"How reliable is the 1996 Nissan Maxima?"

"Based on 117 NHTSA complaints, the 1996 Nissan Maxima has a median complaint mileage of 100300 miles. The most common issue is AIR BAGS:FRONTAL."

"What are common problems with the 1996 Nissan Maxima?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1996 Nissan Maxima is AIR BAGS:FRONTAL, accounting for a significant portion of the 117 total complaints filed."

1996 Nissan Maxima: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 117 complaints

117

Total Complaints

100,300mi

Median Mileage

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

75,000 25th Percentile

100,300 Median Mileage

174,950 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

AIR BAGS

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE

SUSPENSION:FRONT

TIRES

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM

TIRES:TREAD/BELT

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"VEHICLE PULLS TO THE RIGHT.*SD"

"ENGINE SURGES ON IT OWN/DIFFICULT TO CONTROL AT LOW DEMAND. *AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 34 FL: 12 NY: 9 IL: 7 TX: 7 TN: 5 PA: 5 NJ: 5 MD: 4 MA: 3

Who Files Complaints?

41.9%

Original Owners

58.1%

Second+ Owners

Nissan Maxima — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1990	138	128,000	VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS	7
1991	99	134,097	SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:RECLINER	10
1992	140	139,000	VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS	23
1993	102	108,000	AIR BAGS:FRONTAL	13
1994	128	100,000	VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS	7
1995	195	131,000	AIR BAGS:FRONTAL	18
1997	123	85,892	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ALTERNATOR/GENERATOR/REGULATOR	8
1998	133	110,000	AIR BAGS	14
1999	215	80,000	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION	9
2000	467	60,000	ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION	33
2001	224	75,000	AIR BAGS	15
2002	278	67,500	AIR BAGS	37
2003	249	88,500	ENGINE	20
2004	1725	78,950	POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION	43
2005	1152	86,000	POWER TRAIN	32
2006	733	84,000	POWER TRAIN	30
2007	168	85,001	STRUCTURE:BODY	5
2008	99	75,000	AIR BAGS	9
2009	460	70,000	STEERING	7
2010	399	67,000	STEERING	9
2011	138	70,000	AIR BAGS	9
2012	136	52,000	AIR BAGS	9
2013	71	65,500	POWER TRAIN	1
2014	126	52,725	AIR BAGS	20
2016	223	44,307	POWER TRAIN	16
2017	147	27,907	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	11
2018	44	39,178	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	2
2019	26	17,000	UNKNOWN OR OTHER	6
2020	32	8,296	STRUCTURE:BODY	2

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28