There are 871 stored owner reports matching the powertrain & transmission leading-label group for the 2004 Nissan Maxima in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 50 of 871 matching reports. This is a limited sample of up to 50 reports, ordered by incident date when available, not the complete group. The list controls page through the loaded reports only.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)CAR WAS FINE INITIALLY THEN STARTED CAR WHICH TOOK LONGER THAN NORMAL TO START AND CAR WOULD NOT HARDLY GO DUE TO IT NOT BEING IN 1ST GEAR. PUT THE TRANSMISSION INTO MANUAL MODE AND DOWNSHIFTED IT TO FIRST AND GOT A HARD CLUNK BUT CAR WOULD NOW GO UNDER ITS OWN POWER BUT WHEN YOU PUT IT BACK IN AUTO MODE IT GOES STRAIGHT TO 3RD GEAR. SHUT CAR OFF CAME BACK LATER AND STARTED CAR IT STARTED RIGHT UP AND HAD NO ISSUES WITH TRANSMISSION. DROVE IT FOR A BIT TURNED CAR OFF FOR A BIT AND THEN WENT TO START AGAIN AND HAD THE LONG START AND BAD SHIFTS AGAIN.
WHEN DRIVING THE CAR WIL LOSE POWER AND START JERKING BADLY, CUTTING BACK LIKE LOSING POWER. IT FEELS AS IF IT IS GOING TO STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. I TOOK IT TO A WELL KNOW TRANSMISSION SPECIALIST AND WAS TOLD THAT THIS IS A PROBLEM WITH SEVERAL NISSAN CARS INCLUDING MINE. THERE ARE SEVERAL RECALLS INCLUDING THE 2003 BUT NOT MY YEAR,I'M CONFUSED AND IT'S GETTING WORSE. BUT IT'S A KNOWN ISSUE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND. MY SAFETY IS WARRANTED???
TRANSMISSION SLIPPING
WHEN IN MOTION THE TRANSMISSION STARTS TO SLIP IN 1 AND 2 GEAR THEN 4 AND 5 GEAR JUMPS OUT OF GEAR THEN GOES IN TO LIMP MODE
THESE TRANSMISSION SHOULD OF BEEN RECALLED YEARS AGO I ALWAYS TEND TO FEEL A GEAR JUMP IN THE FIRST GEARS WHEN ABOUT TO START MOVING THE CAR OR BRAKING. THIS CAN BE A SERIOUS PROBLEM WHEN YOU SUDDENLY NEED TO MAKE A HARD STOP AND THE TRANSMISSION WILL MAKE A HUGE JUMP THEN STOP AND WITH THAT EXTRA TIME IT TAKES TO JUMP THEM STOP CAN BE A MINOR INJURY IF A PEDESTRIAN IS PRESENT OR EVEN DEATH.
WHENEVER I ACCELERATE AND THE SPEEDOMETER HITS 20 MPH THE TRANSMISSION JERKS OR IF I'M GOING 60 MPH ON THE FREEWAY AND START TO BRAKE AND AS MY SPEED IS DECREASING WHEN THE SPEEDOMETER HITS 20 MPH IT JERKS. THE TRANSMISSION MUST BE SLIPPING OR HAVE AN ISSUE.
THE TRANSMISSION IS HAVING ISSUES WHEN CHANGING GEARS. IT STARTING TO HESITATE BETWEEN FIRST GEAR AND SECOND AND SECOND TO THIRD. MY VEHICLE HAS ONLY 85,000 MILES.
TRANSMISSION IS STUCK IN 5TH GEAR WHEN GOING FORWARD. SHIFTING TO REVERSE OR ATTEMPTING TO DOWNSHIFT CAUSES SERIOUS JERKING (THUMP). THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE ELECTRONIC IN NATURE BECAUSE RESTARTING THE VEHICLE WOULD FIX THE PROBLEM WHEN IT FIRST STARTED OCCURRING. NOW, RESTARTING THE ENGINE DOES NOT FIX IT. NISSAN HAS CERTAINLY KNOWN ABOUT THE PROBLEM FOR YEARS, SINCE MANY COMPLAINTS OCCURRED WHEN THE VEHICLES HAD FAIRLY LOW MILEAGE.
