67 complaints reported

1999 Nissan Maxima Electrical System

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
67
Crashes
0
Fires
3
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Sep 2003

DEFECTIVE IGNITION COILS. WHEN I BOUGHT MY 99 MAXIMA THE DEALER SUPPOSEDLY "FIXED" THE PROBLEM. BY NOT EVEN A WEEK AFTER I HAD THE CAR THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON. TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER, THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT FIND THE PROBLEM AND RESET THE COMPUTER. THIS WENT ON ABOUT 3-4 TIMES UNTIL THE WARRANTY WAS UP, THEN THEY FOUND THAT THE #6 IGNITION COIL WAS BAD. AFTER THAT WAS REPLACED, A MONTH DID NOT GO BY BEFORE THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON AGAIN. THIS TIME THE #4 IGNITION COIL WAS BAD. AFTER GETTING THAT ONE REPLACED, LITERALLY NOT EVEN 5 HRS WENT BY BEFORE THE LIGHT WENT ON AGAIN...I HAVE NOT TAKEN THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALER YET. BUT SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE ABOUT THIS PROBLEM...I SPEND OVER $200 EACH TIME I HAVE TO FIX THIS PROBLEM. *JB

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2002
Apr 2003

THE IGNITION COIL PACKS FAILED WHICH CAUSED THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE. *AK *NLM

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Apr 2003

ENGINE IS NOT WORKING SMOOTHLY AFTER STARTING. CAR IS SHAKING. DEALER REPLACED COILS, ALL 6. PROBLEM WAS GONE FOR ABOUT 8 MONTHS BUT IT'S BACK AGAIN. *JB

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Apr 2003
Mar 2003

I HAVE A 99 NISSAN MAXIMA AND THE SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON THIS WEEK. THE LOCAL GARAGE DID A DIAGNOSTIC TEST AND FOUND CODES FOR KNOCK SENSOR AND IGNITION SIGNAL. THE LOCAL GARAGE WAS PUZZLED BECAUSE THEY'VE NEVER SEEN A KNOCK SENSOR FAIL BEFORE. CALLED 2 LOCAL NISSAN DEALERS AND BOTH SAY IT'S IGNITION COILS (AND THE KNOCK SENSOR WAS OK) AND UNLESS THE DIAGNOSTIC SAYS WHICH ONE WENT BAD I'D HAVE TO REPLACE THEM ALL FOR $600 TO $800 BECAUSE MY CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY. IT LOOKS LIKE THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM AND WONDER WHAT IT WOULD TAKE FOR A RECALL? *NLM

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Feb 2003
Mar 2003

IGNITION COILS HAVE GONE BAD IN THE CAR ,CAUSING CYLINDER MISFIRES.*AK

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Jul 2003
Jan 2003

I WAS EXPERIENCING A ROUGH IDLE AND ROUGH ENGINE RUNNING, FEELING AS THOUGH THE CAR WOULD CUT OFF AT ANY MOMENT. THE DEALER TESTED MY CAR AND DETERMINED THAT THE IGNITION COILS WERE BAD. THEY HAD TO REPLACE ALL 6 AT $100+ EACH BECAUSE THEY HAD NO WAY TO TELL WHICH OF THE 6 WERE BAD. IT IS UNLIKELY THAT ALL 6 WERE BAD BECAUSE THE CAR WOULD STILL START AND RUN, ONLY HAVING PROBLEMS INTERMITTENTLY. I FIND IT APPALLING THAT I WAS FORCED TO PAY FOR 6 PARTS PLUS LABOR WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO DETERMINE IF ALL OF THE PARTS TRULY NEEDED REPLACING.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2003
Jan 2003

CAR CRANKS BUT WILL NOT START/CATCH. SECURITY INDICATOR LIGHT IS ILLUMINATED INDICATING VEHICLE IMMOBILIZER SYSTEM IS MALFUNCTIONING. APPPARENTLY THE IGNITION KEY HAS DEPROGRAMMED AND NEEDS TO BE REPROGRAMMED.*AK

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2003
Dec 2002

THE COMPUTER CHIP KEEPS FAILING. THIS WOULD CAUSE EVERYTHING - ELECTRIC LOCKS, POWER WINDOWS AND THE WIPERS - NOT TO WORK PROPERLY. HAVE TAKEN TO A MECHANIC AND WAS INFORMED OF POSSIBLE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS. MANUFACTURER INDICATES THERE ISN'T ANY PROBLEMS FOR THEM.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Jul 2002

