Hey guys, I was just wondering if any of you all have VG motors with quite a few miles on the original engine? Wondering how long my engine might last, as I hear it's the most reliable on the market, which is good since mine has 110k miles on it... I have no idea how good of care the people before me took of it, but it's in pretty good condition now and I'm putting premium gas in it and every 3000 miles I'm gonna put synthetic oil in it, so hopefully it'll last me through my college days at least... ok I'm rambling, sorry.

 

VG's will last forever; it's the tranny I'd be worried about.
I've heard about a 600K one before, but never seen it. There are many that are over 200K and doing fine. I had an 89GXE with 189K that had no problems at all until the tranny died
VE's are reliable too. Dmontz has over 200K and running great

 

267,248 miles and counting......

'91 SE 5 Speed

 

In response to your question about high milers, I am proud to say that I bought my 90 Maxima new in August 91. I have been running Mobile 1 synthetic oil for about 160,000 miles. I have 232,697 miles on my car. I change my oil about every 6-7 thousand miles. It does not use or drip any oil. About 2 weeks ago I lost my automatic transmission. I had the transmission serviced only twice in the 232,000 miles and if I had it to do over, I think I would have serviced the transmission about every 60,000 miles. Who knows, if I had done that I might not have lost the transmission. I had it rebuilt because I plan to run the car another 232,000 miles.

This has been the best car my family and I have ever owned in my 37 years of driving about 10 different cars. If you take good care of your Maxima, it will take good care of you. This was the first time in 232,000 miles that my car had ever left me stranded. This was the first major problem
I had with my car. Before the transmission went, I had just spent over a grand to have the water pump replaced, both front axles replaced, all belts changed for the second time, and finally I had the original cooling hoses changed at 232,000 miles. My car is running great now as yesterday I just put the new quad Bosch spark plugs in my car. They give the car an extra boost and it runs great even with 232,697 miles. Good luck and I hope your car is as good to you as mine has been to my family and myself.

Sincerely,

David Moore (davidam)

 

233,000 and counting....

 

My 92 max gxe has 201,xxx and counting original everything except the alternator and two injectors

 

Well my 93 GXE has about 107.5k miles on it. It's good to hear that maxima's can go so long, hopefully mine will too. I have a 90 geo prizm with about 176k miles and that thing is about to fall apart so hopefully the Max won't be the same.

 

172,280 and counting. Replaced Transmission at 154,00mi
never been serviced the old guy I bought it from new he had problems with the max and I bought it for $1200.00 and fixed it and the pics are on my site its the pearl white one, and am currently planning to chunk the auto for the 5spd out of my totalled 90SE

 

Ack, you had to replace the tranny at 154k? Does anyone know when they typically wear out? I'm guessing that's gonna be a $1000+ cost soon if that's typical... mine has 110k like I said and the tranny has never been replaced! That would really suck for a college student like I'm soon to be!

 

you should be fine just keep it serviced every 30,000 mi and youll be good. the old guy who had mine didnt take care of it and i was out 1300 to replace it plus my time to install it.
Dont do 60,000 mi service intervals on the maxima tranny or you will be replacing it.

 

From everything that I've read and learned about the auto boxes in our cars, if you don't have a tranny cooler already, get one. That and the 30K fluid change is the upper limit for fluid changes..there are some people that change their fluid like they change their oil. If you drive aggressively at all, change it more frequently.

 

under normal driving conditions the maximas transmission is fine with intervals at about 25-30k mi for fluid changes
if you drive the hellout of it then its another story.
i drain and fill mine every 10k mi or so being that i drive the hellout of it, but soon no more i will have a 5spd and wont have to worrry about that.

 

i have a 94 gxe and the owner before me barely drove the car. i got it when the car had 60k miles on it in dec. now its had over 66k. this little mileage and the good care im giving will take me through my college years.

 

wow, mine's a '92 and it only has 96k. (only 96? hehe) from the looks of it, it'll last for at least 20 more years

 

My 91' SE has 197,300, it's past due for an oil change. Tranny is twice rebuilt, cost $1500 the first time, and it saw the shop 7 times within the year. The second time it ran me $2700 for a full rebuild at Cottman transmissions and olny seen the shop for the five day check-up. Maxine is very reliable, and I don't see myself driving nothing else but a Maxima. Now I wonder why Nissan dosen't go back to its roots with the 3rd gen Max, and base it's next max on it.

 

What? my tranny is going to go soon??? NOOOO!!!

ummm.....anyone know how to change the tranny fluid?? Is it like the oil, cuz i can't find the drain for the tranny fluid.

 

The drain plug it on the right front side of the tranny. YOu use a 1/2" ratchet to open it up. The magnet on also on the drain plug, don't forget to clean that when you're done.

 

Even the timing belt? Holy geez, that's a winner!!!

 

 

I got a healthy 125,000 miles on mine, and I feel very secure and comfortable taking it for a long drive! I am hoping to squeeze another 175,000 miles (hopefully w/o having to replace anything major such as motor, tranny, etc).

 

My '94 was bought with 72,440 miles in September of 2000. Now it has 103,009 on the odometer and is still humming away in Chicago's searing 90+ degree heat.

I took the liberty of changing my tranny fluid twice since I bought it (Once shortly after I bought it, and once at 92,000 miles). I also had the coolant changed before the summer. Also, I have been extremely diligent about changing my oil (next change is due at 103,300 but might get done a little sooner).

The next maintenance projects are:

Timing Belt/Water Pump
Tires
Struts
Drive Belts

But I can say that this car at 100k is WAAAAAAAAAAAY better than my previous Caprice.