baseer

we all know that hondas are good for 1 thing. they last..
im reading up on these boards, and it kinda scares me. A lot of u guys have frequent mechanical problems. I know people post stuff on here to get help, but its a little more "broke again" threads than other sites (VW, honda, acura)... lets say i get a 98 se with 50K miles. what do i have to watch out for? each car has some major weak spots....

maximaseefu

iTrader: (4)

i have a 95 se and have had only 1 major repair, wheel bearing.....mechanically my car is every bit as sound as say.....my sisters accord....and much better mechanically then say......my audi. i love my max and will only replace with another nissan product. i think nissans are one of the best in terms of reliability a few quirks aside. the reason that you see problems posted here is because we at the maxima.org are more inclined to help one another with these problems whereas on my audi forum they will just tell me to take it to the dealership.

95GreekMaxSE

^^ so true.. and consider the number of people who own maximas and the number of members here at the finest car enthusaust message board on the web

cscm094

Agreed. My mother has had a 96 maxima since it was new. It now has 103,000 miles on it, and the only thing that's ever been wrong with it was an oil leak from the timing chain cover or something. Either way it was replaced under warrentee.

95emeraldgxe

if u want reliability go with a toyota, hondas have crappy transmissions

Max Noob

iTrader: (5)

suburus have the crappiest transmissions... my friends wrx tranny broke in under 30k.. aha..it was funny..

maximaseefu.. how much did you spend on your wheel bearing repair.. you had a clicking squeeking noise on slight and mild right turns correct?..i wanna know about how much im gonna have to spend on that..im a victim of the 95 wheel bearing too.. : (

Kevlo911

iTrader: (36)

one of my dads friend has over 160k on his max and never had service done and runs 87 all the time, so i don't think u can beat that

maximaseefu

iTrader: (4)

noob, when i did mine i was actually way beyond the problems you are describing. mine was making metal to metal noises on right turns and clunking noises on bumps. my wheel bearing actually broke into pieces while still on car. this caused my axle to strip and i ended up having to replace to entire axle. it cost about 200 bucks b/c i did it myself. i bought a new passenger driveshaft and hub with bearing already in it from parts yard. took me several hours to have it back in good shape. good luck with yours. if you need any help, let me know because as many times as i have taken it apart, i am pro.

maxspeed96CT

iTrader: (9)

I must say hondas are reliale if they are stock but thats cause they dont put out enought torque or power to break anything. as soon as people start puttin nos or boost they get many problems.

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

I have 170k on my 95 and the only things that have failed on their own are:
Starter
O2 Sensor
Knock Sensor
Window regulator


That seems pretty good to me.

Pappa Grande

You will always have to replace/repair things that go bad from reasonable wear and tear. The real point you should take from this thread is that nothing really wrong should happen if you buy a max. I have over 200k and the most expensive "problem" i have had is replacing the clutch.

baseer

well... to summarize
u guys get many small problems under 120K miles... but do u have to fix everything urself to make it a smalll problem?

160K miles isnt too much... hondas, and toyotas go over 160 strong

optimus310

iTrader: (1)

well well well look who it is. Man it seems that you are not buying the fact that the Maxima is a very reliable car, but it's a car and it will brake just like the hondas do. If you are so scared because you don't trust the Max then this car is not for you. I understand that you want a car that all you have to do is put gas and go. Well sorry to tell you this but when you buy a used car don't expect to be problem free. Also notice all the problems are nothing but simple stuff that anyone can do. strut is out, coil pack failed, need new drive belts, cv boot is cracked, need new alternator. If you don't ever hear any of those common problem please let me know what kind of car that is so that I can go and trade it.
You notice more problems here because maxima.org is way bigger than any Honda site and most of maxima owners post here. I've seen at least 300 Honda forums so people just post everywhere. But seriously man if you don't trust the car don't buy it, we won't make you buy it. Instead go for what you know is good.
By the way I am 80K miles and the only problem I had was a strut mount was out at 70K miles.

maximaseefu

iTrader: (4)

BlackCat

iTrader: (6)

Before I got the Maxima I had a 1980 Honda Prelude (first generation). I've had the alternator go on it, the wiper motor and the left CV joint. The engine was almost bullet-proof. Almost, because it was starting to burn oil. My brother fixed it up and I gave it to my niece when she got her drivers license.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Ah really. Wife's old 94 Accord had a balance shaft seal blow and all the engine's oil got pumped out in less than 5 minutes. Over $900 in repairs for that one and the engine was still okay. It was under a recall but that doesn't mean Hondas are more reliable. It still happened and that seal problem affected ALL Accords w/ that engine. 94-98 body style at least.

dmplus

I have a 95 with 210,xxx miles with my repair list consisting of an alternator, cv joints and an O2 sensor. I drive hard and fast and rarely do any periodic maintenance. I change my oil about every 10,000 miles

My sister has a 96 accord she has 90,000 miles. She is religious at maintenance and care. She drives it like the whimpy car that it is and she had put at least 1500 in repairs into it.

My father has a 00 camry. by 60,000 miles they forked out over 1000 dollars in repairs.

Needless to say my family is not too thrilled with hondies (deliberatly misspelled) or toyotas. In fact my sister picked up an 02 altima as her second car rather than buy another hondie.
I'm not saying our expierence with hondies are typical but in comparison my family has been jealous of my maxima's reliability.

I have little doubt that my car will continue relatively trouble free to 300,000+

billy_corgan

keep driving it hard and do your oil changes every 10,000 miles and it wont do at least 6,000 miles. even with synthetic. 3,000 if your driving it hard.

TurDz

iTrader: (3)

Honestly, I feel like with my car I have to be especially careful not to break or ruin anything. Other than my car we have two old Toyotas and I can abuse them and they take the beating very well. They still run very strong and the interior/exterior condition is excellent.

As for my Max...I have to worry about scuffing the interior...interior plastics, especially near the shifter, around the radio (trim) and the all of the other interior plastics. I've noticed that the Maxima dash is simply made cheaply...compared to a Honda or a Toyota that is. Also, I've heard up to the year 2001 that there are wind noise and road noise problems. I know it doesn't happen to everyone but it's a lot more frequent than say in a Honda or Toyota.

In conclusion, I have to say that I "baby" my car just to keep it on par with Honda/Toyota in terms of reliability. I know it's the owner's choice to make a car reliable but it seems Nissan sometimes makes it a little harder on us.

Also, the Maxima (4th Gen at least) seems more prone to vibration and rattling compared to Honda/Toyota. It's just a simple fact...Nissan cheaped out with materials and build quality. I hope they're getting the message though, I can't speak for the new 6th Gens.

baseer

well turdz... u really turned me off. i know the maxima has a great engine, and looks kiss *** with a few mods. but... i dunno... u guys care for ur cars sooo much.. and so many probs still occur. maybe ill go to toyota? acura? And when u guys had the probs, did u find it out urself or did a mechanic find it and fix it for u?

henock

i love my max..

and yeah the plastics on the inside leave much to be desired.. but really i dont give a damn! i love the smooth ride, smooth engine, and great power. thats enough for me.. put a few mods inside a 5-sp and you'll walk an and hang with many cars

i think the maxima is a fairly reliable motor.. when car shopping thats what pretty much every salesman mentioned.. that the maximas are known to last with a minimal amount of problems!

with this balance of power, luxury, and reliability, i think that maximas are truly unique cars and are total sleepers.

check out a max, give it a test drive.. dont be so easy on the gas either..

baseer

pros: strong engine, quality sedan, fast

cons: weak interior, average probs, weak handling

billy_corgan

toyota and honda are probably more reliable, but not by much. im not on my third maxima for nothing. have you ever even driven a maxima? i would go test one, preferbly a 5 speed, before you go buy a honda. i guarantee it will but a bigger smile on your face than any accord or camry will. dont go by how many problems maximas you have by the posts on these boards. maxima.org represents a small group of maximas. probably less than 5% of all the maximas on the road today. most of this small group of "enthusiasts" mod their cars to make them go faster, when they have the ability to go faster, theyll drive there cars harder, causing more problems then the average maxima that your 50 year old uncle drives. it is very biased to base your opinion of the maxima from the problems on this board. look at the big picture. my first maxima(1990) was sold with 185,000 mi on it and the owner now has 239,000 mi. my second one(1995) has 170,000 and still going, my current max(1999) has 43,000 mi on it. for every maxima ive owned here's what needed to be fixed besides regular mantenence items (oil, brakes, struts) 1990 - water pump, window regulator 1995 - knock sensor 1999 - nothing. in conclusion, every car will have its problems. most of it depends on the driver. give the maxima a try. fro what its worth see attached chart. 1 is best, 0 is worst. it takes the average reliability marks of all honda cars and all chevy vehicles and compares them to the maximas marks

TurDz

iTrader: (3)

Don't get me wrong...I believe the Max is one of the best Japanese sedans on the market. It can still hold its own against the newer cars that are coming out.

