Hey guys, haven't been here in awhile, since I crashed my 97 SE 5sd a couple years ago. My question is this...I have a chance to get 89 5spd as a beater....as never having driven one of the older ones, how are these in comparison to the 4 Gen? How's the stock clutch? I drive pretty hard. I also heard that you can turbocharge the 3 Gen motors from the Z setup. Any input? How reliable are these motors....I loved my 4 Gen...wish I never crashed it. The car has 135K miles, and the only thing really wrong as far as I know, is that the passenger window doens't roll up. How hard are these to fix? Just swapping motors? Thanks in advance.

 

Well I have a two 95's 4th gens that I love. One of them is a garage queen. I needed something to put 30 miles a day on and I picked up a 89 5 speed for almost free. It has it's problems. One is the window like you said. It's actualy probably a window regulator not the motor. But they are pretty fun cars. I think it actualy handles better than my 4th gens. It's deffinetly slower but than agin it has 270,000 miles on the original motor. But a good car non the less. inmo watch out for non working heater core, and broken motor mounts and go for it.

 

thr vg's are dam near bullet proof. it would be a good beater

 

Is it a VG or a VE? The VEs are pretty resilient engines themselves, mine just rolled 227,000 and I've had no problems with her.

 

89 is a VG.
You can do a Z31 turbo motor swap,not easy, but not impossible either.
the clutch is the same from 89-99 (maybe 01)
as others have said, the window is probably just the regulator a $40ish part

 

My 89 has 254,000 on original motor and tranny..I have never done any major work to it..u cant go wrong!

 

3re gens are strong as any other generation. good winter car. go for it bud.

 

Of course they do! They were the last ones with an IRS until the 6th gens came along.

 

Actually, AFAIK, stock for stock, a 4thGen handles better.

 

My 89 has 225,760 miles and still runs strong with original motor and Transsmission
(She does have a vacum leak Im trying to find, but thats all thats wrong with her!)

 

A 3rd gen is a much better car. Check this review out and you'll see what I mean.

http://www.vmrintl.com/Usedcars/Car%...xima_89-94.htm

I have a friend who has a 98 SE, and is always surprised to find the many ways my car out does his, and in the few ways his out does mine.

 

especially considering we don't have that stupid rear axle

 

Almost 209,000miles here boosted for with 12-13psi for over 20,000miles makes a great beater

Ps, If you don't buy it please post the number where I can!!!!
~Scott

 

That's a great review by the way.

 

Yep, thats why Im always quick to post it everytime I see one of these discussions.

 

Mine had 183k on it and the motor and tranny were still solid. Go for it, just look over the car carefully, just as you would any other used car.

 

Great review in that article but I don't agree with motorized belts as a weakness. Motorized seat belts is one of the best features of my maxima! I'm lazy so I don't like clicking in a seatbelt EVERY time I drive so I like this feature.

 

Yeah, I totally agree with you. Also makes the car a bit different than most.

 

Stock for stock there's no way you can say the 3rd gen is a "much better car". It does handle better, and the interior is better quality (though extremely outdated), but I certainly can't think of "many ways" a third gen will out-do a fourth gen (handling is only one way it outdoes a fourth gen). I'm not even going to get started on the third gen vs. fourth gen because it's been talked about before.

Now on topic:
A VG third gen does make a good beater car, they are reliable, have a bit of a torquey motor, and handle well. It really depends on how well kept the car is as far as maintenance goes. Things to look out for are: exhaust studs, timing belt, fuel injectors, window regulators (not hard to replace by the way, 30 minute job), and rust around the gas filler tube. I'd say get it if it's a good price and pretty well-maintained.

