NHTSA Complaint #10537141 — 2005 NISSAN MAXIMA

MY 2005 NISSAN MAXIMA HAS BEEN HAVING A TRANSMISSION PROBLEM SINCE IT REACHED ABOUT 69,000 MILES. RIGHT NOW THE MAIN PROBLEM IT DOES, IS THAT IN DRIVE IT JERKS BETWEEN 1ST AND 2ND SHIFT. IT ALSO JERKS PRETTY HARD WHEN DOWNSHIFTING FROM 2ND TO 1ST. WHEN THE PROBLEM WAS STARTING TO BEGIN, IT ONLY AFFECTED FROM SHIFTING FROM REVERSE TO DRIVE,BUT HAS MOVED TO THE CRAZY JERKING IT DOES NOW. AT ABOUT 71,000 MILES I HAD THE CAR TAKEN TO A DEALERSHIP AND THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING FROM USING A CODE READER, BUT FROM JUST SOME SIMPLE SHIFTING OUT OF GEARS (PARK TO DRIVE, PARK TO REV) THEY RECOMMENDED A TRANS OIL CHANGE (ABOUT $250) WHICH I DENIED, BECAUSE I LOOKED A THE OIL MYSELF AND IT WAS STILL CHERRY RED, SO THAT WAS TOO MUCH TO SPEND TO JUST "TO SEE IF THAT FIXES THE PROBLEM". SO AT ABOUT 79,000 MILES WHEN THE HARD JERKING STARTED GETTING BAD, I TOOK THE CAR TO A DIFFERENT DEALERSHIP ,WHICH THEN THEY DID RECOGNIZE THE PROBLEM, AND TOLD ME IT WOULD BE ABOUT $4000 TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION, WHICH STUNNED ME, ESPECIALLY CAUSE I HAD JUST FINISHED PAYING OFF THE CAR AND THE WARRANTY HAD ENDED. SO I OBVIOUSLY I DENIED SUCH A COSTLY REPAIR,BUT IN TALKING TO THE MECHANIC AT THE DEALERSHIP , I TOLD HIM THAT THE JERKING PROBLEM ISN'T SO BAD AT ALL WHEN I USE THE MANUAL GEARSHIFTS AND I ASKED HIM WHY. WELL HE TOLD ME THAT PROBLEM COULD ALSO BE IN THE VALVE BODY WHICH COULD BE A CHEAPER FIX,BUT THEY REPLACE WHOLE TRANSMISSION UNITS NOT PARTS, BECAUSE OF WARRANTY PURPOSES, BUT THAT HE'S SEEN QUITE A FEW SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH OTHER VEHICLES. SINCE I TOLD HIM IT WAS TOO MUCH FOR ME TO SPEND HE RECOMMENDED A TRANS REPAIR CENTER. SO WHEN I TOOK IT THERE, THEY CONFIRMED THAT JUST CHANGING OUT THE VALVE BODY WOULD BE A "BANDAID FIX" AND THAT A FULL REPLACEMENT WOULD BE NEEDED (ABOUT $3500 FROM THEM). NOW IN READING OTHER STORIES FROM PEOPLE WITH THE SAME PROBLEM AS MINE. *TR