Nissan Maxima 1995–1999
4th generation (A32)
NHTSA data through 13 August 2026783 complaints, 245 with mileageMethod
- Reports with mileage
- 245
- Median of reported failures
- 91,000 mi
- Most-reported system
- Electrical system (23.2%)
- Recalls
- 0
Before-you-buy checklist ↓Check this VIN — NHTSA ↗
On this generation, failures are spread across the mileage range, with the middle half between 60,500 and 132,300 miles.
Figure 1 · Nissan Maxima 1995–1999 · 245 reports with mileage
Mileage at failure
Complaints per 20,000-mile bin, 0 to 200,000 miles, equal bins on a linear scale. Tallest bar = 49 complaints.
- Rest of the range
- Median
- 200,000+ — 10 complaints (4.1%), plotted separately
- 10%
- 41,000
- 25%
- 60,500
- Median
- 91,000
- 75%
- 132,300
- 90%
- 159,904
Show the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 0–20,000 | 5 | 2.0% |
| 20,000–40,000 | 16 | 6.5% |
| 40,000–60,000 | 35 | 14.3% |
| 60,000–80,000 | 49 | 20.0% |
| 80,000–100,000 | 35 | 14.3% |
| 100,000–120,000 | 26 | 10.6% |
| 120,000–140,000 | 31 | 12.7% |
| 140,000–160,000 | 25 | 10.2% |
| 160,000–180,000 | 6 | 2.4% |
| 180,000–200,000 | 7 | 2.9% |
| 200,000+ | 10 | 4.1% |
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, public domain. Complaint counts reflect what owners reported and are not a measure of failure rate per vehicle sold.
What this can and cannot tell you: these are complaints owners chose to file, not a failure rate. Popular models accumulate more of them simply by being common. How this is built.
Owners filed 783 complaints with NHTSA about the 1995–1999 Nissan Maxima, and 245 of them record the mileage at which the failure happened. That is enough to show not just what fails, but when.
Failures are spread across the mileage range, with the middle half between 60,500 and 132,300 miles. The median is 91,000 miles.
The most-reported areas are the electrical system (23.2% of complaints, typically around 91,000 miles), the engine and its cooling system (12.6% of complaints, typically around 92,000 miles), the airbag system (12.6% of complaints, typically around 81,000 miles).
If you arrived asking “is it reliable?” — this page answers the version of that question the data can support: which problems owners reported, and at what mileage.
How many miles does a 1995–1999 Nissan Maxima last?
Half of the failure reports on the 1995–1999 Nissan Maxima were filed by 91,000 miles and 90% by 160,000 miles — figures drawn from 245 NHTSA complaints that record an odometer reading, so they time reported failures, not the cars whose owners never filed one.
10 reports (4.1%) came in past 200,000 miles — each one proof a Maxima reached that mileage, not that it died there.
Before you buy a 1995–1999 Maxima: the 3-minute check
Generated from 245 mileage-tagged complaints, 2 documented problem areas. Print this page — the checklist survives print.
- Check emissions / exhaust on 1995–1999 cars. Pre-catalyst substrate breakdown on the exhaust manifold; ceramic debris can be drawn back into the cylinders through the EGR path causing scoring and oil consumption.
- Check engine. Valve cover and front crank seal oil leaks, and distributor/ignition failure causing no-start and rough running.
- End with a pre-purchase inspection of this car. Aggregate data describes the population; the example in front of you has its own history.
For a buyer, failures on this generation are spread rather than concentrated: the middle half falls between 60,000 and 132,000 miles, with a median of 91,000. There is no single mileage threshold to watch, which means condition and maintenance records are more informative than the odometer.
On inspection, the electrical system and the engine and its cooling system are where this generation's reports concentrate, so those are the areas worth a specific look. The electrical system in particular shows a median failure mileage of 91,000, which gives a concrete number to compare against the odometer of any car you are considering.
None of this is a substitute for a pre-purchase inspection on the individual car. Aggregate patterns describe a population; the example in front of you has its own history.
What fails, and when
Figure 2 · Nissan Maxima 1995–1999
When each system fails
Bar spans the middle half of reports; the notch inside each bar is the median. Miles at failure on a proportional scale — equal distances are equal ratios, not equal miles.
