I'm in the market for a maxima. I'm going to see a 96 in a couple of days with just about 80k miles. price is $6k. I'm not big with the VQ engines. So where would be some of the trouble spots to target. What would be certain things to look at and check if. Normally i would go after the CV boots and the areas of the head to see if there is a gasket leak. Other then that i'm a bit clue less. I'm a camry kinda guy. So this will be my first maxima that i've drove and been in. So yea.

I'm sure the maxima doesn't have a oil sludging like the camry v6 .

 

2 many things to look for

 

There aren't a ton of normal trouble spots at 80k... The knock sensor usually goes out around 100k, but that's not for a while. If it's a manual, you may be looking at some bearing trouble down the road a bit. Yeah, it probably won't have that oil sludging you're talking about.

It's obvious, but if the check engine light is on, get that checked out. It could be some minor thing like an oxygen sensor or something way worse.

 

The places to look are as on other cars.Leaks form the engine,cv boot,check the strut setup by turning full right and left(clunk clunk clunk is bad bearing/no bearing,and/or bad strut plate).Unfamiliar noises.There hasn't been any majors on mine when i bought it.Just the crank sensor and o2's went out.You'll like it.

 

Have it checked for codes first off.
Check for leaks (ask seller what fluids hes been using in the car, if hes been using cheap oils and fluids that that gives you an idea of how he takes care of cars)
Check your brake pads, your rotors, your calipers.
Check Axels make sure they area not busted
Check his service records.

At 90,000 miles or sooner you will be doing this
Spark plug change
Knock sensor change
Possilbe O2 sensor change
Fuel filter change

Lot to think about.

Drive the car alot and pay alot of attention to the transmission and how it shifts as well.

Also read the stickies.

Proph

 

i read most of the stickies. most of it retained in my head. But this if off a used car lot. So more then likely they wont have maintence records. So from my understand there isn't anything that serious goes wrong for a typical maxima is there. Thats good. How long do trannys typically last on these cars? The life of the car or do the start to die at 150k like normal imports.

how would you check if the axle is busted? isn't along the lines of checking ath CV boot?

Well brakes, spark plugs aren't really a big deal because i do plan on upgrade those parts.

Also i couldn't tell because i haven't been up close an personal with the car yet, are they coil of plugs? or normal distrubtor?

 

they go well beyond 150k. i dont know how you'd do it but check if the tranny oil was changed. if its a manual trans check fi the axle has an play in it for differential bearing failure.

the knock sensor on mine went bad after 60k, it doenst throw a check engine light though. youll definately enjoy these cars, though the camrys have better ride quality, these cars pack a pretty good punch and come loaded in the base models.

 

$6,000 is way too much. I got mine for $4,200 and I paid a lot.

 

yeah $6,000 is too much, yoiu can get a 97 or 98 for that much easily. check local papers and youll see a handful of good deals. i paid $6300 2 years ago for my 95 GLE with every possible option with 53k miles including heated seats, and i paid too much.

 

well.. thats the starting price i guess at the lot.

$6000 for a 96 not sure which trim level. she didn't say but heated seats. So i assume leather with it. 80k when tues-wensday comes along i'll get more details and pics of the car. Its a used car lot.

Anyways.. i have had no luck w/ the newpaper. Everyone i called is sold or have high mileage. My target is to nail a 96+ with less then 90k miles for $6000 out the door.

 

still expensive, look aroudn the org for an unmodded car in the for sale section. its a GLE if its auto and has leather and heated seats. how do you check the book value of the car if you dont kown waht trim level is? read all the info in the TSB's to knwo what common problems there are as well, its in one fo the stickies.

 

i have access to all-data at school and i'm just going to print out the sheet there. all recalls, TSB, and customer interest.

If it has heated seats would it mean leather automaticly? Or can you have cloth heated seats? I'll find out when i go take a look at the car but yea.

I've made a post in the FS forum about a chicago area car but no bites.

 

to tell if its a SE(which is what you want :wink it has to have body color outter door handles, fog lamps, and white faced gauges.

 

^ i already read the sticky on how to tell which trim is what. by VIN and by looks. Lets just hope this car doesn't have chrome door handles. :P

 

would think car be overpriced in the maxima world.

97 SE white/ beige leather. Spoiler. CD am/fm. 68k $5900

I haven't seen the car yet but the guy lives in my area and i found his thing in the newspaper. It would be prefect if i can talk him down to $5000.

 

Heated seats do not mean leather. My 1995 SE has sunroof, heated seats, fogs, white gauges, spoiler, but no leather. The cloth seats, interior, dash have held up amazingly well for a 10 year old car.

I got it for 4000$CAN, which is about 3200$US. It had 114k miles, back in October 2004.

 

Try to talk the price down, but when you check out the car check for fluids underneath but also ask if the car has been sitting there all night or day, the car could have a leak but if they drove it or moved the car you wont see a spot on the ground (unless the leak is that bad).

check for codes, wet spots under the car, try to talk him down as much as you can cause once you get the car it would just be a good things to get some maintinance done.

 

Nothing that should really blow with these, and they've got excellent longevity. The car should do way over 150k.

At low speeds in a parking lot have the wheel turned all the way to the left and drive, listening for clunking. Do the same to the other side. Don't forget to check under the oil cap for chocolate milk, and check the coolant underneath the radiator cap, to make sure it looks nice. Look under where the car is parked for leaks.I don't think it's way, way too much, but you could probably do better. 10 months ago I bought a fully loaded 97 SE, with maint records and 77k miles for $6k from a private seller, though I still maintain that I got a really good price on that - I felt a touch guilty asking her to drop from the $6400 asking to $6k, but she went for it so oh well

 

right now i'm trying to get a 97SE with 67k miles pretty loaded for $6k private seller as well.

Its raining here so i can't check for leaks.