now that I've finally sold my old car I'm looking at something else. My old car was a 1992 Mercury Cougar which I liked, except for the fact that I sunk about $2000cdn of repairs into it over a span of a year and about 25k km, and it still needed more. I sold it still needing two upper and one lower ball joints, new o2 sensors (didn't bother replacing them after the headgaskets blew...), tranny was on the way out, etc. etc. I'm sure you get the idea

Now my mechanic has what I believe to be a 1992 Maxima with about 160k km on it, that I could probably grab for $3500cdn or there abouts. Is this a decent deal? I think it might be a SE since it has rear disk brakes, anything else visually that will tell it apart?

It's a clean car all around without rust, clean paint, and no obvious signs of an accident. Has a good set of options such as the moon roof, keyless entry pad on the door, power windows, locks, etc. Not sure how special all that makes it though.

Besides all of that, I'm primarily looking for a car that will be reliable (see above). What sort of major problems do these cars have? How are the automatic transmissions? Is the gas mileage decent on them? Does the car need premium gas?

What worries me though is that it's a 1992 car, I have bad feelings towards older cars these days after my last experience. 12 years of being on the road can lead to all sorts of bad things happening simply as a result of wear and tear. Would I be better off getting something like a '94 or '95 civic without any options? Can I really expect to buy this car and drive it without anything major happening?

 

If the car has keyless entry, then chances are it is actually a GXE (since it's Canadian I suppose it's possible the SE's had keyless, but in the US no SE's did). If that's the case, then the engine you have is the SOHC VG30E, which is pretty bulletproof. Major problems with them are limited to exhaust manifold studs and fuel injectors. The real weak point of any 3rd gen maxima is the automatic transmission. The 89-91's are especially fragile, and the 92-94s are still on the weak side. Overall though, the Maxima is a pretty solid vehicle, they usually don't fall apart like other cars can after 10 years. Of course, previous owner maintenance plays a large part in a car's reliability.

 

if it has keyless entry on the door then it is a gxe model. NO se came with that option from the factory. also another way to tell it apart would be the trim around the doors black = se chrome= gxe. if its a 92 then you can also look at the engine. VE30DE = 92-94 se this was the DOHC motor. VG30E 89-91 se and gxe - 92-94 gxe this was the SOHC motor. hint the SOHC has sparkplug wires the DOHC is coil on plug hence no traditional spark plug wires.

 

thanks for the info

pretty sure that it does have the keypad entry but it also has rear disks, can both be part of the GXE? What I've read so far has said that the rear disks were a SE thing.

If it is in fact a GXE (kinda hoping for this actually), how is the gas mileage on them? I assume it's happy taking 87 octane too?

now considering the above, am I getting a reasonable price on it?

one more question, how do the bodies on these cars hold up, are they particularly prone to rust?

oh and as far as maintenance, the car has been owned by my mechanic's uncle for the past few years by my understanding and my mechanic has kept up on the maintenance. Uncle moved back to Italy so mechanic is selling car for him. My mechanic is a honest guy so I trust him in these things

thanks again

 

if the car has abs it has rear disc even on a gxe

the motors pretty much bullet proof

find out if the car has the original auto tranny in it. if it does expect a $2000 rebiuld in the feature

i dont bieleve to many people complain about rust

yes 87 oct is fine

 

couldnt u just say for instance that the se has a white dash?how strong are the single cams?..for daily driving purposes will the sohc be better than the dohc?also whats the expected gas mileage?

 

difference in the motors is HP/TQ

SOHC = 160hp-160tq

DOHC = 190hp-190tq

 

Engines are great and bulletproof. I have 230k miles and I just replaced my original auto tranny with a 93 auto tranny. Never had to do any engine maintenance and my sister who owned it before me never did any maintence to the car other than a tune-up and oil change. I was left replacng the suspension and all the other wear and tear items. That is minus the tranny. I think I did that by racing my friends Civics.

I think that getting a 3rd gen max is a huge upgrade due to the fact of the many possibilities of it. You can make it a day to day cruiser or a turbo V6 (from a 300zx). Rust isn't really prone except for the exhaust. The first winter I had it in Connecticut from South Carolina I had a huge rust spot. That was an easy fix. All I can say is that this car gets you where you need to go and then some more. As most people know it is the last 4DSC (4 Door Sports Car) from Nissan. Good luck on your choice!!!

 

Actually the SOHC has 160hp/182ftlbs/tq, so it is comparible to the VE, or DOHC motor that came in '92-94 SE's. Whether it is the SOHC or DOHC motor they are at least as reliable as a 94-95 honda civic. The DOHC does have issues with it's variable timing and Knock Sensor, and as mentioned before both have problems with thier fuel injectors. If you haven't read through the sites listed below I would recommend doing so:
http://home.earthlink.net/~maxfaq/history.htm

https://maxima.org/maxfaqs/index.shtml

http://www.4dsc.com/articles/general...mparison.shtml

There are some others such as epinions.com that you may want to check out.

 

also if its a gxe-vg motor =timing belt if a se ve motor =timin chain the belt on a vg is supposed to be replaced every 60,000 miles ...60,120,180,240 etc..most shops will also get ya for the water pump ,timin belt tensioner ,thermostat +,other which add$ up to ALOT OF F''IN MONEY last i checked @$300-$700 u.s. dolla dolla bills (the belt itself from nissan is like $30bucks) ....i did my own so they're not too hard but i keep my fingers crossed -and i did not do water pump or thermostat or tensioner just because i was already "in there " maybe...next time all in all a great car but i think repair shops make a killin on "" servicing them"" so if you dont do any work yourself it might cost a little to own and parts are usaully expensive especialy if a shop is selling them to you at a profit ...happy motoring-enjoy tha ride

 

Any car can be reliable as long it has been well cared for. Its when u treat them lke crap that u start to have trouble.

 

Seriously? The VG30E will run on 87 without knocking?

 

87 octane runs fine. Mine did ping a little, but 2 of my injectors were a little weak. When they finally quit and I replaced them, no more pinging.

Anyway, back to the car overall. I have a 92 GXE and it has 163k miles. This has been the most reliable car I've owned.

The only problems I had were the common ones - minus the transmission. Exhaust Manifold studs went at about 81K, 2 fuel injectors finally quit at 145K. The engine internals are indeed bulletproof. It still doesn't burn any oil.

The only thing special I do to the car is the transmission maintenance. I've always had a flush done every 25k miles.

I get about 24-25 MPG driving around in the greater Seattle area.