CSR

Nissan · NHTSA safety record

2017 Nissan Maxima

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

103

Complaints

7

Crashes

2

Fires

7

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2017 Nissan Maxima have filed 103 safety complaints with NHTSA between February 2017 and July 2026. The most complained-about system is the air bags, named in 18 of them (17%). The typical failure was reported at 27,908 miles, the median across the 44 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 4 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (4)

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP

19V807000 · November 8, 2019

Park outside until repaired

The defect
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2015-2018 Nissan Murano, 2016-2018 Nissan Maxima, and 2017-2019 Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX60 vehicles. These vehicles were previously recalled and unrepaired, or inspected and determined to not need a repair, under recall number 18V-601. In addition, this recall expands the previous population. The Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) actuator pumps may allow brake fluid to leak onto an internal circuit board.
The risk
A brake fluid leak on the circuit board may result in an electrical short, increasing the risk of a fire.
The remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the ABS actuator, free of charge. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available, currently expected to be during summer 2020. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Note: If the ABS warning light remains illuminated for more than 10 seconds after engine start up, owners are advised to park the vehicle outdoors away from other vehicles or structures and to not drive the vehicle.

Nissan North America, Inc. · up to 391,479 vehicles across all model years covered

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP

18V601000 · September 7, 2018

Park outside until repaired

The defect
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Nissan Murano, 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2017-2018 Nissan Pathfinder, and 2017 Infiniti QX60 vehicles. The Anti-Lock Brake (ABS) actuator pumps may allow brake fluid to leak onto an internal circuit board.
The risk
A brake fluid leak on the circuit board may result in an electrical short, increasing the risk of a fire.
The remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the serial number on the ABS actuator, replacing it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began October 29, 2018. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Note: When brake fluid has leaked onto the circuit board, the ABS warning lamp will remain illuminated for more than 10 seconds after engine start up. If this occurs, owners are advised to park the vehicle outdoors away from other vehicles or structures and to not drive the vehicle.

Nissan North America, Inc. · up to 215,124 vehicles across all model years covered

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP

16V636000 · September 2, 2016

The defect
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima vehicles manufactured February 10, 2015, to August 19, 2016 and equipped with Intelligent Cruise Control, 2015-2017 Murano vehicles manufactured August 22, 2014, to August 19, 2016 and equipped with Intelligent Cruise Control, and 2015-2016 Murano Hybrid vehicles manufactured August 22, 2014, to July 19, 2016. The affected vehicles have Anti-Lock Brake (ABS) actuator pumps that may allow brake fluid to leak onto an internal electrical circuit board.
The risk
A brake fluid leak onto the circuit board may result in an electrical short, increasing the risk of a fire.
The remedy
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ABS Actuator, replacing it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on December 12, 2016. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261. Note: When brake fluid has leaked onto the circuit board, the ABS warning lamp will remain illuminated for more than 10 seconds after engine start up. If this occurs, owners are advised to park the vehicle outdoors away from other vehicles or structures and to not drive the vehicle.

Nissan North America, Inc. · up to 120,329 vehicles across all model years covered

AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION

16V244000 · April 26, 2016

The defect
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, LEAF, Sentra, and Pathfinder, 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60, QX60 Hybrid, and Q50 Hybrid, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue and Infiniti Q50, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Murano Hybrid, and Chevrolet City Express, 2014-2015 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, and 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles. In these vehicles, the front seat passenger Occupant Classification System (OCS) may incorrectly classify an adult passenger as a child or classify the seat as empty despite it being occupied. As a result, the passenger frontal air bag may be turned off and not deploy in the event of a crash.
The risk
If the passenger frontal air bag does not deploy as intended in the event of a crash, the passenger is at an increased risk of injury.
The remedy
Nissan will notify their owners. Chevrolet City Express owners will be notified by General Motors. Dealers will reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in Altima, Maxima, Murano, Rogue, and Sentra vehicles, and replace the OCS ECU in LEAF, NV200, NV200 Taxi, Pathfinder, Infiniti Q50, JX35, and QX60 and Chevrolet City Express vehicles, free of charge. Interim notices were sent to owners on May 31, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669, Infiniti customer service at 1-888-833-3216 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020.

Nissan North America, Inc. · up to 3,296,947 vehicles across all model years covered

Defect investigations (1)

An investigation means NHTSA has decided a pattern is worth examining. A preliminary evaluation is often closed with no action; an engineering analysis is the stage that usually precedes a recall.

Rear Suspension Control Arm Failure

EA19002

Closed engineering analysis · opened July 29, 2019 · closed June 16, 2025

the suspension

On July 29, 2019, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened EA19002 to investigate instances of alleged rear lower control arm failures in 2013-2018 Nissan Altima and 2016-2018 Nissan Maxima vehicles. At the time the investigation was opened ODI had 91 consumer complaints alleging rear lower control arm failures in the subject vehicles.ODI was concerned about these complaints because many of them alleged an increased steering effort or loss of vehicle control.At the time these complaints were received, ODI was also aware of a proactive service campaign addressing 2013 Nissan Altima in salt-belt states for a similar concern. Since opening the investigation, ODI has confirmed, based on consumer complaints, warranty data, and testing conducted by Nissan and ODI, that owners of the subject vehicles are experiencing a corroded bushing at one of three mounting points of the control arm to the rear subframe.ODI has also confirmed that drivers become aware of the problem because of sound and abnormal vibrations. In addition, the failure mileage is typically over 113,000 miles at the time of failure.In conjunction with Nissan and VRTC, ODI participated in testing to assess the potential safety consequence of a bushing failure.It was found the Vehicle Dynamic Control system allows the driver to maintain vehicle control in the event of a bushing failure.With between 7 to 13 years of field exposure, ODI is aware of only one low speed crash allegation describing minor contact with another vehicle’s trailer hitch. Nissan acknowledges that a crack can develop in affected control arms due to stress loading from normal use and that salts commonly used for roadway snow and ice treatment may result in corrosion that exacerbates the progression of the crack.Nissan implemented a design change in January of 2018 to improve the durability of the lower control arm.Affected vehicles have either been repaired with the countermeasure part under a customer satisfaction campaign or been provided a warranty extension from 3 years/36,000 miles to 10 year/unlimited mileage. Through testing and analysis of the information obtained to date, ODI has not identified a defect representing an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety involving corrosion of the subject rear lower control arm at this time.With a declining trend of reports and Nissan’s actions to implement a countermeasure and extended warranty coverage, further investigation of the issue does not appear to be warranted at this time.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov. A detailed discussion of the investigation and related complaint numbers can be viewed in the attached closing report.

