I'm looking at purchasing a 4th gen maxima SE 5spd and was wanting some input from current Max owners. I have read the FAQ's and found some problems with the 5spd trannies on 4G max's possibly going bad at 60k miles. Besides that, I don't see any other common problems with the 4th gen maximas.

Besides the above problem, is there anything else that I should look for when shopping for a 4G max?
Do any years have significantly more problems than the other years? Any major mechanical improvements in the 4th gen models that I should look for in my decision to purchase?

Being a long time Z31 owner, I am very familiar with the Z car's problems and changes in the Z31 line. I hope that you guys can fill me in on what I should look for in the 4th generation maxima line.

Any tips/input would be greatly appreciated.

 

Well, I've had my 97 SE 5sp for 2 years/40k miles. I really don't have much to warn you about, which strikes me as a good thing. Maintenance has been reasonable, doing it myself recently. My transmission appears to be fine, but it's never been as smooth as a true sports car. I changed to Redline MT-90 synthetic tranny oil and noticed barely any improvement, but it's probably worth it in the long run. If you intend to keep things mostly stock, then making the car last forever is not difficult. I said a lot more in my review at epinions.com.

Dave

 

95/96's are the fastest and lightest, 97-99 look the best IMO - its up to you.........i'd rather take the 97 since it has much better crash ratings

 

In terms of the power, you're correct. But from most people say, it's a pretty incremental difference. 95/96 were slightly lighter, and had 1 fewer catalytic converter. But I'm thinking it equates to ~2-3 hp...probably not worth buying the 95/96 for this reason. If price is a concern, then maybe it's worth it; but then again, the crash results were pretty poor on the 95/96, so you're taking a chance there.

As for the tranny stuff, there is a ton of info on this. If you go to www.motorvate.ca, you'll see a full write-up from a guy that had the problem many on this board have had. Personally, I'm at 78k and have not seen any of the warning signs, so it's just something you have to wait and see. I may be replacing the clutch soon; and if I do so, I'll check out the differential carrier bearing. The main cost is the labor involved with opening up the tranny.

Other issues?
- O2 sensors seem to wear out slightly quicker than in other cars.
- Bose radio has been known to fail in some cars.
- I believe that the electric climate control on 97's is slightly less reliable than the units used in the 98/99's.

As you can see, there really isn't anything outside of the potential tranny problem. And if you're going to replace the clutch soon, this isn't an issue either. If the car has passed 70k and hasn't shown any play in the front axle, you're probably ok.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the info. Crash test info is one thing I didn't look into. After checking out sites with crash test data, I'll be leaning more towards the 97-99's.

Performance isn't of utmost importance to me as I'll be using it as a daily driver. I should be somewhat satisfied with a 190 fwhp maxima which shouldn't be too hard to obtain with intake, exhaust, y pipes. The Z31T will be my weekend autocross/sports car when I get around to beefing up the turbo & adding bigger injectors.

Who knows.. the maxima may end up being my autocross car too when I get around to modding it. From the looks of it, they handle pretty damn well for a sedan -

http://www.z32.org/austin/video/jesseautox01.mpg
http://www.z32.org/austin/video/jesseautox02.mpg