 

Hehe, okay.. I think you should do a bit more research next time.
First off, do you really think the variable valve timing and variable intake manifold we have on 3rd gens is just for show? Stock for stock, both 5spds.. Fairly even match up. Can't say which is quicker, right? Maybe the 4th gen, just by a tad. But... Who do you think pulls at the end? Don't believe me? See for yourself.

https://maxima.org/modules.php?name=30_comparisons

Next.. VLSD..? Nope sorry, 3rd gen only. Basically, the 3rd gen feels much more solid and well built than the 4th gen. Even though the 4th gens seem to have a nicer interior, it still feels cheap. The paint on 4th gens looks and feels cheap. The materials used on the 4th gen feel cheap. The leather feels like crap. When you hear the trunk close, it feels cheap. Ever heard a trunk close on a 3rd? Ever heard the quality you get when you close a 3rd gen door? Try that with a 4th. Instead of getting that "DOOF" that you get on well built quality cars that you get with a 3rd gen, you get a sound almost as if lightweight metal is slappin metal with the 4th. The list goes on and on. Everything just feels right on the 3rd when compared to the 4th gen. IRS on the 3rd, cool mini van suspension on the 4th. Uumm, this may be an opinion, but they definatly didn't improve on the styling. Car looks like a shoe. Look at the front, it looks like a timberland boot. Go ahead and call our 3rd gens a box.. Sorry no 2nd gen here. Look at the price difference when both cars were new? Look how well the 94's held value against the new 4th gens. In my opinon, the only thing the 4th gens have on us, is lighter weight(due to aluminum block, and cheapness) more room, and a bit more modern look on the inside and out. Also maybe a bit more reliable, but thats probably cause they are newer. Lets see them when they are considered 12 yr old cars. Thats about it. I also have this friend with a fully loaded 98'SE who just the other day told me how he thinks that my car feels more solid and planted to the ground than his.

Edit: I am talking about the VE, of course.

 

one of the best things for me 2

 

Unfortunately, you still have to click the lapbelt for the the motorized one to do any good.

The motorized belts tend to "hang" every person that's not familar with the old school maxima. Quite entertaining actually

 

I'm not quite sure if I'd really have a 3-gen as a "beater". I could think of a few other cars that I'd probably rather have. But I'm somewhat biased as I've done so much damned work on my maxima though the years.

 

Well, I noticed if I brake kinda hard, the motorized one will lock up and hold me.

 

If I accerate hard in gear, it will do that for me. But anyhoo, they are designed to be used together, not independently.

 

Yeah, that too. Also not a bad way to keep cops away until you can get the bottom one on.

 

Here's a thought. How about just using both belts as they were designed and not risk getting lynched in an accident?

 

like the guinness beer guys say "Brilliant!!!"

 

I've owned a VE 5spd (w/ working VTC's) and a VQ 5spd w/ similar miles and drove them both at least 30,000 miles so I would call that some pretty good research

So what you're saying is that even with VTC, a variable intake manifold, and VLSD your car is almost as fast, maybe slower than a 4th gen? Yeah that's what I thought

But what are your suspension mods and his suspension mods? We all agree that the 3rd gen has a better suspension, but just how much better is it? Probably not alot better, and if you compare a 3rd and 4th gen with similar suspension mods I'm sure you'de be happy with both.

As far as the paint, seats, interior...if you're so concerned about that stuff then why don't you get a Lexus or something?

When I chose between a 3rd and 4th gen I was looking for something with solid performance and best bang for your buck mods. As far as handling, I'd be happy with a set of H&R's and Illuminas, a FSTB, and a set of 16x7's on my 4th gen, fairly cheap and simple. As far as performance, I can swap a DE-K in my car for $500 w/ very little modification. I already have a y-pipe and test pipe, K&N intake, and STS, so I'd be in the low 14's. Plus I'd have MUCH more room to improve w/ ECU tuning and other bolt-ons if I wanted to.

