Hello, i'm new to the Maxima forums. I'm just looking for some specs on the 2nd gen Maxima's. I'm selling my current car in order to free up some cash, and have about 5-6K Canadian to spend on a sedan for a future family I'd just like to know about the different options, engine options (though I do believe there was just the one motor?) reliability, and things to look out for when searching for a car. Also, if there were any links to pictures that would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Hey VanMax. Glad to hear you're considering a maxima!

I'm 17 and my first vehicle was a chevy truck. Something broke on that at least every two months. My mom had a Chevy lumina and my dad had a Chevy Blazer. Each had problems of their own.

About 8 months ago My Great Aunt sold me her '87 Maxima with only 93k on it. Only problem I've had: small power steering leak, fixed with a 5 dollar bottle of stop leak for automatic transmissions.

So out of my meager experience with two cars, I have nothing but good things to say about my 2nd gen max.

Now to answer your questions:

As far as options, the second gen max's had the SE and the GXE, Sports and Luxury. I've got a GXE, which I think looks better (more chrome, pillow seats). If you're willing to sacrifice just a little speed, go with the gxe.

You were right, the 2nd gens came with only one engine. A 3.0 liter V6. But who needs a huge selection of engines with such a good motor available? If you read some of the older posts, I'm sure you'll see the only maxima motors that have problems are those that were poorly maintained, and usually those problems are small.

When looking at cars, my favorite trick to tell if the car was treated right is to check the windshield wiper fluid. If the owner didn't take the time to add a little 2.00 fluid, they probably didn't pay 15.00 for an oil change.

That tip and everything else on the subject are at: http://www.carbuyingtips.com/
One of my favorite sites.

Ok, sorry for making this post so long. Couldn't help myself, I love my maxima.

Have a good one,
Jorge



Oh yeah, http://members.tripod.com/~Anarch13/rais/
has some good sites in his LINKS section.

 

Hey, thanks for the info and links! Believe it or not its hard to find info and pictures of the 1st and 2nd gen Maxima's.

Not that its real important to me, but what are the stock 0-60 numbers? On that site he says about 8.2 with a couple of mods.

Thanks.

 

No problem. I ran into the same problems looking for info on our cars. Until recently I've never felt like using message boards. Who would have thought ASKING someone else for help instead of spending hours weeding through the sewers called search engines would actually work? huh.

The stock 0-60 time that comes to mind is 8.5, but I'll have to check that out. That's what I get and only thing I've done is take air box cover off (which makes it grumble but I doubt it has any effect on performance). Only got a couple hours of sleep, as you can tell by the short gap between my posts, otherwise I'd look it up. Laziness accompanies lack of sleep.

btw, have you checked out that carbuyingtips.com site yet? If you can stand the endless ads for carfax, it's an awesome site. I didn't have any trouble with my car buying experience considering I bought the car off my 70 year old great aunt (she assured me she didn't race at the illegals).

Allright, before I trail off any further...


-Jorge

 

I spend most of my time on the VWVortex as I have had 4 VW's. I have always liked Nissans and always wanted a Maxima. Well, we bought a new townhouse, and since I have a new car (01' Golf GL turbo diesel) it makes money a bit tight. So i'm going to sell it, pay off my car loan and line of credit, and hopefully find a nice 2nd gen Maxima. They made 1st gen Maxima's with a diesel motor right? That would be interesting, but probably hard to find these days.

Thanks for the link to carbuyingtips.com, there is a lot of good info there. Do you have any pics of your car you can post or email me? Thanks,

Chris

 

Actually the only car pictures I have are those of my 1968 Chrysler Newport Custom w/440.

I'll have to start taking pics of my Maxima though since I'm planning on fixing it up "any day now".

-Jorge