- Transmission and driveline45 reports72,00056,000–132,000Transmission and driveline: 45 reports, median 72,000 miles, middle half 56,000 to 132,000 miles.
- Airbag system99 reports81,00065,000–110,000Airbag system: 99 reports, median 81,000 miles, middle half 65,000 to 110,000 miles.
- Electrical system182 reports91,00060,000–127,000Electrical system: 182 reports, median 91,000 miles, middle half 60,000 to 127,000 miles.
- Engine and its cooling system99 reports92,00055,000–125,000Engine and its cooling system: 99 reports, median 92,000 miles, middle half 55,000 to 125,000 miles.
- Body structure40 reports147,00095,000–160,000Body structure: 40 reports, median 147,000 miles, middle half 95,000 to 160,000 miles.
- Your odometer — appears after you enter it in “Where your car sits”
Ordered by median mileage, earliest first. The first 12,000 miles are shaded: that is the boundary this site uses between a manufacturing defect and ordinary wear, not a property of the world.
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, public domain.
| System | Complaints | Share | Median | 25–75% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical system | 182 | 23.2% | 91,000 | 60,000–127,000 |
| Engine and its cooling system | 99 | 12.6% | 92,000 | 55,000–125,000 |
| Airbag system | 99 | 12.6% | 81,000 | 65,000–110,000 |
| Transmission and driveline | 45 | 5.7% | 72,000 | 56,000–132,000 |
| Suspension | 40 | 5.1% | — | — |
| Body structure | 40 | 5.1% | 147,000 | 95,000–160,000 |
| Hydraulic brake circuit | 39 | 5.0% | — | — |
| Tyres | 27 | 3.4% | — | — |
| Steering | 27 | 3.4% | — | — |
| Problems owners could not categorise | 26 | 3.3% | — | — |
Where your car sits
Failure reports by the odometer reading they were filed at. Pick the anchor nearest your car — or type the exact mileage: your marker lands on this curve and on the timing chart above.
Figure 3 · Nissan Maxima 1995–1999 · 245 reports with mileage
Share of reports below each mileage
Share of mileage-tagged reports filed at or below each odometer reading. Steps rise only at bin edges, by exact counted shares.
- 60,000 mi — 23% of reports below
- 120,000 mi — 68% of reports below
- Median — the staircase crosses the 50% line here
- Your odometer — appears after you enter it below
The staircase tops out at 96%: the remaining 4.1% of reports (10) came above 200,000 miles.
Nothing is smoothed or interpolated. Linear axis, same as Figure 1.
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, public domain.
At 60,000 miles
23% of the failure reports on this generation came below this mileage. That describes reports, not your odds.
In the reporting window
- Electrical system — middle half 60,000–127,000 mi
- Engine and its cooling system — middle half 55,000–125,000 mi
- Transmission and driveline — middle half 56,000–132,000 mi
Mostly reported later
- Airbag system — middle half 65,000–110,000 mi
- Body structure — middle half 95,000–160,000 mi
At 90,000 miles
48% of the failure reports on this generation came below this mileage. That describes reports, not your odds.
In the reporting window
- Electrical system — middle half 60,000–127,000 mi
- Engine and its cooling system — middle half 55,000–125,000 mi
- Airbag system — middle half 65,000–110,000 mi
- Transmission and driveline — middle half 56,000–132,000 mi
Mostly reported later
- Body structure — middle half 95,000–160,000 mi
At 120,000 miles
68% of the failure reports on this generation came below this mileage. That describes reports, not your odds.
Reported earlier than this mileage — ask for repair records
- Airbag system — median 81,000 mi
In the reporting window
- Electrical system — middle half 60,000–127,000 mi
- Engine and its cooling system — middle half 55,000–125,000 mi
- Transmission and driveline — middle half 56,000–132,000 mi
- Body structure — middle half 95,000–160,000 mi
Which systems, and when
Complaints about this generation are not spread evenly across the vehicle, and the systems that generate the most of them do not all fail at the same point in a car's life. The median failure across all systems here is 91,000 miles; the figures below show which parts of the car run ahead of that and which run behind.