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 103.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER 25 24%
AIR BAGS 18 17%
STRUCTURE 17 17%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 11%
POWER TRAIN 11 11%
SERVICE BRAKES 10 10%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 9 9%
ENGINE 8 8%
SUSPENSION 7 7%
WHEELS 6 6%
SEAT BELTS 4 4%
STEERING 4 4%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2019 at 21.

2017 2019 2026
2017 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

SERVICE BRAKES

3 injured · crash · towed · 44,000 miles

CAR WON'T STOP WHEN STEPPING ON BRAKES

NHTSA complaint 11152357. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed · 60,000 miles

A VEHICLE PULLED OUT INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC AND WAS STRUCK MY VEHICLE. MY VEHICLE SUSTAINED FRONT-END DAMAGE THAT TOTALLED MY CAR OUT. MY AIRBAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY.

NHTSA complaint 11389638. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · 3,000 miles

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 NISSAN MAXIMA. WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH, ANOTHER VEHICLE CROSSED IN FRONT OF THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE. AS A RESULT, THE CONTACT CRASHED INTO THE DRIVER SIDE OF THE OTHER VEHICLE. THE AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. THE CONTACT SUSTAINED INJURIES TO THE FACE AND NECK THAT REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 3,000. *BF *JS

NHTSA complaint 11047998. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES

1 injured · 15,100 miles

WHILE DRIVING ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET MY CAR JOLTED TO A STOP BY ITSELF. THERE WERE NO CARS IN FRONT OF ME AND NO REASON FOR THE AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM TO TAKE CONTROL. AFTER MY CAR CAME TO A STOP IT WOULDN'T MOVE FOR A FEW SECONDS.

NHTSA complaint 11182410. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
I was approaching an exit on 7/23/2026, and all of a sudden my engine light begans flashing very fast! Once I get to the red light at the exit, the engine light stops flashing and the car begins to shake profusely...... When the light turns green, I get on the accelerator and the shaking gets harder and the engine light begins to flash again.

NHTSA complaint 11752845. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES

fire

Car was parked outside husbands work since 7 at 12:15 pm he was advised by a co worker that my car was on fire ! When I ran outside my his workers where trying to put out the fire with the fire extinguishers from the work warehouse ! The fire department ended up finish putting out the fire ! The whole engine compartment was burnt to a crisp and a huge hole was burnt through the hood on the passenger side along side the firewall of car !

NHTSA complaint 11746526. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The vehicle experienced a no‑start condition and was towed to a dealership. The dealership performed major engine and timing repairs without authorization and kept the vehicle for nearly four months. After the repairs, the vehicle still cranks but will not start, requires jump‑starts, and now has new electrical issues and a nonfunctional A/C system.The safety risk is that the vehicle can fail to start unexpectedly, stall, or lose electrical power, which could leave occupants stranded in unsafe conditions. The issue has been reproduced and confirmed by the dealership, but they were unable to diagnose or repair it. The vehicle has been inspected by the dealership and a warranty company.There

NHTSA complaint 11744323, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN
My vehicle repeatedly loses acceleration/motive power while driving. When I press the accelerator, the pedal may go down but the vehicle does not respond normally and begins to decelerate unexpectedly. This can happen even at low speeds, including around 20 mph, and creates a serious safety risk when entering traffic, turning, or accelerating with other vehicles nearby. Warning lights illuminate afterward as if the vehicle detected a crash or traction/ABS event. The issue resets temporarily after turning the vehicle off and back on, but it continues to happen repeatedly. Nissan advised that the vehicle was part of a CVT-related issue/settlement or warranty extension, but said coverage has

NHTSA complaint 11740833, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car turning off while driving and can't turn the wheel to get out of the road. We had the car battery, fob battery and alternator replaced and still the same issue. We heard this has happened to another owner of the same vehicle that lives in or town. This is not safe and could cause an accident.

NHTSA complaint 11721901. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING

crash · towed

My son was driving my car to work and this is his account of the incident On 1/17/2026 on I95 n, the steering wheel abruptly stopped controlling the wheels. It was as if it completely disconnected and he lost control and crashed into the median. It was a terrifying incident for my son. No other cars were involved. This accident has been reported to my insurance company. This car has been a smooth ride since I've had it. It has UNDER 70,000 miles even though it's a 2017 Nissan Maxima. There were no warning or messages on the dash. I have been ill so the process of getting the car appraised or considered for repairs has just begun. I incurred towing charges and rental fees. My son is having

NHTSA complaint 11712925, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Nissan Maxima

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2020 21 1
2019 18 1
2018 36 2
2016 142 8
2014 95 0
2013 62 0
2012 107 0
2011 106 0
2010 275 1

Other 2017 Nissan models

Every Nissan on this site — 200 vehicles, 319 recall campaigns and 5 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

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Independent developer and analyst