I TOOK CAR TO NISSAN DEALERSHIP AFTER NO. 2 COIL WAS BAD AND THEY WANTED TO REPLACE ALL OF THE COIL PACKS, RATHER EXPENSIVE. I GOT A SECOND OPINION, AND THEY REPLCED THE BAD ONE ONLY. A MONTH LATER, NO. 4 WENT BAD WHILE DRIVING IN TRAFFIC. WHEN THE PART CAME IN FOR THIS ONE, IT WAS A DIFFERENT PART NUMBER. SOMETHING IS FISHY HERE. THERE NEEDS TO BE A RECALL. THE PRIVATE REPAIR COMPANY TOLD ME THERE APPEARS TO BE A MASSIVE PROBLEM GETTING PARTS, YET NO RECALL?*AK

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Jun 2002
Mar 2002

CONSUMER STATES VEHILCE FAILED TO START BECAUSE THE COMPUTER CHIP IN VEHICLE HAD DE PROGRAMMED. CONTACTED DEALER. REPROGRAM CHIP, PROBLEM REACCURED.*JB

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Feb 2001
Jan 2002

VEHICLE IS LOSING POWER INTERMITTENTLY WHILE DRIVING. DEALER NOTIFIED. FEEL FREE TO PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION.*AK

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2001
Jan 2002

TOOK CAR TO DEALER BECAUSE OF ROUGH RUNNING ENGINE. DEALER SAYS 4 IGNITION COILS NEED TO BE REPLACED BUT THEY DID NOT HAVE IN STOCK. WHEN I CALLED SEVERAL OTHER DEALERS TO CHECK FOR PARTS, I WAS TOLD THEY CAN'T KEEP IGNITION COILS IN STOCK BECAUSE EVERYONE WITH A 1999 MAXIMA NEEDS THEM. I ASKED IF THERE WAS A RECALL AND THEY SAID NO. IF EVERYONE NEEDS THEM, THEN I THINK IT IS FAULTY EQUIPMENT AND SHOULD BE A RECALLABLE ITEM. THANK YOU. *AK

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 2001
Aug 2001

CONSUMER CANNOT START VEHICLE WITH KEY, THE KEY WILL NOT TURN IGNITION SWITCH, CONSUMER STATED THIS WAS ORIGINAL KEY RECEIVED WITH VEHICLE. CONSUMER CONTACTED DEALER, AND DEALER HAD TO RECODE KEY. *AK *SLC

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Feb 2001
Apr 2001

CONSUMER COULD GET INSIDE OF VEHICLE WITH KEY, BUT COULD NOT START VEHICLE THROUGH IGNITION SWITCH. ELECTRONIC DEVISE WOULD NOT READ KEY, AND COMPUTER HAD LOST THE COMBINATION. *AK DEALER REPROGRAMMED THE KEY. *SLC

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Aug 2000
Aug 2000

IGNITION SYSTEM IMMOBLIZED WHEN USING PROPER CODED NISSAN KEYS. CAR TOWED TO DEALER . KEYS RECODED. A CAR THAT CAN'T BE DEPENDED UPON IS A SAFETY HAZARD. I WANT SYSTEM REWIRED AND DELETED FROM CAR. OTHERS ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. WHEN WILL IT HAPPEN AGAIN? WHAT IF IT'S LATE AT NIGHT AND NO PHONE AVAILABLE? I HAVE A BAD HEART. THIS COULD KILL ME. I AM TOLD ONLY A NISSAN DEALER CAN REPAIR THIS. MY FAVORITE GARAGE CAN'T. CALLED NISSAN TO COMPLAIN FOUR TIMES. TALKED TO FOUR DIFFERANT PEOPLE. GOT FOUR DIFFERANT STORIES. PLEASE MAKE THESE PEOPLE REWIRE THIS CAR SO IT CAN NEVER POSSIBLY HAPPEN AGAIN. THEY KNOW THIS PROBLEM EXIST BUT ONLY OFFER VERBAL REASSURANCE WHICH IS NOT SATISFACTORY.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Jul 2000
Jun 2000

IGNITION SYSTEM IMMOBILIZED WHEN USING PROPER CODED NISSAN KEYS. KEYS RECODED, PROBLEM STILL OCCURS LATER. NISSAN/FACTORY REP KNOWS MAX SE HAVE APROBLEM, BUT DON'T KNOW WHY. I HAVE A CAR THAT I NEVER KNOW WHEN IT WON'T START AND MUST BE TOWED IN!! *AK

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: May 2000
May 2000

IGNITION SWITCH INTERMITTENTLY WORKS. DEALER HAS HAD VEHICLE IN DEALER'S SHOP FOR REPAIRS 5 TIMES. CONSUMER IS FILLING FOR LEMON LAW. *AK

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA, Manufacturer: Nissan North America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 1998

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 1999 Nissan Maxima has 67 Electrical System complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.