I have done some research and found that numerous people have experienced a problem with this model's transmission, to the point where Nissan has issued a tsb. I have repeatedly been operating in traffic when the vehicle's acceleration pauses, the RPM shoots way up, the drops down after a few seconds, and then the transmission re-engages in a jerking fashion. This is a considerable problem given my operation in and around a major metropolitan area with significant traffic. Sudden unexpected changes in velocity, and failure to maintain velocity, is an accident waiting to happen.

- Medford, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to shift gears properly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the dealer confirmed the shift control valve had malfunctioned. The manufacturer was contacted but the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 62,000 and the current mileage was 79,000.

- Upper Darby, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle would violently jerk when shifting into drive and when shifting from second to third gear. The vehicle was taken to various independent repair shops and the contact was informed that the transmission either needed to be rebuilt or replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 142,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Hampton, GA, USA

Maxima jerks when slowing down to a stop or when shifting from drive to reverse or vise versa. Maxima seems to struggle sometimes to get to high gears. At high speeds Maxima seems fine but annoying jerks occur when coming to a slow stop.

- Pelham, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated the vehicle would jerk and it fail to function normally while shifting gears at various speeds. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated the vehicle needed a new transmission. The transmission fluid was flushed, but the transmission was not replaced. The failure continued to occur. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 85,000.

- Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

The automatic transmisson on my 2004 Nissan Maxima gets stuck in 5 gear and there is a very violent hard jerk when shifting from drive to reverse then back to drive. I have to park the car and shut it off for about 30-60 seconds for the gears to resto reset the gears back to first gear. I'm able to see the gears are stuck in 5th gear by shifting to manual and display on my dashboard shows the gear is in 5th gear. The engine light came on and I took my Maxima to the Nissan dealer. Nissan told me the transmisson needed to be replaced based on the codes and was going to charge over $4000. I got a second opinion from and the failure codes indicated the cam shaft sensor was bad. They replaced the cam shaft sensor and the problem went away for a little while but the stuck in 5th gear problem still exists. Replacing the cam shaft sensor didn't resolve the hard violent jerk problem. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Tampa, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle would violently jerk when attempting to shift between gears and she would lose power. The dealer advised the contact that she needed to replace the transmission valve body. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure nor was the vehicle repaired. The current mileage was 77,614. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.

- Reno, NV, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle was violently jerking between first and second gears. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle with a faulty transmission and advised the contact to have the transmission replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The current mileage was 78,000 and the approximate failure mileage was 72,000.

- Camden, SC, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle would jerk while shifting in and out of each gear. The vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop where the contact was informed that the transmission or the valve body would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Conshohocken, PA, USA

I have had issues with my car since I, purchased it back in April 2004. I wrote a letter to the Nissan headquarters and did not receive any response, currently my vehicle jerks when I try to reverse then it skips before it gets into gear. Also to add, once the car gets to a certain speed I can feel the car rev-up before it even catches gear which is mainly in the first and second gears. I have been to the Nissan dealership which they replaced my motor mounts and I am still having the same problem as before. Nissan needs to recall Maxima 2004's.

- Columbus, GA, USA

We were driving home last night and the car hard shifted down from third to first on it's own. It was such a violent downshift the car actually turned off. We were nearly rear-ended and had to pull off to the side of the road. I got home and looked it up online and it appears to be a known issue with this car but there are no recalls. I took it in today and spent over $1000 but the check engine lights came on during the ride home and it is hard shifting again.

- Milwaukee, WI, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle would lunge forward abnormally. In addition, when driving at low speeds, the vehicle would hesitate to accelerate and there was an increase of engine rpms to 3000. The vehicle would also jerk violently when shifting into the next gear. The check engine warning light was illuminated. A local mechanic diagnosed that the transmission and the timing belt would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 85,000 and the current mileage was 117,000.

- Augusta, GA, USA

I have a 2004 Maxima and I am having very bad transmission issues. When I take off it jerks real bad with hard shifting right around the 20-25 mph shift gear and then when I am slowing down about to come to a stop it also kicks and jerks when it gears down to 1st and 2nd. I also got a transmission rebuilt but it did not solve the problem.

- Providence, RI, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle would jerk violently and increase in engine rpms when shifting at highway speeds. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance since the vehicle was no longer under warranty.the VIN was not available. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 96,000.

- Carson , CA, USA

Transmission hesitates when shifting up, when shifting from drive to reverse, and then jerks the car hard. It also jerks hard when down shifting when stopping.

- Sewell, NJ, USA

The transmission is slipping on my 2004 Nissan Maxima. It creates a hard jerk right after a slow start.

- District Heights , MD, USA

I am a small independent car dealer. This is just one Maxima I have purchased from an auction. I can't believe how ridiculous the 04-05 Nissan Maxima transmissions are. I bought the one indicated by the VIN number thinking I was getting a good deal. However, I was very wrong! I as a small independent business owner cant believe the amount of bad transmissions I have seen on these year model Maxima's. there should be a recall issued for all 04-05 Maxima's. I have seen the same symptoms with a large amount of Maxima's. for the amount of miles on the Nissan Maximas that I come across, this should not be happening. This includes slipping and jerking of the transmission, which in turns wears out the motor/transmission mounts, which in turn cost even more money beyond the transmission help our consumers and protect small independent dealers from these kinds of problems.

- San Angelo, TX, USA

Yes I brought my 2004 Maxima into Nissan dealership at 58,000 miles for loud noise on cold start up's, coming from passenger side of motor and Nissan tech told me that I didn't have Nissan oil filter and it not purging the oil to top of motor on cold starts. So I recently had oil change a few hundred miles before so not changing it till next required oil change at 61,000 when it came time brought it to Nissan for oil change because they have special oil filters I guess. Well now at 65000 miles my noise is there all the time hot or cold and cold start is the worse and even when its running, and its not the oil filter there's is no different than any other brand and it is the plastic guides in the timing chain that have failed and now it's my problem to fix around 2000 dollars to fix and Nissan says it's out of warranty so they won't coverit well Nissan was wrong again Nissan is aware of their faulty parts you can search the original part number for my Maxima and you will find a new part number for the guides because Nissan changed part number and material when making the new part without a recall or consumers knowledge of them doing it.

- Auburn, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Nissan Maxima. The contact stated that the vehicle was stopped when she applied the accelerator pedal, but the vehicle hesitated to accelerate. The vehicle eventually began to accelerate, but would not accelerate beyond 20 mph. The failure recurred on an intermittent basis. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the contact was informed that the valve body within the transmission needed to be replaced. An authorized dealer was notified and the contact was advised to replace the entire transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and recommended the contact take the vehicle to a dealer. The failure mileage was 120,000.

- Palmdale, CA, USA

The automatic transmission is shifting very eradiclly. Uneven downshifts and a losss of power during acceleration due to the fact that the transmission sticks in 5th gear. This loss of power is very dangerous as there is no warning as to when the car is going to do this. If you try to perform a manual downshift the car slams itself as if it had been struck from behind. Because these are performance cars this is a very dangerous situation. The cars are only now starting to reach that mile stone where the damage is so fall along that the threat of bodily harm is greatly increased from past incidents.

- Wichita, KS, USA