"How reliable is the 2006 Nissan Maxima?"

"Based on 733 NHTSA complaints, the 2006 Nissan Maxima has a median complaint mileage of 84000 miles. The most common issue is POWER TRAIN."

"What are common problems with the 2006 Nissan Maxima?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2006 Nissan Maxima is POWER TRAIN, accounting for a significant portion of the 733 total complaints filed."

2006 Nissan Maxima: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 733 complaints

733

Total Complaints

84,000mi

Median Mileage

POWER TRAIN

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

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

65,800 25th Percentile

84,000 Median Mileage

102,999 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

POWER TRAIN

266

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

127

ENGINE

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

STRUCTURE:BODY

ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"THE PAINT OR COATING ON THE PAINT GETS SCRATCHED WITHOUT ANY EXTRA ORDINARY USAGE. I BELIEVE IT EVEN HAPPENS FROM RAIN. THE CAR IS ONLY 4 MONTHS OLD HAS SCRATCHES AL OVER IT. *JB"

"WE PURCHASED OUR 2006 NISSAN MAXIMA 3 WEEKS AGO. AS OF TODAY THE CAR HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP 2 TIMES, AND IS CURRENTLY HAVING PROBLEMS. IT WILL BE TAKEN BACK MONDAY AND HOPEFULLY WILL RECEIVE A NEW CAR. IT ALL STARTED WHEN ONE DAY I WAS DRIVING AND THE LOCKS ON THE DOORS STARTED LOCKING AND UNLOCKING B..."

"DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO BRAKE AT 20 MPH, THE VEHICLE SWERVES TO THE LEFT AND RIGHT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION. THE DEALER STATED THIS WAS NORMAL FOR A VEHICLE WITH 18 INCH TIRES. THE DEALERSHIP TOLD THE CONSUMER THE REASON HE EXPERIENCED THE JERKING OF..."

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

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

POWER TRAIN 266 complaints

25th: 75,000 mi Median: 90,000 mi 75th: 110,000 mi

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION 127 complaints

25th: 70,000 mi Median: 80,000 mi 75th: 90,000 mi

ENGINE 47 complaints

25th: 68,950 mi Median: 100,500 mi 75th: 118,750 mi

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 34 complaints

25th: 76,000 mi Median: 86,000 mi 75th: 108,000 mi

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 31 complaints

25th: 42,020 mi Median: 59,896 mi 75th: 74,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

FL: 71 CA: 62 GA: 45 NY: 39 TX: 38 NJ: 37 PA: 34 MD: 32 AL: 30 OH: 29

Who Files Complaints?

Original Owners

96%

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
1996	117	100,300	AIR BAGS:FRONTAL	15
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
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