2012 Nissan MAXIMA - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

After reviewing the safety rating data for the 2012 Nissan Maxima, it can be concluded that the overall safety of this vehicle is quite good, with an overall rating of 4 out of 5. The car performed well in various crash tests, scoring 3 for overall front crash rating, 5 for overall side crash rating, and 5 for rollover rating. It also received high ratings for side crash tests, including a score of 5 for the combined side barrier pole rating.

Additionally, the 2012 Nissan Maxima comes equipped with standard electronic stability control, which enhances the vehicle's stability on the road. While it does not have forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems, the presence of stability control still contributes positively to its overall safety.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the car has a total of 104 complaints reported, which is relatively high. However, there have been no recalls issued for this model, indicating that there are no major safety concerns that require immediate attention.

Overall, the 2012 Nissan Maxima offers a decent level of safety features and performance, making it a reliable choice for drivers looking for a midsize sedan with good safety credentials.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

104

Recall Count

0

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

4/5

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Safety Features

2012 Nissan Maxima 4 DR FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2012 Nissan Maxima 4 DR FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2012 Nissan Maxima 4 DR FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2012 Nissan Maxima 4 DR FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2012 Score 2023 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 3 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 4 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 2 5

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2012 Score 2023 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 4 3 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 4 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2012 Score 2023 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 5 5
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2012 Nissan MAXIMA

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"passenger airbag notifi action blinks and will not show it is activated to function in a crash. airbag has never worked. also driver seat belt keeps releasing without being pushed to open. seat belt issue just began dec 2023"
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2025-07-12
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2012 nissan maxima. the contact stated that the passenger’s side air bag failed to turn on while the front passenger's side seat was occupied. the contact stated that the failure recurred intermittently. the dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that it was a known issue, and that the front passenger's side seat needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened; however, no assistance was provided. the failure mileage was approximately 70,000."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2024-05-08
Complaint:
"whenever someone sits on the front passenger seat the warning light comes on indicating that if something happen (accident) the airbag will not deploy. all the people i have tested are over 120 lbs. i brought this problem to pinnacle nissan in scottsdale, az but they didn't do anything to fix it saying there's nothing wrong with my car. they said they tested it but they didn't find anything wrong with it."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2012-12-04
Complaint:
"2012 nissan maxima passenger seat belt notice stays on no matter who sit in seat. dealer says need to be replaced $1,600 to fix this is absurd as they recalled 2013 models. has been doing this for past 3 months."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2021-07-05
Complaint:
"had a minor rear end collision. air bags did not deploy. car only has 74,000 miles. the air bag light was on after car was repaired. nissan dealer stated the main air bag control unit was bad and the weight occupant sensor was bad. this issue alone of over $2,000 dollars caused the vehicle to be a total loss by insurance. the minor damage should not have caused this issue. therefore nissan needs to recall these cars and fix their issues with the airbag suppliers asap before someone is seriously injured."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2019-06-04
Complaint:
"vehicle has 50,300 miles when the airbag light went on. nissan says that the interanal failure to air bag control unit.part number 98820-9n092 was replaced for part price of $463.15. labor to install was also $463.15."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2018-10-11
Complaint:
"the airbags failed to open in a car accident. the front bumper was smashed and my daughter could have prevented injuries if the airbags had open. i have lost trust in nissan and this crushed my faith in their products! !!!"
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2017-10-10
Complaint:
"the passenger airbag sensor light comes on intermittently, meaning airbag is off, when someone is sitting in the seat and the car is in motion; the light also randomly comes on when no one is sitting in the seat, then it goes off for a while. this has been happening for over a year and i keep checking for a recall. i talked to the dealer and they said a recall would be coming out in march 2016, but it's july and there is still no recall. i am astounded that i am put in a position to have an adult child of mine in the passenger seat riding with me when they would not be protected by the airbags that i trusted nissan to provide and keep in operational condition in my car. fortunately, i have not had an accident yet."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2018-04-07
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2012 nissan maxima. the contact stated that the passenger side air bag off warning light illuminated whenever a 120 lbs passenger occupied the seat. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the passenger side seat air bag sensor was defective and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 36,000."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2016-11-06
Complaint:
"there is a new recall for airbag senser misinterpreting the weight in the front passenger seat in many nissan models. according to the dealership where i bought my car, my car is not included in the recall - but i have had the same issue. when my wife, who is around 130 lbs, sits in the seat, about half of the time the airbag light indicates that the airbag is disabled. she always sits all the way back in the seat. speed or driving environment do not appear to have any effect on the issue. i have discussed the issue with two nissan dealerships, and the issue still occurs. the first denied they could help because it wasnt currently happening when i had it at the shop. the second dealership recalibrated the sensor and it that brought the frequency down slightly to the current 50% i am frustrates that my car is not included in the current recall and feel like it needs to be expanded to include other model years, such as mine."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2014-07-10

NISSAN Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

NISSAN ranks 5 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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