 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Nissan / Nissan Maxima / January 2005Thinking about purchasing a Maxima. Any advice?
I am in need of another car and am on a budget. I am looking for a reasonably good performing car, 4 doors, safety and reliability. Obviously, I can not have my cake and eat it too, but I have been told the Maxima (95-99 preferred) may be the way to go. Can anyone tell me their opinions on this car and if it is a troublesome car to deal with or if it is a pretty good car? How many miles do they go on average? Timing belt or chain? How do they do in hot weather? Any typical issues I need to know of? Any particular 'bad' year? Any type ofhelp is really appreciated. I am looking at spending about $3700 on a car. I know I won't be getting thebest, but it is what I have to spend. Thanks, Erik > Can anyone tell me their opinions on > this car and if it is a troublesome car to deal with or if it is a pretty > good car? Um, excellent car, if a bit small. Drives well, quiet, very fast, and gets respect on the highway. > How many miles do they go on average? Dunno - I've met a few peeps with > 300K on their Maxima cars, but those were earlier models. > Timing belt or chain? Chain > How do they do in hot weather? Um, what do you mean by "hot"? I live where it regularly gets > 90 over 2/3 the year. I have no issues. > Any typical issues I need to know of? Alternator - there is a recall. Other than that, not much. I've had a few intermittent injector issues, but nothing serious. (Currently at ~80K miles.) > Any particular 'bad' year? Not that I'm aware of... HTH  Signaturek As far as Maximas go, the only real year to avoid is 2000. There were some major issues with the O2 sensors, which are nasty expensive to fix. >> Can anyone tell me their opinions on >> this car and if it is a troublesome car to deal with or if it is a pretty [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > HTH > but I have been told the Maxima > (95-99 preferred) may be the way to go. Can anyone tell me their opinions on > this car and if it is a troublesome car to deal with or if it is a pretty > good car? I would check Consumer Reports for this, as they draw from a pretty large group. My personal experience with my '95 Max SE has been extremely good. So far it's been the most reliable car I've owned. I bought it in '98 with 60k miles. Now it has over 150k. > Any typical issues I need to know of? If you want better handling install a front strut-tower brace. Inexpensive, and easy to install. It's the only thing I've changed on my car, and it makes a nice improvement. Starting with an SE would be a good idea. I think only shocks (possibly springs instead--I forget), wheels and tires differ from the others, but it does handle better. David . Sounds good. I am getting ready to go shopping around. Sounds like everyone I have spoken to with a 95 to 99 Maxima is very happy. Funny youmentioned the 2000. Everyone I have spoken with tells me to stay away from the 2k model. I am not a big fan of first year production models, but I know Maxima has always been somewhat 'bullet proof' in their drivetrains. Thank you for the advice. I will let you all know when I got my Maxima SE. >> but I have been told the Maxima >> (95-99 preferred) may be the way to go. Can anyone tell me their opinions [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > . >I am in need of another car and am on a budget. I am looking for a >reasonably good performing car, 4 doors, safety and reliability. Obviously, [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Erik Avoid a manual transmission from 95 - 98, they have a factory problem - the differential bearing is overshimmed and around 60 - 120k, it will disintegrate and wreck the tranny. I had it happen on my original tranny, and then on a junkyard tranny, before I found http://forums.maxima.org and found out what the problem was. Depending on mileage (I've had mine go at 60k then 100k), you'll probably have to replace the O2 sensors, 3 of them. Other then that, I've had two '96 Maximas and they were both reliable. -Nick Think again! If you're going to spend that much money buy a real car, an Accord or Camry! Ex-Maxima victim. What makes you an ex-Maxima victim? What year did you own and what happened? Do tell. I am ready to purchase and want to know as much as I can. Thanks, Erik > Think again! If you're going to spend that much money buy a > real car, an Accord or Camry! > > Ex-Maxima victim. ƒWhat makes you an ex-Maxima victim? What year did you own and what happened? ƒDo tell. I am ready to purchase and want to know as much as I can. ƒ ƒThanks, ƒErik ƒ ƒ"Father Guido" <FG@SNL.COM> wrote in message