2021 Nissan Maxima Safety Report

The 2021 Nissan Maxima demonstrates an excellent overall safety profile based on available NHTSA data. It achieved a perfect 5-star overall safety rating, with 5 stars in frontal crash, side crash, and rollover tests, indicating robust performance in various impact scenarios. This strong crash test performance suggests a well-engineered vehicle for occupant protection. Complaint data for the 2021 Maxima is exceptionally low, with only 3 total complaints reported to NHTSA. There have been no reported crashes, fires, injuries, or deaths associated with these complaints. This low volume of complaints, especially the absence of severe incidents, reinforces the positive safety assessment derived from crash test ratings. The few complaints filed include an issue with the engine and engine cooling system (1 complaint) where the vehicle jerked and shook with a flashing oil light, a structural issue involving an exploding sunroof (1 complaint), and an electrical system problem related to a non-functional CD changer and delayed electronic coolant temperature gauge (1 complaint). While these are notable individual incidents, their extremely low frequency (one instance each) prevents the identification of widespread safety patterns or systemic defects. The absence of any recalls further supports the notion that no significant safety-related manufacturing or design flaws have been identified by the manufacturer or NHTSA for this model year. In summary, the 2021 Nissan Maxima presents a very strong safety picture, characterized by top-tier crash test ratings and an extremely low number of reported safety complaints. The isolated nature of the few complaints, without any associated crashes, injuries, or recalls, suggests that the vehicle is generally safe and reliable from a safety perspective.

Our recommendation: Given its perfect 5-star safety ratings and extremely low complaint volume, the 2021 Nissan Maxima appears to be a very safe and reliable choice; however, be aware of the isolated reports of engine issues, sunroof explosions, and electrical glitches.