On thursday, my '96 maxima went on fire and was totaled. I was driving, everything was fine. It shut off and all the lights on the dash came on and the power steering went off. I pulled it to the side of the road and took the key out. I was just sitting there wondering what happened and then saw some smoke comming from the hood. I don't think it overheated because the temperature gage on the dash was fine. So, I get out and open the hood and see flames by the battery. Of course, no one is around and I call 911 from my phone. I heard something pop so I backed way up, like 50 ft. Then, the ignition started making the sound as if the car was being started and something burst, so I went running. I was at the top of a hill and heard the two front tires pop and other things burst. It was 10 minutes before 2 fire trucks came. It was depressing to see my maxima, that was in almost perfect condition, just runied. From the steering wheel forward was destroyed. The back was perfectly fine. The insurance is only going to give us $5600+, minus the $500 deductable. Something must have been corroded or shorted out. Any thoughts...

 

Oh wow, that really sucks I'd hate to watch my Maxima go up in flames At least you got out before the fire got real bad.

 

omg!!! that makes me nervous about my mods..lol did you search for history on the vin number? were you the first owner? did you have any aftermarket parts? holy crap man! you could have fryed whew! glad your ok!!!

 

dang..i read that story like three times.. how many miles were on her?

 

tip for the future clean your battery terminals every 3 months. if you have corrosion just pour some coke and water on it an it will clear it up till you replace the battery.

 

rum and coke?

 

only if there is no water.

 

definatly battery problem, sorry man.

 

It had 106,525 and ran like it had 525. We were the first owners. Never had a problem with it ever, other than a few flat tires. No mods at all. My dad had changed the battery months before, like around october, we wanted a new one for the winter because we had that one for awhile. I remember though that he dropped one of the bolts on the thing that held the battery in place into the car and he couldn't get it. I'm thinking that maybe after months of driving, maybe one of the wired slipped off and sparked. But other than that, I have no idea. Now, I am looking at getting a 2002 se, if I can find one at a reasonable price somewhere near to me. I saw one that I keep going back to online, about an hour or so from me. A majestic blue se with 48,000K miles. The miles part makes me a bit apprehensive, but it has a lot of good stuff inside and is a good price, just under $16K. I'm thinking about calling the guy tomorrow and getting some more info.

 

wow that's crazy man!!!

glad to hear no one was hurt atleast. best of luck with your next max!

btw, did you get any pictures of it?

 

Nah, I really didn't want to see it again, I loved that car... My little italian boxing gloves that were hanging around the rear view mirror were charred. This must have happened because I took my fuzzy dice off from the mirror and switched them with the gloves. I'll be sure to keep the dice in my next maxima.

 

Sorry to hear about your car!! Good luck on getting a new one. 16k for an 02SE with 48k sounds rather steep!!

 

keep the dice forget the rice

 

I don't know wahat year your Maxima is, but I do know there was a recall on '98s for alternator diode problems which could result in fire. Sorry to hear that story man. That majestic blue is nice. Keep pushin' Maximas.

 

thats the first maxima i've heard of catching fire besides that 3rd gen that got nuked when the NOS tank kaploded. it sux dude but hey you are gonna end up with a much nicer car now. 5.5 gen maximas are the shit

make sure you get a fire extinguisher for your next car too

 

I know, I wish it had less miles. There is another 2002 se I saw on a site that had about 30K for $16K, so, my options are starting to look better.