ƒnews:j176t096lj8p6duefhvbmt1mjo0949bqnu@4ax.com... ƒ> Think again! If you're going to spend that much money buy a ƒ> real car, an Accord or Camry! ƒ> ƒ> Ex-Maxima victim. ƒ What didn't I repair. Actually I bought a '94 in '97 and it was great for 3 years, then everything started failing at 195,000 kilometers head gasket wiper assy starter alternator (2x) transmission (2x) rear rotors due to caliper failure drivers seat track broke radio speaker amplifiers cut in and out wouldn't start when below freezing rust where there shouldn't be rust and a few more things I can't remember now car has 250,000 kilometers now and I can't even get $1500 for it, it's in my garage hoping for a sucker, err buyer in the spring good luck, I think I had a lemon, but you never know Jesus! Insure it and drive it to Mexico and leave the keys in the car. You are the first person to tell me all of that. Do you know of others with that problem? Now I think I will hold off until I go into more homework on this car. > fWhat makes you an ex-Maxima victim? What year did you own and what > happened? [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > good luck, I think I had a lemon, but you never know You're always going to find the odd person that had a bad experiece with any given car. I have a friend that had a Camry from hell, doesn't mean they are bad cars. The 4th generation Maxima (95-99) is an excellent used car. They are powerful, reliable, comfortable, and good on gas. That doesn't mean that you can buy one that someone thrashed for 100K without ever changing the oil and it won't give you any trouble. There's a reason that 3L DOHC engine won ward's best engine several years in a row. No other V6 of the time can hold a candle to it. 190HP, butter smooth, and 25MPG. -jim > Jesus! Insure it and drive it to Mexico and leave the keys in the car. You > are the first person to tell me all of that. Do you know of others with that [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] >> >>good luck, I think I had a lemon, but you never know > You're always going to find the odd person that had a bad experiece with > any given car. I have a friend that had a Camry from hell, doesn't mean [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > -jim I've had my 95 SE since, well, 95. I've only got 95,000 miles but a lot of it has been city. I've fixed the alternator (think theres a TSB on this), clutch and ECU (probably my own fault after tweaking with it). The brake pads were replaced earlier this year. It's a great car, don't let the few bad cars scare you away. I did a couple 5,000 mile trips at 85-90 mph for hours at a time, no problems, rock solid engine. Mike >> Jesus! Insure it and drive it to Mexico and leave the keys in the car. >> You are the first person to tell me all of that. Do you know of others [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] >>> >>> good luck, I think I had a lemon, but you never know I have it down to a 95 or 96 (Automatic transmission. I live in LA). Any difference between the two or are they the same for the most part? >> You're always going to find the odd person that had a bad experiece with >> any given car. I have a friend that had a Camry from hell, doesn't mean [quoted text clipped - 54 lines] >>>> >>>> good luck, I think I had a lemon, but you never know Not much difference, maybe a couple trim changes. If you get an auto make sure it shifts well and change the trans fluid if it's >80K and you don't know if it's been done before. > I have it down to a 95 or 96 (Automatic transmission. I live in LA). Any > difference between the two or are they the same for the most part? [quoted text clipped - 57 lines] >>>>> >>>>>good luck, I think I had a lemon, but you never know > >I am in need of another car and am on a budget. I am looking for a > >reasonably good performing car, 4 doors, safety and reliability. Obviously, [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > and then on a junkyard tranny, before I found http://forums.maxima.org and > found out what the problem was. It isn't ALL of the manual transmissions in those years. have a 97 M/T at 129k and not a hint of a problem. At least, the problem is now diagnosed so you can have it done without much trouble. I had the alternator go on mine, (failed just 2 weeks after the recall was announced - so it was replaced for free :o) ), knock sensor (easy fix, $100 part), starter. Generally these cars are quite tough and run well. Go to www.epinions.com and see the reviews on the car. I wrote a very lengthy review for the 1997 year that contains what I won't retype here. You can check out many, many reviews on that site. Dave |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.