khakuda

I wanted to thank everyone here on the org for all the assistance over the years. The body of knowledge and advice here has been amazing as has the generosity of the community.

I purchased my 94 GXE new in November, 1993 and it has been my daily driver since then. I think I paid in the $23,000 range and then honestly probably put in another $12,000 in repairs and maintenance. I figure the car cost about $130 a month over its life excluding gasoline, taxes, registration and insurance.

And not one accident.

The car had very little in the way of repair until its late teenage years and the past 7 years have seen repair costs mount. I was awaiting receipt of a timing belt kit when I noticed some yellowish fluid under the passenger driver side door. My amateur skills told me only gasoline or brake fluid could be lingering back there. Well, fortunately not gasoline, but checking underneath the brake lines are shot. Seriously, the Titanic is in better condition. 24 Connecticut winters.

Sadly, I can't justify keeping the car as a daily driver because I need better reliability at my now advanced age. Plus, after the past 8 months with engine mounts, spark plugs, lower control arms, front struts, tires, sway bar links, alignment, MAF sensor, trunk latch, sunroof glass, etc...yet another $700 on timing belt kit/install and new brake lines, plus who knows what else, I'm worn out. At some point, you have to move on and it is clear that many of the car parts were not engineered to last this long.

Sad thing is, the engine is unbelievably smooth and quiet and with all the new suspension parts and Michelins with all of 1,000 miles, it drives so damn nicely. But, stopping is certainly important. Also sad is that I'm probably going to get around $400 for the thing which isn't much more than the $100 I'd get for returning just the battery to Costco. And don't talk to me about the tires.

I always new that the last year would be the year when I spent too much versus what I got back, but that is the way this works, so I can't complain.

Maybe I'll post some photos when I get a chance. Damn thing looks amazingly good for its age.

ac max 92

iTrader: (13)

Sorry to hear. Being the original owner the car has taken you a long way and probably further than the cars of today would go. If you so decide you could always part out some things before sending it off to get a little more return. I'm sure there's lots of members here that would take some parts if you decided to go that route.

AzureblueZ

A sad day for sure

I thought I was married to my Maxima but you are an original owner

Is there a lot of rust underneath the car?

It's true you could part the car out for more than you could sell it. I bet it would be hard to pull it apart piece by piece and send it to the junk yard though. Maybe some ambitious young driver could make a good first car out of it?

At any rate, sad to see you go! What do you think you'll replace your Max with?

khakuda

You know, there really is not an excessive amount of rust under the car, particularly for its age. You are probably right on the parting out. I really don't know how to best get rid of it. It really is suited to be a mechanics car for fix and resale or parts car. For the price of a timing belt, cam seals and brake lines, you are back in business. But for me, the cost makes no sense. I am replacing it piece by piece.

If it goes to trade, I wonder if the dealer will have an issue with me pulling the stereo and leaving a hole. I don't how it doesn't go to parts/junk once anyone sees the brake lines.

I called Courtesy Nissan to tell them I was going to return the timing belt kit and the response was, "Well, at almost 24 years old, all the rubber and plastic is pretty toasted and if you live where it snows/rains a lot, you will also have some metal problems. But, you have a great engine and probably decent transmission." That about sums it up exactly.

I would not let a young driver or any driver have this unless he knew there was a serious issue with the brake lines and was capable of fixing them immediately. I won't put it up for sale on craigslist or anywhere because I couldn't think of anything worse than selling something unsafe to someone. If anybody local here wanted a parts car, that would be fine. Battery, tires, MAF sensor, OEM engine mounts, spark plugs, KYB struts, stabilizer links, LCA, all less than 8 months old.

So, given that the brakes could go out at any minute, confining me to the emergency brake and my Fred Flintstone feet, I can't wait very long. I'm thinking Accord or CRV or 2018 Camry which is out next month. Boring, but reliable. If end of month, 4th of July sales in the states are good, may have to hit a bid on Honda. That said, would love to see the new Camry redesign, fuel economy and price. 200 HP, 8 speed auto instead of Honda CVTs and standard land departure, pedestrian braking and adaptive cruise. Full specs come out June 21st, so I can wait until then. The Max had 160 HP with a 6 cylinder and these have 185-200 with a 4 cylinder.

Honda goes turbo with Accord later this year, but I can't wait that long and am unsure about longevity of turbo engines. All that pressure can't be great for longevity, can it? I have to test drive the CVT, never drove one.

LQ91SE

I still daily drive a 1991 Maxima SE manual with 360k. Paid $17,800 for it in mid-1991. I am in the south, so it is still rust free.

Lots of great deals on 2017 Camrys out there. (Just bought a GLE V6 for $7,500 off sticker). That 2GR-FE 3.5 V6 engine/transmission combo is used in everything. Also, they are selling Avalons for the price of a high end Camry.

I'd also check out the Accord Sport (available with a manual) as well. I Drove a Fusion Titanium Ecoboost and did not like it.

Personally, I stay away from CVTs and turbos (for reliability reasons).

