Hey everyone. I'm 15, turning 16 in march 6th. I have a twin brother. I am really like the maxima. I'm not into all the mod changes and everything, i just like the stock car 'cus it's roomy for my baseball gear and friends in the back. Fair sized trunk and all. And I like the maxima because i've heard such good reviews about how well it drives. Well the other day I went and looked at one with my dad, and it was sweet, it accelerated nice, and i like the black dash with white numbers, easy to read. But I can only spend around $6000 on a car. And my brother has to get a car too, around the same time as me. And we are still paying off my moms camry she got last year. So I can't spend too much, but I'd like a nice maxima. Can someone suggest a good year of a maxima that would STILL last me through college? I want a 96 or 97, but those are so expensive used, unless they have tons of miles in which it wouldnt do me any good anyways. I could afford a 95, but thats gonna be 9 years old by the time i can drive it! A 96 is cutting it close to $7k...Can i get some help please?

 

Well, I'm 18, got my 1995 SE Maxima in March, used of course. I bought it off a private owner, some Pakistan. Anyways, like I said it was an Se, so it was Auto, leather, sunroof, and all the goodies. It also had 89k miles, not that bad. I got the car for $5k, only because it had some dents and stuff, but thats still a heck of a deal. Just look around, I didnt' like going to dealers cause of the whoel tax stuff, you pay like $500+ more in taxes and titles. Autotrader.com, the maxima.org, or just your weekly newspaper ads coudl be some interest to you, who knows maybe you'; get your perfect maxima, hope this helped

 

heres my advice. buy a 92 civic for like 2k. work for a year and save up all of your money, probably like 2-3k since you are in school and do other activities. then next year, sell the civic for like 1500 and you will have that 1500, plus the 2-3k that you saved up, plus the 4000 left from you parents, which comes out to about $8000. that way you can get what you want, and who knows, maybe by then your parents can afford to give you more $$. just my two cents.

 

Good plan, but who the hell wants to drive a '92 Civic for a year when you could be pushin' a MAX instead?

 

True....True

 

you cant have the best right off the bat. i had to drive a minivan for 9 months until i got my Z. patience is a virtue...

 

Just get a bike, you can carry any baseball and gloves with you in the back. Maybe you can even take a friend with you now and then. Its will get you places faster and its fun.

 

All I can think about is when I was 16. If I had a Max back then I would have killed myself/others many times over. As it was I had a 6000 pound 1978 Dodge D-150 2-wheel drive pickup with a 120hp six. It still did 100 mph and frightening things around sharp corners.

Just be real cautious.....

-RMB

 

Oh c'mon now, Maxima's don't have that much power, not enough to be scared of at least. I have a '97 Maxima SE and just love to go downtown and race the lil supped up Hondas and Toyotas, they're so slow and yet they think they can fly. But when I pull up beside something with some manmeat in it, like an old Charger, Nova, Chevelle, etc. I have no chance in the world. Now those cars have something in them that might scare you to drive.

 

There is no way you'll be seeing me driving a honda civic. I would really like a maxima. But I also have my eyes open for a nice honda accord or toyota camry. Any opinions on those vs a maxima? By the way, thanks for all the advice, its really helpful.

 

you can definitely find a 95 GXE for around 6,000 dollars. Yes 9 years will be a lot but the maxima's have great engines as you will hear on this forum and can go for over 150,000 miles with no problems. If you want something affordable, look for high highway mileage, like around 100,000 to 120,000 miles. It will still run well, it will be or should be cheaper than 6,000 dollars and it will be what you want. 96 and 97 are like two different cars. They are the same but the main difference between the 4th gen maxima's are the 95-96 and 97-99. You will be paying a big difference between 97 and up vs 95-96 because of clear head lights and change in trunk and bumper lights along wit smaller things. But if u REALLy wanted a 96, 95 is the same dam thing, just 96 has electric passenger seats. don't see anything else special with it. That's my opinion....

