1986 NISSAN MAXIMA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 60 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: FUEL SYSTEM (32 complaints · 53.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 3
  • Fires 36
  • Injuries 2
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1985 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution FUEL SYSTEM appears in 32 of 60 owner complaints (53.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. FUEL SYSTEM: 32 complaints, 53.3% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 32 · 53.3% · 21 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 10 complaints, 16.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 · 16.7% · 9 fire reports ENGINE: 8 complaints, 13.3% of reports ENGINE 8 · 13.3% · 6 fire reports SEAT BELTS: 4 complaints, 6.7% of reports SEAT BELTS 4 · 6.7% · 1 crash reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 2 complaints, 3.3% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 · 3.3% · 2 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 1 complaints, 1.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 1 · 1.7% SERVICE BRAKES: 1 complaints, 1.7% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 1 · 1.7% SUSPENSION: 1 complaints, 1.7% of reports SUSPENSION 1 · 1.7% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 57 complaints, 95.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 57 · 95.0% · 2 crash reports 35 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
FUEL SYSTEM 32 53.3% 0 crashes · 21 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 16.7% 0 crashes · 9 fires
ENGINE 8 13.3% 0 crashes · 6 fires
SEAT BELTS 4 6.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 3.3% 2 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 1 1.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 1 1.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 1 1.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 57 95.0% 2 crashes · 35 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 1986. 1995-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 1995-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 1995-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1995-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 1996-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1996-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 1996-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 1997-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 1997-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 1997-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1998-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 Owner reports Jul 1986 Jul 2002 Recall campaign 86V096000 ◆ Recall campaign 86V096000 Recall campaign 95I006000 ◆ Recall campaign 95I006000 Investigation PE94018 ● Investigation PE94018 Investigation EA94018 ● Investigation EA94018
  • Campaign 95I006000 was reported 299 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 8
1995-Q2 Owner reports 9
1995-Q3 Owner reports 6
1995-Q4 Owner reports 1
1996-Q1 Owner reports 4
1996-Q2 Owner reports 4
1996-Q3 Owner reports 6
1996-Q4 Owner reports 7
1997-Q1 Owner reports 4
1997-Q3 Owner reports 1
1997-Q4 Owner reports 3
1998-Q3 Owner reports 1
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2002-Q1 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 2
Recall campaign 1 86V096000
Recall campaign 1 95I006000
Defect investigation 1 PE94018
Defect investigation 1 EA94018
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 86V096000

    Report date
    Component:
    VISIBILITY
    Consequence:
    Not available in the source record
    Remedy:
    ADD MORE ADHESIVE TO BOTTOM OF FRONT WINDSHIELD GLASS.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 95I006000

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
    Consequence:
    FUEL LEAKS IN THE ENGINE COULD RESULT IN A FIRE.
    Remedy:
    NISSAN DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE FUEL INJECTORS AND RELATED HOSES ON THE AFFECTED VEHICLES.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 60 complaints · page 1 of 3

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources