My max has been beatin me down lately...tryin to put me in the poor house. In the last month I have had to replace:

auto tranny- $1800
driver's side axle included
front struts- $150
new tires- $300
power steering hose- $46 (don't get me started)
injector- $65
intake gaskets- $40
alternator- $70 (last night at 10pm)

that's like $2500, and it still needs:
front rotors and pads
exhaust studs done
probably ball joints and bushings, too.

all with 177K on the clock. Am I crazy, or what???

This thing is like franken-max...new part here, new part there...oh well.

 

just like any other car with 177k on it ware items have to be replaced and they usualy all come at once but when theyve all been replaced the max will last you to 300k

 

Let's hope so. On the positive side, the timing belt and water pump were replaced only about 20K ago, so I should be good on those for a while. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad car, and most cars would be totally dead by now...but dang...a brother needs a break for a while...

 

unfortunately, that's all regular maintenance on ANY car. had you owned an american car, with 177k miles here's what you would have replaced:

30k miles:
new brakes all around. $400

60k miles:
A/C compressor, $800
water pump, $200
alternator, $150
door hinges, $60
spark plugs, distributor cap, rotor, $120
new brakes, $400

100k miles:
transmission. $1500
interior door panels because the handles fell off. $200.
new brakes. $400

120k miles:
A/C compressor.
Alternator.
water pump.
door hinges.
electronic dashboard. $600
A/C control panel. $300.
new brakes. $400

and the list goes on. that's just the major things that have broken on my parent's chevy, forget all the minor stuff that they've never bothered to fix, like shocks, interior panels that they don't need. squeaks, rattles, and water leaks.

 

2002 Chevy Express van with 6 liter v8.

~14,000-15,000 miles tranny started slipping... (parents van)

the engine is nice though. almost puts out enough power for equal power to weight ratio of the maxima and the van weighs double

 

Yeah, I know. Just sucks that it's all at once. And I'll be doing a timing chain on my Stanza here shortly, too. Here's to all the people who taught us diy guys how to turn a wrench. I'd really be hurtin' if I had to pay for someone else to do all this...

 

Shyt, I have two to contend with! Hehehehehe.

 

Yeah, but one is a 5 sp, right? I have to have autos cause my wife can't drive a stick...I'd get another one if it was a 5 sp. I have a 92 Stanza that shares alot of the same parts with the 3rd gens...so in a sense I've got double trouble too- especially the @#%* auto tranny..

 

Ewww. Ouch.

 

So far no issues with the Stanza tranny...but, it's only got 120K on it. Planning on installing a cooler on it shortly, so hopefully that will help. It's a good car too, sort of a baby max, with the 2.4 liter 4 banger.

 

i here you on the american door panels at work almost every damestic that comes in with over
100k when we do speakers the door panels are ether already falling apart or does when i take it off even when im gentle there made so crappy even 5 year old caddys and thats just sad considering how much they cost new but its easy to understand there sh*ty resale value. theres 5 3rd gens in the local junk yard with over 200k and all had nearly mint interiers

 

wish I had a good junkyard around here...there's one right up the road, but the guy who runs it charges almost as much as new...

 

hey my wife cant drive stick either but my max is a 5spd. She has a 98 altima thats auto. no way was i buying 2 autos !!

 

I'm in the same boat. My Max is a Auto, because my wife won't drive a 5 speed either. We just bought an 03 Trailblazer, but she drives the Max in the winter because the Trailblazer is rwd.


That reminds, Guys pray for my Max this winter. My wife will be driving it and I'm praying she doesn't curb my new wheels or something else along those lines. Last time she drove it when we were moving, she drove to work ( 5 miles) with my emergency brake on. She said she never sets her's and wanted to know why I would do something crazy like set my emergency brake.

Oh, yeah. While I'm going there. Could this have hurt my car in any way. Driving miles with the emergency brake on??????

 

it would just take away the rear brake pad life and probably take some tread off of the tires.

 

I am guilty of the same, but about 10 miles at 65 mph, I def would have gone further but thought I should stop...considering hte amount of gas I had to give to get the thing to move. In my defense the brake was only about 1/4 up.

 

I set a goal for myself to try and keep the general investment of the Maxima at $2500, but right now I'm at $3300 (probably more, but I stopped nit-picking the small things).

The car isnt done yet either, but I need to sell the Mustang ASAP so I can repay part of the Maxima, and be able to finish the rest of it.

It sucks, but soon I will have a car that is practically brand new (minus shocks/springs)

 

That's what I'm hoping too- a practically "new" max. Need to add the front motor mount to the list, but I picked up a new OEM one off ebay for $45 including shipping...so, that, front pads and rotors, and manifold studs and I should be good for a while.

 

broncoguy, I bought pads front and rear and front rotors for a little over $110 last year at Autozone. I even bought the more expensive pads for the front. I did the front myself in an afternoon. It's super-easy. Of course, that's for basically OEM parts, but I haven't had any problems with any of it yet. (And I destroyed a couple sets on the wife's Sentra the 1st year we had it. Crappy Nissan brake parts!)

Good luck with it all! I feel your pain! I took out a loan this past Spring to buy my ALL NEW Nissan 5speed for my poor '93 SE. Then had to replace the driver's side axle, y-pipe, and tires to pass inspection this August. (Every year here in the People's Republic of Pennsyl-tucky you have to pass the State mandated "safety" inspection.) Just keep reminding yourself it's all worth it. It could be worse. We could be spending all this money on a 1983 Fairmont or something!

 

83 Fairmont...he he he...that really would be pathetic..yeah, no worries on the brakes, I've done them a bunch of times on other cars. Just finding the time and the money to do it....everything is a function of time and money, it seems.