Best tires for the Nissan Maxima
Top picks across four categories for the Nissan Maxima, anchored to the current-generation OEM size 245/45R18. Every recommendation is selected from our 22,000-tire catalog by ranking on UTQG treadwear, mileage warranty, cabin-noise rating, and season class; no commission-weighted reordering.
Daily driver
Best all-season touring
Long warranty, low noise, balanced ride. The one-tire compromise that works for 80% of owners.
Bridgestone
Turanza QuietTrack
UTQG 800 with a 80,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Nissan Maxima owners.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
UTQG 820 with a 85,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Nissan Maxima owners.
Michelin
CrossClimate 2
UTQG 640 with a 60,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Nissan Maxima owners.
Michelin
Defender 2
UTQG 800 with a 80,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Nissan Maxima owners.
Lowest cost per mile
Best budget
Best price-per-warranty-mile in this size. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options, not safety.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
820 UTQG with a 85,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Bridgestone
Turanza QuietTrack
800 UTQG with a 80,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Cooper
CS5 ultra touring
800 UTQG with a 80,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Hankook
Kinergy PT
800 UTQG with a 90,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Lowest cabin noise
Best quiet
Tread patterns engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning. Pick this if you commute long highway distances daily.
Bridgestone
Turanza QuietTrack
68 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Michelin
Defender 2
68 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Pirelli
Cinturato P7 all season plus 3
69 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
70 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Cold-weather grip
Best winter
Dedicated winter or all-weather compounds that stay pliable below 7 °C. Necessary for >5 snow days a year.
Bridgestone
Blizzak WS90
Dedicated winter tire compound; stays pliable below 7 °C where summer/all-season rubber hardens. Recommended for Nissan Maxima drivers in cold or snowy regions.
Michelin
X-Ice snow
Dedicated winter tire compound; stays pliable below 7 °C where summer/all-season rubber hardens. Recommended for Nissan Maxima drivers in cold or snowy regions.
Side-by-side
Pick the trade-off that matches your driving
| All-season Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack | Best budget Goodyear Assurance MaxLife | Best winter Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| UTQG treadwear | 800 | 820 | - |
| Mileage warranty | 80,000 mi | 85,000 mi | - |
| Cabin noise | 68 dB | 70 dB | 71 dB |
| Season class | all-season | all-season | winter |
| Type | touring | touring | passenger |
OEM tire sizes by year
What size does the nissan maxima use?
Recommendations on this page are anchored to the latest model-year's OEM size. Confirm yours against the driver-door placard before purchase.
| Year | OEM size | |
|---|---|---|
| 1981–1984 | 185/70R14 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 1985–1988 | 195/60R15 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 1989–1994 | 205/65R15 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 1995–1996 | 215/60R15 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 1997–2000 | 215/55R16 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2001–2003 | 225/50R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2004–2008 | 225/55R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2009 | 245/45R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2010–2014 | 245/40R19 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2015–2023 | 245/45R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
How we ranked these tires for the nissan maxima
We started with the latest model-year's OEM tire size; 245/45R18; and filtered our catalog of 22,000+ tires to those offered in that exact size. From there, four parallel rankings:
- Best all-season ranks on a weighted score: tire type matches passenger car segment, season is "all-season", premium brand bonus (Michelin / Continental / Bridgestone / Pirelli / Goodyear / Nokian).
- Best budget ranks on cost-per-warranty-mile; the lower the better. Premium brands get no bonus here.
- Best quiet ranks on the EU tire-label dB rating; lower is quieter.
- Best winter filters to tires marked 3PMSF severe-snow rated or all-weather class, with a small premium-brand bonus because winter-compound R&D is capital-intensive.
For sedans and compacts, the all-season touring tire below is the best default; long warranty, low cabin noise, reasonable cost per mile. Switch to the quiet pick if highway droning is a deal-breaker; switch to the winter pick if you see significant snow each year. Use the side-by-side comparison above to weigh the trade-offs against your specific driving; highway-heavy, winter-state, performance-oriented, or budget-constrained.
