Hey y'all, looking for some advice here. I have an '84 Maxima that was once in great condition, but not so much anymore.

I've put thousands into this car... probably around 3k. It's running well, but damn does it have a lot of little things wrong with it. I will describe the issues, and maybe you guys can help me decide whether it's worth keeping around or trying to sell for like $1,000.

Cons:
1, Driver side window doesn't roll down (probably needs new switch)
2. Parking brake doesn't engage, probably snapped.
3. Has a difficult time going uphill/ doesn't have the power that it once did. I took it to an awesome Japanese mechanic that said the diaphragm (idk) in the engine is corroded and frozen. He tried to loosen it up but couldn't break it free. And the part no longer exists in any channels that he's searched.
4. Has multiple dents that just keep appearing while it sits on my street (los angeles) on the left side.
5. The interior seat leather has dried and cracked irreparably and so has most of the plastic. The glove box is cracked, the center console fell apart and the e-brake & shift lever housing is completely gone leaving the center exposed.
6. The trunk lock cylinder is missing.

It was originally my girlfriends car who was second owner @ 60k miles. She had so many unpaid parking tickets from the covid era that she couldn't renew the registration. So it got impounded on the street and my step-dad bought it from the impound lot when they auctioned it off. Since then is when I've put 3k into it to get the engine in a good spot. Now the registration is running out, but it may not be worth the hassle since its just sitting on the street. I'd like for it to go to a good home, and used to get tons of offers on the street when I would drive it around, but now it's just in a sad condition. It starts up, but it's missing some of the torque it once had.

The question is, go through the hassle of selling it for a low low price, take it to the dump, or something else?

 

I would either part it out or scrap it since the replacement part is almost nonexistent today

 

If you still have the car, disconnecting the distributor advance connector from the ignition module and advancing the timing to 20 degees static will wake up the engine, assuming that the diaphragm you are talking about is the vaccuum advance on the side of the distributor. That works for mine until I fix the distributor or convert it to more modern engine management.

if you want to give up on the car, part it out. I’ll give you $500 for the cylinder head alone. I’m assuming it’s an automatic, which is worth something, but if it has a 5-speed, that’s worth $1000-$2500 or even more, depending on condition.

 

I sold the thing for $700 LOL. Way too much going on with it. Rear door wouldn't open, two big dents, dash and console totally evaporated, increased engine timing (or something) but still couldn't make it up a hill, parking brake snapped, ETC...

But now I've seen it someone else's hands on the Facebook Maxima forum trying to sell it. Not sure where it's at now, but probably giving someone else a lot of problems...

 

Should have tossed in a carb L28 from a Z

 

junk it, since again a lot of of parts available is not once there. As far as cosmetics stuff, dash plastic, etc. it's no point saving since you're not gonna find parts in the junkyard for the year and model. they are virtually gone.

 

Virtually everything mechanical on older cars can be rebuilt or retrofit with something better, specific interior parts would need repair but mechanical wise you can always find a newer alternative to work