2018 Nissan Maxima — Should You Buy One?
Typical asking price: $12,500–$18,000. There is 1 high-severity known issue you need to know before handing over a check.
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Kestrel Take
Thirty-six complaints is a thin record, and a thin record is not a reliability rating — it means few people filed, not that the car is clean. What did get filed is remarkably consistent: the three largest clusters (brakes, forward-collision, electrical) are mostly the same story told three ways — the front radar throws 'unavailable front radar obstruction' on a clear road and the automatic emergency braking either quits or brakes for nothing. Underneath that sits the one thing that can hurt you: the ABS actuator fire recall, 19V807, which on this year was a straight replacement. Confirm that on the VIN, drive it on the highway with the AEB on, and treat the CVT as the wear item it is; then the 2018 is the same fast, roomy car as the 2017 with one fewer recall to chase.
What we checked
Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25
NHTSA holds 36 owner complaints for the 2018 Nissan Maxima, and 2 recall campaigns.
A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. The largest single group is the brakes at 22%. That is notable without being overwhelming — worth checking, not worth panicking about.
2 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.
Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.
Known Issues for the 2018 Nissan Maxima
Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.
Recall 19V807 covers 2016–2018 Maximas: the ABS actuator pump can let brake fluid reach the internal circuit board, short it, and start a fire — including with the car parked and off. On this year the remedy is a new actuator, not an inspection. Owners who received the notice in 2019 were told parts would not be ready until the following summer and that if the ABS light came on they should park the car outdoors, which tells you how seriously Nissan took it. The brake cluster on this year carries one fire report — smoke from under the hood at 5 mph. Run the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup before anything else; 19V807 must show as remedied.
Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed
Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the brakes (8); 2 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.
This is the 2018 Maxima's record in one sentence. Across the brakes, forward-collision and electrical clusters, owners describe the same thing: the dash flashes 'unavailable front radar obstruction' with nothing on the grille, the emergency-braking and adaptive-cruise systems switch themselves off, and in the worse version the car slows or brakes hard on its own — from a stop, on cruise, with an empty lane ahead. One owner ties a 2019 spin across a median to it. Dealers replace or realign the radar sensor behind the badge, sometimes more than once, and the message often returns. Nissan's early AEB has drawn the same complaint on several models. At the car: a 20-minute drive with adaptive cruise on, following traffic, then an empty stretch. Any warning or any braking you did not ask for is a fail, and a $1,500 sensor is the bill if you keep it.
Repair cost (estimate): $0–$300 for a radar clean and recalibration; $900–$1,800 for a replacement radar sensor
Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the driver-assist and automatic braking systems (6), electrics and electronics (5), the brakes (8).
Recall 19V654 covers most of Nissan's 2018–2019 lineup, Maxima included: the rear-view camera settings could be left in a state where the display shows no image when reverse is selected, which fails the federal rear-visibility rule. The fix is a software update at the dealer, free. It is cheap to confirm — put the car in reverse and watch the screen — and cheap to have done if it was missed. The other electrical complaint on this year is an instrument cluster that starts dim and brightens on its own; check the dash on a cold start.
Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed
Source: 2 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.
Nobody filed a transmission complaint on this year in the record we read, which is why this is unsourced and medium — but the Maxima's CVT is the same family that has troubled Nissan's whole range, and a replacement is a $4,000+ bill on a car worth three or four times that. Drive it cold and feel for shudder under light throttle between 20 and 40 mph; listen for a whine that rises with speed rather than engine revs; check whether the fluid (Nissan NS-3) has ever been changed. Ask a Nissan dealer whether this VIN has any extended CVT coverage; do not assume it does.
Repair cost (estimate): $250–$400 for a fluid service; $3,500–$5,500 for a replacement CVT — about 36% of what this car is typically worth
Source: not yet checked against public records.
Walk-Away Red Flags
- ✗NHTSA VIN lookup shows 19V807 (ABS actuator) still open
- ✗"Unavailable front radar obstruction" on the dash at any point in the test drive
- ✗Car slows or brakes on cruise control with an empty lane ahead
- ✗Blank screen when reverse is selected
- ✗Shudder between 20 and 40 mph on a cold drive
- ✗Instrument cluster that comes up dim on a cold start
Good Signs
- ✓Invoice showing a new ABS actuator installed under 19V807
- ✓Recall 19V654 (camera software) shown complete on the VIN lookup
- ✓A 20-minute drive on adaptive cruise with a quiet dash and steady speed
- ✓CVT fluid changed with Nissan NS-3 on schedule, with receipts
- ✓Smooth, quiet pull from 20 to 60 mph on a cold engine
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Known issues on this page are based on documented owner reports, NHTSA complaints, class-action records, and manufacturer technical service bulletins. Individual vehicles vary. A pre-purchase inspection by a trusted mechanic is always worth doing.
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