my brakes on my '98 se are always squealing when i stop and it's getting pretty annoying. is there anything i can do for that?

 

What's the brake history? When were the pads replaced? Rotors turned? What brand pads? What type of rotors?

At a minimum you will have to disassemble and put some anti-squeal goop on the backs of the pads and shims... depending on the pad quality/composition, if that doesn't fix it, you might need to do a complete brake job using different pads (OEM, or Raybestos Quietstops for example).

 

to be honest i don't know, i just bought the car. but i had a '96 maxima before this car and the brakes on this one are very very good.

 

You may want to inpect the brakes... they might be worn and it might be the wear indicator that is squealing. If that is the case, it's time for new pads.

 

but if the pads were worn, would the brakes brake so good?

 

I would say, take the wheel off and turn the steering wheel. You will be able to see the caliper has a little open space that you can look through and look at the wear on the pads. Make sure to do this on both sides because one side might have a stuck pin that has caused one pad to ware down quicker then the others.

 

Like njmodi said, it could be the squeak sensors telling you to change the pads very soon. You'll still have good brakes in the meantime though. I think the squeek sensors trigger too soon, so I always bend them back a little on my cars and have them squeek when I have only 5-10% pad left. No reason to waste perfectly good pads.

Brakes on the Maxima are extreeeeemly easy, don't pay some smhuck to do it for you.