Most importantly...it's the FEELING you get when you drive it. I used to drive an auto and it was still a joy to drive. Now that I have a manual, everything has changed. If I ever have a doubt about my car...say if I feel like getting a different one, or I feel like it's not up to par, all I do is take the car onto a freeway onramp and smoothly shift through the gears. You can't beat that feeling. It's such a smooth engine with a nice amount of torque. It's pure exhilaration.

95seMax

iTrader: (11)

122k with no major engine problems , just mostly wear and tear parts needing replacing and some sensors,

i had a civic, prior to max, i think the civic is a very well made car, but its not as stylish , fast, luxury as the max, which can keep up with it in reliability

† ErV †

On any make specific forum you will get biased opinions. And I always admire the 200k club people who do no maintenance or change nothing. Cute.

- toyota
- honda
- nissan

Years of surveys can't be wrong. 99-2002 accords have crappy transimssions, 95 - 99 maxima 5spd is with its fair share of transmission problems. Bottom line you do the research and decide which problems you can live with. It all comes down to that.

thnikkamax

iTrader: (2)

My mom's old 1981 Station Wagon is still tickin.

blizz20oma

iTrader: (1)

I think you're taking this to some skewed relative scale instead of an industry-wide judgment. The interior's finish and longevity might not be up to par with the imports of the early 90s, but what is? It's not weak by any means.

Average probs would put the max with some of its domestic counterparts. Reliability is definitely above average. Weak handling...it is a sedan with some weight and ground clearance, and the majority maxima market would prefer a soft ride over race-track handling...what do you want, the handling of a 2500lb double-wishbone honda off the floor?

Reliability in a general sense can only get you so far. Like others above have said, problems have existed in accords and camrys (my sister can attest to the latter with an 01 camry...parents owned a 94 ex accord for a while, no blown balance shaft seal there or any probs really at all, but...)

You can keep beating a maxima/accord/camry reliability discussion to death but if you pick one of the three, you're still pretty far above domestic competitors offerings

baseer

so... i know all cars get probs, and so does the maxima. its a little under the hondas but something is still bothering me..

Q. Why are there so many hondas/acuras/toyotas hooked up more than maximas? u see 4X as many more of those than maximas. IF u guys say maximas are faster, luxurios, and quality, then there must be some reason why I dont see them on the street at much

i dont wanna be mean or watever, i just need answers

thanks guys

Capitone

iTrader: (1)

Because these cars come a dime a dozen, and are alot less expensive than most maximas. The owners of these cars tend to "go with the crowd". The concept of individuality is usually not important. Doesn't apply to all owners, but when it comes to mods and such, it doesn't take genius to see that these types are usually the majority. I don't care what anyone says, but few people will go out and buy a civic with the intentions of looking any different than the one down the street. Maxima owners are a different breed my friend.

billy_corgan

A. much BIGGER aftermarket support and a lot cheaper cars. most people who "hook up" there cars are young and dont have money to through around. So they decide to get a civic or an mid 90s accord, or maybe even an older integra, which is smart because they have huge aftermarket support and a lot cheaper aftermarket support. all in all, you dont see pimped out maximas on the street as much because majority of people who mod their cars cant afford a decent maxima and it is a 4-door family sedan. most dont know the potenetial of the maxima. i like that second part. people think im just a slow four door car. but then i rip their integra,civic, accord, camry, neon, prelude, etc a new one

i doubt most young people with their cars have reliability in mind. they just want what everyone else has. cause there cheap and easy to mod.

blizz20oma

iTrader: (1)

There's some good info here, like maximas typically costing more (although depreciation has its effects on the max, but any direct competitors offer cheaper 4cyl versions, etc.), not as much aftermarket support...

