Other than some minor rust by fenders, the car is basically mint and has 72k miles only. It is also a V6 Automatic (not sure if they came in I4). Are these things reliable? He's selling it for 1200$ and it's tempting even though I have too many cars already.
Seriously?
Yeah, they’re reliable.
Edit: any $1200 car is going to need work though. Ask yourself if he’s letting it go cheap because you’re buddies or if he just doesn’t want to deal with them anymore.
A Maxima is always 6 cylinders through at least 2010, maybe still.
penultimeta said:Yeah, they’re reliable.
Edit: any $1200 car is going to need work though. Ask yourself if he’s letting it go cheap because you’re buddies or if he just doesn’t want to deal with them anymore.
He doesn't know the value of the car and neither do I. He got it from a friend, then he drove it for 5k miles/year and did a lot of maintenance to it and doesn't need it because he has a brand new car. I just want to know their reputation for reliability. Google and various threads/sites have conflicting info.
spitfirebill said:Seriously?
Yes, seriously...
I've driven a certain abused 330k+ Maxima many times over the years and I would not hesitate to buy one with less than 300k miles if it's in good mechanical shape. Don't know anything about the auto transmission.
it's funny.. living next to and working in a pretty ghetto town, the Altimas seem to the car of choice in those neighborhoods. I see more of them than any other car. I also see more of them in total disrepair than any other car.. so there is that
In reply to mad_machine :
Same deal in my neck of the woods. No idea why.
OP: go test drive the car. If it’s something you like and there aren’t any egregious oases, jump on it
Back when I was looking with the wife, probably about the year you're considering, Maxima was only v6, only automatic. Kind of a boulevarder, but durable. If the car ticks your boxes, I'd be all over it.
Reality check. It’s an 18 year old car for close to ATM money. Trying to decide if the model series has a reputation for being reliable is.... well, GRM. If the car looks nice and runs nice, the worst you can be is down $1200 minus a tax deduction writeoff.
In reply to glueguy :
Based on the responses here and how the car looked/drove in person, I guess I'm gonna be finding this one in my driveway really soon. Too many cars....but I can't help it. Ahh..
RyanGreener said:In reply to glueguy :
Based on the responses here and how the car looked/drove in person, I guess I'm gonna be finding this one in my driveway really soon. Too many cars....but I can't help it. Ahh..
Never too many. I bought a coworkers car for $500 and told him as long as it got me to the bank and back to work it was worth the gamble.
We have had one in the family since new. Well over 200k miles and still a blast to drive.
glueguy said:RyanGreener said:In reply to glueguy :
Based on the responses here and how the car looked/drove in person, I guess I'm gonna be finding this one in my driveway really soon. Too many cars....but I can't help it. Ahh..
Never too many. I bought a coworkers car for $500 and told him as long as it got me to the bank and back to work it was worth the gamble.
Haha, I wish everyone thought like that. My driveway looks like a used car dealership
RyanGreener said:spitfirebill said:Seriously?
Yes, seriously...
OK then, yes if it passes a good inspection.
Bonus points if it’s an SE.
RyanGreener said:Other than some minor rust by fenders, the car is basically mint and has 72k miles only. It is also a V6 Automatic (not sure if they came in I4). Are these things reliable? He's selling it for 1200$ and it's tempting even though I have too many cars already.
I had a heavily-modified 2000 Maxima (same car) and used to moderate the Maxima forums about a decade ago, so here's my 2 cents:
- Yes, the 3.0 V6 is in all models. It's pretty much a bulletproof engine and doesn't really have any known problems to be concerned with. It's a timing chain setup and the tensioner is not a trouble area. You can get a decent amount of extra power with an aftermarket Y-pipe (IIRC Cattman was the most popular). The only two things that are pretty consistent trouble issues are the MAF and the coil packs. Both will go bad eventually, but these days 'they're pretty cheap to get in the aftermarket. The genearl consensus is not to use an oiled air filter (ie K&N). Other than that, the engine is considered to be extremely reliable.
- Can't tell you much about the automatic but I don't recall hearing about any substantial issues with them, especially with that low of mileage.
- They aren't known to be "rusty" cars, but do have a few trouble spots. The fenders, as noted, and the radiator core support area gets rusty easily for some reason. Otherwise, unless it's a rust-belt car, shouldn't be a significant issue.