Just looked it up, $23,000 in Nov. 93 is $38,607 in 2017 dollars.

khakuda

Spent the past 2 days shopping. Did the Camry. No cvt and no turbo. Agreed that long term longevity is unproven with those. Took maxima to my mechanic and saw that brake and fuel lines were shot, power steering was leaking and cam and crank seals were shot. They told me not to bother, too much work, plus timing belt was due.

Will miss the car. Had it forever, though it did have a lot of repair/maintenance over the years.

Photos of the brake lines show that they are soaking wet with brake fluid.

LQ91SE

That's a nice looking car. Hopefully you can sell it to a Nissan Mechanic that can do the work (and has access to cheap parts). It would be a shame for that car to be taken to a junkyard.

khakuda

Toyota took it as a trade for $1000. I agree with you that it should go to a mechanic. The actual cost of brake line, three rubber seals and the timing belt is minimal. Rack and pinion can be replaced when needed with a remanufactured one I suppose. A mechanic will get tens of thousands of miles out of that car as the engine is near silent and the transmission is still completely smooth. I just didn't have time to deal with it anymore because it was basically one little thing after another. It was my only car and my daily driver. I couldn't take anymore time off work to deal with it. Also, I use the car maybe three times a year for longer road trips and couldn't trust her anymore to make it back without some issue.

The Camry has proven nice for the first few days I've owned it. I'm getting about 24 to 25 in the town and actually hit 40 mpg on the highway, which is well over it's rated fuel economy. Probably because I'm used to driving the Maxima so gently. And I looked underneath and the brake lines are completely encased in some type of plastic outer shell to prevent the rusting from the outside. That's really nice design.

LQ91SE

$1000 was a good offer from Toyota. As boring as the Camry is, you cannot argue about the "legendary Toyota quality." I've checked for service bulletins for the car, nothing major came up. This is unlike the previous gen Maxima which had engine bearing problems. I had a co worker whose CVT gave out at 40K miles on a Altima. Nissan was going to give him $11k in trade for a 18 month old $30,000 car.

khakuda

You are right and it is sad what happened to Nissan post the Renault merger under Carlos Ghosn. Datsun's were legendary for quality, so were our generation Maximas. My mother has a 2001 Pathfinder and it has been terrific, other than Camshaft position sensors clogging with oil and failing, but like the fuel injector and window motor issues with our Maximas, once you resolved that, they were fine. Sometime around the early 2000s, things started to go to hell.

I agreed when you wrote to stay away from CVT and Turbo. I had thought the same thing. Nissan CVTs are legendarily bad. Honda and Toyota seem ok, but it is interesting that even in the 2018 Camry, they are sticking to standard auto transmissions, albeit more gears. You would think turbos have to be harder on the engines and have a cost from a longevity standpoint, but maybe they are engineered in a more robust way to take that into account. All I know is that those things get crazy hot as they spin.

Honestly, like the issues they had with direct injection fouling and leaving carbon deposits, these new technologies are great, but there is a learning curve and it takes time to perfect after the real world test of 100,000+ vehicles on the road over time. I'm happy with the Camry because it is standard proven naturally aspirated engine and auto transmission. It is also the last year of the generation which hopefully allowed them to perfect it, just like the 94 Maxima probably resolved some of the issues with the 89s.

Actually, it doesn't matter what my amateur, unqualified, non-engineer, dumb consumer opinion is. The market price of these cars in the used market says it all. Look at the depreciation on a 3 year old Camry or 3 year old Accord and compare it to the depreciation on a 3 year old Altima. Something ain't right at Nissan in recent years.

Sad, too, because after having that 3rd gen Maxima, I would loved to have stayed loyal to the brand. But, current Nissan management has done immeasurable damage to the brand. The story of your co-worker losing almost $20,000 in 18 months is extreme, but I have heard dozens of similar stories. If I had a mainstream production car that cost me over $1,000 a month in depreciation, I'd be more than pissed and would let everyone know it. The damage to the brand from just one person being pissed with amplification of that message via social media (like this site) is horrendous. Nissan could have made right by him and didn't. Now they lost who knows how many customers as a result. So stupid. It was Nissan's current crap reputation which made them not even a consideration for me.

By the way, you are my hero for still driving a 91 Maxima. I wish I could have kept mine going, but New England winters take their toll.

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

rust is what eats these cars now. sad but true.

mine is still pushing and knock on wood no significant rust to report.
i don't drive it much since the roads and the crazy drivers around here...one fender bender and any insurance company will deemed the car totaled.

my dad was the orig owner so it has stayed within the family. it already hit it's 25 year mark so now it's emission exempt and can be registered as historical status..LOL

AzureblueZ

Sad to see it go khakuda. I didn't realize it only had 117,000 miles on it! Wow!

It sounds like you made a wise decision though. I have been doing all of the same work that your Maxima needed and it is indeed a lot of work. If I had to pay someone else to do it the cost would not have been justifiable.

I hope you like the new ride! It sounds like you made a wise decision.

Blacksheeptina

Beautiful Story, RIP.