 

I turn 16 in november and i drive a red 99 SE-L..i paid 5K because it had a big dent in the rear..me and my dad turned it into new again for about $100..and trust me, a civic or camry cant compare with a max

 

amen.. i drove a dodge grand caravan my entire senior year in HS, it was maroon with wood paneling. my boss at my job used to ask me "What do you wash it with?... Pledge??"..

fat basterd

 

Maybe you can find a max with minor body damage, but otherwise in good condition. This way the car would be cheaper and you can fix the damage as you make some more money.

 

I 2nd that..i saved a few pretty pennies by doing this

 

i just sold my 96 SE with 81k to carmax for $5500. it had a few dents and some previous paint work. you should be able to find a nice maxima from a private party for right around $6000. use some of your own cash to pay the difference if its a few bills more. you'll love it.

 

lol

I went from a 72 chevy pickup farm truck with 3-speed on the column, to a hot-rodded 67 chevy pickup that was lowered, cowl hood, aluminum heads, hooker headers, competition cam, holley 750 double-pumper, elderbrock high rise intake, 3in pipes into dynomax(?i think) mufflers, etc, after getting 6mpg for too long, i garaged it and drove a 83 ford fairmont that had no heat during winter time, left me on the side of the road in the middle of the ghetto, gave me headaches because it burned so much oil, to a POS 95 dodge neon, and finally to my 97 SE max...what a string of vehicles...

 

thats probably the best idea, to find something with a few "dings" on it. or you could just get a max with alittle more miles on it. maximas have great engines... they never die.. especialy if your not going to mod it, so that means your not really going to beat on it too much. so if the car has higher miles, but they are well taken car of miles, i would go for it! get a 95! thats what i have!

 

Agree, Agree, Agree

I just bought a '95 SE 5spd w/ 95k miles in great condition from a private seller for $6000. I am in love with it now! What a great car Maximas are. Mine has a couple of big door dings in the body which helped me negotiate the price, and now I will just find someone with a hook up to a paintless dent fixer to fix it cheap for me.

Be Smart, Camry and Accord are great cars as well, BUT No Fun At All compared to driving a Maxima! If you dont want to fall asleep while driving, buy the Maxima!

...my $.02

 

get a used saturn - they look pretty decent and are very affordable. Reliability isnt that much of a problem either.

 

From the time I was 16 until I was almost 18, I drove a 1985 Corolla Deluxe. Now don't let the Deluxe part fool you, that's Toyota's idea of a base-model. It had a 5 speed transmission, FWD, tooth-decay yellow paint (it had faded from vanilla, I think), 210k miles and a slipping clutch. We bought it 4 years ago for $500, put 60k miles and $300 of repairs into it (replacing a broken clutch cable among other things) and sold it for $500. From there, we bought the Max...

But if I had to do it all over again, I'd have bought an AE86 like in Initial D... that will be enough for a student, and it has class like the old maximas do, in my opinion. That's a RWD corolla hatchback that can be engine-tuned up to 220hp or so. Sweetness.

 

This is just me, but my first car (and still my only car) is my '95 Max, the guy wanted $6,500 for it and said it was in "immaculate" condition, well there were 110k on the odometer and some scratches and dings (the expected for a car which is 7 years old) but i got him down to $5grand which i was very happy with. Just keep looking around and something will pop up for a good price.

 

Well, I have seen some maxima's in the paper with high mileage, like 130k and so, but they are still around 6,000 for that high of mileage. I saw this one maxima, and i actuall went and drove it, it was a 95. It hand a small crack in the rear tail light and a small rip in the emergency brake and the radio didnt work AND it had 113k miles. With all those minor damages, plus it being 9 years old AND 113k, guess how much it is? 6,450!! Thats not a bad price, but for all that, dont you think it'd be cheaper? And plus, if I found a maxima that had around 130k miles on it, you think it would last me ATLEAST through college, if not for well afterwards? Please shoot me opinions. What do you guys think about the honda accord?

 

were these private parties you're looking at in the paper? those are just asking prices. usually you can negotiate to well below that initial asking price.