Hey all. Here is my situation. First, I've gone about a month back in posts and didn't see anything really like this question. So here it goes.

Me: Love driving. Current car, 87 Accord DX (98HP carb ). It's a great little car, but I'm driving 2 hours a day to and from work. I want something that 1) Is FUN to drive, 2) Won't break my bank and 3) is pretty reliable. Also must have AC. I fell in love with the 3rd gen Max after I drove a friends home from a party (DD).

My questions are, what problems are folks having with their cars? I've read about the VTC issues (religious about changing my oil). Are there any other serious ones to look into? Tranny problems? Fuel delivery? etc? Anything that is chronic to these cars. Also what kind of freeway millage are folks getting?

There appear to be a number for sale in my area w/ 80k - 120k, How many miles can I expect before having to retire this car?

Thanks for any help!

Fuzzy

 

if it doesn't have the VTC noise now...use the recommended yota filter with castrol gtx oil 5w30 or 10w30, if you can check out the suspension bushings and control arms....also check the shocks by pressing down on it, it should be stiff, bounce down and come up and thats it....check around the fuel filler for any rust...some have had a recall on getting it replaced.....you can get lucky and have it last for a long time, and if your good with oil changes and dont drive it too rough all the time, and your VTC may last a while too, you might be in for a clutch change too. The window regulators tend to go out alot in these cars, you can get good used ones at junk yards for like $50 with the motor when they do go out, and they are easy to replace. anything I left out guys? always do a full tune up when buying a car, spark plugs, new filter/clean, seafoam, new oil, filter, fuel filter, and it might be a good idea to check some of the ground points, maybe clean them up

 

I am only talking about the 92-94 SE with the VE30DE engine. I have owned two of them (both 5-speeds), with the red one being my current daily driver.

The VTC issues are common. A very large percent of these cars have some form of "ticking." Usually it is only on start up or when the car is cold. The worse ones have it almost all of the time. Once it starts, it doesn't usually matter about your oil changes or whatnot, you will have some ticking and it will get worse. The strange part is most cars continue to run with no other problems and nothing bad from the VTCs. Rarely one will have a major malfunction. It costs quite a bit to fix it, unless you are a pretty skilled mechanic.

The AT trannies are generally pretty weak, and the manual trannies are a little better, but far from bulletproof. A number of guys here have had to replace their manual trannies. I haven't had any problems (knock on wood) and my first car went to 160k before I traded it in and this car has 149k with the original tranny. I drive my cars very hard, too.

As with almost any car that has 100k+ the key to almost everything is going to be maintenance. Usually cars that are well maintained have less problems. If you can find one private party and the owner has lots of service records (oil changes, regular dealership maintenance schedule followed, etc.), that would be one to get.

I think it is very reasonable to expect 200k or more miles if you don't drive it like you stole it and keep up with the maintenance.

There are some other things like window regulators and crappy Bose stereos that go out, but they are not that bad. The regulators you can do in an hour or so with common tools.

As for fuel consumption, one thing to remember is the VE engine is supposed to take super unleaded. I get around 28-30 mpg on the freeway, but only in the low 20s around town. The downside is, you would do better with a Honda. The upside is, there isn't an unmodded Honda that can touch you, except brand new Accords and S2000s.

Oh, all Maximas have AC, PW, CC, PDL. They are Nissan's flagship...

Good luck and I hope you find a winner.

 

i just got a 92 se with an auto and the ve, 249,000 miles on it and runs awesome (except for the dang vtc's). Everything works on it too, the bose sounds awesome, ac is ice cold, heat is real hot, except two windows dont work. I'd say to try and get one with under 200k on it to be safe...i get wierd one time problems sometimes.

 

Seems like lots of people have a problem with broken exhaust studs on the VE. You want to check for that.

 

Is there one side of the engine where the broken exhaust manifold studs brake?

 

I have a 93 SE 5spd (a VE of course). I got mine from the original owner 2 years ago with about 92,xxx on the odo. My car currently has 118,000 on it. Since the VE is chain drive, no worries there really.

Although the automatic versions can last a long time, you have to really look hard for one that hasn't been beat up or raced around a lot, otherwise the car will cost you a big chunk early. I prefer manual examples for this reason alone, so if any of the ones you're looking at are 5spds, I'd look at those first, but that's my opinion.

I would say injectors is the first major engine area you should concern yourself with. Ask the seller(s) what octane they run the car(s) with. I run a very strict Chevron 91 octane, since I've had such hectic injector experiences. Having a shop replace injectors will S-U-C-K SUCK-SUCK-SUCK. It cost me $1600 to have a shop do all 6 after 7+ hours of work.

VTCs will break and tick. I've resigned myself to that fact, so I don't worry about them. They don't affect the operation of the car, running or otherwise.

The exhaust studs on my VE seem to be fine. I did however have an old VG-powered 87 SE 5spd with a bad stud, and at low RPMs it sounded like a real beater. The stud that broke on my old Max was against the firewall (of course).

The stock Bose systems tend to hold up well. Mine still sounds great, even with a new head unit and a power inverter stuck in the line to make the new HU compatible. I tested a few Maxes however, that had bad speakers, likely because some previous owner joyrided the stereo all the time; a lot of people like taking them "to 11".

Check the power windows for rocking when they roll down. The window clips are common weak areas. My driver window has one broken clip at least, so it wiggles a little when it goes down.

That's about it really, from my experience. The only thing that's really bitten me in the @ss with this car is the injector debacle. Other than that, no complaints. Try and find one that's changed hands as little as possible; my 1-owner car has been a diamond in the rough.

 

I've got a 92 VE that is due for a 5 spd swap (it's an auto for now, but the trans has a problem so I'm selling it.)
only 133k, and no VTC noise