- Interior holds up pretty well, don't recall an outstanding interior or electrical issues other than some problems with the OEM Bose stereo system cutting out one or more speakers for some reason.
- A rear sway bar really makes these cars handle better, and are pretty inexpensive. A 4-point lower tie bar is a nice front end upgrade (a guy named Matt Blehm used to make them, not sure if he still does).
- A common upgrade for the mediocre brakes are the OEM front cailpers and rotors from the 6th Gen (2004+) maxima, which as I recall are direct bolt up and about 1.5" larger diameter.
There isn't a huge aftermarket for them, but there are a few companies that make stuff, and most of it is pretty good. Cattman was a popular vendor if he's still around. Stillen is overpriced but has some pretty nice mods for that generation.
Maxima.org is (or was) a really good source of information on these, and I know some of the most knowledgeable guys still hang around there. I have a few dozen how-to's on there myself but haven't been over that way in years.
Anyhow, for $1200 probably not a bad deal. Automatic makes it less fun (the 5MT is a pretty nice box) but they are great engines - very smooth, good power and torque and still reasonably powerful in the mid-size sedan category even these days with over 220hp.
That's all I can recall at the moment.
irish44j said:RyanGreener said:Other than some minor rust by fenders, the car is basically mint and has 72k miles only. It is also a V6 Automatic (not sure if they came in I4). Are these things reliable? He's selling it for 1200$ and it's tempting even though I have too many cars already.
I had a heavily-modified 2000 Maxima (same car) and used to moderate the Maxima forums about a decade ago, so here's my 2 cents:
- Yes, the 3.0 V6 is in all models. It's pretty much a bulletproof engine and doesn't really have any known problems to be concerned with. It's a timing chain setup and the tensioner is not a trouble area. You can get a decent amount of extra power with an aftermarket Y-pipe (IIRC Cattman was the most popular). The only two things that are pretty consistent trouble issues are the MAF and the coil packs. Both will go bad eventually, but these days 'they're pretty cheap to get in the aftermarket. The genearl consensus is not to use an oiled air filter (ie K&N). Other than that, the engine is considered to be extremely reliable.
- Can't tell you much about the automatic but I don't recall hearing about any substantial issues with them, especially with that low of mileage.
- They aren't known to be "rusty" cars, but do have a few trouble spots. The fenders, as noted, and the radiator core support area gets rusty easily for some reason. Otherwise, unless it's a rust-belt car, shouldn't be a significant issue.
- Interior holds up pretty well, don't recall an outstanding interior or electrical issues other than some problems with the OEM Bose stereo system cutting out one or more speakers for some reason.
- A rear sway bar really makes these cars handle better, and are pretty inexpensive. A 4-point lower tie bar is a nice front end upgrade (a guy named Matt Blehm used to make them, not sure if he still does).
- A common upgrade for the mediocre brakes are the OEM front cailpers and rotors from the 6th Gen (2004+) maxima, which as I recall are direct bolt up and about 1.5" larger diameter.
There isn't a huge aftermarket for them, but there are a few companies that make stuff, and most of it is pretty good. Cattman was a popular vendor if he's still around. Stillen is overpriced but has some pretty nice mods for that generation.
Maxima.org is (or was) a really good source of information on these, and I know some of the most knowledgeable guys still hang around there. I have a few dozen how-to's on there myself but haven't been over that way in years.
Anyhow, for $1200 probably not a bad deal. Automatic makes it less fun (the 5MT is a pretty nice box) but they are great engines - very smooth, good power and torque and still reasonably powerful in the mid-size sedan category even these days with over 220hp.
That's all I can recall at the moment.
This is a rustbelt car (NJ) so I'll have to make sure I inspect it more thoroughly, but for so cheap I don't even know if that's a problem. I'm just planning on using the car as a beater, then maybe a flip in the future.
In reply to spitfirebill :
Nope, it's a GXE
oh also, wheels (both the 17s and 18s) from the first-generation G35 sedan are a perfect fit on these cars and look really good on them. A bit wider and a bit more offset than stock, and look like they should have come on the Maxima...
My sister had a 5-speed manual - nice to drive.
Nothing to add except that I always liked these. Enjoy!
Not sure if I’m alone but with the right exhaust, that V6 sounds great.
RyanGreener said:In reply to spitfirebill :
Nope, it's a GXE
That is still a good car.
I’d like to add, also, that Nissan auto trans seem to be some of the best. Well programmed and responsive.
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