The electrical system accounts for 23.2% of complaints (182 reports, 79 of them with a mileage figure), with a median of 91,000 miles, close to the vehicle's overall pattern. The middle half of these reports falls between 60,000 and 127,000 miles.
The engine and its cooling system accounts for 12.6% of complaints (99 reports, 44 of them with a mileage figure), with a median of 92,000 miles, close to the vehicle's overall pattern. The middle half of these reports falls between 55,000 and 125,000 miles.
The airbag system accounts for 12.6% of complaints (99 reports, 26 of them with a mileage figure), with a median of 81,000 miles, close to the vehicle's overall pattern. The middle half of these reports falls between 65,000 and 110,000 miles.
The transmission and driveline accounts for 5.7% of complaints (45 reports, 10 of them with a mileage figure), with a median of 72,000 miles, close to the vehicle's overall pattern. The middle half of these reports falls between 56,000 and 132,000 miles.
Body structure accounts for 5.1% of complaints (40 reports, 15 of them with a mileage figure), and it fails late — a median of 147,000 miles, considerably beyond the vehicle's overall median. That pattern is consistent with normal service life rather than a defect, though it matters for anyone buying an example already near that mileage. The middle half of these reports falls between 95,000 and 160,000 miles.
Differences between model years
Within this generation, complaint volume is not constant across model years. The 1999 model year drew the most — 215 complaints — while 1996 drew the fewest at 117. The median year sits at 133.
Recalls and what they cover
No recall campaigns covering this generation appear in NHTSA's post-2010 recall file. That is not the same as an absence of problems — recalls address safety defects specifically, and many of the complaints above concern faults that are expensive or annoying without meeting that threshold.
Reported severity
What owners reported alongside the failure itself, out of 783 complaints against this generation:
- Crashes
- 64 (8.2%)
- Fires
- 51
- Injury reports
- 38
- Fatality reports
- 1
These flags are self-reported by complainants and unverified by NHTSA; one report can carry several flags, so the counts overlap and do not sum to a total. They are not adjusted for how many of these vehicles are on the road. No chart is drawn here on purpose: overlapping counts spanning very different magnitudes cannot be honestly encoded as lengths.
Documented problems
Emissions / Exhaust 1995–1999
Pre-catalyst substrate breakdown on the exhaust manifold; ceramic debris can be drawn back into the cylinders through the EGR path causing scoring and oil consumption.
Engine
Valve cover and front crank seal oil leaks, and distributor/ignition failure causing no-start and rough running.
By model year
| Year | Complaints | With mileage |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 195 | 15 |
| 1996 | 117 | 22 |
| 1997 | 123 | 39 |
| 1998 | 133 | 48 |
| 1999 | 215 | 121 |
What owners reported
We purchased a new 1995 Nissan Maxima in july 1995. By april 1996, the still-new car had to be repaired with a new o2 sensor, but under the warranty. Then by october 2000, another new o2 sensor had to be installed, and was paid out of our own pocket. However, by february 2002, the dealership diagnosed the car with yet…
1995 · 12,000 miles · Engine and its cooling system
Window fogs up regularly and more intense in the summer. After a complete cleaning job, the windows fog up again. It causes major visibility problem during the day when the sun hits the windshield, and at night when oncoming vehicles lights hit the windshield. I took the car to the dealer where they did the 60k miles…
1995 · 50,000 miles · Visibility equipment
We purchased a 1995 Nissan Maxima gle in 1997 from peruzzi Nissan in fairless hills, pa. For an amount equal to about eight (8) percent of the final sale price, we also purchased an 84-month or 100,000 mile Nissan security+plus vehical protection plan. At around 48 months and with less than 80,000 miles on the…
1995 · 90,000 miles · Visibility equipment
We just purchased our daughter her first car,a very nice looking 1995 Nissan Maxima. It only had one small rust spot one the rear fender,and it seemed to run great,so we bought it home. Two days later we noticed a thumping noise under the hood. Upon investigation, found that the lower radiator support has totally…
1995 · 127,000 miles · Body structure
Built from 245 NHTSA complaints with mileage · snapshot 2026-08-18 · open data · reproduce this page