I JUST PURCHASED THE VEHICLE THIS YEAR AS A USED VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE HAS STARTED TO JERKING AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE WHEN I PRESS THE GAS. IT TAKES AT LEAST 1 MINUTE THEN THE RPM SHOOTS UP. SOMETIMES I FEEL THAT I AM GOING TO GET WHIPLASH FROM ALL THE JERKING THIS VEHICLE DOES. I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR A NEW TRANSMISSION WHEN NISSAN KNEW ABOUT THE TRANSMISSION IN THESE VEHICLES. THEY SHOULD BE HOLD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND REPLACE ALL THE TRANSMISSIONS IN THESE VEHICLES AND PAY OTHER INDIVIDUALS BACK THEIR MONEY THAT HAS ALREADY PAID TO REPLACE THEIR TRANSMISSION.
TRANSMISSION FAILURE AT 100K MILES
TRANSMISSION SHIFT POORLY, HIGH REV INBETWEEN SHIFTS, HARD DOWN SHIFTS AND EXTREMELY HARD UP SHIFTS. VERY DANGEROUS TO DRIVE DURING ICY CONDITIONS DUE TO THE HIGH REV AND HARD DOWN SHIFTS THAT CAUSE UNCONTROLLABLE LOSS OF DRIVING. *TR
I WAS PULLING OUT AT A STOP SIGN FOR A LEFT TURN WHEN ALL A SUDDEN THE CAR JERKED AND I HEARD A LOUD BANG. THIS WAS MY TRANSMISSION LETTING GO. I WAS STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. LUCKILY SOMEONE STOPPED AND HELPED ME PUSH THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.
DOWN SHIFTING IN LOWER GEAR OR UPSHIFTING FROM LOWER TO HIGHER GEAR LOUD BANG IN TRANSMSSION
TRANSMISSION JERKS FROM P TO DR, JERKS WHEN DOWN AND UP SHIFTING. DOES NOT SEEM SAFE. 73, 0000 MILES ON VEHICLE
TRANSMISSION FAILING FOR SECOND TIME. TRANSMISSION WAS REBUILT/OVERHAULED IN MARCH OF 2014. MILEAGE AT TIME OF REBUILD WAS 111,090 MILES. THE TOTAL COST OF SAID REPAIR WAS $2,996.00. AS OF TODAY AUGUST 19, 2016 THE SAID MENTIONED TRANSMISSION IS FAILING FOR THE SECOND TIME. THE CURRENT MILEAGE IS APPROXIMATELY 136,XXX MILES. THE CURRENT SYMPTOMS WHILE CAR IS IN MOTION ARE, EXTREMELY HARD SHIFTS AND SLIPPING INTO UPPER GEARS.
VERY HARD SHIFTING AND DELAY FROM PARK TO DRIVE, HARD SHIFT FROM PARK TO REVERS
WHEN AUTO IS IN MOTION WHEN THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTS FROM LOW TO HIGHER GEAR ENGINE REVS TO EXCEEDINGLY HIGH RPM'S AS IF IN NUETRAL. WHEN LETTING OFF THE ACCELERATOR AFTER SLOWING THE TRANSMISSION REENGAGES WITH A VIOLENT JERK, VERY DANGEROUS AT INTERSTATE SPEEDS
SUDDENLY AFTER PUTTING MY CAR IN DRIVE FROM REVERSE AFTER BEING PARKED IN A PARKING LOT MY CAR JERKED SO BAD I THOUGHT MY NECK WAS BROKE. IT HAS CONTINUED. I LIVE ON A BUDGET AND AM DISABLED SO I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO REPLACE OR MAKE REPAIRS ON MY TRANSMISSION.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH NISSAN? WHY IS THERE NOT A RECALL ON THE MAXIMA TRANSMISSIONS? SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE ABOUT ! NOT EVERYONE HAS THE MONEY TO THROW AWAY ON A PROBLEM THAT THE MANUFACTURER CAUSED. SOMEONE SHOULD REALLY HELP SOLVE THIS ISSUE. CANNOT DRIVE THE CAR BECAUSE THE TRANSMISSION IS SHOT. SO MUCH FOR A RELIABLE CAR FOR MY SON TO GET BACK AND FORTH TO COLLEGE WITH. MY HUSBAND HAS SERVED THIS COUNTRY FOR CLOSE TO 25 YEARS AND IS SHOCKED THAT NISSAN IS NOT BEING MADE TO BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR MISTAKES.
TRANSMISSION GAVE OUT ON THE HIGHWAY, ALMOST CRASHED INTO ANOTHER VEHICLE, HAD TO PULL OFF THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, WAS WRITTEN UP AT WORK FOR BEING LATE. I HAD BOUGHT THE CAR LESS THAN 6 MONTHS AGO. NISSAN LOOKED AT IT SAID IT WAS FINE. 150,000 MILES
Showing 1-20 of 50 loaded complaints
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.