I'm finally ready to get rid of my car and would love to find an old Maxima, the one I drove in college, and do a frame-off restoration, modernizing a bit with some newer electronics & safety features. I'm very serious about the project, but haven't found anything close to a viable example - one that isn't completely trashed. I figure it'd cost about as much as a medium-priced new car, and I can't think of any I'd be happier with. The only thing harder to find than a good example of one of these cars is probably a restored example of one. The fact that most left seem to be in rough shape with 150k miles or more is a testament to what a good car it was. Anyone know the best place for a chance of finding a decent candidate?

 

My car is in pretty good shape, it has been in the Inland Northwest for most of its life. I spent a few years at the coast and did very short drives to work which definitely took their toll, but I had it re-painted and it is still in really decent condition. I would suggest looking either around Washington, Oregon, Montana, or maybe one of the desert states, the sun takes its toll, but rust won't be an issue. . .

 

I've always stuck to warm-weather states (really when buying any car)... I may look into hiring someone with more connections & resources to try and hunt one down for me. My '89 & '99 were my favorite cars; shame the Maxima really lost its way after that generation IMHO... The days of the reasonably priced well-equipped sports-sedan are unfortunately over. A manual trans like my '99 would be ideal... hard to imagine now that there were 5 at local dealers to choose from when I bought it.

 

I've got a '93 SE 5 speed in pretty decent shape. I bought her in 2000 at 7 years old and we've had lots of memories together. I hate the thought of it going to a salvage yard - I'd love to see it restored and well loved. It runs and will move, but has engine problems that I'm sure any decent mechanic and someone with the time would be able to take care of. Clear coat recently started peeling, but the pearl color doesn't make it that obvious. It's been in Texas most of, if not all of, it's life. I can send pics if you want....