But if you go up to your typical honduh guy, he's not going to say "Oh yeah, I bought this because I wanted to be like everyone else."

He's probably going to tell you the opposite. "Modding my car is an expression of my individuality - a lot of people just drive with their stock cars, I want to express myself and customize my car to my liking."

If you ask even auto-enthusiast maxima owners, who probably make up 5% of maxima owners, why they got a maxima, 1% of their responses are going to be "because it's unique". I'd almost buy the unique argument if you were driving an Enzo. Not a sedan that's very common. Sure, you might say it's unique to modify a maxima. But the modding community still draws generally from the same pool of mods, so in this relative respect you're as unique as the honduh boys, unless your car truly has a body kit, etc, etc, developed and created by you. Less/more unique? There might be a gradient scale there but then the line between "auto enthusiast" and just "modification enthusiast" smears.

The cheaper nature of the hondas and toyotas, etc, you see "hooked up" also follows the idealogy that there's more of a chance parents will buy their kids these as first cars. Then the kids have all their money to h00x0r it up.

baseer - I think you should pay more attention to more factual-based research rather than worrying about stuff like "Oh, everyone has body kits on these cars out there, so they must be better." You're forgetting large, important distinctions like the difference between the way a civic and a maxima drive, if you focus on stuff like that. People putting on exhaust and LEDs and body kits does not speak much about a car, especially reliability-wise. Maybe some of the more severe modifying, like immense amounts of forced induction, but...

optimus310

iTrader: (1)

seriously bro Don't buy a Max if you don't trust it. Why are you gonna go buy a Max if you know it sucks. You have asked this question in like 3 different threats. Please do us all a favor and buy your self a civic

snowman2155

I think that Hondas & Toyotas are the best foreign for reliability, but Nissan definately makes the quicker engines.

95seMax

iTrader: (11)

i agree with optimus, u have so much doubt after what everyones tellin you so get a honda

i had a honda civic before my max, and i hated it , even though it was reliable, its not luxury of a maxima, no matter what neighborhood u go to you will see a honda hooked up, reason is because parts are cheep and because those cars get stollen so fast so that way someone could take off the parts and hook up their whip

with the civic i was scared everyday parkin on the street that someone would steel it, with the max , i know it still can get stolen but not as much as the civic because not that many people have max in the first place

modding a max is very different and rare to see, when u go to a meet its crzy how many modded max u will see , seeing a modded max is rare compared to seeing civics, thats why i love when i make their heads turn and be like "oh sh*t phat whip u got there"

billy_corgan

what would make your head turn, hooked up honda or hooked up maxima honestly. theres your answer. get that car.

snowman2155

My old Honda Accord was hooked up & looked nice....Until some lady totalled it for me, if she didn't, it probably would have eventually been stolen.

baseer

HAHAH!! I would NEVER GET A HONDA!! they are lasting, but their too common and feel too weak. man... im not trynig to be a ***** about this, i just want personal feedback about RELIABILITY, QUALITY. i Did not say why are hondas hooked up more. anyways....
the point is, if I DO get a maxima 4 gen... Will i have a worried contious in the back of my mind that something can go wrong if i push the pedal??

Ramius83

For a whole summer, I worked in a garage. I worked on WAY more Hondas then I did Maximas/Nissans. Yes, I do understand that there are a larger number of Hondas out there than Nissans, but I am just telling you that I worked on a CRAP load of Hondas then I did Nissans....

Geophrum

Hell I have a 96 and i have beeten the **** out of it and my car still runs great. also of all the things that i have had problems with... I repaired my self... with the help of this org everything i needed done to my car i did my self.

We cannot make you feel better about the car if it is still worrieing you if the car is going to fail.. all cars have there problems. no mater what car you get.. do regular maintanance on it and repair the things that go bad..

make your own decision in my opinion the best car i ever owned was this maxima. and i have owned meny different cars.

I didnt get my maxima becuase it is unique.. i got it becuase ever since the commercial i saw in 1996 with the dive bombing pigion slaming into the garage... i have wanted one... that was the only reason.. then i got it and fell in love with it. now after modding it slightly it runs even better than when i got it.


End of my