stevesmax

Hey, ive been lurking/posting on the forums here for numerous years, having owned two 3rd and two 4th, and one 5th Generation Maximas in the past. I am currently driving a 1999 4th Gen Maxima. Im from New Zealand, so our 4th and 5th Gen's are a little different looking to the US models, and of course we are right hand drive.

The new one is a 2003 Maxima 3.0 STi, which is a Ti trim spec model with a body kit fitted by Nissan New Zealand and rebadged as an STi. Externally they look pretty much identical to an Infiniti I30. The Ti is our top trim level with leather seats standard or cloth as an option, mine has cloth. Also has 6cd in dash stereo/tape player, climate air, cruise control, trip computer, woodgrain interior and rear window wiper. Has travelled 120,000km (75,000miles)


4th Gen in the background

FlaMark

Very Nice...

Now, which motor do you have ?

Donkeypunch

Looks good.

cornholio

iTrader: (1)

very clean looking, enjoy

stevesmax

Its got the VQ30DE. We weren't lucky enough to get the VQ35 option in our 5th Gen, and no manual option either.

This one

Cotozic

Beautiful car. I really like the ground effects. Are those standard?

stevesmax

The bodykit was fitted to a limited number of new Maximas by Nissan New Zealand through the entire model range from the top of the range Ti, mid range ST (abbreviation for S.Touring), and the base model Si. They were rebadged as STi, SST or SSi, and other than a different muffler and tailpipe assembly, nothing else was changed. The 17" alloys are standard to the Ti and ST. You could also order the kit through Nissan if you decided you wanted to fit one later on. The limited bodykits available for the 3rd and 4th Gen Maximas were made in New Zealand for Nissan, so I have no doubt the 5th Gen ones were too, though they look very similar to some fitted to the US Infiniti I30, which is probably where the initial design came from.

RinconI30

Wow - Amazing vehicle bro - I love the rear wiper - Have you done anything different since last posted i 2004 ?

cdoublejj

The 3,5 is known to have guide seal issues and there is no K model.the VQ30DE also came in the VQ30DE-K variant which made a few more HP. the VQ30DE and K can both be 50 state legally supercharged, the VQ35DE is only legal in some states to supercharge.

so sometimes it's considered lucky to have VQ30 but, it depends on the owner/buyer since it's preference.

Nyshadow

It's nice, i love the color.

Will

iTrader: (2)

Looks cool!

stevesmax

Thanks. Its a great car, nice to drive and is as economical as my 4th Gen, which I still haven't sold yet

dcam0326

Horsepower is overrated. VQ30 for lyfe.

Will

iTrader: (2)

Your country is very unique as well with its dairy trade (I've spoken to Fonterra reps for work before), the Maori culture, its position on Earth, and the beautiful landscapes. I'd like to visit someday and see the cars on the road too.

stevesmax

These motors in New Zealand, have been known to do upward of 600,000km (400,000 miles) without being touched, just the usual service items. My 4th Gen has just clicked over 250,000km, burns no oil, uses no water, though have replaced a couple of coil packs.

stevesmax

We are very lucky indeed to live in such a beautiful place. I live in Christchurch about half way down the South Island (where we had the big earthquake in February 2011), and I purchased this car sight unseen in Auckland at the top of the North Island, and drove it back. Probably not a big deal to someone from the US or Canada where it takes days to drive across the country, but for us its a long haul. Took 8.5 hours to drive from Auckland to Wellington at bottom of North Island where I stayed the night, then 3 hours on the interisland ferry to Picton at top of South Island, and then 5 hours back to Christchurch. Been quite a number of years since I have driven that route and its just as beautiful as I remember it being.

Pic at Lake Taupo, about half way down the North Island. Im a bit of a hopeless photographer lol.

NZ 4th gen cefiro

I just purchased this very car from another owner, I only just got home after an all day there and back trip, 704km total driving in one day with the help of my son. Drove over to get it in my 4th gen 1995 JDM 5 speed manual 2.0 nissan cefiro (infiniti 130 body type) it was a really special time for my son and I and kind of cool to travel the 352km back home across the alpine passes of NZ with a 5th and 4th gen together.
I LOVE this car, it really has so much more hill climbing power at low rpm than I'm used to with my VQ20 in the cefiro, not that that the smaller motor doesn't perform well, it is an awesome little v6 especially with the 5 speed, but it doesn't have the torque of the bigger motor. These cars are a joy to cruise along on NZ highways.
The car is still in very tidy condition although recent owners haven't taken care of it particularly well, I am glad I got it when I did, i'll bring it back to the best condition I can like I did with my cefiro. I refilled the tank when i got back and got 12.61km per liter or 7.93 LT per 100km, I am pretty happy with that, I will fill the cefiro tomorrow and see how they compare, i think it will be pretty close.
Today was a good day.

Theslaking

It's pretty cool you got this car and it's still alive. Post some pics.