I'm back after a two year hiatus.

I'm am shopping for a fourth generation.

Please offer some tips.

a better year?

Flaws to look for etc.

Thanks!

JLT1

 

1-get a carfax account
2-be patient.. you'll come across a great deal
3-act quickly but carefully

maximas will last a long time.. as you may know already.. so if the milage is a bit higher than normal.. be more inquisitive but dont worry too much about it. i prefer SE models and years 97-99

happy hunting

 

The auto climate control in 97s is flaky. If you get a 97, get it with a manual climate control.

98s are the 1st year with a digital odo, 2 trip meters, and the newer auto climate control system.


99s have the chipped key, a better OEM security system for our car.


97-99s look exactly the same on the outside.

DW

 

95-96 was supposed to be the fastest yr. get a 5 speed too, i got an auto an regret it soooooooo much

 

5spd = chances of bad differential bearings or something else f-ing up... driving aggresively or not

 

I will be buying a 95/96 maxima 5 speed this summer and i am really worried about this problem. What can i do to make sure the car i am looking at does not or will not have this problem? Is there a certain milage that it occurs at? Thanks...

 

its fate in a 95-96 maxima, not sure about the 97+ but I dont think theres much you can do about that :| well than again im not as educated in the 5spd since I do have a autotragic.... sadly...

 

YES!!!!! I confirm this.

 

there any way to get it checked out? prob be a good idea to take it to a mechanic that you kno and let them check it out anyway.

 

I think most would reccomend a 97-99...not just for looks, but for safety reasons too. After all, look at the rash of wrecks we've seen lately

 

yes big difference when it comes to fender benders. I can't find the picture... I know ben (mzmgt) dug it up a while ago.

As for the tranny... mine went out at 150k miles. I am sure it is somehow related to the tranny oil. All of my tranny's life, it has been running on redline oil. Then when I took it in for 120k service at Nissan, they poured the regular stuff back in. I didn't change the oil back to redline, and 20k later the bearings went bad. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM i dunno

 

Drive the car around in total silence. Windows closed, radio off etc. Listen to the gearbox as the car accelereates. If you hear a whining (especially in 1st gear) that increases as you speed up, BINGO When the bearings go bad, you hear whining in 1st gear, then it eventually spreads to 1st and 2nd gear, and just keeps slowly (like months) moving up in gears.

DW

 

i have it all the way up to 5th gear haha

 

my first gear whines... how much to fix these bearings? where to go to get it fixed?

 

So you think that switching the tranny fluid may have triggered it? What about if you had been using regular oil for the cars life and the started to use redline. Do you think it could have caused the same thing to happen? So bascily just listen for any gear whine, and if it has it than thats a sign? I also read somewhere that you can look at something and if its leaking and thats another sign, anyone know about this?

 

symptoms:

- whining in any gear
- leaking from drive axel seal
- excessive vibrations from drive axel

 

Is the whining loud enough to notice? I also read in the FAQ that metal shavings in the tranny fuild where another sign...

 

I just made a new purchase. I still have my '89 and just bought my wife (She's NOT jealous anymore!!!!) a Red '99 Maxima SE Limited for $13,500(not including TTTags and finance = $259 per month w/$750 down) 60k miles. It's auto, but that's all she can drive (and she said I could mod it!) Whoo hoo! Anything I should be looking for on this thing? The check engine light came on, double checked gas cap, all I can guess until I get it checked is an O2 sensor? Figured I'd go ahead and post here since my question is similiar to that which was started, what to look for? Not too late to take it back!

 

yeah... well that's hard to catch really. And if you plan on buying the car, I doubt you can get the buyer to dump his tranny oil.

 

how loud is the whining? my car whines in first and reverse, but i hear that on other cars too? how do i kno that my car definatly needs this or doesnt?

 

Ahh maybe i should just get an autotragic

 

OH PLEASEEEEEEE dont my 5 speed is SOOOOOOOO much fun i gotta really good deal on mine tho... so yeah... i got mine with 92 k miles only problem was the sunroof is off its tracks which im going to rebuild and i paied $7500

 

If you have it, you'll know it.


if you want to challenge yourself, get a 5-spd. autos don't require any skills to drive

 

i bought my car used.. it's done this since i got it thats why i'm asking but i dont think n e thing's wrong.... we'll just have to see

 

It's kind of expensive because it involves open heart surgery on your tranny, so labor costs are high, like $600-$1000. You might be better off getting another used tranny from a 99 or something. Also, since the tranny is wide open, you may as well replace the clutch, too. when mine went bad, I replaced my 98 tranny with a used 99 with 50K miles on it. I also put in an ACT clutch at the same time. I had a tranny shop do it for $1400.

You can live it for a time being if your certain that you will replace it with another tranny. I knew mine were bad and I drove for like 15 K miles as it progrssively got worse. It got so bad that if I shifted into first when coming to a stop, people from several blocks away could tell exactly what I was doing

DW

 

thats pretty bad... alright thanx alot i guess i don't actually have this problem yet so i'll cross my fingers and hope all stays well