so i've had my car since sept of 2001 and i still love it. the only thing is that its an auto and i think its time for change. i'd love to have my car with a manual but i don't know if i can justify putting that much money into it. do you guys think i should do the swap or just get a 4th gen? i would get a ve but all the ones i found have high mileage and i don't want to get mixed up with any problems related to higher mileage maxs <cough> vtc's <cough>.

 

Oh it's on now. If you want to be a wimp and join the barf-gen donkey cart rear suspension boys, go ahead.

 

hahaha...i would try to wait a lil bit and try to find a 5-spd ve cuz they are pretty rare. There's nothing mechanically wrong with your auto is there? Jus keep it until you can find another 3rd gen....don't join the 4th gen group...there's so many they're like the civics of maximas

 

we all gotta move on sometime. the only thing holding me back from getting a 4th gen. is the price. it would probably be a lot cheaper to stick a manual into my car. about the ve... the chances of getting a good mileage car thats 10-12 years old now is getting kind of slim. the only reason i would put that much $$ into my car is because i've been the owner for a while and i know whats been fixed. getting a car that already has 120k miles is a bit risky.

and yea my car doesn't have any problems

 

D-Sta is still sellin his car as far as I know. Its a 92 ve 5-spd, really clean, jdm engine (i believe), and other goodies. Maybe he'll come in here, I forget what he's asking for it tho.

 

Barf bag, donkey cart rear suspension, that's rad

There are still goot VE 5 speeds around. I found mine, a 92, back in March, with 158,000km (98,000mi for the yanks) if you consider that low, I do, as it's well under average. You just have to be patient and look around. I knew about 5 speed VEs at the time, but I was looking for '02-'03 6 speeds for my Dad, to compare to one we test drove, when I stumbled upon my 92. When I first learned that not only older Maximas came with almost 200hp and a 5 speed, but also a limited slip differential I thought "Well, I'll never see one of those for sale."

 

yea...the IRS definetly makes the 3rd gen worth the wait

 

I'd stick with a 3rd gen. There's as much goodies out for the 3rd, as there is the 4th.

And I personally love the body styling of my 3rd than I do the 4ths.

 

wow, ur canadian max only had 158,000km on it? when i bought my 91GXE last october it had 196,000km on it.. i think that's pretty high, now it's up to 206,000km..

 

i would do the swap and stick to ur 3rd gen. i did my swap for about $230 with all the parts and the help of my dad. just go around looking in junkyards and ur sure to find one thats manual. i've been goin' to the same junkyard where i got mine and i've seen at least 2 other 3rd gens with manual trannies waiting to be pulled out. i would have taken those other 2 trannies but didn't have the cash. if u guys want especially CanadianMax i can get ahold of their phone # to see if they can ship it to u or something.

good luck,
rick

 

if you search around, the manual swap is a very cheap alternative.
i'm doing my swap this weekend and when it's all said and done the swap will have cost me around $400.

GRNMAXDMON,
$230!!! WTF? i thought i was doing my swap done for cheap cheap...

 

not even close to the same amount the 4th gen has.

 

If you have a VG I wouldnt bother with a tranny swap. The only option would be to find a VE 5-Speed.

 

Like what?

 

+1

sorry boyz but i think id rather have a 4th gen 5spd then a VG 5spd. ive driven my friends 91 we converted many times and it dont even compare to my VE 5spd

although as a last resort id much rather drive a VG 5spd that a VG auto

 

He isn't selling it and he does not have a JDM, he has the orig 92k mile engine in the car. He fixed his problem by performing the Fuel Injector Subharness TSB.

Brian, like what? We have more suspension mods than them, they have more brands, but we have more actual mods. We might not have as many styles of indiglo gauges or altezzas, but 3rd gens are by no means restricted as far as modding IMHO.

 

arnt we forgeting the lack of FI mods in a kit form for 3rd gens

 

let's see:
Readily available:
Coil over kits
Adjustable struts (other than Koni)
Turbo kits
S/c Kits
Body accessories (not my thing but it's out there)
that's what I can think of offf the top of my head.
I'm sure if I do some hunting I'd find more, but I'm too lazy

 

................................

 

Just pointing out what alot of people (ricers) look for

I wouldn't mind an SC, it would improve my gas mileage maybe I'd be able to keep the car under 4k more often. (dam knock sensor)
Personally my car will stay 95% stock, I need to drive it every day and have another car to sink my mad money (yeah, as if I have any of that) into

 

true, I did forget, HOWEVER, Julio does sell turbo kits for a very good price, compare that to the price of a PFI kit.

 

Speaking of tranny swaps. has anyone made a how-to on how-to actually do this?

 

-shock211-: i guess i beat u in doin' my swap cheaper unless u have performance parts. cuz when i did my swap i just replaced the clutch to new stock one thats all.

 

grnmaxdmon,
i used only stock/oem parts as well. the swap is done now and it cost me about 450.00 canadian, so i guess it works out to be around the same.
btw,
my car pulls soooooomuch better now!

 

Personally, I can't afford to keep fixing things that break on my car. It's 16 years old and has served my dad and I well since the day he bought it in November '88. The repairs are getting rather expensive, even though the car has been well taken care of its things like the tranny that kill keeping this car. I'd rather have a VE 5spd, but in my area they're as rare as a stock honda civic. I've found a '96 VQ 5spd for sale and it's probably my best bet. I'm 100% sure I'll miss the IRS and the body styling but the 3rd gen will always be my favorite.