My point is that the 4th gen has much more potential. W/ the above mods I'd have a reliable car with over 200 WHP and WTQ and I wouldn't have to worry about VTC's going bad, or exhaust studs, etc. You can only go so far with bolt-ons in a third gen and when you get that far and want to go faster the only thing you can do it turbo it and ooops, now you have to custom fab a turbo kit and spend a good $2000 for anywhere from 220-240hp before you have to upgrade fuel and do more custom work, etc. I can spend $2000 on my fourth gen and get a 3.5 already prepped to be bolted into my car and get about 230whp and 230wtq reliably w/out nitrous or turbo...there's just more options options and more potential for less money and hassle

 

BA! i thought your point was stock for stock.....becuase youre right the 4th gen hubcaps own all

im sorry but i wish brad92se would chime in and tell you how much hp he is making on his turbo VE......

hell we could swap in a VQ3.5 too, whats your point, of course ours would be a bit more time consuming but possible.

3rd gen vs 4th gen looks wise...well thats of course preference, but the suspensions...come on thats a no brainer.

 

yeah but your VE you tied down your battery with a bungee cord if im not mistaken..... thats

 

4-gen has a great motor. But stock it falls a bit short above 5,000 rpm. But the engine is the only thing I like better on the 4-gen vs 3-gen.

 

Performance aside, I'm sold on the 'hanging effect' every time. The motorized belts are pure comedy some days.

 

My point was just to compare the two evenly, whether it's stock for stock, modded for modded, etc., but that's hard because the average .orger can't do much with the VE after they've done all the bolt ons By the way, you know very well that SE's have alloy wheels

I wish he would too, maybe he could tell us how much he spent on his turbo too, wouldn't that be interesting

It's possible to swap in any motor with enough $$$ but my point was that it's readily available on the 4th gen to anyone who can turn a wrench and has $2,000 ($1000-1500 if you did the work yourself), it's a whole different ballgame when you try to swap a VQ into a 3rd gen, I've only seen one in my life.

Well you got me there I definitely prefer the looks of the third gen more but you can make either gen look great. And the suspensions, bah, we know the 3rd has IRS but no one can really say how much better it is, I would guess it doesn't make a huge difference.

[QUOTE=tripleGmax]yeah but your VE you tied down your battery with a bungee cord if im not mistaken..... thats :gay:[QUOTE]

Well hopefully you saw the rest of the car too, got to pick on the sore spot. That bungee did exactly what it was supposed to, it's what is called "African-American Engineering", maybe you've heard of it

 

haha, no its all good, i was just razzin ya.

 

Yeah I know, did you see it in person though? The battery definitely wasn't moving anywhere : Hey your car looks great with those rims by the way.

 

Okay man, you completely went of course there, but you definatly owned me. Im speechless. I don't know what I was thinking...


BTW, check this review out on 3rd gens for beaters compared to 4th gens, I hear it's quite good. http://www.vmrintl.com/Usedcars/Car%...xima_89-94.htm

Thats a nice thought, but that wasn't what I was implying on. I was tryin to say that we don't live in such a perfect world that we always get a chance to throw the lapbelt on right before we start driving, so the cops seein the motorized belt on, always makes things easier especially when these dip shi*s give tickets for no seat belt after they've pulled you over for something else and when you take it off to reach to the passenger side to get your paperwork, they assume you didn't have it on.

 

i saw pics of it, i know someone on here bought it right? anyway thanks for the compliments. have you modded the 4th gen besides a y-pipe?

 

Harvsmax has my old car.

The only mod I've done to the car is the hacked air box w/ K&N filter. It came with the B&M STS, y-pipe, test pipe, and clear corners. I got a really good deal on it and have just put miles on it so far. The guy I bought it from ran a 14.8 in the quarter with that setup and I've been pretty satisfied with it. I'm getting ready to do some work on it though, H&R springs and FSTB will be going on as soon as I get a decent deal on the springs. I'll be doing a DE-K swap w/in the year and then possibly get an upgraded ECU and VLSD, but I'm just taking it slow for now, I'm a tightwad w/ my money.

 

ok thought it was him. thats cool, you got it going with that car then....my thing is you only live once, im not really a tightwad....should be more careful but oh well.