2021 Nissan Maxima: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2021 Nissan Maxima
Only 4 defect reports have been filed with NHTSA about the 2021 Nissan Maxima, which is too few to compute mileage percentiles or a risk score. The reports reported complete engine failure or seizure.
When each failure gets reported
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complete engine failure or seizure | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 73k | — | 0.0 | $4,500–$12,000 | Critical |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 1 | 1 | — | 100 | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | — | Moderate |
This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
Every year of the Nissan Maxima
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2015-2023 generation, 2018 Nissan Maxima scores best at 65 and 2020 Nissan Maxima worst at 77.
What the reports on file say
The complaints recorded against the 2021 Nissan Maxima are complete engine failure or seizure (1 report, around 73k miles), other electrical problem (1 report, around 100 miles) and other body or interior problem (1 report). With a sample this size these are anecdotes rather than a pattern, and they are shown because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see them than nothing.
Why this page is short
A model year needs about 8 reports before percentiles mean anything, and this one does not have them. Complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road, so a thin page usually means a rare car, a new car, or a car whose owners do not file.
Other years of the same model do have enough: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. The mechanical parts are often shared across those years, so their pages are the better guide to what this one is likely to do, with the caveat that a shared part is not a shared production line.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed