2004 Nissan Maxima front end shimmy / Lemon Law Claims?
This question and post applies to anyone who either owns or has driven a 2004 or newer Nissan Maxima with similar problems as I’ve reported:
Has anyone experienced a front end shimmy in a 2004 or newer Nissan Maxima? I have put my 2004 Nissan Maxima in the shop numerous times for the front end shimmy and its one thing after another, as far as excuses and repairs go. New Tires, Struts, Rims, Bearings, still there is a shimmy.
I am currently suing the dealership and Nissan Corp. for failure to repair, dealer fraud, deception, and am also pursuing a class action suit against Nissan due to several other reported cases of this exact problem. Have any owners gone through with a Lemon Law Suit or a Magnusson Moss Warranty Protection Act claim?
Has anyone dealt with such/similar issues?
I have replaced the tires 3 times in 9 months. I’ve had the struts replaced, new brakes, replaced slightly bent rim. The car has been in for repair 5 times, same problem. The steering wheel shakes violently, at times it gives me a headache. I have done some investigating and the dealership knew of the problem at the time of sale; previous owners traded the car in for this reason. A salesman informed me it was a tire issue and that it would be fixed. Such detailed findings lead me to the filing of a consumer fraud case (deception and fraud).
Nissans built within a certain date were poorly engineered, primarily the first breed of 6th gens. Several Lemon Law claims have been filed with this exact this issue.
Why should a car owner have to get his/her tires balanced every 4-5k miles? A carl, especially a Certified Pre-Owned $25,000 Nissan should not have these problems, period!
By the way, I tried contacting the owner of the dealer on several occasions. He tried to have me trade the vehicle in on another, which I tried to do. When I went to trade the car in, they wanted money saying that the car’s trade in value (Galves Value) was less than I owed. At that time, I only owned the car for less than 3 months. Why should I have to take the loss?
October 24th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Yes I have seen a few of them. If you think you have a Lemon then you should get that book Identifying a Lemon. I read it and it gave good direction that helped me to understand what a lemon is and what to do and how to do it to get the right help, very informative. You can get it Free at lemonprotection.com. I had to file a lemon law suit and this book really prepared me. Good Luck and GOD Bless
October 25th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Has the car been unsafe? Has the car ever left you stranded at the side of the road? Has it failed to deliver yo to work? You did not say anything about the tires? a little vibration will not get your car repurchased. Safety reliability issues will… I have eliminated ft end vibration with different manufacture tires. All and all for a first year car the 2004 maxima has not been a bad car for Nissan technician’s
October 27th, 2009 at 1:07 am
everyone just wants to sue everyone now these days, why dont you try calling the owner of the dealership try to resolve the problem, have you even try to call the nissan headquarters about this issue, or try call the better business bureau.
October 29th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Before going through all of the trouble, try another dealership and get a second or even third opinion because somewhere down the road someone may ask you if you’ve done so and it may make your claim seem frivolous because the next course of action when dealing with repeat repairs is to get a second opinion and try to get the cost paid by the first shop.
The axles in some of these cars become bent or damaged easily and will cause a shimmy in the wheel that may be hard to detect. It is most common when the axle has been removed in a previous repair (i.e. replacing struts ) and re-installed forcibly / incorrectly. Unfortunately the cv axles are a simple design and can be easily bent or damaged and thus requires replacement.
I don’t think you will get far with a class action suit because you did not suffer any damages or bodily injury. Only inconvenience. Not being the original owner may make things more difficult.