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEMS, WHY A RECALL IS NOT BEING DONE AT NISSAN'S EXPENSE. I WISH I WOULD HAVE FOUND THIS WEBSITE BEFORE I PURCHASED MY MAXIMA. I WILL THINK TWICE BEFORE BUYING ANOTHER NISSAN. *JB

I BOUGHT THIS CAR IN OCT 1998. AFTER MY 60,000 MILE SERVICE AT THE DEALER (RTE. 22 NISSAN, HILLSIDE, NJ) IN DEC 2003, I NOTICED THAT THE ENGINE STUTTERED WHEN I PUT THE GEAR IN REVERSE. THE RPM METER OSCILLATED BETWEEN 0 AND 1000 CONTINUOUSLY BEFORE STABILIZING. I TOLD THE DEALER ABOUT THIS AND DURING MY REGULAR SERVICE, THE DEALER INSPECTED AND TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS AN IDLING PROBLEM AND THAT HE WOULD TRY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. THE CAR APPEARED TO BE FINE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS BUT THEN STARTED STUTTERING AGAIN WHILE TAKING A REVERSE. THIS PROBLEM USED TO HAPPEN ONLY OCCASSIONALLY AND AND SO I COULD LIVE WITH IT. MEANWHILE I MOVED OVER TO CALIFORNIA, AND IT WAS ALSO TIME FOR MY NEXT SERVICE (66,000). I ASKED THE DEALER (MAGNUSSEN NISSAN, FREMONT, CA) TO HAVE DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM SINCE IT HAD STOPPED ONCE OR TWICE BEFORE AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT AND AFTER BEING $118 POORER, I WAS TOLD THAT THE ENGINE WIRING HARNESS NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF $2,700 AND THAT ONE IN 50 NISSAN CARS HAD THIS PROBLEM. THE UNFORTUNATE PART OF THE DIAGNOSIS WAS THAT THE VEHICLE WAS RETURNED IN A WORSE CONDITION THAN BEFORE. NOW THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ALWAYS LIT UP AND THE VEHICLE STARTED STOPPING WHENEVER THE CAR CAME TO A HALT (STOP SIGNS, TURNS AND TRAFFIC LIGHTS) AND ON SOME OCCASSIONS NARROWLY ESCAPING SOMEONE FROM REAR-ENDING MY CAR AT STOP SIGNS. MY CAR IS NOW IN A NON-DRIVABLE STATE FOR THE FEAR OF IT STALLING ANYTIME ON THE ROADS AND GETTING HIT BY ANOTHER VEHICLE. I CONTACTED NISSAN CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND FINALLY GOT TO SPEAK TO A SUPERVISOR AND WAS TOLD THAT SINCE MY CAR WAS OUTSIDE OF THE WARRANTY PERIOD (3 YRS/36,000), THEY COULD NOT ASSIST ME WITH FIXING THE CAR. THE REAL PROBLEM WITH THE QUALITY OF THE PART THAT NISSAN HAS PROVIDED MY CAR WITH. THE WIRING HARNESS IS NOT A MOVING PART AND IS NOT SOMETHING THAT ANYBODY HAS ACCESS TO AND ITS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO HAVE A $2,800 SERVICE PENDING AFTER 5 YRS OF PURCHASE FOR A NON-MOVING PART. *AK

VEHICLE UNEXPECTEDLY STARTED TO RUN ROUGH, MISFIRED REPEATEDLY, AND EXPERIENCED EPISODES OF NEAR STALLING, WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND VEHICLE CONTINUED TO OPERATE UNDER A SEVERE LOSS OF POWER BEFORE BEING ABLE TO SAFELY PULL THE VEHICLE OFF THE HIGHWAY. DEALER DETERMINED FAULT CODE P1320 WAS STORED AND ALL SIX IGNITION COILS WERE FAULTY AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (TSB #01-060) WAS ISSUED BY NISSAN IN SEPTEMBER 2001, WHICH OUTLINES THE IGNITION COIL PROBLEM. THE DEALER REFUSED TO COVER THE REPAIR UNDER MANUFACTURERS WARRANTY OR EXTEND ANY GOODWILL WHEN THE TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN WAS BROUGHT TO THEIR ATTENTION. THIS IS A CRITICAL PRODUCT DEFECT WHICH COULD RESULT IN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT, INJURIES, AND EVEN DEATH, SHOULD THE ENGINE STALL WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE. A SERIOUS INVESTIGATION SHOULD BE INITIATED BY NHTSA DEMANDING NISSAN TO IMMEDIATELY ANNOUNCE A RECALL TO ALL VEHICLES CONCERNED. *AK

VEHICLE FAILED TO START AFTER REPEATED ATTEMPTS. WHEN VEHICLE STARTED, THE "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. ENGINE WAS MISFIRING. DEALER RAN DIAGNOSTIC TEST AND RETRIEVED FAULT CODE P1320 FROM THE ECU. WAS INFORMED THAT ALL SIX IGNITION COILS WERE DEFECTIVE AND NEED TO BE REPLACED. NISSAN ISSUED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (TSB #01-060) IN SEPTEMBER, 2001, WHICH ADDRESSES THE PROBLEM INVOLVING THE IGNITION COILS. DEALER REFUSED TO COVER REPAIR UNDER MANUFACTURER'S WARRANTY OR GOODWILL PROGRAM. THIS IS AN OBVIOUS MANUFACTURING DEFECT WHICH COULD RESULT IN THE ENGINE STALLING WHILE BEING DRIVEN, POTENTIALLY CAUSING AN ACCIDENT AND INJURIES. I REQUEST THAT THE NHTSA LAUNCH AN INVESTIGATION AND ORDER NISSAN TO RECALL THE AFFECTED VEHICLES AND REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE IGNITION COILS, FREE-OF-CHARGE. *AK

ENGINE COILS - I RECENTLY DISCOVERED THAT I HAVE AN ENGINE COIL PROBLEM IN MY 99 NISSAN MAXIMA. I FOUND THIS VERY DISTURBING CONSIDERING WHEN I PURCHASED THIS CAR IT WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS WHEN IT CAME TO ENGINE PERFORMANCE. WHAT I FOUND EVEN MORE DISTURBING WAS WHEN THE DEALER INFORMED ME THAT THEY USUALLY GO OUT AROUND THIS TIME, WHICH DOES NOT SEEM TO BE NORMAL TO ME. ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF REPLACEMENT COSTS. I SPENT SOME TIME ON THE INTERNET AND DISCOVERED THIS IS A REOCCURING PROBLEM AND THERE IS EVEN A PETITION FOR IT. THIS MAKES ME RETHINK MY CHOICE OF PURCHASING A NISSAN FOR RELIABILITY. ESPECIALLY, GIVEN THAT NISSAN IS NOT STANDING BY THEIR PRODUCT AND ENSURING THIS PROBLEM IS RECTIFIED FOR THE CUSTOMER AT NO ADDITIONAL COSTS. I AM A LOYAL NISSAN CUSTOMER AND HAVE GOTTEN SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS TO PURCHASE NISSAN'S HOWEVER THIS EXPERIENCE IS CHANGING MY OUTLOOK COMPLETELY. IN CLOSING, I WOULD LIKE TO MENTION THAT WHEN I LOOKED FOR RECALL INFORMATION ON NISSAN'S WEBSITE IT WAS SURPRISING TO SEE THE COMMENTS "WE'RE OUR OWN TOUGHEST CRITICS", IF THIS IS TRUE WHY AREN'T THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE EXPERIENCING MY PROBLEM BEING TAKEN CARE OF, WHY ARE ENGINE COILS A REOCCURRING ISSUES THAT THE CONSUMER HAVE TO BEAR THE EXPENSE FOR? I WILL BE ESCALATING THIS MATTER, BUT WANTED TO LODGE A COMPLAINT HERE AS WELL. I DO NOT THINK THAT A HUMAN LIFE SHOULD BE SACRIFICED IN ORDER TO CATCH THE EYE OF A MANUFACTURER WHEN IT COMES TO VEHICLE PERFORMANCE.*AK