guapsnaman

Hey guys. I'm usually part of the 6th Gen forum with my 2k3 Maxima but have found a 3rd Gen up for sale in my local neighborhood. It's a 1993 Maxima SE, fully loaded with A/C, CD, power everything, leather, I think a sunroof, and 78,000 miles, which isn't that much.

The guy's asking for $4,000, which also isn't that bad but I haven't taken a look at the interior but he claims it's in good condition. The body however, is in real good condition, except for some stupid decals he put up. He is the second owner of the car, the first was an old lady from Long Island, NY, which is another plus.

I was wondering if you guys can give me any tips on buying this car. Any major TSB's for this car that I should know of?

Thanks.

harrymay

the knocking vtc is a problem for the ve. 4000 is a bit steep for a 93 even with all that stuff on it. is it 5spd or auto. i wouldnt bother gettin a 3rd gen that is auto. i hate mine

longjuanfeng

From my experience with my 93 SE Auto -

- VTC's (search the forum - ticking noise coming from what seems like the valves). Expensive to fix.
- Auto Tranny can be a problem but it's no better or worse than other cars. Just check it. My auto has developed a harsh 1-2 upshift but other than that runs as good it ever did.
- Front End. I replaced the pass side control arm (bushings were bad) at about 65K and just recently the drivers side is showing signs of going. I think now you can just replace the bushings. Back when I did the pass. side I had to replace the entire arm. Listen for any kind of thudding or bumping noises as you go over road bumps.
- Water pump is an expensive proposition to replace if you don't do it yourself (up to $600). My factory pump went out at 145K.
- Other than maintenace items, those are the only issues I've had.


$4K does seem a bit steep, as the previous poster said. 78K miles is EXTREMELY low miles and if the car is in excellent shape, I'd probably try to bring him down into the $3-$3.5K range,maximum. He won't get many takers for an 11 year old Nissan at $4K.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

I've got an auto and it works fine for me.
window Regulators are fer sh|t

subs1000w

holy crap you payed 600$ to have your water pump repalced on your ve i could maybe see it if you have a gxe with the vg but seriosly when i did mine on my VE the new pump was 35$ and it took me about 1.5 hours to replace that equates in to you paying almost 300$ an hour. thats pretty steep

yeah 4000$ isnt to bad condsideriong 78k. in my area it would still be worth that as i see them around that price all the time in the paper with over 100k but i would try to talk them down to 3500$ and make sure it dont tick if it does you should be able to talk them down into the 2500$ range considering its over a grand to fix all though you could eliminate the ticking for free

Cliff Clavin

iTrader: (11)

You must be a pretty speedy mechanic subs...I think the book on that is like 4 hours or so, plus you got a screamin' deal on the parts, too. I know a guy that used to be a nissan tech (he moved away, though) and he charged me $100 labor and I think the pump (I bought a new one from NAPA) was like $80 at a discount.

If the VTCs tick it's more of an annoyance than a serious problem. Mine have been ticking for several years and it has 146k on it right now. They do sound terrible, but it doesn't really seem to have an effect on the car. I would like to get mine fixed, but $$$ doesn't grown on trees

Window regulators can be a problem, but they are around $60 each and maybe an hour of labor if you take your time. Mine sucked because it went out and fell down. I had to drive around without a window for several days until the regulator came.

I had the clutch slave cylinder go out on my first max, but I think that was like $100 installed.

The $4k price seems pretty steep. Like a couple of other guys have said, you should be able to get the price down around $3k by just being patient, especially if the car is an auto. I don't think autos command the buying interest like 5-speed VEs do. I am not knocking ATs, I just think someone would probably pay more for a 5-speed.

longjuanfeng

You're right - $600 is too much. I went out and checked my receipt - $304 for labor and $129 for pump. $444 total including tax. I insisted on the ridiculously priced Nissan pump since the original one lasted 145K miles. Didn't want to chance a cheapo pump going out in 40K miles.

slow

e.g. 89 with 60k or 95 with 120k.

How do 3rd and 4th compare in reliability?