NHTSA-reported issues for nissan maxima
Top issue category: Tires (General)
Most reported: Tires (General) (144) · Sidewall (92) · Tread / Belt (19) · TPMS (6) · Bead (1)
Reported across: 1985 – 2019 (25 years)
What owners described
Cracking or dry rot appears in 49% of these reports; about 5.3× as often as across all tire complaints. Percentages are shares of the 202 reports covering every model year of the Nissan Maxima that include a written account; a single report can describe more than one problem, so they do not total 100%.
| Reported problem | This subject | All tire complaints | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cracking or dry rot | 49% | 9% | 5.3× |
| Sidewall failure | 44% | 15% | 3.0× |
| Blowout or sudden deflation | 15% | 20% | 0.8× |
| Loss of control, rollover or collision | 7% | 8% | 0.8× |
| Bubble or bulge in the tire | 5% | 6% | 0.8× |
| Tread or belt separation | 4% | 13% | 0.3× |
Mileage at failure
130 of these reports state an odometer reading. The middle report is at 29,750 miles, with 8 in 10 falling between 6,500 and 80,000 miles.
In owners' own words
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about Nissan Maxima. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 NISSAN MAXIMA WITH KUMHO ECSTA 4X TIRES, SIZE 245/40/19. THE CONTACT STATED THE TIRE WALLS CRACKED AND WERE CRACKING ACROSS THE TREAD. THE TIRES WERE TAKEN TO A DEALER, WHO STATED THAT THE FAILURE DID NOT CONSTITUTE A HAZARD. THE CONTACT REPLACED THE TIRES. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 80,000. THE TIRE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 30,000. UPDATED 8/27/14*CN UPDATED 09/17/2014
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 NISSAN MAXIMA EQUIPPED WITH COOPER ARTIC CLAW-VANDERBILT TIRES, SIZE: 215/55/R16. WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH, AN ABNORMAL NOISE EMITTED FROM THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS MERGED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WHERE THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE TIRE BLEW OUT. THE TIRE WAS REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE APPROXIMATE VEHICLE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 91,000 AND THE TIRE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 10,000.
THERE WAS NO FAILURE; MECHANIC NOTICED BAD SIDEWALL ON RIGHT TIRE. SHORTLY AFTER, SIDEWALLS WENT BAD ON TWO ADDITIONAL TIRES WITH DRY-ROT CRACKING NOTICED THROUGHOUT TREADS. WIRE BANDS CAN BE SEEN ON LEFT FRONT TIRE SIDEWALL FROM A "GOUGE-OUT". MANY DEEP CRACKS ON ORIGINAL RIGHT FRONT TIRE; BACK LEFT TIRE IS STARTING TO CRACK ON SIDEWALL FROM THE INSIDE (IT APPEARS). TIRES ARE MICHELIN GREENX ENERGY SAVER A/S RADIAL TUBELESS, P225/50R17 95V, DOT B0(?)0A 00NX 0510. CAR IS 2000 NISSAN MAXIMA SE VIN [XXX].S.C. 552(B)(6).
The contact's mother owns a 2017 Nissan Maxima equipped with Continental Tires, Tire Line: Pro Contact TX, Tire Size: 245/45/R18, DOT Number: (N/A). The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the TPMS warning light was illuminated. The owner noticed that the passenger's side front tire was flat. The tire was replaced with the spare tire. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was confirmed that the tire tread had separated, and all four tires needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the owner to the local dealer for assistance. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21T001000 (Tires) and 20T018000 (Tires). The DOT number was not available. The tire mileage was approximately 16,000. The vehicle failure mileage was approximately 63,458.
Complaints are voluntarily submitted to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation and are not verified by NHTSA; they represent owner-reported problems, not proven defects. Counts can be useful as a relative quality signal across comparable tires or vehicles.
Tire recalls & safety complaints for the Nissan Maxima →
FAQ
What's the best all-season tire for the Nissan Maxima?
Should I get a cheaper tire for my Nissan Maxima?
Does the Nissan Maxima need winter tires?
Can I run a different tire size on my Nissan Maxima?
Where can I buy these tires?
Last verified 2026-10-07.